THE BEST SPIRITUAL WAY TO FIGHT TEMPTATION

Gordon 7

Well-Known Member
WHAT TO DO

If we often choose the wrong alternate activities, we will fall. The weakest level of alternate activities are level 5 activities. Things like risky TV or movies, hanging with friends who lead you down the wrong path, gambling, or drinking.

While these things are usually better than P, you will have a much higher chance to quit your habit if you choose level 1 and level 2 activities. Level 1 activities include Bible study, prayer, reading Christian books, reading quitting addiction books, helping out at church, and telling a friend how Jesus is helping you. Also, try joining a church Bible study, sometimes they are great. These activities not only distract and help you through today, but they also strengthen you for tomorrow and all month.

Level 2 activities are things like exercising plus prayer, exercising outside of your home, team sports, group activities, hanging with friends who tend to help you instead of leading you down the wrong path.

Level 3 activities are learning a musical instrument, sports or non-computer games at home, hobbies at home.

This article is not meant to be a complete list of alternative activities. The point is, if you focus on level 1 and 2 activities, they help your future. The more you focus on higher-level activities, the better your chances are for freedom. Always push to improve your activity by a level or two. It is a secret to success.

Lastly, treat your activities list as your work. You are working towards having a future of freedom and joy. The pay is 10 times the pay you will get at any other job. The rewards are huge. Believe, work, succeed.
 

Gordon 7

Well-Known Member
LEARN FROM A 4 YEAR OLD

Yesterday my wife was around a 4 year old girl who said: “I am not allowed to see my dad anymore because he did something bad. But everybody has bad in their life and it is okay. We just have to decide to be happy. Sometimes when tears come, you just have to push them back.”

That 4 year old is going to do okay. Most of us have something bad, then we fall. Self-pity may be one of satan's top 10 tricks. Self-pity is a habit that will keep you falling for as long as you allow it to control you.

If this is an issue, do an internet search on overcoming self-pity to get idea's on how to fight it.

Pray: “Father, take away my spirit of self-pity, and help me to decide to be happy.”

Pray: “Father, take away my spirit of self-pity, and fill me with Your toughness.”

If this issue controls you it will be impossible to pray these prayers too often.

Bad things happen and we allow ourselves to get “Dark.” We let Jesus light dim out and we allow satan a perfect opening. That was our habit. But our new habit is to attack with prayer and to search to find out what Jesus wants out of our situation. Our new habit is to fight back with the light of Jesus shining fully on us. An impossible rotten day, but still... a day where Jesus light can shine brighter than ever. If we fight to let it shine.
 

Gordon 7

Well-Known Member
A PRAYER PLAN
What if we prayed one of the prayers for quitting every 30 minutes (when possible). We can and should do this. Simply carry a list of the prayers everywhere you go. Then set an alarm to go off every 30 minutes, then pray one of the prayers.
It is a great idea to fight your addiction with prayer for 30 or 60 minutes in one sitting per day. But, if you also add doing this new every 30-minute plan, your prayers will really increase in power.
 

Gordon 7

Well-Known Member
2 Timothy 2:22 ESV

So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

Flee means, “Don't do it, and run with all your might.” Flee means you are blocking the TV screen with one hand while you forward fast with the other. Flee means, you drop everything and run to scripture when tempting thoughts keep harassing you.

There should not be one minute in the day where we are not completely ready to flee.

But many try this but fail to pursue righteousness. Righteousness is important because sin almost always leads back to our main addiction. A focus on righteousness brings us into the light. We can fight addiction in the light.

So flee and then pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace.
 

Gordon 7

Well-Known Member
BE PREPARED

If we are totally prepared for temptation, we will overcome it. I have set up boundaries to block myself from temptation. Proverbs 4:23: “See the evil, and hide yourself.”

A fantastic verse. See temptation for what it is, “See the evil.” See temptation as your light disappearing and your depression entering.

People who have been clean for 6 months have developed expertise at hiding themselves from temptation.


I stay totally prepared in prayer for temptation that pops up. I have developed habits of exactly what I will do when temptation pops up.

Matthew 26:41 ESV
Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
 

Gordon 7

Well-Known Member
We either chase pleasure or discipline. Pleasures draw include short-term fun, feeling good, and the killing of time. And when we only include righteous pleasure, the ending is not so bad.

But when we chase discipline we increase in profit. We have long-term gains, we head in the direction of self-control, and we gain more mastery over our life.

