Theophostic Prayer Ministry

The name Theophostic is derived from Greek words, 'Theos,- God, Phostic, -light.' Simply stated, it is encouraging a person to discover and expose what he believes is falsehood and then encouraging him to have an encounter with Jesus Christ through prayer and allowing the Lord to reveal His truth to the wounded person's heart and mind. It is not about advice giving, diagnosing problems, sharing opinions or insight. It is about allowing a person to have a personal encounter with the Lord Jesus in the midst of the person's emotional pain.

Developed by Dr Ed Smith, ( Pastor and Counsellor based in the USA) as a model of prayer ministry ( he resists the word counselling) developed through his understanding of scripture, and his clinical practice.

His observation is that there are basically two levels of memory. Logical memory, which we may fill with truth through reading, TV and sermons; and experiential memory, which is strongly influenced by childhood and other deep experiences. He observed that logical truth, no matter how profound, does not often change the deeply held childhood beliefs we develop as a result of our childhood experiences.

Theophostic Prayer Ministry acknowledges that everything we know, sense or feel is rooted in mind information that was accumulated during life experiences.

It is not what happens to us in life, which is the problem, but what we believe, (often lies), about ourselves and the world as a result of those experiences, which in turn causes our emotional pain. This deep emotional pain is often the root of sin, i.e.our method of pain relief. (Eg. Inappropriate use of sex, food, drugs, alcohol, etc) For example, many Christians when reading in Scripture of their new position in Christ, i.e saved by grace, struggle with the deep pain which comes from the belief that they are not in fact forgiven.

Only a change in the deep memory brings true peace. Changing the logical memory only, ( which a lot of sermons do), often leads to sterile 'try harder' religion, and not a true relationship with God. Jesus says, " For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matt 11:30) We in fact teach that, 'His way is hard and getting harder.'

Dr Smith discovered the path to the experiential memory is through having the lie triggered in the present. Tracking back through the smoke trail of emotion with Jesus ( the Holy Spirit) can lead to the uncovering of lie based painful experiences. Allowing Jesus to speak to that part of the memory, directly to the lie, bringing real peace, and low maintenance renewal of the Mind ( Romans 12 ) This is not recovered memory therapy as some critics maintain, but a ministry of the Holy Spirit. Karen's journey.

I was asked to assist Karen's counsellor who was finding it difficult to help her process the very painful place Karen had arrived in. Karen, a bubbly, very intelligent Christian teenager, had recently revealed to her family that she was involved with cutting herself and was struggling with dark depression and suicidal thoughts. Her family had sought help through a Public Health agency and Karen had been placed on anti-depressants, though these did not seem to help her. As we sat together it was obvious that Karen was in a lot of emotional pain and felt life was hopeless. After a period of time I suggested we pray and ask Jesus to help her with the pain issues, she agreed. Over a period of one and half hours I carefully questioned her, and we uncovered two dominant beliefs behind her pain. Firstly the need to be perfect in all she did to be acceptable, and the very deep childhood belief that if you do wrong, you need to be punished. Both had been uncovered with her Christian Counsellor, but thoughts about grace and self forgiveness had not touched the deep child pain of legalism and self doubt leading to depression and self

Resisting the temptation to give an answer to both these issues, bringing her out of the experiential memory where the lies and the pain lay, and into the logical memory, I simply asked Jesus, as she saw Him, to speak to her in her place of pain. Both times the answer Jesus gave was exactly what Karen needed to hear. Firstly that she was forgiven and she could give up her perfectionist beliefs and lifestyle. Secondly He told her that self punishment was not necessary because Jesus had taken her punishment at the Cross.

The release of pain was very evident, and before long she was off all medication, with no reoccurrence of the problem, even after two years.

This pattern of encounter with God/Jesus is fairly common. Some may not see Jesus but hear or sense Him. Not all sessions are as dramatic in their solution as Karen's. Some take many sessions, particularly if the level of suppression/ repression of childhood pain is high.

I admit that before training and experience in this prayer ministry, I was somewhat sceptical of this process finding it clashed with my other training. Since training and following the recommended process and not injecting my own wisdom into the prayer process, the failure of many I have discovered, I have found it to be a most valuable tool and assists people to find genuine peace and holiness in their lives. The process of healing is faster than any other processes I have used. The advanced level of training is extremely valuable, but can only be undertaken under the control and supervision of a Church and after basic training and experience is gained.

Ian Hooker Pastor TKCC