Archive for Healing Codes Coaching
Reframing Trauma
Posted by: | CommentsI was talking with a client the other day and we were marveling at how far she has come in her healing work.
This client, whom I’ll call Debbie, has overcome severe childhood abuse, both physical and emotional, dealt to her practically since birth. What is so amazing is how well she can hear from God now, given that she actually had brain injury. And that hearing from God, plus her commitment to faithfully do The Healing Codes, is leading to much healing.
It occurred to me that it’s quite possible that her extraordinary spiritual attunement might have come, not despite the abuse, but because of the abuse. That God used the very changes in her brain caused by the abuse for his own good purposes. Sort of like how an ugly caterpillar gets transformed into a beautiful butterfly–after falling completely apart in the chrysalis first.
I can’t prove that’s true, but it’s in line with what I’ve experienced in my life and seen in the lives of others: God can take something harmful, and turn it around to accomplish something good. As I wrote about recently, God’s way is to find any small positive thing, and increase it until it overcomes the negative.
It’s also in line with many stories in Scripture. My favorite one is the story of Joseph from Genesis 37-48. At age 17, Joseph (whose name, by the way, means “increase”) was the youngest of 11 brothers–and also his father’s favorite. Out of jealousy, his brothers sold him into slavery and told their father that he was killed by wild animals.
Joseph went through all kinds of trials in Egypt, through no fault of his own. In fact, several times, things got worse for him because he did the right thing. But ultimately his fortune turned around and he ended up being second in command to Pharaoh in Egypt. When a famine drove the brothers to go to Egypt to buy grain, they met Joseph but did not recognize him. You can sense that Joseph wrestled with making his brothers pay for what they did to him, but in the end, he forgave him and reconciled with them.
Joseph’s turnaround came when he saw God’s big picture: that it was because they had sold him into slavery that the family survived the famine. “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives,” he told them.
In my own life, I have pondered how God has used some of my traumas to bring me to the point I am now. Read More→
I’m Listening . . .
Posted by: | CommentsI think I’ve cried at least once every single day for the past several weeks, if not months.
As someone who can’t help but feel and think deeply about everything, I have taken my time to respond to what is happening in the world, but especially in our country, about racism in particular.
I am and have always been about “healing heart issues.” I have worked with clients in 39 countries, and of all races and religions. Because I usually only use phone or Skype voice, I do not see my clients, and this gives me and them the freedom to relate at the heart level.
I have found that no matter the color of one’s skin, the same heart beats in all of us.
Having said that, I know that we are all affected by our culture and the surrounding culture. We have the same heart issues, but we don’t have the same experience. In our culture, there is wide disparity between socioeconomic and racial cultures. We can easily find many areas of injustice that need correcting.
I recently wrote a blog about distorted thinking, with the challenge to filter everything you hear or read—even what comes out of your own mouth—through this lens. Our culture’s polarization, for instance, is a perfect example of most of the thinking styles mentioned. And racism is built on ALL of them.
We need to first confront the distorted thinking, the heart wounds, that exist in our own hearts before we can clearly engage in any conversation about healing on a larger scale. As Jesus said, we need to remove the log in our own eye before we can see to take out the speck in our brother’s eye.
With that said, I am prayerfully asking God to show me any way in which my own heart and my own thinking need to be changed.
And I am listening. Deeply. With humility. Listening to my black brothers and sisters, to my friends and colleagues, to people who demonstrate that they are thinking clearly.
And I want to listen to YOU. If there is anything you have seen in what I have said that shows any kind of distorted thinking like that on my blog, or just plain ignorance, call me out, please. I promise to listen.
I believe that love is what is needed now more than ever. And love listens. Love allows space for another to be heard, without judgment. That is what I have always sought to do with my clients, friends and family.
After talking with thousands of clients the world over, I believe one of the greatest aches of the human heart is to be validated. To be heard.
