When you learn to pray for others at an Elijah House School of Christian
Counselling, you hear a lot about 'tracking fruit to root'. It's a
strange phrase; what does it mean? On our 'tree of life' hangs a lot
of fruit - some good and some rotten. The 'rotten' fruit is what takes
you to see a Christian counsellor and may include comments like: t
I can't maintain relationships - they always end in failure. t I can't
trust God; He never speaks to me; I never hear His voice like others
do. t I am always at loggerheads with my boss - it's happens everywhere
I work. t I am not aware of having done anything very wrong, but I'm
always filled with guilt and shame. What's wrong with me?
The counsellor may then help you to track back to any damaged roots
- most often found in childhood. This is followed by prayer to forgive
those who hurt you and to release you from the pain of the wounds
you received.
Elijah House Ministries was founded in America by John and Paula
Sandford, who have counselled and prayed with people for 30 years.
They sensed God leading them to various passages from Scripture. Two
of the most significant passages that He brought to their attention
were:
Honour your father and mother as the Lord your God has commanded
you so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in
the land the Lord your God is giving you. (Deut 5: 16.). The only
commandment that has a consequence! and,
Do not judge or you too will be judged. For in the same way you
judge others, you will be judged, and, with the measure you use, it
will be measured to you. (Matt. 7: 1-2)
They began to see, in the people who came to them for ministry, the
connection between how they had perceived or judged their parents
and how they had consequently responded to life; also how life had
responded to them. What they found was that during childhood - from
conception onwards - the child's perceptions of life, particularly
of mother and father, had built their 'map of life'. This had impacted
on how they later viewed men and women, and also God. If their earliest
experiences had been warm, welcoming and encouraging, they were likely
to embrace life, people and God. This turning towards God would, in
turn, encourage a strong prayer life and give a child or young person
the foundation to cope with life's ups and down. However, if their
experience of life had been negative and fearful, this could cause
an inability to be open, relaxed and trusting with life, with people,
with God. A poor family start may tend to warp the child's perceptions
of life. He or she may tend to be overly timid or overly rebellious
and suffer grave consequences; these experiences start to form the
rotten fruits.
To go back to the 'fruit to root' connection: a tree drinks nurture
from the soil through its roots. If the roots become damaged, the
tree loses the capacity to draw up what it needs from the soil. This
can stunt its growth and it becomes weakened, becomes more prone to
disease and thus bears poor fruit.
We learn early on during an Elijah House Course that the important
thing when counselling someone is not what the parents actually did,
but more how the child perceived his parents' actions or lack of actions.
Therefore, it is always stressed that we are never to blame or judge
parents. Parents normally do the very best they can, although they/we
are never perfect. What is important is the child's perceptions because
from this grew the expectations he or she developed about life.
While engaged in prayer ministry with people, we learn to ask the
Holy Spirit to prompt us to ask the right question showing us exactly
where the problems lie. Later, we pray into the root causes of the
problem. The most important part of this is leading the person to
begin to forgive those whom they perceive as having wounded them -
often parents, grandparents, siblings, people in authority. This act
of forgiveness is a process not to be rushed. It is so vital to the
healing that will follow that it is not helpful to have people just
repeat words that they don't mean. However, we need also remember
that forgiveness is not a feeling; it is a decision and may have to
be made many times before the whole process is complete. It is so
often the case that wounded people harden their hearts in order to
protect themselves against future hurts.
Parents normally do the very best they
can, although
they/we are never perfect
After the counsellee has begun to forgive those who wounded them,
we pray for the heart of the wounded child, asking God to replace
the heart of stone with a heart of flesh. God, in response to our
prayer and the counsellee's prayer, does the rest, beginning to bring
peace and restoration. The questions to ask and the ways to pray are
an important part of our training during an Elijah House School of
Counselling course.
What does this course consist of? It is spread over 18-20 days, split
into 3 terms or sections. The teachings are by video and each section
can be offered either once a week or once a fortnight, or from a Monday
to Friday on a daily basis. Topics covered include: How to recognise
fruit to root patterns, Honouring father and mother, How we see God,
Lack of Basic Trust, How to recognise and pray for the healing of
Depression, Addiction and Burnout.
If you think you may be interested in this type of ministry, I recommend
three books written by John and Paula Sandford, 'the Transformation
of the Inner Man', 'Healing the Wounded Spirit', and 'Restoring the
Christian Family.' I have found this way of prayer ministry to be
very effective in dealing with deep wounds and hurts. Our prayer is
that more people will want to train as Elijah House counsellors so
that we can reach out to more people in His Name.
