INSIGHTS [SIX ]
THE RESULTS OF PRAYER
A young man summed up for us what Prayer and resolution counseling is all about when he wrote,
You are the only counselors I’ve found who take people straight to the Lord for healing. I’ve suspected for some time that the hole in much of today’s ‘therapy’ is the source of healing counselors rely on.
One of the major tenets of prayer and resolution counseling is that we cannot change, nor are we responsible to change, those around us. However, we are responsible for change within ourselves. Inward change takes place as the fundamental underlying problem is brought to God for His resolution. Outward change in attitude and/or behavior begins on the inside as a result of God’s working and our cooperating.
I realize my gratitude doesn’t come close to matching the benefit I received from our time together. The reality of bondage is dulled by time and only freedom awakens the soul.
Believers ask for help because they find that past sins and life patterns are continuing forces in their lives and are interfering with their relationships and ministries. Prayer and resolution counseling guides people into freedom to live life victoriously; freedom from the bonds, powers, and weights that hinder, making their Christian lives so very difficult to live.
I’ve found freedom from corruption I had only read about before and acceded to intellectually but had not experienced.
A fallacy in Twenty-First Century thinking is that with knowledge comes the power to change. If we know a Bible verse, automatically we will apply it appropriately. Actually, the knowledge we perceive through distorted glasses is suspect. Caught in the web of sin, hurts and lies, most are unable to recognize and apply the truth without help. We behave, not out of what we know, but rather out of what we believe. Belief comes from the heart, not from the head. Many Christians have a head conversion but until there is a heart conversion there is no change in behavior.
I can relate more easily to God as Father now . . .
We can mistakenly view our Heavenly Father in the same way that we view our earthly father. Many Christians see God as a harsh judge. He is untrustworthy, distant and uncaring. They can never please Him, no matter how hard they try. Many Christians ‘know’ the truth about God and can even teach convincingly on the Fatherhood of God but they can only serve a Lord as servants, never love a father as sons or daughters. Until God Himself is allowed to come in and change their false view, they cannot experience peace or rest in the arms of the Heavenly Father.
When we are born again, God’s primary role with us is as our father, He is not the judge. He may chastise us to bring us back into the straight path but when we sin, he normally feels pain and sorrow, not anger.
This believer believed that God was responsible to keep him from sinning. Partly true but it is always in partnership with us. He will not force us and it is unreasonable to be angry at God for letting us go our own rebellious ways.
The process of forgiveness continues as I follow the pattern you taught me. It’s very effective and freeing.
I have written a booklet on forgiveness. Simply, the process of forgiveness that this young man has learned: (1) Recognize the greater circle of people involved when sin occurs, (2) Do not excuse sin, (3) Accuse and/or confess, (4) Chose to forgive and ask forgiveness, if needed (Forgiving others always precedes our asking for forgiveness.), (5) Give up the roles of witness and accuser of the other person. God will see justice is done through that person or through Christ.
I’m not (yet) able to tackle foundational lies and truth without guidance….
When the foundational principles for life are based on falsehoods then we cannot see them as lies or we wouldn’t hold to them! But our entire world-view can be faulty. Unfortunately, we will defend our world system against the truth! “Safe others” often need to help us to see these lies, reject them, and see and accept the truth.
But only God can break the power of those lies in our lives as we confront them and reject them. It is only with Christ as the chief cornerstone and the rest of the foundation laid in truth that we can live the victorious, abundant life that God has for us.
I’ve suspected for some time that the hole in much of today’s ‘therapies’ are the sources of healing counselors rely on. You folks answered more questions and brought me closer to God in 80 hours than all the others could in 10 years.
The saddest thing we hear from Godly Christian counselors is, “What you are proposing is not new to us. We are counseling this way. We have no need for new tools.” If this were so then why is God not resolving the issues in the lives of hurting people? In a 3-year period, one woman had 400 hours of Christian counseling. Each hour only increased her load. Her cry of pain was, “I can’t carry any more!” God wants to resolve, release, and restore us. Piece by piece He takes the load when we come to Him on His terms.
Prayer and resolution counseling is not in competition with other types of counseling. We see it as a tool that should augment professional and lay Christian counseling and therapy to bring resolution.
If your struggles have been resolved and you are free, then you probably do not need anything more. Our concern is for dedicated Christians who are not free to live the life that God would have them live. In Prayer and resolution counseling we have found God consistently answering prayers and bringing resolution and healing. If prayer and resolution counseling is ‘just one more way of working,’ then why do so many people come for help who have already been ‘helped’ by other Christian approaches?
It is not enough to merely ask God’s blessing on a session, nor to open or close the session in prayer. It is not enough for the hurting person to be prayed for by the counselor. It is not enough to find a Bible verse, as some kind of magic charm, to quote, cling-to, or stand on. It is not enough to think positive or to have faith that something has happened. It is not enough to pray vague, general, and generic or die cast prayers. God wants to work in our lives. We who counsel others must help believers clearly understand and define the issues so that they can ask their Heavenly Father to directly intervene and deal decisively with specific issues.
For some issues forgiveness is all that is needed but we must be specific and detailed enough for resolution to take place. We need to see things from a spiritual perspective: is there a need for cleansing or for bonds to be broken? If we don’t know what the underlying problem is, we must ask for clarification; that’s the Holy Spirit’s job. He can show us even the minutest detail if it is necessary to healing.
I really am encouraged. I feel like God is teaching me things and speaking to me directly again . . .
When our struggles stand between us and God, we tend to see them and not God. So we feel that He is far away and silent. Once these struggles have been resolved the barriers are down, a natural by-product is feeling God’s presence and hearing His voice.
I’m not being controlled by every wave of adversity and temptation. The challenges are still there but I’m learning to meet them in partner-ship with God instead of in my dysfunctions.
Partnership, not perfection, is the end product of Prayer and resolution counseling. Partnership implies a relationship and fellowship. And, as we walk in fellow-ship, lies and mistruths are more clearly seen and rejected. We will still be tempted but we have the ability, in partnership with God, to choose not to sin. Stability and consistency are all part of maturity in Christ. Troubles and hurts may still come but now we have the ability to walk through them in partnership with the Holy Spirit.
In Prayer and Resolution counseling the power of sin can be broken but there is often a lifetime of bad and unhealthy habit patterns for living that also must die. It takes time for old habits to be broken and new/healthy patterns to become habits.
God used you to reveal Himself and bring healing that may not have been possible any other way . . .
This is the part that you may have in Prayer and resolution counseling. You make it possible with your gifts and your prayers for us to be able to be available to be used by God in such a way. On the other hand, are you willing to be used by God in this same way? We train people in prayer and resolution counseling.
You opened doors of consideration that left me in awe after our sessions. Thank you for being so trustworthy and available . . .
Prayer and Resolution counseling also means discussion and teaching, clarifying and defining. It is exciting to see truth revealed during these times together and then to see the out workings of that truth to lead to freedom.
-Richard D. Smith
Chapter One – Five: Copyright © 1997; Chapter Six: Copyright 1998; Chapter Seven – Ten: Copyright 1999; Chapter Eleven & Twelve; Copyright 2002 by Richard D. Smith
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