Connection Versus Authoritarianism for Prayer Ministry

Connection Versus Authoritarianism for Prayer Ministry

Living connected to healthy relationships brings freedom from counterfeit affections and wonderful personal growth to our lives. Working out heart connection versus authoritarianism for prayer ministry brings freedom.

Counterfeit Affections

Addictions specialist Craig Nakken states, “The process of recovery from addiction is found in the renewal of the self; in forming and focusing on a caring, meaningful relationship with the self, and others.” This is key to freedom from food, drugs and every other addiction. God created us for vital connection. When our hearts are closed off to connections, we feel lonely and seek false comforts.

Personal Growth

Connected relationship means we are holding our hearts open to family and friends. This takes vulnerability. Without walls for protection, our hearts are more vulnerable to hurt. Yet walls always block out both the bad and the good. We cannot selectively allow ourselves to feel some emotions and not others. For example, we cannot choose to let in love and joy, but block out the more vulnerable feelings of fear and loneliness. When we close our hearts to the negative emotions, we also (perhaps unknowingly) prevent fully experiencing the positive ones.

The heart of the message of the Father’s love is to hold our hearts open – this means we being open to all emotions. When this happens, relationships express compassion and empathy back and forth as well as dialoguing through problems for growth. Growth is completely impossible without the vulnerability to be open to dialogue. When we feel too vulnerable, we resort to authoritarianism.

Authoritarianism

Authoritarianism is the opposite of connecting relationship. It is about black and white thinking, absolutes, and forming judgments. It is basically legalism. We all struggle with this at some level. It is what we do to protect our hearts when we don’t feel safe. Practically speaking, this is communicated by cutting remarks toward our spouses and judgmental statements, parenting based on rules more than relationship, and finding fault with everything and everybody.

To the degree we treat others this way reveals the degree we feel God treats us this way and how we treat ourselves. Read that sentence again; it is very important to grasp this concept.

We all are looking for connection and meaningful relationships, but to have them we must put our walls down. And if we can recognize these legalistic areas in our lives where our hearts lose connection, we can take the steps to be free from them and live with open hearts, no longer drawn to counterfeit affections.