Beliefs Match Feelings

There’s this thing I’ve been turned on to. I want to look into it more, but I wanted to present it to you here. It’s called Theophostic Prayer.

At first glance it looks like therapy or counseling, but it’s not. There’s a facilitator that prays and asks questions of the person to the effect of “How does that make you feel?”, “What do you believe about that feeling?”, “What is the consequence of that belief?” and “Jesus, what do you want us to know about this?”

The Theophostic Prayer Ministry website explains it like this:

The TPM Basic Training Seminar Manual defines TPM as, “Intentional and focused prayer with the desired outcome of an authentic encounter with the presence of Christ, resulting in mind renewal and subsequent transformed life.”

Theo (God) Phostic (light) is a ministry of prayer that is Christ centered and God reliant for its direction and outcome. Simply stated, it is encouraging a person to discover and expose what he believes that is a falsehood; and then encouraging him to have an encounter with Jesus Christ through prayer, thus allowing the Lord to reveal His truth to the wounded person’s heart and mind. It is not about advice giving, diagnosing problems, or 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.

Reliant on God for it’s direction and outcome. That’s important. The facilitator does not make assumptions, opinions or lead, only asks questions about what the person surfaces in their prayer.

Check out this video of a live session. It’s fairly long and there’s lots of crying but it’s worth a look. It’s of a mom who found her toddler son being strangled on a mini blind chord.

So, if you watched the video, did you see the pattern in what the facilitator said and asked? Did you see that this girl was hearing God. This is interesting stuff. I feel like the Lord has something for us here.

In 1535, Martin Luther, in his writing “A Simple Way To Pray” he said:

“If such an abundance of good thoughts comes to us (when praying) we ought to disregard the other petitions, make room for such thoughts, listen in silence, and under no circumstances obstruct them. The Holy Spirit himself preaches here, and one word of his sermon is far better than a thousand of our prayers. Many times I have learned more from one prayer than I might have learned from much reading and speculation… if in the midst of such thoughts the Holy Spirit begins to preach in your heart with rich, enlightening thoughts, honor him by letting go of this written scheme; be still and listen to him who can do better than you can. Remember what he says and note it well and you will behold wondrous things in the law of God …”

I don’t know how out of context this text is, but it’s relevant. If Theophostic Prayer helps us focus and hear God clearer, then I want that.

I don’t know about you, but I know I block Him out. Even with intentions to hear Him, I block Him out. Many times because I have an expectation or perception of what He wants for me to hear.

On this page, you can read about these Basic Principles below:

1. Our present situation is rarely the cause of our ongoing emotional pain.
2. There is a “Dual Mental Process” going on in each of us.
3. People can hold two or more opposing beliefs at the same time.
4. Feelings are important indicators of our true beliefs.
5. If I believe a lie, the consequence will be much the same as if it were true.
6. To be free of the lies we believe, we must own them rather than deny them.
7. Sinful behavior is often a vain attempt to manage our emotional pain
8. Performance-based spirituality is not spirituality.
9. When we receive truth from God in memories where weharbored lie-based thoughts, we can walk in effortless victory in these areas.
10. Only an encounter with the presence of Jesus through the Holy Spirit can free us from the lies we believe.
11. We are in emotional bondage due to two basic factors – belief and choice.
12. The written Word of God is the standard for validating what occurs in ministry.
13. Lie-based pain can only be removed as lies are replaced with truth, whereas the only remedy for sin-based pain is the cross of Jesus.
14. Mind renewal is a lifelong process.

This is quite a bit to wrap my brain around. I’m sure I’ll get some opposition from this post, but I’m interested.

I have issue with one aspect of this right off the bat. It’s not about the actual process, but with the company not offering this stuff for free. If it’s really God, then why do I have to pay for every manual and workbook. Why can’t I just donate an amount that’s on my heart. I understand that they have to recoup their materials and stuff, but I just got a 9 CD series on the Holy Spirit from a Antioch Community Church in Waco, Texas for $18 (that means $2 per CD, printing and packaging). TPM offers their Basic Training DVD series for $80. You get 7 DVDs and a couple of manuals. I can buy blank Dual Layer DVDs for $3 at Wal-Mart. I guess I have a problem with someone charging so much money for something like this. I don’t pay to go to church, I don’t pay to pray and I don’t pay to read my Bible. Maybe I’m just frugal or something.

Upon further reading, the founder of TPM claims the ministry’s function is “primarily a publishing company that produces training materials, books and video tapes for pastors, mental health professionals and lay ministers. We have distribution centers in several foreign countries and have trained people in over 120 countries worldwide.” That makes sense that they’d charge for it. I still don’t like that. Maybe I’ll borrow the resources from a friend.

Here’s part 1 of what the Christian Research Institute has to say about it:

Theophostic Prayer Ministry (TPM), founded by Ed M. Smith in 1996, is an approach to “mind renewal,” or the healing of emotional pain. TPM is perhaps the fastest-growing method of inner healing or healing of memories in evangelical churches today. After an exhaustive evaluation, the Christian Research Institute (CRI) detects nothing unbiblical about the core theory and practice of TPM. The theory seems elegant in its profound simplicity, and the anecdotal reports of its effectiveness in practice justify further investigation; nonetheless, much more scientific research needs to be done before even the more modest claims of TPM can be validated, and some of the extravagant claims seem unlikely ever to be established.

CRI does have concerns about several peripheral issues regarding TPM, but we have been favorably impressed by Smith’s openness to constructive criticism and change. We caution Christians who practice or receive TPM to be discerning about Smith’s teachings on the sin nature, sanctification, and satanic ritual abuse, and to be aware that, despite major improvements, there are still several aspects of Smith’s teaching on spiritual warfare that CRI does not endorse.

Here is Part 2 of CRI’s research into TPM…the negative aspects, including An Inadequate Explanation for Sin in Believers, A Correspondingly Inadequate View of Sanctification, Excessive and Unsubstantiated Claims, Acceptance and Furtherance of Satanic Ritual Abuse Claims and Unbiblical Spiritual Warfare Teachings and Practices

Have a great day.

What do you think?
1. Do you believe we can put our past behind us?
2. What lies are you believing?
3. Have you experienced Theophostic Prayer?