I have a couple of believing friends who are pretty solid in their beliefs but come from really horrible backgrounds. Some of them have families who even claim to be "Christian," but in reality, are not born again believers. Plus, occultism/animism is a really common thing here, so many of them have been exposed to these practices. Well, they know some other expat worker friends of mine, and that expat worker called in some of his friends to host a retreat on wholeness prayer so that these kids could deal with their problems. I went along to counsel my friends, and just to be there with whatever they needed. I'd didn't know much about wholeness prayer before, but I sure do now.
This was two days after my trip out of town. I was still recovering with my lack of sleep/exhaustion.
When I was first introduced to this method, it was practiced on me by the expert from out of town. It went like this:
Counselor: Let's open in prayer. Father, help Cassandra know if there is anything in her heart that doesn't feel right today.
(wait a couple of seconds)
Counselor: Is anything heavy on your heart today?
Me: Yeah, fatigue.
Counselor: OK, let's take that to the Lord. Lord, Cassandra has said that she is suffering from fatigue today. Please speak to her and let her know why she's feeling this fatigue and what other factors are involved.
(wait a couple of seconds)
Counselor: Is there anything specific that made you feel this way?
Me, dumbfounded: Yeah, I was out of town sleeping in a bad motel bed with a friend all up against me making me keep the lights on. That's why.
[note: when I disagree with someone's methodology, I really get blunt--let that be a warning]
Counselor (not satisfied with my answer): OK, let's take it to the Lord. Father, help Cassandra know what else is on her heart today as she feels this fatigue.
(waits a few seconds)
Counselor: Has God told you what else you are feeling today?
Me, still dumbfounded: Nope, just tired.
Counselor (not satisfied with my answer): OK, let's take it to the Lord. Dear God, help Cassandra remember some other bad feeling she is having right now.
(waits a few seconds)
Counselor: What about now?
Me, ticked off at this idiotic, unbiblical thing: Nothing.
So that's wholeness prayer. Basically, you think of the sin you're experiencing and try to find the root, which is somewhere in your past. Like this:
Counselor: Do you remember the first time when you really felt this anger?
When I hear this question, I think of things like, "Yes, when I was four and my sister wouldn't let me play in her room."
Hello? The root of my sin of anger today is my horrible sin-steeped heart. Not one event that happened in the past.
So this whole thing made me think of syncretism, the idea that we blend our practices and insert biblical truth. Because, essentially, this is psychology. Sure, God can tell me things on the spot like that, but it can't be certain that I'm just remembering or saying random things. Plus, this is all based on my emotions, since those are so reliable (am I right, women?). I mean, if I'm an unbeliever with no clue about God, I'd probably answer just like they'd want me to.
Now, I will say that I think this is a good psychological tool, and that we can use psychology in our lives, in order to discover things we're harboring in our hearts--SIN--so that we can repent of not forgiving our fathers/mothers, etc. But other than that, please beware. I tell you this because when you see this method in person, it's tempting to buy into. They provide just enough Scripture and drop God's name just enough times (including a few words like "sin," although that is rare) to where it sounds delectable.
Please, flee.
