Drugs and Drinking no more, A 40 day program: Day 34
Their are many habits we need to learn to have the skills to quit a drug or drinking addiction. One great skill is to learn how to turn around a bad day. Work was terrible and you come home and things go from bad to worse.
You must have activities ready and written down to combat situations like this. One activity I recommend is prayer. Pray several times per day “Father keep me from temptation”. Pray that God will show you your purpose and that He will help you to keep the sin out. Learn how you can get rid of drugs or drinking by praying the Lords prayer.
The Lord’s Prayer
King James Version (KJV)
These are the words from the Lord’s prayer in Matthew 6:9-13, taken from the King James Bible (Authorized version of the scriptures):-
9 Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.
We gloss over the words “Thy will be done”. If we are not at least trying to do His will, are answers to our prayers likely? I don’t think so.
I saw a lady on TV who along with her husband had been conned. A neighhood con man pulled the old give me 100 and in 6 days I can make 150 for you. This guy was really good and the con ended up being 100’s of thousands of dollars.
The lady said every day I pray that things will be back to normal but they never are. All of our retirement money is gone.
Now I can’t speak for God but will she likely ever get her money back? No! They commited the sin of greed and you can read for yourself in 1 Corinthians 6 how God treats the greedy. It is a deadly sin.
For many people the pursuit of pleasure becomes an obsession which puts up a wall between them and God.
Make a habit of praying every day to start to learn what God whats you to do and what He does not want you to do.
Learn what prayers God will answer. If you also ask God how many people are around you that are in pain. Which of them does He want you to help? Now you have a couple of prayers that may both be answered. And you may find your joy in the process. Make a list of 7 things you can do when you start to have drug or alcohal cravings. You can attend meetings talk to a friend or pastor or sponcer, read, pray, sports, games etc.
1. _______________________________________________
2. ___________________________________________________________________
3. ___________________________________________________________________
4. ___________________________________________________________________
5. ___________________________________________________________________
6. ___________________________________________________________________
7. ___________________________________________________________________
Think plan and practice being ready to do these activities. Pray about being ready to do one of these things when you are triggered. Be in the habit of thinking: this is what I will do when temptation arises.
You need to develop the skill of immediately starting one of these activities when temptation hits you.
On a Spiritual level I tell myself all the time to turn aggressively from sin. This is very helpful because sin often leads to addiction.
Submission is a key to quitting addiction. First and most importantly we are to submit to God’s Word. Even though I am 100% sure God’s way is always best I will get into trouble when I fail to be moderate in all things. This leads to skipping my Bible reading. Only bad things happen when the old me is in charge again.
We are also to submit to parents and managers. In 2017 the NFL is allowing players to kneel during the national anthem. Their refusal to honor the men who fought to make America great and free comes with a cost. In the future NFL players will make 10-20% less.
I want more rights and I want them to have more rights. But I will try to avoid fighting for my rights with the people who pay me.
Key point: fighting with parents and managers may lead back to addiction. Even when they are in the wrong – calm down, forgive and forget – stay free from addiction.
Submit to the government. Some of you want to obey God but you hate the police. My daughter is an EMT. She picks up the body after it flies through the windshield. Nobody is going to force them to wear their seatbelt.
Sometimes the police and the judges are jerks. But God is not asking you to forgive them – He is telling you to forgive them. Forgive them, forget it and accept the great life that Jesus Christ has for you.
People who fail to submit end up injured, in the hospital, in prison or dead in the grave. Satan knows that if you refuse to submit he will likely see you in hell someday. Pride makes us want our own way at any cost. Being humble and submissive are keys to freedom from addiction.
by Larry Wilson
“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5)
Do you love something or someone too much for your own good? Do you love something so much that it is hurting you and/or those around you? For example, do you love food so much that you constantly overeat? Do you love your work so much that you don’t have time to rest, to worship God or to associate with your family and friends? Do you love your job so much that it is more important than anything else in your life? Do you love sex so much that you think about it constantly? Do you love your children so much that you can’t discipline them for their own good? Do you love your pet more than the people around you?
The devil and his demons study each of us very closely to see what inherited predispositions we have. They constantly stress test our “want gland” to see if they can create discontent. After they determine our weakness and the state of our discontentment, they get together and come up with a series of tailored temptations to induce us into pursuing a life of leisure and pleasure. Often, the first temptations into pleasure (self-indulgence) are not sinful, and this fact makes the devil’s effort to stimulate the “want gland” very successful. After all, there’s nothing wrong with wanting – is there? But, after we have participated in a little pleasure and discovered what a good thing that was, it only stands to reason that more pleasure is better.
