No Man's Land

Catherine writes

Think a lot of the time when dealing with stuff we can end up trapped. We ask people to pray for us, and end up with a general feeling that the issue should have been dealt with. But often feelings/ fears, difficulties return. In reality, underlying things aren't dealt with in a five minute prayer at the end of a service or wherever! Problem is, we feel we have prayed the prayer, so to go back on that is just our weakness. Guilt and shame then piles on as we keep being unable to do things that have been prayed about or we fail/struggle with thoughts or behaviours. We end up just fighting it - we feel that we can't talk to God about it, that he will be fed up with us, that he will be angry that we haven't moved on, that our faith just isn't good enough. And we feel we can't bring it up with church people because they have already prayed for us, 'what will they think?'


For a lot of my christian life it worked like this for me: Anxiety not overcome, not feeling God near, feeling I needed to work harder at stuff to show I could do things. Feeling a 'failure' as a christian. Feeling it wasn't right to talk about how I was actually feeling, because that just wasn't right.

Think this process leaves us trapped and chained, and unable to access the freedom God has for us.

David writes

On the other hand, the alternative to the quick after-service ministry prayer is often seen as counselling or 'therapy'. Where every nuance from the past has to be understood and dealt with in minute detail, sometimes taking years with no discernable change. Except perhaps to the counselees bank balance!

Catherine writes

That's harsh! Think we both agree that there's a place for ministry times and specialist counselling.....

David writes

Yeah, I reckon you're right, but for a lot of people who are trapped as you describe, there must be a better way!

Catherine writes

Yep, I reckon there's a third way! God longs for us to have this freedom, longs for us to be transformed, longs for relationship and to communicate with us. Difference is, when he transforms things change! Let's recognise that ministry praying has to leave room for the possibility that this is part of a God-guided journey of increasing discovery and freedom. Not everything changes at once, God has time, He's patient!

David writes

Ok, like it, but how does that differ from counselling, other than the important point that the person doesn't feel guilty that the one off prayer was supposed to fix it all?

Catherine writes

It's about God revealing the stuff that he knows is key to the issues that need dealing with now. They may not be those secular counselling would pick up on or even those that we would choose to highlight. That's why God is God! He's a loving Father, He knows that this needs dealing with in order to get to other things later... It's about cooperating with The Holy Spirit as He convinces of sin, reveals wounds and brings healing. Then it's about exercising the gifts of the Spirit to minister healing into the area He has revealed. Sometimes it's not even a whole area that is revealed at first, it might be just the hint of something that as you pray into becomes clearer. But little by little, the layers are peeled back, not of every wound or every area, but a light-shining, truth revealing insight into that which God knows is the best thing for us.

David writes

So, not a one off prayer, but not an open ended counselling that might open wounds in an untimely manner... more a developing understanding and progressive dealing in God's time at His pace, of the issue that He has pinpointed.

Sounds like what we need are Spirit filled friends....