When we are in perfect sync with God, prayer is just as effective for quitting as studying key verses. The problem is… Millions of people who are completely out of sync with God, try to solve their problems with prayer.
If I am covetousness (I am American after all), it is an okay use of my time to pray about that sin (Wanting more, more, more). But until I study, pray over, and meditate on scriptures on the subject, I will likely stay out of sync with God. If I print out verses about my issues and study them, I will start to be in sync with God again. When we are in sync, prayer becomes powerful.
Second, think about the issue you want to work on. We have the issue because we are out of sync with God. To get in sync consider praying:
“Father, You are right about _______. My life will be better when I fully believe what your Word says. I commit to going to war with thoughts about _______ this week.”
Third, if we are praying only… This is how attempted quitting may go. #1 We pray a prayer about quitting lust 5 times today, then proceed to look at pictures on our phone that cause lust. #2 We pray a prayer about quitting drinking 5 times today and then proceed to hang out with old drinking buddies all evening.
These types of things happen repeatedly with people who struggle to quit.
Fourth, it is way harder to read, study, and pray over specific verses about the situation you are trying to change… Without considering change. Specific Bible verses shock us, scare us, educate us, and lead us. When we study them we will change for at least a while.
Fifth, once the Bible verses get us in sync with God again, prayer becomes powerful again.
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