Restorative Prayer Ministry
WHAT TO EXPECT
What is Restorative Prayer?
We’re designed to live vibrant lives overflowing with joy, purpose and relational wholeness, connected to our loving God. Life can mess with our connection, steal our true identity, feed unhealthy emotions, and hinder the goodness that marks life in Christ. Sometimes we’re blocked and need help to reconnect. Restorative Prayer Ministry uses deep prayer in a non-rushed setting, guided by the Holy Spirit, realigning minds and hearts with His truth that sets us free.
When people get hit by bad things, it’s natural to try to make sense of those life events. “Why would God allow this?” is a common question. Almost daily, we meet people with places in their hearts that were shut down by something as dramatic as sudden, intense trauma or as subtle as quiet, ongoing disappointment.
While some may know truth in their minds, that same truth hasn’t penetrated their hearts in ways that bring the peace and joy of God’s presence that override circumstances.
We want to live lives where we aren’t just surviving. We want overflowing transformation; where the healthy dreams God designed us to dream are nurtured and fulfilled. But by the time we’re young adults, we all have places in our hearts and minds where disappointment, rejection, fear and control have caused scars. It’s the human condition. Whether our parents were abusive or nurturing, whether childhood was “happy” or “sad,” we’ve all picked up junk along the way that affects our perception of who we are, how to live, and how to interact with others. Restorative Prayer relies on guidance from the Holy Spirit to identify where the process of renewal has been blocked by life traumas, developmental issues, or deception a person has picked up in life.
“Wounded people wound. Rejected people reject. Controlled people control,” says Freedom Tools author Andy Reese. No matter how hard we try, we manage to perpetuate wrongs done to us. Recognizing and dispelling distorted perceptions that hamper us is crucial. Healthy identity, for example, is key to healthy spiritual and emotional life.
When Jesus touched people, he instantly reconnected them with the love of the Father. Restorative Prayer ministry invites Jesus to do what Scripture says he did with all who came to him in faith.
The Greek word Sozo is found over 100 times in the New Testament. Sozo means “saved,” “healed,” “delivered,” “made whole.”
Restorative Prayer is based on the biblical belief that all people can train their hearts and minds to experience God speaking directly to them. This “hearing” (which often isn’t auditory, and can include images, thoughts, prompts, feelings, senses) is different for everyone, but it always supports how God reveals his love and truth in Scripture. As we come to believe we can actually personally hear God, our hearts and minds get trained to increasingly trust and rest in a posture of gratitude, which increases hearing.
Current studies from people at places as respectable as Stanford University report that hearing God speak is something even skeptics can train their hearts and minds to do.
Current brain research confirms that chemicals produced when we love or fear affect our brains in vastly different ways, one causing regeneration and health, and the other causing illness and death — quite literally. The positive effects of deep prayer can now be seen on brain scans, according to multiple studies.
Restorative Prayer respects a wide continuum of ministries that all have the same goal, facilitating deeper healing connection with God. We’re all wired differently. We all find deep connection with God in different ways that speak uniquely to us. Restorative Prayer works best with people who can leave the need to analyze aside for a while, resting with childlike faith in God’s presence.
Restorative Prayer is not counseling and doesn’t attempt to replace it. Where counselors use methods to actively help people gain insights and practical solutions, restorative prayer aims to help people take questions directly to the Holy Spirit for spiritual restoration and the emotional healing that results.
Restorative Prayer is not hypnosis. It is always guided by the truth of Scripture, with an emphasis on the importance of forgiveness and identity. Important defense mechanisms are always respected, and sessions are conducted with the #1 goal of leaving the person feeling loved and safe.
THE RESTORATIVE PRAYER PROCESS
1. Applications are available. After you submit an application, we’ll call you and set up a session time.
For many reasons, we can’t do “emergency sessions.” Journey has a wide range of ministries offering prayer and help if you’re in immediate crisis. If you need emergency prayer, start with the prayer team after services on Friday/Sundays, or call Journey’s office: 619-464-4544.
2. Once you come in for a scheduled session, we’ll start you in a waiting room filled with quiet, prayerful music. Settling into place of rest and trust in God — whenever possible — helps to be more receptive toward what God has for you.
3. A team of three people will be matched to you. They’ll have already been praying for you, asking God to show them what questions to ask; where He wants to work in your heart, etc. At the session’s start, they’ll ask the Holy Spirit’s guidance. In general, it’s helpful to start in a place where you have a good memory of feeling loved and safe.
4. Sessions are gentle and never rushed, lasting up to 2 hours, if needed. We encourage people to identify the most pressing problems, but to not spend too much time talking about or dwelling on the problem.
God is an amazing “surgeon,” faithful to highlight misperceptions and hurts, replacing them with his loving truth. The truth revealed in these sessions is always in alignment with scripture.
5. After one or two sessions, most people are generally reconnected to God’s love and healed enough to continue on their own, as part of a normal prayer life. For some with lifetimes of unhealthy learned thinking/behavior, follow up with counseling to retrain healthy behavior is key. But for many, identifying and addressing places where the heart has shut down provides enough healing to begin a new healthy way of living.
6. We are committed to providing a place where the prayer receiver feels safe and loved at all times. There are times where we might end a session early to keep the person feeling safe.
7. Following the session, we’ll follow up and possibly recommend another session within the year. We recommend spending a few weeks reading and re-reading the session notes as part of your daily prayer time. We’ll also send you home with other information including important scriptures to back up what happened in your session. The hope is that you will continue the prayer process, between just you and God.