As a lifestyle of finding pleasure develops, the devil positions us where he can finally begin to work us over. By leading us into an acquired taste for pleasure, he has gained control without causing us to actually violate our conscience. Very clever. When the time comes to induce us into sin, the devil tempts us with a pleasure and the initial price for this pleasure is a small sin. The devil is a master at gradualism. He is also a master at diminishing the penalty for sin. In other words, the devil is a master at making sin look insignificant. He knows that if he can create an appetite for pleasure, then he has won a big battle before sin begins because he knows that it will be very difficult to say “no” later on to his temptations. Have you experienced this chain of events?
Keeping Balance helps with quitting drugs
The human experience is made up of many facets. God wants us to be accountable, responsible and self-controlled. He wants us to be good stewards of the assets He has put in our hands. God wants to live within us and give us joy. If our life is balanced, the joy that comes from the sum of all of its parts will fill our life with contentment and happiness – a genuine happiness that produces health and well being for ourselves and those around us. On the other hand, the devil is constantly moving the world away from God and toward more pleasure so that he can tempt us into sin with excessive pleasure. “For everything in the world – the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does – comes not from the Father but from the world.” (1 John 2:16)
The devil will do his best to get us to obsess over something that appears to be innocent at first, but it can become something that will eventually take control of our life if we don’t watch out! The devil wants to control us through an appetite for pleasure and once he gains control, he can use our obsession to destroy us and the happiness of those around us. Unchecked, the power of sin will overpower us! Paul wrote, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.” (Romans 7:15-17)
We have to be on guard against the devil’s tactics. Paul wrote, “But godliness with contentment is great gain.” (1 Timothy 6:6) At this time, our nation is consumed with the pursuit of pleasure – “eat, drink and be merry” – just as it was in Noah’s day. Pleasure is momentary, but true joy springs from knowing God, living the life that He has called us to live. Yes, a measured amount of pleasure is important in every life, but when we become hooked on pleasure, we’re in trouble. Too much pleasure deadens our spiritual interests. Too much pleasure is intoxicating. When separated from God and His peace, it becomes easier to experience obsession and an obsession can lead to compulsive behavior which, in the end, is harmful and destructive.
The world offers more entertainment, bigger thrills and chills, extreme pleasures and greater luxury to satisfy discontentment, but the Lord offers a peace that passes understanding. Which do you want? Jesus said, “Come unto me . . . .and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28) He is looking for disciples – those disciplined by His teachings and matured by His grace. The apostle James wrote, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:2-4, italics mine) If you want to be free of discontent and obsession, turn to Jesus, the King of Peace. Ask Him to give you the power to overcome. His truth and calling will set you free.
One key to quitting drugs: Pray the Lord’s prayer as often as you can pray it sincerely every day.
Read Matthew 6, Proverbs 29 and James 2
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Thank you for reading day 34 of this program in your effort to learn how you can get rid of drugs or drinking.
Index
Day 1: Overcoming cravings
Day2 : Is God real?
4. Checklist for avoiding relapse: Write down what attitudes and beliefs led you into addiction. For me the love of pleasure was a priority. That attitude brought about a lot of pain and destruction. I am currently focusing on being very aware of how great things are when I worship God vigorously and pursue the correct passions and purpose. If I improve my awareness of how great things are when I am vibrantly living life God’s way, the next time I fall into heavy temptation I will have more bullets in my gun to fight back.
Day 3: Quitting addiction exercises
Day 4: Getting negative emotions out
Day 5: You can never increase the amount of pleasure that you can have for the month by going back to an addiction
Day 6: Sin leads back to addiction
Day 7: Worshiping God helps us overcome addiction
Day 8: What causes you to stay addicted
Day 9: Develop positive addictions
Day 10: Overcoming negative emotions
Day 11: You have some self control
Day 12: Always have a list of alternate activities to do when temptation hits
Day 13: Only living water can satisfy you for good
Day 14: Learning form the story of Adam and Eve
Day 15: Blessings and curses
Day 16: Self Control
Day 17: Self Control continued
Day 18: Learning to pray
Day 19: What kind of prayers does God answer
Day 21: Finding a Church that can help you
Day 22: Why is it so hard to quit
Day 23: plan plan plan
Day 24: Don’t condemn yourself
Day 25: Get the anger and negative emotions out
Day 26: Attack your addiction
Day 27: The mad cycle
Day 28: Practice coping skills
Day 29: Why we need to find our purpose
Day 30: We were created to worship, praise and serve God
Day 31: Addiction is a trap that takes our freedom away
Day 32: Learning how to start to live in God’s blessing
Day 33: Addiction has a life