timcia
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Can love conquer addiction? Love leads us out of isolation and toward people. My old go to was to lick my wounds, and use my pain to go back to isolation and addiction. When pain causes temptation to rise, get into scripture, and consider praying:
“Jesus, thank you for the pain you overcame on the cross for me. I will keep fighting until I conquer this thing.”
Second, we need a network of people loving us in order to change. Even if your self-help group gives you no new information, just the fact that they are there for you is very important.
Third, church people and pastors/priests are often loving and helpful. Get involved in church.
Romans 12:21 Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Studying love is good. Helping others is good. Good works are good. Loving others is good. When we become obsessed with these things, we start to overcome evil with good.
Finally, the earlier articles list things to do to increase in love. Consider making habits of some of these things. Why? Because, when we increase in love toward others, they will likely increase in love toward us. That is good for quitting.
What if we were given a brand new start to life? Put into paradise in the Garden of Eden. Everything brand new except that we still have our same old thoughts and ways of thinking. What advice would really help you change your life and get rid of this addiction?
I would say: “Dear Self, you are getting some of the destruction out of your life by reading several chapters of the Bible which has increased your faith. You are spending time in prayer every day which has helped you learn why and how to overcome sin and addiction. You are focusing on treating others with love and praying about being filled with love. This has caused you to realize that people are more important than any addiction. You are focused on finding and fulfilling your purpose which is filling you with joy.
But remember, satan will come into the garden. He will bring new updated tricks and temptations. But they will be the same old tricks and temptations disguised as something new and great. So today and every day focus on the fact that _____ steals your joy. Focus on the fact that sin steals your joy. Focus on the fact that being a slug and not fighting to fulfill your purpose steals your joy. Instead choose Christ who fills you with joy.”
Today, start a habit of Bible reading, prayer, and a focus on being filled with God’s love. These habits will start to squeeze out some habits that are killing you.Are we missing out on things if we don’t sin? The correct answer is we are not, but it is complicated.
There is only a finite amount of joy we can have. A fixed maximum amount. A finite amount of fun, excitement, and pleasure (FEP). When we do everything God’s way, we are close to the max amount on all 3 almost all the time. But when we only do a few things God’s way, we experience a below-average amount of fun, excitement, and pleasure (FEP) from normal activities.
So we fight to do things God’s way and our FEP steadily increases. But if we fall we get short-term fun then disaster. With satan’s way, our FEP for the month and year are always lower. With God’s way, our month and year are always higher. Plus once we start overcoming, our today starts to become higher and better as well.
If you want your FEP level high all the time, start aggressively doing things God’s way.
PRAYER
Prayer should be the most joyful time of our day. Once you learn how to do it, and make it a habit, it should be something you want to do and look forward to doing. So take a block of time out of your day and just talk honestly to God. Just start with the Lord’s pray and then move on.
If you are lonely pray, “Father, take away this spirit of drinking/drugs, this loneliness, and prepare me to help others.” If you are bored, pray, “Father, take away this spirit of drinking/drugs, and show me what you want me to do.” If you are sad, pray, “Father, take away this spirit of drinking/drugs, this sadness, and fill me with Your joy.” If you are covetous of other women, pray, “Father, take away this spirit of covetousness and help me to be content.” If you are depressed, pray, “Father, take away this spirit of drinking/drugs, this depression, and fill me with Your fire.
Key point: If you are willing to do something for God someday; your prayers will increase in power.
Write your own 2-way prayer. A 2-way prayer is saying what God wants and saying what you want. If you want your depression gone that is one half. And God really wants your drinking/drugs gone, that is the other half.
I have probably prayed, “Father, take away my spirit of ______, and help me to care about souls,” ten thousand times. Every time I prayed it I was totally sincere. For a long time, I was just another train wreck person trying to quit. But over time I started to change. And now that prayer is really being answered for me. And for the first time in my life this verse is true: Psalms 16:In thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
Finding our purpose is a top two quitting habit. A person who says, “I’m willing to do what God wants me to do to change the world,” is way more likely to quit. They have multiple reasons to quit, and high motivation to quit.
Second, quitting “sticks” way more often when you start your purpose. Life has never been better for me. Don’t want to mess up what I now have.
Third, purpose leads to joy. The worldly things people think lead to joy never do.
Consider praying: “Father, help me to avoid tempting situations, and help me to care about souls.”
Fourth, spend a block of time daily praying about purpose.
Fifth, try new things that you think God would want you to do.
Finally, develop the positive addiction of thinking about purpose often. It is what we are here for.
We should confess every sin every time and confess every sinful thought every time. For some… that will be a constant stream of confession. Good. Work constantly on using your confession as a reminder to think new thoughts. With every bad thought consider praying:
“Father, I am sorry again. I agree with you that this thought is wrong.”
Second, take 5 minutes to truly repent (When not busy). Consider praying:
“Jesus, I do not take Your cross for granted. Please help me to turn from triggers.”
Third, do not take God’s grace for granted like Annanias did (Lying to Peter). That ended very poorly.
Fourth, Consider memorizing good things to “Think about.” There are several in this thread and a bunch in the article Think About.
