timcia

Day 9
Here are the next 3 verses to pray over for 20 minutes:
Daniel 1:8 ESV But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself.
Ecclesiastes 10:17 ESV Happy are you, O land, when your king is the son of the nobility, and your princes feast at the proper time, for strength, and not for drunkenness!
Proverbs 23:31-32 ESV Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. In the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder.

Why do all of these daily steps? When we are quitting with a short-term goal like, “30 days,” we may be able to motivate ourselves with simple goals like avoiding destruction as well as other things. But, if we want to quit for good we need to have goals that really have teeth. Goals like having joy and purpose. I linked these two goals together because they go together. Biblical Paul had fullness of joy (10 out of 10) in large part because he had fullness of purpose.

This is challenging because finding purpose is sometimes tough. But the good news is that step one to finding purpose is making a commitment to finding purpose. Step two to finding purpose is to go to war with sins that are keeping us from finding our purpose. Therefore, when we go to war with drinking/drugs along with a commitment to purpose we will start to see glimpses of this joy as we start to progress.

Then we focus on these glimpses of joy and ask ourselves: Would fullness of joy be even greater?

Years ago I would read about Biblical joy and I rarely experienced any of it. Now that I am going to war against sin and seeking purpose, I have a lot of joy. My life is way better now.

Consider setting (and praying about) a goal of joy and purpose. It is a huge key to quitting.

Finally, complete all the daily steps listed on day one.

Day 7
Here are the next 3 verses to pray over for 20 minutes:
1 Peter 4:7 ESV The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.
Romans 6:12 ESV
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.
Matthew 5:8 ESV
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Most of us have 3 distinct situations where our thoughts stray toward drinking/drugs. It could be going to work, school, or any of a dozen places. It could be when we choose our TV programs, or when what we thought was a clean show starts down the party path. It could be when bad things happen, or when people sever your last nerve.

Write down what situations cause an increase in bad thoughts. Next, write down your plan to change that.

What Type of Person really Quits?

The person who quits is someone who will search articles, pray, and come up with a great written plan for changing the way they think.

The person who really quits will be finding their purpose “while” they quit. Many of you have been praying about purpose, and maybe you have no idea of where to start. Well, just try something.

Finally, complete all the daily steps listed on day one.

Here are the next 3 verses to pray over for 20 minutes:

Romans 13:13 ESV Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.
Proverbs 23:31 Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly.
1 Corinthians 6:12 ESV I will not be dominated by anything.

To quit for good we study quitting articles at this site for 20-30 minutes each day. But if you want to quit in 21 days you need to read, reread, and almost memorize the key articles that you need for quitting. I don’t know which articles you need to study, but you need to know exactly which articles you need.

Consider starting by scanning the titles of articles over the past 10 months. Write down the titles or copy and paste the link of titles to see which ones are great for your situation so that you can later scan the articles. When you do find articles that are perfect for you, decide how often you should read the article over the next ten days.

For example, when life crushes you, you turn to ______. To solve this problem or any similar to it… find the right articles, and study them until you can develop new habits on how to react when life stinks.

Reading them is merely the start. Step two is taking that information to construct a plan so that you can make a new habit so that you can overcome the opening. Step three may be praying about your new habits, and developing a system to remind yourself of exactly when and how you want to change.

The point is that we need to solve the 1-3 main triggers that lead us back to _____. Once you have figured out which articles help you solve them, it is better to read, reread, and study those articles over and over than it is to find new ones. Study, think, and pray over them until you have a plan in your head on how to fight back 24 hours a day. Continue to study them until you have “new habits.”

When you have a complete plan for all your triggers, the triggers start to lose their power.
Finally, we repeat all of the other steps from day one.

For day 3 we pray for 20 minutes over the next 3 verses:

Galatians 5:19-21 ESV Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Isaiah 5:22 ESV Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink,
1 Corinthians 3:17 ESV If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

Many may do a portion of what I recommended on day one every day, but only a few will do everything. Many will skip praying about purpose for 15 minutes daily.

James 2:17 “Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”

Here is a story:

Jonny’s birthday is next week. His naughty uncle Ralph told him: “I am going to give you $100 to bet on any horse at the track next weekend. If you win the big one you can keep it all.”

Jonny said, “I will bet it all on my fav horse Black Lightning.”

Two days later Black Lightning was struck by lightning and he died instantly.

Now I have never bet horses, but I would no longer bet on Black Lightning after his run-in with white lightning. He is dead.

In addiction, the problem with faith without works being dead is… dead people need “something.” Instead, work diligently on having faith “with works.” When we have faith with works or faith with a diligent plan to someday have works we have something. We are alive, we are alive with Christ.

Consider praying: “Father, take away this spirit of drinking/drugs and help me to care about helping others, and souls.”

Last, if you don’t have time to do everything on the daily list (from day one), work on the daily verses first, but then do at least a little bit of everything.
Other than switching these 3 verses we repeat all of the other steps from day one. Consider printing out day one since you will need it for the next 20 days.

Pure thoughts are clean thoughts. Pure thinking involves thinking in a pure way about what we will read, watch, listen to, or think about. Consider praying David’s prayer:

“Create in me a pure heart Oh God, and renew a right Spirit within me.”

Step one in thinking pure thoughts is to plan to think pure thoughts. Plan pure thoughts if you are out and about where temptation may pop up. Plan pure thoughts before you turn on the TV.

Second, pure thoughts are: What is God’s will right now, not Wow, when we see an attractive person. Pure thoughts only happen when we avoid evil.

Finally, pure thoughts are writing prayers that say what Job said about keeping his eyes pure.

“Father, I will keep my eyes pure, I will keep my thoughts pure, help me to run from sin.”

Purity and positivity lead to a clean mind, and a clean mind keeps us free. Consider a focus on purity.