Gambling Freedom in 60 Days: Day 43
One Saturday Billy attended a seminar on self-control. At the seminar he was advised to repeat for a minute or two one of the following affirmations:
1. I am fully in control of myself.
2. I have the power to choose my emotions and thoughts.
3. Self-control brings me inner strength and leads me to success.
4. I am in control of my reactions.
5. I am in charge of my behavior.
6. I am gaining control of my emotions.>
7. Self-control is fun and pleasurable.
The next week he started to feel things slipping out of control, so he used these techniques several times. He also prayed: Father, take away my spirit of despair and help me to have a spirit of self-control 4 times over the course of the day. But right at 5 PM as usual he felt the depression start. His wife used to come home at 5 and now she is gone.
But he keeps fighting the depression and tries to watch a little TV. With that not working he tries to read. That fails as well. Finally a break. His buddy calls and asks if he wants to get a bite to eat. He goes and to make a long story short – his evening improves and he makes it through the evening without falling into out of control gambling. At midnight he is home alone and able to keep a good relationship with God and he worships his way to sleep and is quite content with life.
Many people would look at this story and say – no great answer to prayer there. But; Billy did not give up and get him-self into trouble with out of control gambling. And he made a bit of improvement with his emotions. And if he thanks God for the slightly improved self-control, maybe next time God will remind him to come home and have Bible study, pray for other people’s lives to improve and be saved. And next time he will start off at the key temptation point determined to help others and he will have less time to worry about his own problems.
Remez Sasson says that: “your self-control will improve considerably, if you work on developing and strengthening your willpower and self-discipline through appropriate exercises. This is actually the most important step for developing self-control.
By developing and strengthening your willpower and self-discipline, you develop and strengthen your self-control. Click here for a powerful training program, with full information, advice, instructions and exercises for gaining inner strength and self-control.” A lot of great idea’s from Remez Sasson
We have appetites for things like sex, food and other pleasures. Within God’s boundaries and in moderation these appetites are just fine. When addiction hits we need to change our instincts. If you eat a Suzy Q cake every day and I eat a banana at lunch. We both have learned an instinct. What you feed your appetite will become a learned or inherent desire. An Alcoholic has chosen to feed their desire for thirst with alcohol instead of water. The key is to understand: what you “feed” your appetite will become a learned or inherent desire. 25 years ago I desired beer over water. Today I drink water and that is 100% my favorite desire with drinking. I know that I feel better today, this week, this month and this year with plenty of water. I have learned a good desire and habit. Below are some desires to feed:
Take a deeper look at time and your use of it: “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” (Ephesians 5:16) One preventative for sin and wrong doing is to fill your time with good things. Brethren, do good while it is in your hands to be able to do so. The time of opportunity passes quickly. Let us double our efforts to make wise use of our time in serving others and in evangelism. Our days are evil because of much sin. What are you doing with your time?
Focus on heaven. “This world is not my home.” (Philippians 1:21-24.) Our desire for that heavenly home must be strong. “It is more important for me to attain heavenly riches than earthly riches. We pray to care about others souls so that the Holy Spirit will prepare us to help them. When we focus on heavenly treasures first, many other things will fall in place for us.
Practice of God’s word: “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. (James 1:22) Power of God’s word: “So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.”
James named three specific areas of practice: (1) Controlling your tongue (James 1:26), (2) Being benevolent to the widows and orphans (James 1:27), and (3) Practicing personal purity (James 1:27). It is not enough just to hear the truth. One must also practice what he has learned. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but who does the will of My Father in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21.)
What appetite will you feed more which will help you stay away from addiction? Idea’s include: exercise, work, hobbies, learn a musical instrument and helping others. What are your top 2 healthy desires to feed? 1.___________ 2._______________
Gamblers are often in a mad money cycle. You need more money than you can earn so you need to gamble to make up the difference.
Can you make up the financial shortfall that you have (if you have one) by gambling? _______
Have you proven in the past that this was a wise strategy? _________
Gamblers commonly react to a losing streak by raising the stakes. Have you done this in the past.
