Participants

What is Prayer Resolution Course 2024?

Online Prayer Resolution Course by Mike Banker in 2024.

Mike Banker: 00:00

Tonight, we're gonna talk about being a safe helper. There's a lot of people who have problems. They all have a list, and they can't resolve it themselves. They may be able to resolve some of it, but usually they can't resolve all of it. They need somebody to help them.

Mike Banker: 00:19

And so that person that helps them, we call the safe helper. So we're gonna talk about being a safe helper. If you have the syllabus, we're on page 115. Let's talk about the prayer resolution participants. K.

Mike Banker: 00:33

When we do a session, who's in the session? Okay. Well, you have the safe helper, and you usually have 2. They're usually a team, ideally a man and a woman. And then you have the hurting one.

Mike Banker: 00:50

And so the 3 of them either meet online or in person. But who else is in that session? Okay. We are not trying by our own strength to solve these problems. We're asking God to join in that session, participate in the session.

Mike Banker: 01:08

And not just Jesus, but we also want the heavenly father and the Holy Spirit, all three parts of the trinity. We want them involved. All three parts of the Godhead are involved. One other participant that can enter into the session, Satan can enter into the session and he can interfere with the session. He doesn't want us to meet and so he's gonna do everything he can to interfere with that session.

Mike Banker: 01:43

So just to give a quick example of how Satan can interrupt the session, one woman, she accused and forgave her dad for something really terrible that he had done. And just after she forgave him, she was so happy. For the first time in a long time, she was at peace and she felt this peace in her heart. But almost immediately, her thoughts turned towards her sister. And so this sense of victory was robbed from her, and she instead was overwhelmed with sadness and even despair talking about suicide so that joy was robbed from her.

Mike Banker: 02:26

And so Satan swept in and and robbed her of that peace at that moment. And so Satan can interfere in a session, and so we need to be aware that that can happen. So let's look at the different the different participants in the session. So the first one, the Heavenly Father. Now without God the Father's involvement, there is no real and permanent healing.

Mike Banker: 02:56

It's his response to prayer that brings the resolution, that brings the healing. Even Jesus himself, when his disciples asked how should we pray, Jesus said, pray our father who is in heaven. And so our prayers are directed to him as our father. So we come to him as his child. We come to him with all our wounds.

Mike Banker: 03:25

We come to him with the reality of the sins that were committed against us and the humble truth of our own part in all of that. We pour our hearts out to him as our heavenly father. Victims of parental betrayal are often reluctant to pray to God, the father. If they haven't rejected God entirely, they've transferred this distrust to the father and they trust Jesus only. So they have a very hard time praying to the Heavenly Father.

Mike Banker: 04:04

So they continually pray to Jesus only. And this is an indication usually that they have been betrayed by their father. So they're not willing to pray to anybody that's a father, not their earthly father and not even their heavenly father. So their thinking becomes distorted. They've pushed aside God the father.

Mike Banker: 04:27

But God the father did not send his son, did not send Jesus to replace him. In fact, Jesus is not seated on the throne. He's at the right hand of the father. We can't cut god the father out of the healing. Each part of the trinity has their own role.

Mike Banker: 04:50

It's important that the hurting one pray to their heavenly father. Oftentimes, the hurting one just prays Lord. But Lord emphasizes our role as a servant. And so we don't feel close to God when we pray, Lord, God wants such a close relationship with you that he wants you to call him father. He wants you to pray to him as father.

Mike Banker: 05:22

So when somebody in a session starts to pray and they pray Jesus or they pray, Lord, we just gently correct them to simply ask them to pray to their heavenly father instead. If it continues to be too difficult to pray like that, we will have them deal with the wrongs that their earthly dad did to them, and then continue with all the other things that they need to deal with. So the hurting one approaches our Heavenly Father as a son or daughter with the expectation that the father's concerned and able and willing to answer their prayer, that the father will heal them, that the father will forgive them, and that the father will do justice on their behalf. And so that's the role of the father. We direct our prayers to the heavenly father.