Today, set 2 goals of things you will have discipline with starting today. Next, make it a priority to do these 2 things daily.

Lastly, simplify your life. I am 100% convinced that living life exactly God's way is the secret to happiness. Most of you are not convinced. So pray: Psalm 51: "10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”

What if you prayed this once every 30 minutes every day this week. Try it if you want to learn something.

What if you lived a whole day with a commitment to zero sin. Try it, you will like it.

What if “even you” could have a great relationship with God? Try it, it might be what you are looking for.

The massive secret: A clean heart is a happy heart. But please keep that between us.
 

Gordon 7

Well-Known Member
THE POWER OF WILLPOWER

My youngest daughter was going to be a volleyball star like her older sister. As I trained her I thought, how am I going to tell her the truth. You are not like your sister. After a couple of weeks of training, I began giving her mental exercises because the physical ones were not working. Then abruptly one day she went from hitting the ball into the ground and she started making great spikes. She had changed her thinking. And with her new thinking, she could play. In fact, her 7th-grade team was undefeated. Her 8th-grade team was undefeated.

I continued training my daughter that first year because her willpower was at a level 100. And despite a talent level that is closer to a 50, she is a star. No one is more prepared than she is, and preparation leads to winning.

Willpower is learned. Willpower is setting an achievable goal. That goal might be to pray a quitting P prayer every 30 minutes. If you have a phone you can achieve this goal.

#2 When temptation arises, one good goal is to pray: “Father, take away this spirit of lust and help me to turn aggressively from temptation.”

Most importantly, one great goal is to fight temptation with the top 60 verses for quitting. https://forum.nofap.com/index.php?threads/the-1-way-to-fight-temptation.323359/

Be prepared, set achievable goals, and you will begin to see your willpower grow.
 

Gordon 7

Well-Known Member
LEARN FROM EXPERTS

Some expert gamers make millions. Most of us will never become experts. But we can copy some of the things that they do.

They study books. Books give us the tools we need to get what we want out of life. An expert gamer will study 20 books about how to perfect their game. A person whose addiction is completely ruining their life should read books on overcoming addiction. My fav is “What the Bible says about addiction.”

They study what went wrong today if they lose. Why it went wrong, what led up to it, how they were thinking when it happened, etc. We should do the same.

They study their game daily. Inserting new techniques and ideas into their current plan. We should know most of our “How to quit,” notes by memory, because we have read them so many times.

They value coaching highly. Some of us have pastors, priests, mentors, or friends who can really help us go in a new direction. Be willing to get help.

They understand the huge effect that emotions have on their success. They go to war with negative emotions so that they can become champions. We need to go to war with negative emotions because they so often lead back to addiction.

Pray: “Father, take away this spirit of anger and fill me with a Spirit of love.”

There is a direct connection between “Not treating your wife with love,” and falling. Treating her badly leads to darkness and we all fall once the darkness swallows us up. So take the Biblical command to “Love your wife,” as seriously as you take any of the commands.

Lastly, gamers will do anything to win. What if we read one of the top 60 verses for quitting every 30 minutes? If you want to get noticed and favored by Almighty God, this might be one way to stand out from the crowd.

Learn from champion gamers, and learn how to win.
 

Gordon 7

Well-Known Member
Today's top tip is to memorize the scriptures from the top 40 verses for quitting. Adam and Eve fell because the last person they listened to was satan. You will be building a firm foundation on a rock as you memorize these powerful scriptures. And as you quote them during times of temptation, the last person you will be listening to is God.

Temptation is not from God. We fight temptation fiercely because sin is something that stands in opposition to everything that God desires. Sin is fighting against God.

Lastly, fight all sin as if it will destroy you. If you slip up, confess that specific sin immediately to Jesus. #2 mourn that you committed it (have genuine sadness and sorrow for the act). #3 Turn away aggressively. #4 Ask for forgiveness.

I am going to tell you a secret. I act like every sin is the plague. I act like following the Bible is the secret to happiness.

The devil is going about like a roaring lion, seeking to devour us. Every time we fight sin he loses power. Every time we are in the Bible we gain power. A Christian filled with power will win.
 

Gordon 7

Well-Known Member
Long-suffering is the long and patient endurance of injuries, insults and trouble; patiently bearing difficulties or wrongs. Long-suffering is a fruit that enables us to wait and not demand our own way. When we have a demanding attitude, we are prone to give up quickly, blame God for our problems and fall back to addiction.

