“To preach the gospel to the poor”
What came down the family line
Most of us can name a pattern that runs through our family. A temper, a fear, a way of handling money or love that we swore we would never repeat, and then did. Scripture is frank that the sins of one generation put pressure on the next.
In ministry you confess what has come down the line, forgive the people who handed it on and ask God to break its hold on you and on your children. Many people describe the relief of no longer fighting something that was never only theirs.
See Exodus 20:5–6
“To heal the brokenhearted”
Hurts that never properly healed
Some pain heals cleanly. Some gets buried and goes on steering us years later: the rejection that makes a small remark feel enormous, the loss nobody had time to grieve, the childhood moment we decided did not matter.
Jesus came to heal the broken-hearted, and that includes memories you may have stopped noticing. We invite Him into those places, listen for what He wants to say and do, and leave room for Him to work. It is gentle, unhurried and led by the Holy Spirit.
See Psalm 147:3
“To proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind”
Lies that feel like facts
“I’m on my own.” “I always get it wrong.” “God loves other people more than me.” Beliefs like these rarely announce themselves. They simply feel true, and they quietly shape our choices, our marriages and how close we let God come.
Anything we believe that does not match God’s character or His word is an ungodly belief. Together we find the ones that are doing the damage, renounce them and replace each with a godly belief that you take home and keep praying through until your heart agrees with it.
See Romans 12:2
“To set at liberty those who are oppressed”
Oppression that has lost its ground
Paul warns us not to give the devil a foothold. Family sin left unconfessed, wounds left unhealed and lies left unchallenged all hand the enemy ground to stand on, and he makes the most of it.
Once that ground has been dealt with in the first three areas, oppression has no right to stay, and it is told to leave in the name of Jesus. No shouting or theatre is needed. The authority was won at the cross.
See Ephesians 4:27
Because each area props up the others, RTF ministers take all four together. That integrated approach, first developed by Dr Chester and Betsy Kylstra, is what makes Restoring the Foundations different from most prayer ministry.
Read about the integrated approach