What are the short term results. ___________________________________________________
What always happens in the long term with this strategy? _______________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________
What other money problems do you have outside of gambling?
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How has gambling increased these other problems ______________________________________________________________
Many people outside of gambling have financial problems. In order to solve their problem they need to change.
Some get help, some learn how to be patient so they can solve the problem over time. Some learn to control their spending.
What five ways can you start to make changes to solve your financial problems?
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Exercise #1 Research on the internet specific ways to start to solve financial problems. Type into a search engine the specific problem
that you have (overspending, debt etc) and take notes on solutions to these problems.
Read Matthew 15, and Acts 5-6
Father, take away my gambling urges and help me to worship and praise you so that I will become more disciplined and stronger.
Matthew 5 is about how we can change so that we will start to be blessed by God. www.relijournal.com noted the following
The Sixth Beatitude v8
God blesses those whose hearts are pure,
for they will see God.
The Bible tells us the same thing in Psalms 24, 51 and 119. They also tell us exactly how to make our hearts pure. To become pure is to become holy.
Psalm 119:9 reads, “How can a believer keep his heart pure? By keeping it according to the word of God”.
If we live by God’s instructions we will keep our hearts pure. We will only find out what God’s instructions are if we
read the Bible and talk to him!
This beatitude tells us that if we are pure in heart then we will see God. That means we will see God in Heaven, but it also
means that we will see and experience Him now.
Deception and lies destroy purity. The world teaches that deception is acceptable. School friends may say it’s OK to copy a
piece of homework, work colleagues may encourage us to keep something from the boss and brothers and sisters can suggest
that we tell a white lie so we don’t get grounded. These are all examples of deception, even though to some of us they may be
seen as little lies and not big ones! Either way it is deception and it contaminates what is pure.
| Pray and ask God to help you to make it a habit to always plan your next few days. It is vital to plan because boredom is a trigger to relapse. Routine and concrete scheduling can be a lifesaver for an addict. A schedule, coupled with passion for a new hobby or sporting activity, allows people to successfully and happily break the cycle of boredom |
Index
Day one: Quitting addiction exercises
Day two: It is important to admit you are powerless
Day 3: Learn the right way to live
Day 4: Getting rid of negative emotions
Day 5: Remember – money lost is not yours. Don’t try to get it back or you will lose more.
Day 6: can you increase your pleasure by gambling?
Day 7: Staying clean in all ways helps you quit the addiction
Day 8: Decide what pain and pleasure you want
Day 9: Analyze what leads you back to your addiction
Day 10: Change your emotions and your mindsets. Stop believing that your big score will come in.
Day 11: Where the Spirit of the Lord is – there is liberty
Day 12: Learn how to worship God. Also try to develop positive addictions.
Day 13: Write out a letter saying why you want to quit
Day 14: Overcoming cravings and negative emotions
Day 15: You have some self control
Day 16: Have a list of coping statements. Have a list of substitute activities.
Day 17: How to find living water that will always satisfy you
Day 18: Do not have faulty beliefs abourt gambling odds
Day 19: Interview with a professional poker player
Day 26: Which prayers are answered quickly – which prayers time more time and persistence
Day 27: How to fill the vacuum that addiction caused
28: Finding a good church
29: Knowing why you can’t quit can help you plan how to quit
30: How to eliminate the vacuum created by quitting
31: Tripping your addiction trap. Overcoming sloth
32: You need clean people around you if you are going to stay clean
33: Use real math not gambling math
Day 34: Don’t condemn yourself
Day 35: Don’t test yourself to see if it is safe to gamble a little bit
Day 36: Knowing why you can’t quit can help you quit
Day 37: Do not chase pipe dreams
Day 38: Getting the anger out
Day 39: The vice of greed
Day 40: Specific planning helps break addiction
Day 41: Embrace the truth about gambling. Know your odds of hitting the big score.
Day 42: Quitting permanently