I want you who read this to know that I believe you should be heard. That your experience matters. That YOU matter. Growing up in a home in which I felt like I didn’t matter because I was different (with the trait of high sensitivity), I get that deep need. “Black lives matter” is a very moving statement to me.
I am also listening to God, searching his word for his perspective. What I find is that to God, ALL lives matter, simply because he created every person. God himself loves diversity. You see this in the very first book of the Bible, Genesis, when he made an incredible variety of things, and you see it in the very last book (Revelation), where the vision is of “peoples from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands” (Revelation 7:9). From beginning to end in the Bible, God loves and values diversity.
And so should we, for that very reason.
God loves diversity!
Years ago in 2006, I wrote on my Abundant Gifts blog a post called “Room for All Kinds.” It moved me greatly to write it, and I offer it to you now: https://abundantgiftsblog.com/room-for-all-kinds/
This is the vision I hold to, and pray for. Before God we all stand equal . . . and beloved. When you know yourself—and every other person–as the Beloved of God, it changes everything.
My work is to help you see that you are the Beloved, and then I trust that God and your own aligned self will make clear the unique contribution you are to make to a world in which God’s celebration of diversity is meant to be made manifest.
Join Me in This Prayer for the World’s Healing
Posted by: | CommentsI invite you to pray, along with me, the following prayers for the world that God has laid on my heart.
There is power in any one person’s prayer, but there is even more power in the combined intent of shared prayer. Our world is in a crisis, but God still is God. He still sits on the throne and has allowed all the things going on in this world for a reason. I believe that part of the reason might be to call people to reach beyond themselves and human institutions, to the only One who can get us through all this.
So please join me in praying these short prayers. My suggestion is that you choose a specific time each day to play my recording by clicking on this link, and pray along with me, out loud, as you read the prayer below.
Dear God, you who are Light in whom there is no darkness at all, you who created the universe and now sustain it with the power of your might, hear our prayer.
Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly ask for your forgiveness and your power to change our ways.
We pray that you would shine your light into every corner of the world, to expose evil, to highlight the good, to heal, and to point the way toward truth and love, and guide our feet in the paths of peace.
We pray that you would awaken in people everywhere a thirst for the truth, a love for the truth, and that they would seek it, and recognize it when they see it.
Heavenly Father, Lord of all, in your love and grace have mercy on us and heal us, and in your power thwart evil wherever it rears its head.
Finally, reveal to each person your divine design. May each of us know very specifically our particular part in carrying out these very requests, and give us the strength, the courage, and the love to do what you’re calling each of us to do.
Amen.
I believe I am seeing answers to these prayers since I have started praying them months ago. I invite you to join me, and to share your answers.
Distorted Thinking Running Rampant
Posted by: | CommentsThe events rocking the world at this time, especially the U.S., are staggering.
I have felt deep pain in my heart space over all that is happening. So much pain, loss, heartbreak. Evil exposed (this is a good thing, but so difficult to witness). Injustice and violence.
The latter two especially make me feel physically ill. I learned recently that there’s a name for this stress that can affect us even physically, that feels almost like post-traumatic stress. It’s the pain that stems from taking in the energy of a tumultuous world (and, for people of color, the energy of passive and active discrimination and racism), and it now has a name: “emotional inflammation.” You can listen to a podcast about this here, or check out the book by Dr. Lise Van Susteren and Stacey Colino here. It helped me to understand how much we are all affected by what’s going on in the world.
(For the 20% with the trait of High Sensitivity, emotional inflammation is almost unavoidable; we take in so much more, and process it at such a deep level.)
The problem is, there are many narratives out there. So many nuances to an issue. So many people twisting the facts to fit their own narrative (or ignoring key facts). I feel mentally and emotionally exhausted just thinking about making my way through all of it to the truth.
But I am committed to doing so, through prayer, as God leads. I want to be part of the solution, not the problem.
One thing I notice, among the maelstrom of media, social and otherwise, is how rampant the dysfunctional thinking is behind so much of the narratives. When a friend sent me a link to a very helpful graphic on “unhelpful thinking styles,” I began to apply it not only to my life, but to what I was hearing and reading. Read More→
Heal Yourself As Well as the Collective?
