Why We Do the TPM Process

by Feb 15, 2017

If It Ain’t Broke Don’t Fix It

Key Concepts

There is an old adage that says, “If It Ain’t Broke Don’t Fix It.” Many people view emotional pain as a problem to be fixed, and seek prayer ministry because they want their bad feelings to go away. The problem with this is, painful emotions are not bad or broken and do not need to be fixed. They are serving a God created purpose and offer great benefit.

Some people misunderstand Transformation Prayer Ministry to be a means to “fix” negative emotion and seek help for this. TPM is not for the purpose of pain management or resolution. Emotional pain plays a very important role in the TPM process. Without the emotional pain TPM would not accomplish what it does. Pain is not a problem to be fixed;  pain is an indicator of lie-based belief, which is the real problem. While many people believe emotional pain to be their problem, TPM is focused upon helping people identify the lies that produces the emotional pain.

Unfortunately, this idea that the TPM process is a tool for pain management was implied in the earlier years of the development of this training.  Over time, however,  we have come to believe otherwise. The purpose of TPM is to cooperate with what God is doing in each of our lives, to expose our lie-based beliefs and replace them with His truth – not to resolve painful emotion.

TPM provides a means or a process by which ALL members of the Body of Christ may intentionally and purposefully cooperate with God in His process of refining their faith, thereby, renewing their minds, and transforming their lives.

This understanding casts a much wider net when it comes to who benefits from TPM. Today “T.P.M.” is no longer the Troubled People’s Ministry.” The TPM PROCESS itself is a purposeful and intentional life-skill afforded to every believer who desires to walk in truth and freedom. The TPM PROCESS (what we do in a ministry session) is understood in the context of the PRINCIPLES and PURPOSE of TPM.

All members of the Body of Christ are called to be “… transformed by the renewing of your mind…” (Rom. 12:2) All people believe lies that cause them to feel such things as fearful, anxious, worried, overwhelmed, stressed, powerless, helpless, angry, depressed, dejected, alone and unloved. There is no escaping what we feel, since we feel whatever we believe.  So changing what we feel is not the goal of TPM and is not even possible apart from changing what we believe.

 

“To Know Him…”

Key Concepts

  • If we as believers are not spontaneously living and experiencing the fruit of His Spirit, then something is amiss.
  • God is highly invested in helping us to identify what is hindering us from knowing Him and experiencing the fruit of His Spirit.
  • When we are in the proper position to receive the truth, God will graciously grant it.

 The heartfelt desire of every believer –whether he realizes it or not– is to experientially know Christ. The apostle Paul stated this calling when he declared, “I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Phil. 3:8) The effortless presence and expression of the fruit of the Holy Spirit (“love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” – Gal. 5:22) is evidence of our walking in this reality. Every person whether believer or not desires to know love, joy and peace.  However, not all believers come into this realization. If we as believers are not spontaneously living and experiencing the fruit of His Spirit, then something is amiss.

The good news is this: God is highly invested in helping us to identify what is hindering us from knowing Him and experiencing the fruit of His Spirit. As strange as it may sound, a primary means through which He brings this about are the trials and difficulties of life that we tend to resist and try to avoid. Typically, we view our trouble as a drudgery and an obstacle to merely endure and get through. This perspective robs us of the divine benefit that God has in mind when He allows us to experience trouble.  (Heb. 12:11).  (Click here for more about the fruit and transformation.)

Nothing stands between us and the truth that God desires us to know other than our own belief and choice. When we choose to place  ourselves in a position to receive, He will persuade us of the truth in our hearts. God is not withholding any good thing from us. As a matter of fact He has already  “… blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ…” (Eph. 1:3). Just because this truth may not feel true does not make it any less true. Truth is the truth no matter whether we believe it or not. However, we will feel whatever we believe and our “truth” will dictate our reality. However, when we are in the proper position to receive God’s truth, He will graciously grant it.