Godly long-suffering is determined endurance in difficult times. Pray: Father, take away this spirit of lust and give me a Spirit of long-suffering. Furthermore, long-suffering is maintaining an attitude of joy and a vision of God's Word perfecting everything that concerns you. Paul prayed that we would be “Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness.” Long-suffering is toughness and patience, but always remember its connection to joy.

The power of the Lord will be your strength to stand with patience in the trial. Continue to prevail and fight against temptation, having full faith that the joy of the Lord will fill those who fight until the victory is won.

James says if we let patience have her complete work, not giving up too soon, we will be fully developed in that test, passing it and lacking nothing by the end of the trial.

Pray, “Father, I pray that I would be strengthened with all Your might, according to Your glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness.”

A lack in the fruit of long-suffering may be one of the top 5 reasons we fall. Think about it, work on it, pray about it and make it a strength.
 

Gordon 7

Well-Known Member
The story of Joseph in the Bible has incredible wisdom for those who want to quit a habit. We see the story of a man who fled from a beautiful, married woman who tried to seduce him. We use his great example as we flee from all types of temptations or triggers.

Today let's examine why he did what he did. Firstly, he knew what the scriptures said about giving in to temptation and he fought to obey them. Secondly, he valued his relationship with God as well as his relationship with Potiphar (the husband) more than he valued pleasure. Thirdly, he trusted and believed that God had something great for him to do.

Action Steps: Copy Joseph and read and trust the scriptures. Wisdom believes that the Bible will lead us down a correct path. #2, value your relationship with God and with people more than you value pleasure (especially sinful pleasure). The only way to have maximum pleasure is to live right. #3, Pray, pray, and pray about what great thing God has for you to do. #4 Never, never, never give up when you have a setback. In this Joseph story, he was thrown in prison after he fled from sin. But he did not give up. He still believed that God had something great for him. He continued to obey and trust God. He continued to pray until he passed every test.

Finally, God raised him up and he ruled Egypt and saved the Israelite's from being wiped out.

Believe like Joseph, run from temptation like Joseph, fight until you win like Joseph. He was a great example and a great man.
 

Gordon 7

Well-Known Member
Today's recommendation is to study the Blessed Life by Robert Morris. It is a grade A distraction because it is very interesting, it promotes Biblical obedience, and if you do what it says your blessing will increase. You can get the book used for $4 and the CD's for about $8 on eBay. I got the CDs years ago and they have been played multiple times.

We need great distraction ideas because life sometimes treats us badly. People sometimes treat us badly. But when we read books like this, they teach us how to focus on God instead of on our problems. Here are a few keys to Biblical blessing. You can check out more from wikiHow.

#1 blessing key, we need to become small and we need to learn how big God is. We need to pray about humbling ourselves and focusing on fulfilling God's will.

#2 blessing key: We need to repent and have a plan for change.

#3 blessing key: Meekness is the ability to handle conflicts, insults, and crises without blowing up and without egotism. Meekness keeps us from temptation. Pray: Father, take away this spirit of lust and give me a Spirit of meekness.

Study how to be blessed. This practice is great for your life and it is very helpful for breaking habits.
 

Gordon 7

Well-Known Member
Matthew says: Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.” This is a key verse for quitting addictions. We keep trying things that do not satisfy and fill us. Here is something that does.

I memorized and quoted this verse thousands of times. This brought about my current interest in righteousness. Quoting and focusing on this verse helped me to realize the importance of living right. The benefits to living right and the blessings that go along with it.

Pray: “Father, help me to hunger and thirst after righteousness so that I can be filled.” If you want to be filled, start praying this one a lot.

To hunger and thirst after righteousness means that we fight to watch clean TV. We fight to keep our thoughts clean. When our mind strays we immediately pray, “Father, help me to turn aggressively from sin.” We fight to try to be around people that will lift us up, not drag us down.

The more we fight sin, the more the Holy Spirit fills us and helps us fight sin. Then one day we realize, “All sin is dragging us down.” It dawns on us that our lives are always better when we do things God's way. Sometimes harder, but always better. Then it hits us, “We are starting to be filled.” We are starting to be satisfied with this new great life.

On the other hand, looking with lust and thinking about it always leaves us frantic, needing more, depressed along with a slew of other problems.

Most importantly, wisdom focuses on getting this blessing. Wisdom insists on trying to get more of the Holy Spirit in them. Wisdom insists on doing what they need to do to get more and more filled every day.
 