Posted by: | CommentsI am seeing an interesting phenomenon with my clients and friends, especially those with the trait of High Sensitivity: it seems like somehow we are all taking on a bit of the overall energetic “spillage” from all that’s going on in the world right now.
How this shows up in clients varies, but many of us are feeling things like “heartache, anxiety, grief” as well as the fear, loss of control, etc.
Some clients are finding that issues, including physical issues, that had been healed before are now showing up again. Others are finding it hard to pinpoint any memories of their own, but they nonetheless feel some sort of generalized and/or anticipatory negative feelings.
I believe what’s happening is we are experiencing what authors Dr. Elise Van Sustenan and Stacey Colino call “Emotional Inflammation.”
There may be a very positive side to this, though. I think that as we heal ourselves, we are also in some way contributing in a very real way to the healing of the collective. To the extent that we’re tapping into that, is the extent to which our own healing will help the world.
If all you feel you can do right now is focus on your own healing, that’s OK. Doing just that is making a contribution that may be much more than more “concrete” acts of service.
And if you would like some personalized coaching, check out HealingCodesCoaching.com. The Healing Codes and Immanuel Prayer are exactly what is needed for this issue.
Tips to Navigate the Roller Coaster of Now
Posted by: | CommentsI was talking to a friend for the first time since this global shutdown came upon us.
“How are you doing?” she asked.
I answered, “Well, you know . . . it’s up and it’s down, good days and bad days, and today is not such a good day. The roller coaster ride of now.”
She repeated my sentence word for word, laughed, and said, “You have just nailed it.”
Up and down . . . good days and not so good days . . . the roller coaster ride of now.
And—the thing is—it doesn’t seem to matter what’s really going on.
For instance, a lot of great things are happening in my personal life right now. And in my clients’ lives. (Stay tuned, I have some real miracles to report!) I am focused on the positive, especially after last week’s revelation about how God searches out the positives and expands them. I am genuinely excited about coming into that space with him and allowing him to do that in my life, my relationships, my work.
And yet . . . yet the angst of the world’s suffering still seems to break in, even when I don’t watch the news much. It’s probably a factor in why I’m still easily triggered, like I was on Mother’s Day.
That Sunday held many wonderful things: my son and husband fixed something for me that delighted me, we had a nice meal with my son, the dog was here to play with.
However, a conversation with a relative had triggered me, and I just couldn’t get over it. I tried as best I could to focus on the positives, which did keep me from externally reacting. No one knew how lousy I felt inside.
The heaviness persisted until the next day, when I had that conversation with my friend. Somehow having her say she felt the same way, and knowing she really understood, lifted things a bit for me. Of course I worked on what was triggered with The Healing Codes and healing prayer, and that helped too.
In the end, though, I just had to go through it. Once I realized it was grief that was triggered, I just had to let those waves of grief roll over me, without fighting it.
The next day was better. And the day after that—well, the roller coaster ride continued, another wave rolled over, to mix my metaphors.
(Since it’s a mixed-up time anyway, it feels appropriate to mix my metaphors!)
So my friend, if this describes your journey as you attempt to slog through this unprecedented time, you are not alone. Someone said, “We are all in the same storm, but not in the same boat.”
It’s good to remember we’re not in the same boat. We all have our own “boats” to navigate, and it’s OK to realize that’s our first responsibility, to make sure our own boats stay afloat.
CC BY-ND by David McDonald45
It’s also good to realize that everyone is on overload right now, to one degree or another. We are all navigating this weird mix of constant change and uncertainty, while at the same time, sheltering at home for so long, everything is somewhat the same day to day. Too many of the events we looked forward to, too many of the everyday things that provided a break in our days (like seeing friends, or attending church or–getting our hair done!)–these are no longer possible until who knows when.
Seems like a stressful mix. A grief-filled mix. And the stress and grief spill out from everyone.
