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-- © GodSpeak International 2006 --
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND CONTRIBUTING RESOURCES
Author: Teresa Seputis <ts@godspeak.net> http://www.godspeak.net

A Hockey Model Of Healing

by Teresa Seputis

Lesson 7
The Dynamics Of The Game

We have been taking a look at healing ministry using the model of an ice hockey game. We have talked about defense, offense, taking hits and the fast pace of the game. We will continue this model in this lesson.

I had mentioned before that there are three offensemen (front line) and two defensive (back line) players and one goalie on the ice. But what I did not mention was that no one player (except for the goalie) stays on the ice the whole time. A typical team will have 4 offensive lines and three defensive lines. Each line plays in shifts--they spend part of their time on the ice and part of it on the bench. The best line gets a bit more ice time and the weakest line gets a bit less. The reasons that they don't keep the best line on the ice all the time is because the players expend their full energy when they are on the ice, and they get tired. It is also because the coach needs to talk to them while they are on the bench, to give them strategies and directions for the game. A good coach will send his team out in shifts, where any one shift is playing full force while the other three shifts are resting and being coached. That way the players will all be able to give him the best when they are on the ice.

I believe God does the same thing with us. He knows that we can't just be out there ministering for Him all of the time. In fact, we need to spend more time in intimacy with Him than we do ministry time. We need to come into His presence to get filled and "re-charged. We need to draw near to Him, to learn to hear His voice more clearly, to worship, to be saturated in His nearness. That is because the anointing and empowerment for ministry comes from that place of intimacy with Him. If we get so busy that we don't spend our relationship-building time with God, then we get worn out and drained and we begin to loose the power that we had gained in intimacy with Him.

God understands that. That is why He gives us "off" time to simply rest in Him and recharge in His presence, so that we will be ready for our next shift. That is where He speaks to us and gives us direction and strategy. Even Jesus drew away from the crowds to have intimacy time with His Father; even Jesus needed to recharge by lingering in the Father's presence. Look at Matthew 14:20-22, which takes place just after Jesus did a big ministry where He fed the 5,000:

20They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 21The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

22Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of Him to the other side, while He dismissed the crowd. 23After He had dismissed them, He went up on a mountainside by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone.

Sometimes we can get confused about what the goal is. We begin to think that the goal is to do ministry instead of to draw closer to God. But Jesus knew the goal, to be close to the Father, to watch and see what He is doing, then to do it with Him. That is why Jesus said, in John 5:19, "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can do only what He sees His Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does." Jesus was not "on" 100% of the time, nor did He minister 100% of the time. The New Testament records many instances where Jesus pulled aside from everyone to be alone with the Father and pray. I believe that is where He got His ability to be able to see what the Father was doing.

Even though a hockey player is not on the ice the whole time, he is still in the game the whole time. It is the same for us. Most of us have a wrong attitude about our "bench time." We tend to think that if we are not on the ice, we are not in the game and we don't have to pay attention to it. But the more skilled offenseman will be on the ice only 1/3 of a game, and the others even less. The same happens for us. While we must always be available to the Lord and obedient to His promptings, He is not going to prompt us for ministry 100% of the time. He will put us out in shifts. Therefore we need to view our "bench time" as still being a part of the game. A lot of people think "God is not using me, I am on the shelf, I am not accomplishing anything for God's kingdom." That is a wrong attitude.

Every player on the team is in the game 100% of the time, even though they are not on the ice 100% of the time. They watch what is going on, they listen to their coach. We need to see our "bench time" as time to get close to the coach (God) and get His strategy for the game. We need to use our non-ministry time to draw close to God, to be refreshed in His presence, to allow His anointing to overtake us and saturate us, etc.

Along that same line, a player needs to stay in good shape in order to be able to play well on the ice. We need to keep up all aspects of our Christian walk, to make sure we are walking in personal holiness, that we are maintaining our intimacy with God, that we are quick to forgive and slow to take offense, etc. If we want to keep moving in God's anointing in healing, we need to keep our spiritual disciplines active--prayer, bible study, worship, etc.