Mike Banker: 06:24

The second participant in that session is the son, is Jesus. The only reason we can approach God as father with such confidence and boldness is because of Jesus. Because of Jesus, we have the right to claim the father's attention. Our status changed when we believed in Jesus. We became adopted as a son or a daughter.

Mike Banker: 06:54

Because Jesus' blood paid for our sin, we are now able to walk into the presence of a holy God and expect him to hear our prayers. It's because Jesus paid for our sin in full. And so now we can come into our Heavenly Father's presence. It's because of Jesus' blood that we've been adopted as sons and daughters by the father. It is by Jesus' authority and his position that we can approach the father with such confidence.

Mike Banker: 07:33

And Jesus, when we do sessions, he is also our high priest. Christ is present and when we pray he adds his power and authority to our prayers. We know this because in scripture it says, for where 2 or 3 have gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. And those are the words of Jesus himself reminding us that he is present with us when we gather in his name. So his presence adds power to our prayers.

Mike Banker: 08:14

This authority that we have comes from him. This authority, we accept that it is our authority, and it's given to us by Christ. We also need to acknowledge, though, the responsibility we have to use that power wisely. Why does the father listen to our prayers? Why can we expect him to answer?

Mike Banker: 08:44

Because the father himself, so that he will accept our agreement as if it were Jesus' own. And so he's given us the authority to bind and to lose according to Matthew 18. And that authority also includes the power of agreement where 2 or 3 are in agreement. It will be as if Christ himself decided. So it's only because of Jesus that we have this power, that we have this authority.

Mike Banker: 09:20

Without him, we would not have any of it. And so he's very central. Jesus is very central to everything we do. There wouldn't be any resolution for our suffering if it wasn't for Jesus' death and resurrection. And without his position as our High Priest, we would not have any authority or power to resolve the things that trouble us.

Mike Banker: 09:53

So that's the second part is God the Son. The third part then is the Holy Spirit. It's interesting that when Jesus left he said it was better that he go away. How could that possibly be true that it's better that he go away? Well, Jesus himself told us it's better that he go away so that the Holy Spirit could come.

Mike Banker: 10:19

In the PR sessions, we want to acknowledge and accept the presence of the Holy Spirit. In the session though, the Holy Spirit does not take over the session. We choose to work together in partnership with the Holy Spirit. We're not possessed by the Holy Spirit during a session. We work in partnership in the session.

Mike Banker: 10:47

Now Jesus gave the Holy Spirit many different titles. The Holy Spirit's called counselor, teacher, comforter, helper, guide, and Spirit of Truth. Elsewhere in scripture, it calls him the revealer, not just guide, but the revealer. So there's many different titles that have been given that Jesus gave to the Holy Spirit. When we allow the Holy Spirit to actively guide us in the session, the Holy Spirit will help us to see where the wounds have come from, helps us to see what needs to be done, helps us to see the truth, the reality of the situation.

Mike Banker: 11:38

The Holy Spirit reveals the things that are hidden that need to be known in order to be healed. The Holy Spirit reveals sin that has been done. It reveals hurts that have been ignored. And it reveals emotions that serve no purpose anymore, and so they become destructive to us. So the Holy Spirit is guiding us throughout the session, and we have to make sure that we leave space for the work of the Holy Spirit in the session.

Mike Banker: 12:14

That we don't just share our own knowledge or our own feelings and thoughts. Those things are important, but they're not enough. We need God's help in order to resolve things. So the Holy Spirit is with us in an active way when we pray. And Christ's authority is and power is real.

Mike Banker: 12:40

We've been given that power and authority and that power and authority needs to be controlled from above. We need to put that session under the direction and under the control of the Holy Spirit. What happens if we don't do that? What if we just rely on our own knowledge, our own feelings, our own thoughts, our own opinions? If we do that, then something will be missed or there won't be healing at all.

Mike Banker: 13:13

And so we need to include the Holy Spirit in the process in order to make sure it's resolved. We live in the most amazing time in history. During this time, not only do we have God's word, and the Holy Spirit needs something to work with. And so the, we need to study God's Word. But we also, personally, each one of us have the Holy Spirit writing his word on our hearts.