Many of us, especially the Highly Sensitive, are prone to taking on some of this negative energy that is projected out from other people (and is stoked constantly by the news media). One author calls it Emotional Inflammation: “a state not unlike post-traumatic stress disorder, but one that stems from simply living in today’s tumultuous world.”
If this feels like you, I have a visualization that was given to me in an Immanuel Prayer session some time ago. It has proven useful to me, and may be to you.
The visualization is simple: picture that your heart is actually a hole, open in front and back. You might even want to put your hands like so in front of your chest, to make it more conscious.
CC BY-NC-ND by Strep72
In my original vision, Jesus was behind me, like the catcher behind the mound as I was “up to bat.” Whatever came at me went straight through this heart hole, and Jesus caught it. Then he took care of it.
Some of the things he just threw away. Some of the things he tossed back to someone else. Sometimes he would give it back to me, saying, “This is something for you to deal with,” such as forgiving another person. And the rest—well, he knew what to do with it. I could leave it in his hands.
Now, especially in the mornings, I feel like a lot is coming at me. I suspect much of what I feel on any given down day is probably not even mine. I consciously open up my heart space, front and back, and picture God behind me, catching whatever it is and taking care of it. This helps me with the sense of heaviness I often wake up with these days, as if during sleep the unhealed energy of those I’ve been exposed to has settled upon me. Now at night I pray that this process of energy passing through me to God would happen during sleep, and it has helped me wake up feeling more refreshed.
Hearing bad news troubles me. I can’t help it; I’m a Highly Sensitive empath. When I learned that an 18-year-old autistic girl from our area went missing as she walked her dog in a flooded area, I immediately felt the anguish of her family. I had to let that pass through me with the prayer: “through me to you, Lord. Take care of everything.”
CC BY-NC by Pat McDonald
As you ride the waves of this storm that’s engulfing the world, those waves will take you up and down. Remember that you are not alone. We are all riding the waves. If you’re have a not-so-good day, it’s OK. Your feelings are valid, they are shared, and you can let them pass through you. The feelings are like the weather; they will change. Good feelings, bad feelings, both kinds will pass as we let them wash through us.
And for those feelings that are not even ours, that spill over onto our boat and threaten to sink us—let those pass through your heart space to the Lord. He is quite capable of taking care of all of it.
That belief is my anchor. I hope it can be yours, too.
If you would like personalized help in navigating your “boat” through these turbulent times, I’m just a few clicks away at HealingCodesCoaching.com. I’d love to come alongside you as your healing journey mentor.
A Mantra to Lead Us Through Turbulent Times
Posted by: | Comments“Just because things aren’t the same, doesn’t mean they can’t still be good.”
These words led me out of grief months ago. Now they keep coming back to me. They feel like the mantra needed for speaking hope into these turbulent times. They feel like the exact roadmap for creating a future that is built on hope, gratitude, and resilience.
“Just because things aren’t the same, doesn’t mean they can’t still be good.”
Things are not the same now. At all. As I’ve said a lot lately, we do need to allow ourselves to grieve that. We cannot paste a smile on and pretend things are OK, or that they will magically soon return to what they were.
Yet . . . the invitation is to believe that life can still be good. The challenge is to actively and consciously look for the good that still exists.
The foundation for this, for me, are certain very relevant promises from God’s Word:
- The promise that God knows the plans he has for each of us, and that they are plans for good, not evil, to give us a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11).
- The promise that he is always working things together for good for those who trust him (Romans 8:28).
- The promise that “God is a very present help in times of trouble, therefore we need not fear, though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling” (Psalm 46).
- The faith that God is both before me and behind me: “the LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged” (Deuteronomy 31:8) and “surely goodness and mercy shall pursue me all the days of my life” (Psalm 23:6).
The great hope of faith is that even suffering is not meaningless. That a benevolent, wise God is always at work to redeem what was ruined, to restore what was lost. (Sometimes he restores even more than was lost, though it may take a very different form.)
