Remove the Blocks to Full Connection:
Accessing the Peace and Joy of God’s Presence
by Kimberly Badam and Sally Witmer   

One of the things we love about Journey is the wide and interesting range of people who make up our community. We thank God all the time for the variety and how it makes Journey a vibrant place. We talk a lot about Imago Dei at Journey. We’ve each been made to shine in God’s image; to impact the world with unique expressions of the goodness, love and beauty of His ways. The range of who we are gives us a taste for what heaven will be like. God clearly loves our unique lives, dreams and stories.   

But many of us get stopped from getting even close to living the best life God wants for us. It’s almost like we can trace where God’s created us to make a unique mark on the world, by looking at the patterns of where we’ve been shut down in life. Often, we don’t even think to question these broken patterns or the false messages that follow about our value and God’s trustworthiness. The Bible says we’ve got a spiritual enemy who targets our Imago Dei destinies.

There are endless ways we can get stuck or disconnected from our true identity or from full trust in God. Whether childhood hurts, serious trauma, or subtle, under-the-surface disappointment in how life has turned out, many of us have places of disconnection or “triggering.” Our heads might believe truth, but our hearts might not quite own it – at least not in injured areas. Sometimes we’re aware of the block, sometimes it’s hidden. But anything stealing our full peace, love and trust in God is connected to a lie.

Jesus promised if we trust in Him, even in hard times we can live from our union and the kingdom realities flowing from Him. There’s so much power in living from what we believe, before we see proof. But sometimes we need help to voice and release what’s buried in our hearts, so burdens can be identified, released and exchanged for truth. Sometimes, we need safe support to find deeper alignment with God. 

Restorative Prayer Ministries (RPM) creates space for people who are feeling disconnected from full trust in Jesus and the joy of His presence. It uses deep listening/inner healing prayer to help draw us near to God’s presence and hear His personalized voice of love for ourselves. When God reveals the barriers disconnecting us, we can invite in His truth that sets us free. God will never push where He’s not invited, but when we allow Him to speak into those hidden places, His healing and joy come rushing in, catapulting us further down the road to transformation and flourishing.

For more information or to schedule a private appointment click here: journeycommunitychurch.com/prayer/rpm/

Kimberly Badam and Sally Witmer have both been on long journeys where inner healing prayer has brought deeper intimacy with God and the profound freedom that follows. When they met at Journey, they joined forces to bring this healing to others. They started Restorative Prayer Ministry (RPM) at Journey in 2015. After hundreds of sessions they’re more confident than ever that God is very near and waiting to help clear all blocks to his constant loving presence.