Gordon 7

Well-Known Member
David loved God but David allowed lust to linger in his life. Colin Smith noted the following: “He allowed sin to build a position of power in his life, and that led him to a place where he did things that, in the earlier years of his life, he would never have imagined himself doing.

Surely what comes after David committing these two heinous sins—adultery and murder—must be the most profound repentance, but that’s not what happens. By the time we get to chapter 12, the child is born. That means more than nine months have passed since David committed these sins, and has there been any repentance? None whatsoever. David has simply covered up and moved on.

Here’s the first thing we learn from this story: The natural sequel to sin is not repentance.

What was it like for David during these long months when he covered up and tried to move on? We know because David tells us in a Psalm that he wrote later in life, where he reflected on these months in which he covered up and tried to move on.

Listen to this from Psalm 32: “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer” (Psalm 32:3-4).

Don’t think for a moment that when David covered up and tried to move on, everything was hunky-dory in the palace. It was not. In fact, this was, without doubt, the most miserable year of David’s life.

This was a man in a palace. He had money, he had privilege, and he had the wife that he wanted. But he lives every day with a nagging groan in his spirit. Even when he savored great pleasure, the groan is still there. He went to sleep at night with a groan, and when he woke up in the morning, he groaned at the thought of another day.

His “strength was dried up” (Psalm 32:4). He had no energy. He lost his zest for life. His enthusiasm for what he was doing was gone. The blessing of God on his life had departed and all that was left was a groan. The natural sequel to sin is not repentance, but hiding from God, and that experience for a believer always proves miserable.”

One problem with addiction is a lack of rapid repentance. Pray: “Father, help me to develop the habit of rapid repentance.”

Lastly, practice rapid repentance on even the smallest of sins. Sin leads to darkness and darkness leads back to addiction.

Stay in the light and you will stay in the right.

Lastly, Colin ended his fine article with the following:

“The Word of God broke through in David’s life when nothing else could. Time did not bring him to repentance. Conscience did not get him there either. Misery did not bring repentance either. But the Word of God broke through in his life when nothing else could.

Never underestimate the power of God’s Word to change a person’s life, to change your life. “My word… shall not return to me empty, but it… shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (Isaiah 55:11). God’s Word can bring change in your life when nothing else can or will.”
 
Last edited:

Gordon 7

Well-Known Member
God wants us to have a renewed mind. All habits begin in the mind. We allow ourselves to think of wrong things like gray area fantasies, that are only sort of evil. That only sort of leads back to addiction. They don't always lead back to addiction now, but they do lead back, sooner or later.

Satan is the king of using small little evil things to keep his foothold on you for life. But we can fight back by giving thanks for all things, by praising God all the time, and by worshiping Him all of the time. We are at war and we need to be fighting sin at all times.

iblp.org had the following great article:

"How to Conquer Sinful Habits

seven steps to victory

Is it actually possible to conquer destructive habits? Yes, because “with God, nothing shall be impossible” (Luke 1:37). Through the provision of God’s grace, you can take positive steps of action to experience victory over sinful habits.

1. Engraft Romans 6 and 8 into your soul.

To “engraft Scripture” means to make it a living extension of your life so that it can produce spiritual fruit. Just as branches can be grafted into a fruit tree, so Scripture can be grafted into your mind, will, and emotions. For example, as you engraft the truths of I Corinthians 13, you will bear the fruit of genuine love, and if you engraft the truths of I Peter, you will bear the fruit of patience during suffering.

Memorize Romans 6 and Romans 8 word for word. Then, begin to meditate on those passages, and apply them daily to your life. As you engraft Romans 6 and Romans 8 into your soul, you will start to bear the fruit of victory over sin.

2. Understand, and believe, that you are dead to sin.

Regardless of your feelings to the contrary, the Bible says that believers are dead to sin. God wants us to “reckon” ourselves to be dead to sin, which means to “count it to be so.” (See Romans 6:11.) If a seductive woman walked past a dead man, he would not even blink an eye. God wants us to have a comparable response to the power and appeal of sin—to react to temptation as a dead person would react to temptation.

You died to sin when you became a Christian. At that very moment, you became a part of Christ. Since you are a part of Christ, you share in all of His past achievements: when He was crucified, you were crucified with Him (see Galatians 2:20 and Colossians 3:20); when He was buried, you were buried too (see Romans 6:4); when He rose from the dead, you rose from the dead (see Colossians 3:1). Therefore, you are dead to sin (i.e., not controlled by its power). Choose to believe that truth.