Mike Banker: 13:47

Jeremiah prophesied about a time a time when each person would be responsible for their own sin. He said that there was a saying in Israel that the fathers eat sour grapes, but the sun teeth are set on edge. So he's talking about how the father sinned, the the the consequences are suffered by the children. And Jeremiah said, may it not be so. And he said that there was a time coming when that would no longer be true and that each persons would be responsible only for their own sin.

Mike Banker: 14:25

And I believe that this means any generational sin that we experience, any kind of curse we come under because of others, that that can be resolved, that we don't have to carry that consequence anymore. Because Jeremiah was talking about this time that we live in, the time after Christ came and died and was resurrected. So we have the Holy Spirit and we we should not ignore that. We shouldn't think that the Word is enough. The Word is precious and valuable.

Mike Banker: 15:04

But we need God's Spirit too, not just the Word. But, again, the Holy Spirit needs something to work with. So it's important for us to study god's word, and the Holy Spirit can work through that. Those are words that we have in our hearts. In addition to the three parts of the godhead, who else is in the session?

Mike Banker: 15:26

Well, there's the safe helper. Normally, there's 2 safe helpers. And ideally, it's a man and a woman. It's okay for just one safe helper as long as it's not just a man and a woman working together. We act as safe helpers to the wounded ones when we meet with them.

Mike Banker: 15:49

And we call them safe helpers because they need to be safe and they also need to be helpful. And so that's where that term comes from. We don't call them counselors when we're doing PR sessions. Because when we do PR sessions, we're not acting in the role of a counselor. We're acting in the role of a priest like an old testament priest.

Mike Banker: 16:14

Jesus has consecrated us as priests. Jesus is our high priest according to Hebrews 3. And we are a priesthood of believers also in Hebrews 3. And we are anointed with the holy spirit for this role as a priest. We don't sacrifice animals anymore like the priests of the old testament.

Mike Banker: 16:43

So what does our role look like as a safe helper in the age of grace? Well, we bear each other's burdens. So when we listen to a person's story, we're carrying that burden with them. They confess to us. At a future time, they may be a safe helper for us and we might confess to them.

Mike Banker: 17:06

As a safe helper, we're facilitating their prayers. We're helping them to decide what to pray and how to pray. We are helping them see the sin from the heavenly father's eyes. And we also monitor their prayers to see that they're clear and accurate. An example of this is, let's say, the hearty one prays it says, Heavenly Father, help me forgive my brother.

Mike Banker: 17:43

Well, the question is, you asked your heavenly father to help you. Did he help you? Are you forgiving him, your brother, today? Or you're still waiting for God to help you forgive him? We want to make sure that either forgiveness has happened or he's not ready yet.

Mike Banker: 18:03

It's not happening today. And so that would be an example of monitoring their prayers. It's okay if they're not ready, but we don't want to say that they forgave if they really didn't. And so we monitor their prayers, and we ask questions just to make sure that we understand clearly, what they've done. We want to ensure that forgiveness has truly happened.

Mike Banker: 18:30

We want to ensure that confession is repentant, that they're remorseful, that they're sorry for what they've done, to make sure they're not just going through the steps but actually are remorseful. And as safe helpers in the role of a a priest, we witness their confession, and we also witness their accusations. We build them up. For example, this man, he was dealing with porn and he he went through and accused and forgave those involved in the porn industry and his friends that encouraged him to get involved in porn, and he forgave them. And then he confessed though that it was his decision, that they didn't force him to do anything, that he chose to look at these images and chose to buy these videos and chose to watch these images on Internet, asked God to forgive him.

Mike Banker: 19:39

And he also asked God to cut the tie with any of these women in the in these images and to cleanse him. And he was so relieved after he finished this prayer. But a week later, he came back and he was very upset with himself. He said, I did the same thing again. I sinned again.

Mike Banker: 20:03

I I looked at the porn again. And he said, maybe I'm not a Christian. Wanted to laugh because a non Christian doesn't struggle with sin like this. It was God's conviction by his Holy Spirit that was causing him to struggle with this sin. And so it was proof.