See if you can test this from your own life. Can you look back on a difficult experience and now, in hindsight, see some good that came out of it?
I’ve mentioned before the tragedy of when my friend and her husband were killed. There was nothing good about that in itself. However, I saw some good come out of it.
For instance, some of what was given to me afterward (e.g., the vision of “King Jesus facing down evil“), sustains me now. I am learning how to deal with grief in a healthy way for the first time in my life, and that enables me to help others. I experienced amazing support from certain friends, which is precious to me. Their example has shown me how to “be there” for others in their pain. I could go on.
I encourage you to take some time to reflect on the positives that have comes from some difficult times in your life. If you’ve taken my earlier advice and started a Gifts Journal, write those experiences down. (You can even label them “disguised gifts.” They didn’t feel like gifts at the time, but now you can see how God fashioned something good out of them.)
my current gifts journal
Then, keep the positive momentum going by daily taking note of anything good you experienced in the day. Choose a nice-looking notebook or journal you will enjoy writing in. Make quick notes–just enough to jog your memory later. Your English teacher will not read this!
When you need a pick-me-up during these trying days (I know this has been a roller-coaster ride for me), take out your Gifts Journal and reread the chronicle of God’s good hand in your life.
“Just because thins aren’t the same, doesn’t mean they can’t still be good.” Capture the goodness!
Then, please share it! Comment below, or share on the Healing Codes Coaching Facebook page. Let’s together start a chronicle of witness to God’s compassionate hand guiding us through this time. He knows how hard this is, and he desires to bring us joy and hope to strengthen us and see us through to a miraculously Better Normal.
And it you need personalized help with the heart issues that block you from joy and seeing the gifts, please check out my coaching at HealingCodesCoaching.com. I’d be honored to be your healing journey mentor.
Resilience: The Hidden Invitation of Exceptional Times
Posted by: | CommentsAs I write this, many people from all over the world have been “sheltering in place,” to one degree or another, for at least a month.
In that time, we have all been thrown into collective grief and shock, because the changes have happened so swiftly, so totally.
Every aspect of our lives have changed—forever.
Things will never be the same.
We need to grieve that. There are some days when grief looms large indeed for me.
Grief not only for what I’ve lost, but as a Highly Sensitive empath, I also feel the pain of countless others who are suffering.
Suffering the loss of loved ones. Loss of work. Loss of a business into which they have poured themselves.
And I can’t even think of the children who are abused, trapped in homes with parents who formerly could not bear the stress, and who now are at the breaking point.
Or other victims of domestic violence.
For everyone, a way of life has been changed forever, more or less, in one way or another.
How do we cope? Is there any way to come out of this crisis stronger?
I believe there is. If we can embrace the hidden invitations of this strange time, we will develop strengths that we can bring into the “new normal” we will soon, we hope, be able to forge.
What we need is resilience. Here are two steps to develop your resilience.
Step One: Find the Joy Amid the Suffering
The first hidden invitation, and a big part of the healing process, is to learn to find joy even in the midst of the suffering.
Joy? In the midst of suffering? Is that possible? Read More→
Magical Moments in the “Not Normal”
Posted by: | CommentsLast week we celebrated Easter–Resurrection Day. When I went outside in my garden, the hyacinths were in bloom and there was even a butterfly on the blossoms. Spring was coming! After such a long winter, I was more than ready. A gardener friend told me it was unusual to see a butterfly this early in the season.
On my walk, I reveled in the robins bobbing along the ground, the magnolia bush with its delicate blossoms.
This was the world before COVID-19. Full of hope, full of life, expecting spring to come. (I speak metaphorically, as obviously COVID-19 hit well before April 12.)
Then, on April 15: SNOW! And on April 17: even more snow!
Here’s our home after the snowfalls.
Snow in the middle of April is NOT “normal,” even in the Midwest.
It felt like, “When will spring ever come? What will happen to the daffodils and the hyacinths?”
(It feels like, “When will this tiresome shelter-in-place ever end?)