If you think correctly, nothing can stop you.The Bible clearly says “We can do it.” First, we need to gain the habit of turning from triggers. Step one is to tell God your plan. Consider praying:
“Father, help me to turn from triggers. I commit to praying this prayer _______ times per day. Praying it five straight times if I stumble on anything tempting.”
Use notes, alarms, and any other way you can think of to remind yourself of your goal.
Second, yesterday I did a couple of things in excess. Excess leads back to bad habits. Consider praying:
Father, help me to be moderate and content.”
Learn great new habits. Find joy.
Don’t Look Back
When the angel told Lot to leave Sodom, he gave instructions that no one should look back. Lot’s wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt. Why did this happen? She left her sinful past and city only because she did not want to die. The city still obsessed her thoughts.
Second, quitting takes several steps. Not falling is step one. Going to war with temptation and bad thoughts is step #2. Getting rid of bad thoughts is step #3. Consider praying:
“Father, help me to have a reply for every bad thought every time.”
Third, consider making a Bible verse into a prayer:Psalm 101:3 ESV I will not set before my eyes on anything that is worthless. I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me.” Consider praying:
“Father, I will not set my eyes on triggers. I hate sin, it shall not cling to me.”
Consider making it a habit to pray these prayers several times daily.
Lot’s wife needed to make it a habit to think new thoughts. We should learn from her to not look back. Not think our old bad thoughts. We need to think new thoughts. These prayers prompt new thoughts.
Jesus fasted and prayed “Before” temptation. Jesus instantly quoted scripture regarding the temptation to satan when He was tempted.
Before temptation, it is wise to have a couple of scriptures from (Google search “Verses drinking/drugs”) memorized.
Consider fasting from food and memorizing a couple of verses, or fasting from TV, or from your computer.
When tempted “instantly” quote quitting verses. In Jesus temptation in Matthew 4, He did not consider His options for even 1 second, He instantly quoted specific Bible verses that fought off the temptation.
Key point: Put in the work, prayer, and memorization “Before” the temptation happens.
Secondly, satan tempts us with what we want. Psalm 1 says “Blessed is the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law does he meditate day and night.” #1 Consider setting a goal to be blessed. #2 Meditate often on the verses that will set you free (Which will also start you toward blessings). #3 Remember, satan tempts us with what we want. How can he continue tempting you if blessings are what you want? If he tries to continue, he will be fighting God’s very Word, and His promises. Satan is smart, he will bother you less, and find easier victims. Consider praying often:
“Lord, help me to use Your technique for fighting off temptation.”
Why is thinking right so important? Example, life knocks us down again. We want to think about our (bad) options. If we don’t think about the Philippians command to “Think about these things, we will think in ways that start the big slide. Instead, consider often asking yourself this question:
“How can I think toward love?” If you are angry, forgive. If sad, praise the Lord. If frustrated with life, decide to make life better for people around you. How can I help others? If Christians would focus more on thinking “Toward love,” what would the church look like?
The Bible says to think about lovely things. Think about being a peacemaker. Think about valuing what is important to others so that you can show them a bit of God’s love. Think about forgiving others. We are obeying what Philippians says to think about when we practice “Rapid forgiveness.” Consider praying:
“Father, help me to turn from lust and teach me the habit of rapid forgiveness.”
Here is an example of a lovely thought. “How can I promote love today?
Second, we all like a person who is “pleasant.” They are always nice and kind to others. They notice the good in the day and the beauty in the world. Consider praying:
“Father, help me to think about better things. Please change my thoughts.”
Consider picking two new thought patterns to think about from this list, then see how many times this week you can refocus your mind to thinking about things the Bible says to think about.
#1 How can I change my situation toward love?
#2 Rapid forgiveness is real love
#3 Can I be the person who is pleasant, positive, and nice?
#4 Can I act in a way that someone might see Jesus in me?
Great thoughts replace bad thoughts. How will you plan to think Bible thoughts?
The Bible says “If the Son sets you free you will be free indeed.” Many reading this have heard this before, right before they went back. What happened? Does the Son pick and choose who He sets free?
The Bible says “If we abide in Christ and He abides in us, we can ask for anything we want, and receive it.” How can we make this verse true for us? #1 Ask to be set free. #2 Have Christ abide in you. If scripture is always on your mind, He is abiding in you.
What percentage of people would quit it they always quoted one of the verses for quitting every 30 minutes (When not busy). What percentage of people would quit if they always quoted one of the verses for quitting every other time every 30 minutes, and quoted any verse of their choice every other time every 30 minutes (When not busy)?
A massive percentage of people would quit if they quoted the verses for quitting every 30 minutes. A large percentage would also quit if they used the 2nd option.
Second, print out the verses for quitting so that you can easily access them. If you are always out and about, put them in your phone, or search “Verses drinking” to get the same thing.
Third, consider what commitment will you make for quitting. A verse every hour, a verse every two hours?
Fourth, This commitment plus going to war with sin, plus submitting to His ways, are three key ways we abide in Christ.
Fifth, when we abide in Christ we can ask for other things as well. Then life gets good.
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