Mike Banker: 20:22

The fact that he was really upset about his sin was proof of the presence of God's spirit in his life. We can build them up. We can remind them that it was God convicting him through the Holy Spirit that make them so miserable and willing to confess their sin. As a safe helper, we bring perspective and we help them clarify the issue. Oftentimes, the hurting one has to deal with things from their childhood, but they remember these things with a child's perspective.

Mike Banker: 20:58

For example, the child never thinks that my parents did something wrong. The child only thinks that they must have done something wrong. But, in fact, sometimes, the parent does something wrong and so they need a perspective. And so the safe helper can help them gain that perspective in the session. As a priest, we can validate that sin has occurred and that payment is required, that this person who wronged you owes you a debt.

Mike Banker: 21:31

So we can validate that to the hurting one. And when the when the hurting one forgives, we can declare that forgiveness has been granted to them because they fulfilled all of God's requirements. We don't have the authority to forgive. God does the forgiving, but we can say that they fulfilled all the steps that God required and so they are forgiven. We can add our authority and power as a safe helper in the role of a priest.

Mike Banker: 22:07

We can add our authority and power to the hurting one's prayers. We can add a witnessing prayer to what they have already prayed. And so these are all the ways that we act as a priest when we when we are a safe helper. We should remind ourselves that we are in this role of a priest when we do a session. We should be mindful of that, and we should be careful with what we do.

Mike Banker: 22:38

We're accountable before God for what we agree to and what we witness as a safe helper. We should not bear witness for something that we do not understand. So, for example, maybe the hurting one has a prayer language. There's no problem with them having a prayer language. But if they pray in their prayer language and there's no interpreter, you can't be a witness to that.

Mike Banker: 23:11

They can go ahead and pray, but as a safe helper, you can't add your witnessing prayer, when they finish. Don't get me wrong. I'm not condemning prayer languages. I'm just saying that you can't be a witness if you don't understand what was said. The same is true for foreign languages.

Mike Banker: 23:32

If you're working with somebody that's, let's say, Spanish speaking is their mother tongue and they pray in Spanish, but you don't know Spanish, you can't witness what they've done. You don't know what they've said. So unless you have a translator, you shouldn't do that. Another aspect is sometimes the hurting one speaks in a very ambiguous way or uses very unclear words or maybe very abstract kind of words. And so you may need to ask them to clarify those things before you can add your prayer.

Mike Banker: 24:13

The person can pray whatever they want to God, but as a safe helper, there may be times when you don't agree with what they prayed. So then don't add your witnessing prayer to theirs. Only add your witnessing prayer when you agree with them. I've never had that happen in a session, but it's possible. So I just want you to be aware of that.

Mike Banker: 24:40

The other person in the session is the hurting one. The hurting one must be a believer when you start sessions or must become a believer before you do the sessions. My wife was working with a Chinese woman, and this woman said she was a Christian. So Denise started sessions with her, but it just wasn't working. It just didn't feel right.

Mike Banker: 25:13

She didn't know what it meant to pray. When she prayed, it didn't seem like she had any relationship with God. So my wife stopped and asked her how she became a Christian. And she said, well, my husband's a Christian, so I'm a Christian too. It was by association that she was a Christian, not by by decision, by her own will.

Mike Banker: 25:35

And so Denise explained that what a Christian is, how to become a Christian, asked her if she'd like to pray and become a Christian. And she said yes. And so she prayed. She became a Christian, and then they started the sessions again. There was a huge difference after that prayer because she now had a status in front of God.

Mike Banker: 26:00

She was now one of God's children, and she had a connection with God that she didn't have before. And so sometimes a person might think they're Christian, and if they say they're Christian, we accept it. But if it doesn't work, then we ask, how they became a Christian. There's another example. This woman was a prostitute, and she got off the streets by joining a group that offered housing and jobs to prostitutes if they left the street.

Mike Banker: 26:34

She is part of this group, and this group had a bible study every week, and she was there. When they would bow their heads to pray, she would bow her head too. So she came for a session and it came to a point and I said, it's your turn to pray. And she said, well, I can't pray. I said, well, why?

