Getting our minds on other things is a key to quitting. The Bible says to pray without ceasing. Today, consider whether that is something you would like to start doing. The first benefit of this is you begin to focus your mind on something good. Which starts to keep one from constant bad thoughts. Consider praying: “Father, help me to turn from lust and teach me how to help others.” Today I realized that my lack of prayer was leading to negative thinking and critical thinking. That was my signal to pray: “Father, help me to care about people's souls,” a lot more. That then led me to pray: “Father, fill me with Your strength,” because today is very busy... how can I find the strength to help the last few groups that I write for when I have time? That then led to my reading my printout of verses about strength. When you try to pray without ceasing, you are not trying to find sofisticated words that can be written down for eternity. Instead, you are stating your availability to walk and talk with God like Adam and Eve did in the garden. Obviously, it is unlikely to be a running verbal conversation. Instead, as I restate my interest in being available to do His will, He may start to give me some direction. Here are ideas for praying without ceasing: Constantly praising God Praying often to be filled with love. Praying to get the lust and sin out. Praying that the Lord will send out workers for the harvest. Praying to be filled with joy. Praying for wisdom. Praying for humility Praying for peace. Praying for longsuffering, and toughness. Praying for Gentleness. Praying for Goodness. Praying for meekness. Finally, simply ask God to teach you how to pray. Then keep trying to pray. The more we think about and do other things, the less time we have available for lust. The more we pray, the more the Spirit of God will be with us... which is great for loneliness.
In the South, wild hogs eat and wreck everything. So, farmers and landowners are always trying to trap them, just like satan is always trying to trap us. The farmers set giant metal cages on their property. Then they put food inside them so that someday they will slam the door shut and get about 18 of them. The traps are set up and the young hogs run right into the trap because inside of the trap is something they (think they) want. There is food everywhere on the farm, but the food they want is inside the trap. Satan sets his trap for us. We have a dozen clean pleasures available, but he puts exactly what we want inside the cage. We are not sure it is a trap. It is very beautiful and exciting looking. All we have to do is look, or click, or even just think “his way” for a while. Often the older hogs hesitate to go into the cage. They are one of the smartest animals. But... some of them stare at the easy food inside. They walk up to it to see if it is really what they want. When you watch them you can tell that they know it might be a trap. It might be someone trying to kill them. A few of the hogs just never go in the cage. They don't stare at it, or walk up to it. They turn from it and find other food. After about 10 days of free food, the farmer starts watching the trap. They wait until 14-18 pigs are in the trap. Then they hit the remote and the door slams shut. They are trapped... it's all over. Only a few hogs knew the consequences of eating in that cage. Only a few avoided going into the trap. Only a few had a great life. Today, consider getting busy loving God and increasing in love for people. Consider praying: “Father, show me the consequences of this lust.” “Father, show me Your will, and help me to do Your will.” Remember, it's a trap. Don't go near it.
To fight negative emotions we have to stop thinking over and over again about the problem. Instead, do a Google search on the best Scriptures to memorize. Find a few that speak to you and get started. God is way bigger than the problem that triggered your emotions. Let Him speak to you through scripture. Secondly, depression is not a Godly trait. To fight depression pray: "Father, what do You want me to do." Of course, you can do a bunch of the ideas listed on this site, and they will help. But... give God a chance to show you something. Jeremiah 29:11 ESV For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Pray one million times: "Father, show me the plans You have for me." If you are obsessed with what God wants... you will be well on your way to defeating negative emotions.
Your mind is a stronghold. It is either a stronghold for good or for bad. 50% of those reading grew up in churches that didn’t teach praising the Lord. But most of the people in the Bible wrote about and practiced praising the Lord. Here is some truth. If your mind is a stronghold for wrong thoughts, you need to start doing things that will change that, or things will not change. Consider praying: “Father, help me to make it a habit to praise You 10 times or more per day.” I consistently praise the Lord when good things happen. Everyone who knows me knows… good things happen to me a lot. Is that a coincidence, or does God like it when I praise Him? I try to praise the Lord when bad things happen. I sometimes pray to God: “Father, I will really praise You if You help me with this.” Then I add: “I will also praise You if You choose to let me go through the problem with Your help.” Second, prayer will start to change your mind from a stronghold for bad thoughts into a stronghold for God. Look on this site for prayers. Consider copying them into your phone and setting an alarm for every 30 minutes. This system would encourage you to pray up to 30 prayers per day. Even if you are at work you can quickly pray your “Go to” prayer, something quick like: “Father, teach me to turn from lust.” God 100% knows, even if you only pray for 11 seconds if you were completely sincere. So pause reverently at work or school, and pray that short prayer. Finally, be totally aware of who your mind is a stronghold for. I fight daily to make mine a stronghold for God.