And yet . . . when I went on my walk, I was struck by the unusual beauty of snow on green plants and daffodils, and on the tree branches.
I don’t have a video or a picture of what happened next, because it happened too quickly.
As I walked along the side of our tree-lined street, suddenly the wind blew, and big blobs of snow from the trees rained down all around me. It was not like regular snowflakes; these were much larger, and they were beautiful.
It was a magical moment, especially as I lifted my head to look up, and the snow blobs gently fell on my head and face. Somehow it felt like a blessing.
I would not have experienced this magical moment apart from this unwanted snowstorm that came when I was longing for spring. I’m so glad I didn’t miss it!
I didn’t miss it because I did not hole up inside, pouting about the snow, sighing over what it might do to the flowers. I was present. Present to whatever the moment would bring.
I went out to experience and discover whatever was, rather than what I wanted it to be.
So I got my magical moment. A moment in time when the unexpected happened–an unusual snow shower, exquisitely beautiful, at a time when it “shouldn’t” have been snowing, according to “normal” expectations.
Now, during this unprecedented shutdown of spring 2020, there is no “normal.” We are in an unusual time, an exceptional time, a perplexing time, even a fearful time. A very “not normal” time.
But I’m convinced that even in this unusual, exceptional, perplexing and even a fearful “not normal” time, there are gifts. Gifts that wouldn’t be possible in more “normal” times.
What “magical moment” might be there for you, right now, right here, even in this time of not normal shutdown?
Grab them. Look for them. Write them down daily. Savor them.
And remember–this too shall pass. By the end of the day on the second day of snow, the several inches of snow were melted. We did not have to shovel the driveway.
And the daffodils, heads bowed in peaceful submission, still showed strong and beautiful.
This unusual, exceptional, perplexing and fearful time will not last forever. We will get through this. There will be a new “normal.”
What “magical moments” have you experienced, even in the midst of the “not normal”?
Share your stories below, or on my Facebook page!
Aligning with God’s Dream for Your Life
Posted by: | Comments‘There are far, far better things ahead than
any we leave behind.’ –C.S. Lewis
I wrote this on New Year’s Eve, 2019. But this process of evaluation and aligning yourself with God’s Dream for your life can be done any time.
I love this time between Christmas and New Year’s Day, when everything slows down and there’s time for reflection.
I’ve seen some excellent suggestions for reviewing the past year/decade and welcoming the new, such as this “Simple Guide to Reviewing 2019 and Creating Your Dream 2020.”
But as I was thinking through my own answers, I realized that I don’t only want to pursue my dreams. I want to align myself with God’s Dream, God’s plan, God’s purposes. My dreams may or may not come about. But God’s dream . . . God’s dream for me will always happen, as long as I listen and cooperate rather than get in his way.
What I’ve done over the past decade (help people heal their heart matters)–that was God’s dream. I was an editor and publishing coach who was, frankly, burned out on the whole publishing industry. I desperately needed a change. I had no idea that I had any gift for helping people heal. NO IDEA. I “happened” to listen to an interview about The Healing Codes, eventually got the Healing Codes Manual, did the Codes, had the mini stroke (TIA), went through the procedure to close up the hole in my heart, only to find it had already “spontaneously” closed up in the 4 months I had been doing The Healing Codes. I contacted Alex Loyd, he asked me to work with him to get The Healing Code published, and the rest is history. Thousands of people helped, and a whole new direction launched for me that has proved wildly fulfilling.
It was God’s dream. God, “who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us . . .” (Ephesians 3:20). I had no idea any of this was even possible.
Now, I feel on the cusp of discovering a new dream he has for me. And I’m very excited about it.
How do we get in touch with God’s dream for us? Below are some steps to take. Everything starts with Connecting. Once were are connected to God, we can receive his messages through our own spirit, as informed by prayer and His Word, as well as our own past experiences with God. I can also ask my body, through the subtle energy testing I’ve learned to do. The spirit and the body tap into an intelligence that goes beyond consciousness, I believe.