Mike Banker: 26:52

She said, well, I'm not a Christian. So here, everybody thought she was a Christian because she bowed her head when they prayed and attended bible study, but she was not. I said, so why aren't you a Christian? She said, well, my uncle is the only person in my family that's a Christian and he molested me sexually when I was a child. So I don't wanna be like him.

Mike Banker: 27:14

I explained to her that God hates what her uncle did and that if she was going to be a Christian, not to be like that. I went on to explain how she could become a Christian, and she prayed and decided to become a Christian that day. First thing that we dealt with then was she accused. Before God, she accused her uncle for what he had done. And then she forgave him, trusted God to do justice for her.

Mike Banker: 27:43

You need to be a Christian or become a Christian at the beginning of this process. The hurting one is a child of God. They are hurting and that's why we call them the hurting one. The safe helper under the guidance in partnership with the Holy Spirit, they take the hurting one through a process. They talk about their experiences that have caused their pain and created their bondage.

Mike Banker: 28:16

And so the hurting one has responsibilities. The hurting one can't just lay on the table like they're having surgery and ask us to, like doctors, to remove the tumor. They have an active part in the session. They are responsible to discover the source of their inner pain. They are responsible to learn how to extend forgiveness and mercy.

Mike Banker: 28:49

They're responsible to learn how to confess and to receive forgiveness. They're responsible to grow in their faith with their heavenly father. They're responsible to expect wholeness and healing from their heavenly father. They have responsibilities. They are not passive in the process, Of course, to learn how to forgive and so on, there's a lot of teaching that goes on during the session.

Mike Banker: 29:24

They have been taught how to forgive, but usually it's not very complete, and so there's a need to teach on forgiveness. There's a lot of teaching, not just for forgiveness that goes on in sessions. So it's the hurting one that approaches God as their father through prayer with the expectation that the father is concerned about them and able and willing to answer their prayer. Now, every hurting one is different. Each one is unique.

Mike Banker: 30:00

For example, each one processes a little differently. So you had this discussion and in the discussion you've maybe asked a question, and for some of them they come back with an answer very quickly. Others, there's this big pause before they're ready to answer your question. And so they need time to think, time to process before they can answer your question. So some process by talking, you ask them a question and they just start talking, and that goes on and on and on.

Mike Banker: 30:39

Well, they may be processing by talking. You need to adapt as a safe helper to them. If they process slowly, you need to be patient and wait until you're ready with an answer. If they process by talking, you have to just listen until they, work it out. Some people process by being silent.

Mike Banker: 31:06

You might sit there in silence for minutes before they're ready to respond to your question or before they have something ready that's ready to say. So you need to respect their uniqueness. You need to adapt to them as a safe helper. So you ask your question, and it's now been a minute, and they haven't responded. Don't fill that empty space.

Mike Banker: 31:35

Don't fill that silence with your your words as a safe helper. Just be patient and wait. Don't try to rush it. If you try to rush it, you try to be efficient. You'll just have to do it again.

Mike Banker: 31:53

Give it time. Be respectful of their way of processing. It's a privilege to be invited into their private inner world. So be respectful and careful while being truthful when you're in that place. And remember, they are precious.

Mike Banker: 32:14

They're made in God's image. If they start to say things like, I've never told anyone this before. This shows that they trust you and you're getting to the deeper issues or the deepest issues that they need to resolve. And so that's a good sign. Now, occasionally, your hurting one may not take responsibility for their part.

Mike Banker: 32:45

Maybe you say, okay. Well, let's let's talk about it. So you feel hurt. So how did that happen? I don't wanna talk about it.

Mike Banker: 32:53

They don't wanna talk about the incident or the issue that caused their pain. Or you tell them how to forgive, but they just aren't willing to to try. They're not accepting their responsibilities. Okay. When this happens, you may have to confront them.

Mike Banker: 33:15

And we're gonna talk about this different ways of approaching the hurting one. There's a separate chapter on that. So we'll talk about that under techniques. If you confront them, you risk breaking their trust. So pray first.