3. Rely on God’s power by relying on His Word to “carry you away” from temptation.

When God led the children of Israel out of captivity in Egypt, He said that He “bare . . . [them] on eagles’ wings” (Exodus 19:4). The Lord “carried them to safety” with His power, and the Lord wants to do that for His children today as well. God wants to carry you away from temptation and destruction “on eagles’ wings.”

When you begin to fall into temptation, it won’t take many seconds of falling before you experience defeat. Satan wants us to believe that when we start falling, there is nothing we can do but surrender to his temptations and be defeated.

Don’t believe the devil! When you start to fall, begin to quote the living, active words of truth found in God’s Word (see Hebrews 4:12 and I Thessalonians 2:13), especially those found in Romans 6 and Romans 8: “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin . . . ? God forbid. . . .” (Romans 6:1–2). As you use the sword of the Spirit to battle against the wiles of the devil (see Ephesians 6:10–18), the temptation will lose its power and appeal, and God will carry you on eagles’ wings out of temptation’s reach. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus will lift you above the law of sin and death. (See Romans 8:1–13.)
More tomorrow.
 

Gordon 7

Well-Known Member
People who have great success in life think about what they are going to do “All of the time.” To quit addictions we have activities planned for after work, school, etc. To increase your fire for doing these healthy activities it is wise to increase your motivation every hour. For example, you have 3 activities planned for later. A great workout, reading for an hour, then hanging out with Doug, who has a very healthy lifestyle.

You love to work out but the reading thing is hard. So every hour it is wise to get determined, and fully motivated to do your reading (or whatever activity is hard for you) in full so that your schedule stays full. You can have notes, phone alarms, or other reminders to get yourself to focus every hour. Then, when you get your reminder simply say: I will read today, I will ____ today. Nothing is going to stop me from reading or _____.

We see football players getting fired up before the game. They do this because it is hard to stay motivated when your head keeps getting smashed. Addiction smashes us. We need to get fired up, excited, determined, and ready. Plan it, get fired up about it, and do it.


Next: iblp.org had the following great article: Here is the last section of "How to Conquer Sinful Habits."

4. Personalize the truths found in Romans 6.

As part of the process of engrafting Scripture, turn the words of Romans 6 into a first-person prayer. Begin to quote Romans 6 to the Lord as your own petition and declaration of truth, like this: “What shall I say then? Shall I continue in sin, that grace may abound? God, forbid it. How shall I, being dead to sin, live any longer therein? Don’t I know that when I was baptized into Jesus Christ I was baptized into His death? . . .”

5. Make no provision for sinful desires.

If you want to walk in Christ’s victory over a particular temptation, but you “make provision” for that temptation to be carried out, you are deceiving yourself. (See I Corinthians 3:18.) God’s Word says, “Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof” (Romans 13:14). What does this mean? It means that you should cleanse your life and your surroundings of anything that would contribute to spiritual defeat. This includes, but certainly is not limited to, sensual books and magazines, immodest clothing that defrauds others, items associated with occult practices, and friends who influence you to ignore or reject God’s Law.

6. Ask a Godly person to hold you accountable to pursue your spiritual goals.

Ask the Lord to guide you to someone who is concerned for your spiritual well-being, such as your parents, your spouse, a spiritual mentor, or a mature Christian friend, and ask him if he would regularly ask you about your progress with your spiritual goals. Tell him what your goals are, and give him precise questions that he can use to hold you accountable.

For example, to hold you accountable to engraft Scripture, you may suggest that he ask you this question once a week: Can I hear the Scripture you have memorized during the past week? To hold you accountable to read the Bible daily, he might ask you this question: What did you learn from your Bible reading this morning?

7. Be alert and obedient to promptings from the Holy Spirit.

In addition to reckoning yourself dead to sin, you also must walk in the Spirit to experience victory over sin. Learn how to discern the promptings of God’s Spirit, which always will be in harmony with God’s Word. “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would” (Galatians 5:16–17).

As you obey the promptings of the Spirit, God will give you grace to reject the works of the flesh. (See Galatians 5:19–22.) You also will experience the fruit of the Spirit, which is “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, [and] temperance . . . . They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22–25).

Experience Victory!

As you take these seven steps of action, you can have victory over sinful habits. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies [to God as] a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1). Remember, through God’s power and by His mercy and grace, “nothing shall be impossible!” (Luke 1:37).
 