 

A Re-framing of Life Crisis and Difficulty is Needed

Key Concepts

  • As long as we view our trials and troubles as a drudgery to endure, we will miss the eternal benefit. We must re-frame them as God-provided and God-orchestrated opportunities for faith refinement and mind renewal.
  • As we come to genuinely recognize God’s handiwork in the midst of the refiner’s fire, the flame ceases to be a threat and takes on a whole different meaning.
  • God’s preordained redemption was delivered through the wicked free willed choices and behavior of evil people. In like fashion, God “causes all things to work together for the good…”(Rom. 8:28) for us who submit to His “… mighty hand.” (1 Pet. 5:6-7)

 

If we are to benefit from the difficulties and crises we all encounter, we must re-frame them as God-provided and God-orchestrated opportunities for faith refinement and mind renewal. As long as we view our trials and troubles as a drudgery to endure, we will miss the benefit.

The Apostle Peter saw God’s purpose of refinement in the persecution that the early church experienced. He understood that persecution provided a divine service being orchestrated by God’s “mighty hand.” In their suffering,  he encouraged them to “… humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you” (1 Pet. 5:6-7). He used the analogy of a refiner purifying precious metal to describe what God was doing in the midst of their suffering. As we come to genuinely recognize God’s handiwork in the midst of the refiner’s fire, the flame ceases to be a threat and takes on a whole different meaning.

However, if we fail to understand God’s process of refinement, we may be caught off guard by the “fire” when it comes, become discouraged by its flames and fail to benefit from its purification. Peter warned of this possibility in this same letter when he wrote, “… do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you …” (1 Pet. 4:12). Refining our faith brings about mind renewal that results in effortless transformation. The Apostle Paul revealed this relationship of mind renewal and transformation when he said, “be transformed by the renewing of your mind …” (Rom. 12:2).

None of this suggests that God is the creator of hardships and trials that come our way (though He can do anything that He chooses). Even if the source of our troubles come through the hands of evil men with wicked intent, this fact does not hinder God from using it to accomplish His purposes. The Lord’s death, which was God’s plan, was brought about by evil men with evil intent. God’s preordained redemption was delivered through their wicked free willed choices and behavior. In like fashion, God “causes all things to work together for the good…” (Rom. 8:28) for us who submit to His “… mighty hand.” (1 Pet. 5:6-7)

 

Biblical knowledge provides no guarantee for transformation.

Key Concepts

  •  Intellectual knowledge has its purpose, but without this knowledge becoming faith, or heart belief, it only makes us smarter and may even “puffeth up” or make us arrogant. (1 Cor. 8:1)
  • Mind renewal that brings about transformation goes far beyond the accumulation of biblical knowledge.
  • Mind renewal is the outcome of a purified faith that results in transformation.
  • It is this transformation that makes it possible for us to be able to know and do the will of God. “… be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God” (Rom. 12:2 HCSB).
  • Without a renewed mind, which is the foundation for genuine faith,“… it is impossible to please [God]…” (Heb. 11:6) or to rightly discern and do God’s will.

 

 Many believers mistakenly assume that mind renewal is achieved by gaining biblical knowledge. Because of this belief, many commit to Bible study, memorization and meditation, hoping that by gaining knowledge transformation will follow. Though all of these things may indeed be beneficial, none will result in transformation unless the Holy Spirit illuminates the truth in our hearts. Mind renewal that brings about transformation goes far beyond the accumulation of biblical knowledge. Intellectual knowledge has its purpose, but without this knowledge becoming faith, or heart belief, it only makes us smarter and may even “puffeth up” or make us arrogant. (1 Cor. 8:1)

Mind renewal is the outcome of a purified faith that results in transformation. When the refiner heats up the gold, it exposes the impurities therein, bringing all that is not gold to the surface. This refinement process allows the refiner to identify and pull off the dross and cast it away. In like fashion, life difficulties expose that which is not “gold” in our belief. As it is cast off and replaced with the Lord’s truth, our minds are renewed. The outcome is a transformed life.

It is this transformation that makes it possible for us to be able to know and do the will of God. The Apostle Paul said this succinctly when he wrote, “… be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God” (Rom. 12:2 HCSB). Without a renewed mind, which is the foundation for genuine faith, “… it is impossible to please [God]…” (Heb. 11:6) or to rightly discern and do God’s will.