Mike Banker: 33:34

Don't just, out of frustration, confront them. Instead, pray and ask god what you should do. And I say that because I have confronted people a few times out of frustration. It did not go well. In one case, the hurting one went to another safe helper, had to forgive me before they could come back and work with me.

Mike Banker: 33:57

The other person never came back. And so I broke their trust. I lost the opportunity to help them. Be sure it's God directing you not just your frustration. Other times, I prayed and God clearly directed me to confront them.

Mike Banker: 34:12

So so sometimes, it is God directed, sometimes. Yeah. So that's the herding one. The last participant in the session is not welcome but can be present anyway. The world is under the control of the evil one.

Mike Banker: 34:35

The only thing he doesn't control is us, those who have been adopted as God's children. When we do a session, though, we are interfering with his control. We're interfering with his plan. When we help and restore a brother or sister, that's what we're doing. We must remember that we are opposing the kingdom of darkness when we do this.

Mike Banker: 35:04

So we should expect some active opposition from Satan when we do this. Knowing that Satan doesn't want this to happen, that he doesn't want this session to happen, we pray at the very beginning and ask God to protect us and to protect our loved ones, even the things we own and the technology so nothing interrupts this time with God. It doesn't say anywhere in the Bible that Satan is powerless. Satan has power, but in Christ in Christ Jesus, we have more power. Satan is always a potential presence.

Mike Banker: 35:51

He waits for an opportune time and that's when he tries to interfere. So he's going to attempt to interfere even during the session and also between sessions. He can only succeed if we let him. He has no power over us as his children, except the power that we give him through our unrighteousness. As safe helpers, we are called to be rescuers.

Mike Banker: 36:28

This is my life verse. And it's from Acts 26 1718. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and to turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me. That's what we do when we're safe helpers. When we act in that role of priest, this is the work that we're doing.

Mike Banker: 37:01

When we do this, we must operate out of the authority and position that we have in Christ. We cannot go it on our own. It's because of Christ, and it's in his name that we have this authority. So I have a question for you though as a safe helper. Is Satan part of your explanation of the world?

Mike Banker: 37:28

Do you realize as a safe helper that Satan has power and that he can affect even believers if they let him? A lot of Christians seem to think that everything that happens it's because God has decided to do that. Has permitted it to do to do that. But God has permitted Satan to rule the world until Christ returns. But Satan is the one that chooses to do all this sin.

Mike Banker: 38:00

It's like they live as if Satan doesn't exist. That a woman is raped and that that was God's will. That is not God's will. God is not the author of sin. Satan is.

Mike Banker: 38:13

And so we need to recognize that Satan does exist and that he does have power in this world, but he only has power over believers if we let him. It's very important that you understand clearly that Satan exists. We must operate out of our authority and position that we have in Christ. Some examples from sessions. This woman's mind was fuzzy.

Mike Banker: 38:45

Beginning the session. So how are you today? Well, my mind is really fuzzy. Pray and ask God to prevent this fuzzy fuzziness from interfering with today's session. So she did.

Mike Banker: 38:59

She prayed that, and suddenly her mind was clear. Be aware that Satan can interfere in the session. Another case, this woman feels felt fine as we're discussing these incidents in her session. But when it came time to pray, she felt sick to her stomach. That's a very strange response, don't you think?

Mike Banker: 39:24

So she prayed and she commanded whatever it was that was interfering with her healing to leave and it left. She didn't feel sick when she prayed from that point on. And so I have to say that Satan was interfering in that session. Another case, this woman had a twitch with her shoulder whenever she prayed. She didn't have a twitch when you talking with her in the session.

Mike Banker: 39:56

She only had this twitch like her shoulder would jump 3 4 inches on a regular basis but only when she prayed. That's strange, isn't it? This twitch wasn't interfering with her prayer so we didn't deal with it till the end. That's our basic rule is if the in p r we don't deal with spirits until the end. And the reason is that whatever permitted that spirit to be there, whatever the foothold was, it will have been removed through all of the prayers that preceded the command to leave.

Mike Banker: 40:31

And so the foothold will be gone and they just leave without any struggle. So that's our principle is, unless it interferes with the session, leave it to the end and command it to go because the foothold will be gone at that point.