“The one who breaks open (Parats) will come up before them; They will break out, Pass through the gate, And go out by it; Their king will pass before them, With the Lord at their head.” Micah 2:13

Parats – Hebrew meaning to break out (violently), to burst open, to burst out from an enclosure, to break open, to pop open (i.e. a Jack in the box bursting open)

One of the forms of Prayer that is practiced as part of the Prayer Ministry of our church is called “Restorative Prayer”. It is the prayer identified in James 5:13-15

“Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up.”

As I have mentioned in a previous post, this is a charge the Elders of our church takes very seriously. However, they are small in number. So, in order to serve a large congregation, they have commissioned the Prayer Ministry Team led by our Pastor Gaylord to be available to serve those with individual prayer needs. Over the years we have seen God respond to these prayers prayed over individuals in many tangible and powerful ways.

A recent example was a case where Tim, the pastor of our Youth Ministry, reached out to Prayer Team Leader Mike for the team to pray for Joel, a dedicated youth leader who was scheduled to lead worship at the upcoming Youth Retreat. Joel is a gifted musician who also loves serving kids, whether it is as a music teacher in the public school system, or as a leader in the youth program.

Unfortunately, Joel had been suffering for weeks with some kind of ear problem, causing significant pain and loss of hearing in one ear. The doctors could not seem to find a remedy for the situation. Obviously, for someone who plays and directs music this was a big problem and source of real frustration.

The team met with Joel. Joel’s attitude was awesome. He acknowledged that while still suffering, God had already brought some relief to the situation. His faith and belief had not wavered and he was ‘all in’ for having God show up in whatever way He would during this prayer time. He shared what was going on and as part of filling us in He said that the doctors were now at a loss and hoped that what was going on in his ear would be “Popped” open. If this didn’t happen then he would likely be facing surgery.

As a practice, I try to pray before these Restorative Prayer Sessions to ask for God’s leading and guidance into scripture. In this case, without knowing the details of Joel’s ear problem I was led to Psalm 40 and then as I prayed the word “Popped” came into my mind. Not the sound but the word. Hmm? Was this relevant to how we should pray? Now, Joel’s mention of the word “Popped” peaked my faith.

We prayed over Joel and poured into him all God was giving us – including how God had and will use this to quiet the outside noise for him to hear God more clearly. Joel might then be even more effective in impacting the ministry that he and God so mutually loved. We concluded our prayer by laying hands on Joel and praying for God’s healing to be complete – that God would indeed break through (Parats) and the damage that was blocking his ear would be completely “popped” open.

We left the prayer room all blessed by our time, though Joel did not experience any further relief. His ear was still blocked. It was Youth Ministry night and Joel went right from our prayer time to sharing a message with the kids. As I drove home I felt certain we’d be hearing from Joel about that “popping”.

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Why did I feel so certain? Perhaps the certainty came from years earlier when praying for our Pastor Dan. Dan had come into a prayer meeting with terrible back pain. He looked like an old man, bent over and hobbling around.

We prayed for him and I heard the word “Pop” come into my mind. So, we prayed that God would “Pop” Dan’s back into place and heal him completely. We left the meeting with Dan still bent over and in pain.

However, when I got home I picked up a message from Dan excitedly sharing that after the meeting when he climbed into his car, his back distinctly ‘popped’. His back was corrected and the pain was completely gone.

Back to praying with Joel

Later that evening. I got a a text from Prayer Team Leader, Lori, sharing that her husband was at the Youth Meeting and heard Joel speak. Joel concluded his message and reported to the kids what the Prayer Team had earlier prayed over him. He then testified that with about 5 minutes left in the message his ear “popped” open and his hearing was fully restored. Latest report after a powerful youth retreat – Joel’s hearing is 100%.Awesome!

Faith Triggers?

All of the how, when and why of God choosing to heal as He does is a mystery to me. In the two cases above, one can easily argue that these ‘healings’ happened as a natural occurrence – that both would have eventually popped open or popped into place. True.

The issue is more about God triggering our faith to then further establish us in our faith. It is all a part of God desiring to be more active and even interactive in our lives. Jesus did some crazy stuff – smearing mud, using a wet finger to poke an ear or touch a tongue. Why did Jesus say and do some of the things he did that often preceded healing in peoples lives? One possible reason, as with God dropping the word ‘Popped’ into my mind, is that Jesus used a tangible thing to trigger a greater level of faith in the person. God then encourages even greater faith with a recognizable response.

The Rhema of God

The 2 Greek words used in the New Testament for “word” are Logos and Rhema. Both words are actually spoken words but Logos is in the context of a prepared speech and used referring to Jesus as the eternal word, as well as considered referring to God’s written word – the Bible.

Rhema, however, is considered by many as referring to the utterances God speaks directly to our hearts, minds and spirits. If true, then what Paul writes in Romans 10:17 – “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word (Rhema) of God.” is God’s words spoken to us (always consistent with God’s written word) and then through us, being a particularly powerful way for God to bolster faith.

The Bible verses God led me to when praying for Joel was Psalm 40: 5-6a saying, “Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works Which You have done; And Your thoughts toward us Cannot be recounted to You in order; If I would declare and speak of them, They are more than can be numbered. Sacrifice and offering You did not desire; My ears You have opened.”

God displays His wonderful works in many ways. But, for me, there is nothing that builds me up in my faith more than hearing a word (Logos or Rhema) that I trust has a specific purpose from God, to then see it play out in a wonderful work by God.

It’s great stuff. But, if you don’t believe me, just ask Joel or Dan if they have ever experienced anything like that.

Something might just “pop” into their minds.