There is an interesting dynamic about getting out of shape. It sort of sneaks up on you. At first you can get by with being a little out of shape and it doesn't seem to effect your game. But suddenly it catches up to you and you can't make the plays any more. That happens in the spirit as well.

When we first start to slide in our personal walk with the Lord, we usually enjoy His full empowerment and anointing for a season. I think that is because the Lord is so gracious and patient. But over time, if we don't come back into that place where we belong with God, the level of power and anointing we move in will often begin to decrease. That is why we should not use our current level of anointing as an indicator of how we are doing in our spiritual walk with God. Instead we should actively and aggressively pursue Him, pushing into deeper intimacy and relationship with Him.

Finally, have to find the balance between listening to their coach and taking initiative on the ice. Yes, the coaches call the shots and the game strategy. But when an opportunity presents itself, the players need to recognize it and take advantage of it before that window of opportunity goes away. Every now and then the other team will make a mistake and one or more players will get a break-away -- a relatively unhindered shot at the goal. It is basically a split-second lead in ice position over the other team. If the players stop to look at the coach or discuss the opportunity with each other, the other team will get in place and the opportunity goes away. The players have to take initiative and make the best of any scoring opportunity when it comes up. In other words, the player has to both listen to the coach and use his own good judgment. He has to know how to read the plays.

The same holds true for us. There are times when God tells us in advance what "play" He wants us to make. He may send us to minister to a specific person or to tell us that He is going to heal people with lung conditions. When He does that, then you want to do what He is showing you to do, and you should expect His power to accompany His command. But there will also be times when you find yourself in a situation. Maybe you are at the airport on a layover and someone near you has a bad asthma attack. You read that this could be a divine setup even though God has not explicitly told you about this encounter. You bring them a cup of water and ask if there is anything else you can do for them. They say "Thank you, no." Then you say, "Would it be ok if I pray for you? I can't promise anything will happen but I have seen God heal six people of asthma this year, so I would love to pray for you and hope that you will be number seven."

They are grateful because you helped them out and they see that you seem to genuinely care for them, so they say, "Sure, go ahead." You lay your and on their shoulder right there in the airport lounge and do a short authority prayer, commanding the asthma to leave in Jesus' name.

The coach did not tell you that this was coming up, but He is standing at the bench smiling because you have recognized and taken advantage of the break-away situation. God is such a healing God and one who loves to win the lost, so chances are pretty good that person will either receive a noticeable partial healing or maybe a complete one. But even if they are not healed, they will walk away from that encounter feeling loved and they will have had a positive experience with the living God, which will more receptive the next time the gospel is presented to them.

Remember, Jesus has given us His authority to heal the sick, and He expects us to use it. He expects us to look to do it the way He did, by seeing what the Father was doing and doing on that... e.g., by knowing how to listen to the coach and recognize and obey His voice. But at the same time, God wants us to be responsive enough to His overall desire (to win the lost and advance His kingdom) that we are able to take our "break-aways" when the opportunity presents itself.

God wants us to be in the game all the time, always listening to Him and always watchful for His leading. Yes, there will be spurts of healing and spurts where you are not seeing many healings. View those non-healing spurts as the time when you are on the bench to rest and to listen to your coach, and be ready to jump back on the ice when the Lord puts your line back on the ice.

Finally, play expecting to win the game. Yes, the enemy is going to try to block your shots at the goal (e.g., interfere with your healing prayer) but that is OK, keep on shooting. Know that the enemy will also take shots at the goal himself by trying to make sick someone that God has already healed. Don't become overwhelmed and don't stop playing the game when that happens. You are on the winning team, so keep playing your game as best as you can and trust the coach to give you the winning strategy.


-- © GodSpeak International 2006 --
-- Do not republish without written permission from <godspeak@godspeak.org> --

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