“The two essential categories needing ministry and wounding and brokenness.”- John Eldredge
As John Eldredge concludes Chapter 15 of Moving Mountains, he explores the categories of wounding and brokenness. John believes it is important to draw a distinction between the two.
1. Wounding. John compares wounding to taking an arrow to the heart and soul. Never diminish the wounds you have received because the wounds you have received pale in comparison to stories you have heard about the wounds of others. The author emphasizes: “Minimizing the impact of a wound never heals it. Jesus cares about it all.”
Mr. Eldredge then presents a basic “there is a way things work” approach to healing prayer:
- inviting the presence of Jesus into the wound specifically
- forgiving the one who wounded- a moment you don’t want to rush through
- renouncing the message that your wound isn’t important, the lie, breaking any agreement with it
- inviting the presence and healing love of God there
2. Brokenness. When Jesus announced the beginning of His ministry, He quoted from Isaiah 61:1- “He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives, release from darkness for the prisoners.”
The Hebrew word shabar was used by Isaiah elsewhere in his writing to describe actual breaking. So Isaiah is talking about a literal breaking of our “inner” hearts.
As we walk with God and recognize His voice, He is able to raise the deep brokenness from our younger places to the surface. We are after an undivided heart- integration. We want to be made whole again.
In The Healing Presence, Leanne Payne defines the nature of healing prayer:
“Healing prayer is not the ‘instant fix’, nor the bypassing of slow and steady growth. It is that which clears the path and makes such progress possible.”
Today’s question: What wounding and brokenness have surfaced following your ministry downsizing or vocation loss? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Guard your heart”