Then, we do the next thing. Take the next step that is clear. God’s leading me to my new direction more than a decade ago happened when I kept taking the next natural step.
The very first step is to Connect with God.
This may not be as easy as it seems. Many of us don’t really know who True God is. I say “True God” because I believe there is a true God that exists whether we believe in him or not, and he is beyond any distorted filters that cloud our vision. These filters stem from how our parents treated us. They were, after all, God to us as babies and young children. If we were not treated as if we mattered, if we were abused or neglected, then it’s hard for us to emotionally connect with God.
However, I suggest you keep trying. Ask True God to reveal himself. He desires to do so. Keep an open, humble heart. Learn about who he really is from the Scriptures, which is where he revealed himself. (You may need a little help with this. Get a modern translation, such as the English Standard Version, that is still true to the original language. Just read with an open heart, starting with the easier books: Psalms, and/or the Gospels. My experience is that Scripture is a living Word, if we open ourselves to God communicating to use through it. Remember, he’s seeking you more than you’re seeking him!)
Once you connect with God, however imperfectly, here are some questions you can use in this process of asking God to reveal his perspectives, his plans, his goals. Because I am a word person, certain words have come to mind as a focus point. I also like to address God by the many names and images he has given us.
- Release. Lord God, what do you want me to release from my life, things that no longer serve me or your purposes for me?
- Restore. Heavenly Father, is there anything that was lost, stolen or taken from me, that you desire to restore to me?
- Renew. Creator God, is there anything that has gone into hibernation or even died, that you want to renew to new life? Is there anything brand-new that you want to create, that is beyond anything in my awareness now?
- Heal. Jesus, what would you like to heal in my life? What old wounds that get triggered, what negative patterns do you desire to apply your power to heal? (I have realized I cannot do this on my own. I need God’s knowledge, wisdom, and power to find, open and heal deep-seated wounds. I get hints, through the things that triggered me. But only God knows the true source of my issues.)
- Infuse. Holy Spirit, which of your wonderful qualities would you like to infuse into my spirit, that will flow to body and soul to continue the healing? (Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, trust, gentleness, humility, hope?)
- Align. Heavenly Father, what actions do you want me to take that would best align me with what you want to Release, Restore, Renew, Heal, and Infuse in me? Are there particular people you want me to connect with, or causes that will move me toward your dream for me? (There’s a time for waiting on God, but when he gives you the next step, it’s time for action. “Nothing happens until something moves.”–Robert Ringer)
These questions excite me. I plan to spend New Year’s Eve and/or Day reflecting in my journal on these, and talking to my husband about them.
We are heading toward the year 2020. My prayer is that you will see with clear, 20/20 vision, God’s Dream for you. Or at least the next steps, which is often all he reveals at any given time.
I think I already have hints of what God intends for me.
Once in Immanuel Prayer, I got the image of Jesus and me sitting on a potter’s bench. He was behind me, his arms around me, his hands on mine guiding my hands on the lump of clay. I know nothing about making pottery, which is just where Jesus wanted me: totally dependent on his guiding me. At the time, I had no idea what we were making. I was to just yield to the process, to his guiding me. Yield to the intimacy of his closeness, arms around me, hands on mine.
A few days later, he did reveal what we were making: “A vase for flowers (beauty). Two mugs–one for just being present and enjoying a hot drink, one for holding your pencils and pens, because you are a writer. And a bowl for fruit–I intend you to be fruitful. Finally, a pitcher for water–to offer a cool drink to those who are thirsty.”
I look forward to finding out in the coming year all the ways these symbols will be manifested.
Ways to go deeper:
- If you would like help in Releasing, Healing, Infusing or Aligning with God’s purposes, his Dream for you, contact me for some coaching at my HealingCodesCoaching.com site.
- For more spiritual perspectives on healing go here.
- Or, learn more about Immanuel Prayer, a process in which you can connect with Jesus directly to discern his dream for you.
