The Power oF an
immanuel moment
An Immanuel “God with us” Moment is about being intentional and connecting with Jesus. Dr. Karl Lehman is a psychiatrist from the Chicago, Illinois area and is the one that came up with the term “Immanuel Approach,”[1] after he had attended a conference by Jim Wilder, in 2004. The Word says that Jesus never leaves or forsakes us, but sometimes we forget to acknowledge that He's there, and especially if we have been triggered by something painful, most of us have been taught to run from the pain rather than run to it. Pain never goes away, it has to be healed, and unhealed pain leaks. Not only does this pain in our lives keep us from the intimacy that Jesus created for us to have with Him, but it also keeps us from intimacy with those around us. If you find yourself living what I call a "surface-level" life, it's possible it's because you have a lot of unhealed pain stored in your heart.
This pain keeps you from being relational due to the fear of being hurt. Your heart was never meant to be a storage facility for pain, and when we connect with Jesus through an Immanuel Moment, (Wilder also refers to this as a "5 Bar Moment”[2]) it gives us the “joy strength”[3] we need to face painful memories. A 5 Bar Moment is related to a person talking on a cell phone. If you have 5 bars lit up on your phone, it means you have a really good connection. A lot of times, our lack of capacity is the problem, and when we spend time with Jesus in His presence, suddenly the challenge or the painful memory doesn't seem so overwhelming anymore. We can intentionally focus on the Lord, and have a really good connection with Him before we move into any kind of painful memory; thus, the size of the challenge decreases.
[1] Lehman, Karl. “Immanuel Approach Book (Draft Version).” Immanuel Approach, https://www.immanuelapproach.com/.
[2] Wilder, Jim. Blog by Deni Huttula “Immanuel Moments: A Key to Interacting with Jesus Everyday.” Life Model Works, https://lifemodelworks.org/.
[3] Wilder, Jim. “Developing ‘Joy Strength’ and the Capacity to Persevere.” Life Model: Equipping People With the Skills to Thrive, 2 Mar. 2000, http://lifemodel.org/.
If spending time with Jesus in this way is not something you're familiar with, it's ok. The Immanuel Approach is an essential component of learning about our heart. This is not something that has to be super spiritual. It's learning to connect with Jesus visually and knowing that He is glad to be with you. Some people don't like the word, "practice," but it's ok to practice being with Jesus in this way. It's not just a visual journey, so it's ok to explore with all of your senses. What do you hear, smell, taste, and/or feel? When you give yourself permission to experience Jesus in this way, He comes! He is available for you every moment of every day.
visual helps
 Snorkel in the Red Sea |  Watch the sunrise over the Dead Sea |  Search for salt crystals in the Dead Sea |
|---|---|---|
 Sit by the Jordan River |  Hang out in front of the East Gate - That's Me! |  Watch a waterfall at Ein Gedi |
 Sit on a rock overlooking the Sea of Galilee |  Ride in a boat on the Sea of Galilee |  Watch the sunset over the Mediterranean |
Photo's taken by Nicole Radina in Israel
steps to an immanuel moment
1.
Pray a Covering Prayer. You are welcome to use the one provided or you can come up with your own. Just make sure you ask Jesus to "push back" anything that is not of Him that might try to distract you away from your time with Him.
2.
Close your eyes and picture yourself in a place you enjoy. A place that's peaceful to you. A place you feel safe. You can even choose a place from an image from above.
3.
Now if you are ok with it I want you to invite Jesus to be in this place with you. Can you see Him? Sometimes He's next to you and you can turn to the right or to the left to see Him.
4.
Enjoy His presence. Give yourself permission to explore in this place with Him. Relax, there's no formula to this and there's no right or wrong way to do this. Jesus enjoys being with you. When you invite Him to come, He always comes.
5.
Express to Him what you appreciate about Him. Now it's His turn, if you are willing, ask Him what He appreciates about you. Take the time to listen. He wants to connect with you.
6.
Ask Him if there is anything He'd like to show you. Sometimes we've believed lies about Him. No shame, we didn't know. Consider letting Him show you if there is anything that is keeping you from Him. Let Him replace it with the truth. If you have unhealed pain, you can hand it to Him. Whatever He shows you, ask Him what He wants you to know about it.
7.
There's no rush. Enjoy His presence. You were created for attachment. Repeat this process over and over again until it becomes natural. This is about creating a lifestyle of freedom.
Covering Prayer: "Thank You, Lord, for this time with You that You have appointed for me. I come before Your throne, washed in Your blood, and ask You to forgive me of any sins, and I thank You that You are faithful to cleanse me of any unrighteousness. I ask You, Jesus, to push back and rebuke any evil forces or attachments that would try to keep me captive in any way. I ask You to push back those forces. I ask You to restrain those forces, completely and fully, and I say along with You to any such forces, THE LORD REBUKE YOU, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST THAT HAS CHOSEN ME, REBUKE YOU.”
Similar to prayer learned from Father Andrew Miller
When you got saved the Word says that you became a new creation: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV). God gave us our imagination. You now have a “sanctified imagination,” as Apostle Johnathan of Johnathan Stidham Ministries, and founder of Kingdom Global Network, teaches. Johnathan says, "When we were born again, Jesus said we could see. Inside your inner man is your inner sight; it's your imagination. God is inviting you into a deeper experience. There are multiple layers of vision. Inner visions are in your heart. God uses your brain as a projector."[1]
[1] Stidham, Johnathan. “Ascend Prophetic Conference 2018.” Ascend Prophetic Conference 2018, 7 Dec. 2018, Tampa, FL. The Center for Manifestation.
If you find that you are having a hard time connecting with Jesus, don't worry, there's nothing wrong with you. Again, this takes time and practice of meeting with Jesus in this way. As long as you are willing to learn more, He's going to help you do that. Like with any relationship we have in life, it takes work. We have to be willing to be intentional to connect with Him. He desires to be first in your life. Not because He's starved for attention and needs your affection. He's the One that designed your heart, and He knows best what it is that you need. Your worship to Him is not for His benefit; it's for you. He wants you to experience the fullness of what it is He has placed on the inside of you. You are called, you are chosen, and you have purpose. In order for you to experience that fullness, you have to do a little house cleaning on the inside of you, and Jesus is devoted to helping you do that. So, don't be afraid to take Jesus by the hand and allow Him to lead you into the deep. He's got you. He'll never let you drown.
As you begin to move to places much deeper in your heart, being able to connect with Jesus, and being able to perceive His presence, will be a game-changer for you. This is a skill that actually can be developed. The more you practice being with Jesus in this way, the easier it will be for you to connect, and the greater your capacity will become. This will help you learn to trust Jesus in new and deeper ways. He knows the gifts He's placed on the inside of you, so He knows the best way to pull them out of you. Unhealed pain, anger, disappointment, etc. can cause us to disconnect from Him and hinders our relationship with Him. More than His desire for healing for you, He's always going to go after the relationship. He wants to help remove the things
that are keeping you from Him.
FYI: Jesus created us with parts of our heart. There are times due to mistrust that a part of our heart doesn't want to connect with Him. No worries. This can be worked through. The HEART of the MATTER Book and the HEART of the MATTER workshops are designed to help you learn how to
process these situations.