Gordon 7

Well-Known Member
Biblical peace is more than just the absence of conflict; it is taking action to restore a broken situation. It's more than a state of inner tranquility; it's a state of wholeness and completeness. ... God is the source of peace, and one of His names is Yahweh Shalom (Judges 6:24), which means the LORD Is Peace.

Psalms 34 says: “Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.” Pray: “Father, take away this spirit of lust and help me to seek peace.”

We seek peace by planning to be peaceful. Peaceful with our spouse, coworkers, family and friends. We work at it and pray about it often.

Psalms 34 starts out: “Turn away from evil”. Dr. Lawson said, “If you keep sinning, and don't stop, you are going to blow up your life. Secondly, sin steals our peace. Going to war with sin increases our peace and contentment. If we will keep our mind clean and pure, we will have peace that passes all comprehension.

Proverbs 12 says: Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, but those who plan peace have joy.” My daughter (The one I call the happiest person in Michigan) always makes peace with everyone. She also has joy more often than anyone I have ever known. The Bible was right again.

Matthew 5 says: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

I want God's blessing. Maybe I should memorize this verse. Next, the Bible promises that if we follow the example of Godly men that the peace of God will be with us. Who do you know that you can learn from?

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.Galatians 5:22

Peace is listed in the top three characteristics of the fruit of the spirit. Without love, joy, and peace, there is little hope of accomplishing forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, or self-control. All of those characteristics are predicated on the love, joy, and peace of God.

You can memorize verses on peace at https://www.openbible.info/topics/peace

A lack of peace leads to a fall. Focus on getting and keeping your peace. We need to be at peace before we turn on the TV. We need to be at peace before we sit around daydreaming. Repentance plus a determination to change starts to lead us back to peace. Peace starts to lead to self-control. Self-control leads to success.
 

Gordon 7

Well-Known Member
Often we experience straight-up temptation with our addiction. But just as often there are other factors involved. In these cases, we need to find the root cause of what causes a fall. Some of the main suspects are anger, frustration, fear, and many other things. Let's say today's problem is frustration. But sometimes we are not fully aware of the root cause of our frustration. So we spend a lot of time in prayer asking the Holy Spirit to show us the root cause.

In my experience, we either have some obvious sin (not directly related to the addiction) that leads us to frustration, or we have a hidden sin which is the root cause. Most of us have some sin we struggle with. Things like greed, cheating on taxes, slander, coveting, drunkenness, or any other serious sin.

When we struggle with these sins, they trigger frustration or anger, which usually triggers addiction.

I have a problem I am dealing with, and it was causing me to struggle with anger. So I prayed a lot about my anger. After a lot of prayer, I realized that I was struggling with one of the sins on the above list. Then I realized that my behavior was starting to give satan a foothold in my life. And with his foothold, he was being given the right to flick the anger switch on whenever he wanted to.

Once I realized that I went to war in prayer with that root cause sin, got that under control, and things were back to normal. The anger was gone.

When darkness starts to overcome you... panic. Read the Bible, study the top 60 verses for quitting, pray, pray, and pray. Insist on living in the light. Insist on always increasing Jesus' joy in your life. These actions lead you to a condition that gives you the tools to stop for good.

Lastly, Jesus took my anger away. He did not take my problem away. My life is great because I am trying to live right and I am trying to stay in the presence of the Lord. Paul in the Bible trusted Jesus in all types of tribulations. He always had joy.

Notes: My list of sins was taken directly from 1 Corinthians 6.
 

Gordon 7

Well-Known Member
A lack of love opens the door for addiction wide open. In my past I would sometimes “Shut people out and retreat to my addiction.” The problem with that type of behavior is that what comes around goes around. Often these people start losing interest in my happiness as well. And later they might not treat me so perfectly either.


This is why we need to pray: “Father, take away my focus on pleasure and fill me with Your Spirit of love.”


Next we need to realize that we need to fix some of the problems we have created in the past with spouses, coworker, friends and family members. We need to focus on how we mistreated them first, instead of how they are mistreating us now.

If we fail to increase in love for others we are disobeying one of the two most important commands (Jesus said this) in the Bible: “To love your neighbor as you love yourself.” On the other hand when we do increase in love we are welcoming the Holy Spirit to fill us with His power and love.

Next, it is wise to imagine how great our lives could be if we would increase in love and increase in obedience. Here is the thing. It does not matter if you believe a word I say. It matters if you try to do the things the Bible says and see if they work.

Lastly, watch that person at church who has that love and joy. Try what they are doing. In all likelihood you can have a great life like they have as well.
 
Top