We are controlled by what we feed. If we feed the T-Rex, it will control us. If we feed the Lion, it will teach us self-control. We feed the T-Rex by focusing on 3 categories. The first category is things like looking at clean TV or stuff on your phone. But if the entertainment includes females (or males if u are on the other side) it still feeds the T-Rex, but only a little. Category two involves looking at fairly clean stuff, but taking it right to the edge of lust. This action feeds the T-Rex and strengthens him. Category three involves high-risk looking. This action makes the T-Rex a powerhouse. We feed the Lion with prayer, Bible study, and a focus on purpose. We need to figure out how to feed the Lion more often. To learn how to turn off the TV or phone and put on a good sermon about overcoming sin. First, we need to stay content. Consider praying this often: “Father, take away this spirit of lust, and help me to be content.” When you are spiraling into heavy temptation, changing to Bible study, prayer, or a good sermon is difficult. But if you have a daily goal of increasing in love or contentment, we see temptation building, and we are content to do the things that will bring us purpose and a great life. Today, consider having a goal of increasing in one of the fruits of the Spirit or some other spiritual goal. If you do that temptation starts to become a math problem. Did you feed the T-Rex too much so far today? If so, panic, stop, start feeding the Lion. If you are increasing in love, contentment, or another fruit of the Spirit... You will be able to make the change. Able to feed the Spirit who will make your life great. Able to fight temptation.
Some might say, “It's not my fault. Work/school/people/finances were bad. I can't help myself when life gets this bad. We have 3 options when life gets bad and we get tempted. #1 Turn instantly from lust, dig into scripture, pray fervently, read key articles, start doing other things, and continue to strive to fulfill our purpose or work on finding our purpose. #2 Consider our options, fight back with prayer, visit this site, and get busy doing other things. #3 Give in. Note: #1 works often, #2 works sometimes. #3 is bad. Second, never say, “This is what I do. This is who I am. I can't change. Consider praying: “Father, teach me who I am when I fight to do things Your way.” Third, plan on how to “Be Ready” for temptation “Every day.” To be ready, we do everything and anything to remind ourselves of what we want to do when the test comes. To be ready practice underestimating the fun of lust. Plus practice overestimating the destruction of lust. You will probably still underestimate it. Last, put out reminders of what u plan to work on. Third, pick 3 habits you want to acquire this month that will help you be ready. When will you work on them every day? Then pick 3 more things that you will do today to “Be ready.” Become obsessed with being ready. It works. When free from lust we are more fun to be around. That starts to help with loneliness.
Why did God show us how satan talked to Adam and Eve? One of the reasons was to show us that satan tempts us just like he tempted them. I was a newby loan officer. People would call our office and I would tell them our mortgage rate. But then they would thank me and not set up an appointment. But then one day another loan officer told me: After you tell them our rate, give them 5 benefits to doing the loan today. On my very next call that was what I did. I got the appointment. To succeed I needed to know exactly what to say. When we are tempted we need to know exactly what to say. Satan tells us what to think about, what to look at and what to do. And if our answer is a weak... no, or, I can't. We are going to lose. But when we are prepared we can win. Every one of us has 3-5 specific reasons why we want to quit and why we should quit. Even more importantly we all have 5 benefits to quitting. Things like: Better relationships, being a better parent, improved finances when I get my self-control back, being able to do my job better, and most importantly having a great relationship with Jesus Christ again. Here is what we didn't learn from Genesis, but we did learn it from Joseph. We learned how to do it right. A beautiful woman tried to seduce him. I guarantee you that he had 5 reasons why he wouldn't give in. And he was the wisest man in Egypt. He could likely list 10 benefits to himself if he did not give in. Being completely prepared, he immediately fled the scene. We can be completely prepared as well. We can write out 5 reasons on a note card of why we want to quit. We can write out 5 benefits to quitting. We can write out our goals for quitting. Then when satan comes around and tempts us we read him a couple of lines from our card. When he doesn't give up – we start reading again. Be ready to give your reasons for quitting when tempted. It helps.
God wants our time, attention, and affection. When we double our attempt to do that, our other negative emotions fade in importance. For the full article click.
Joy is waking up in the morning and knowing, “Life is good.” Joy is waking up to problems and knowing, God is with me, these problems will be solved or they will lead to good. Joy is knowing that Bible study and prayer are keys to success. #1, Seek to find God's blessings because they lead to joy. Study, “Verses blessed,” and articles on being blessed, then strive to do what they say. Be patient after you change to find God's blessings. It takes longer than you think. #2 Study God's promises: Psalm 37:4 ESV Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Don't delight in money or pleasure. Delight yourself in the Lord and watch Him start to give you everything. Once again, put in the work and “Be patient.” Isaiah 40:31 But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. Psalm 84:11 ESV For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.” Joy is having “No good thing withheld from you.” This is a conditional promise for those who walk uprightly. Work at living uprightly, and “patiently” wait for the long-term promise to start to happen. Joshua 1:9 ESV Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” 2 Corinthians 7:1 ESV Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.” You can be confident in all of the Bible's promises coming true if you constantly focus on doing what this verse says. Have patience, it will happen if you consistently put in the work. #3 Once you are doing the above steps, then you will begin to find great joy by being in God's presence. Psalm 16:11 ESV You make known to me the path of life; in your presence, there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” After you have decided to go to war with sin and to find God's will for you, you will find great joy in spending a block of time in Bible-study, and prayer. I insist on living in joy, so I insist on spending a block of time in Bible-study, and prayer. I really want pleasures forevermore, so I insist on spending time focusing on what God wants me to do. Follow these 3 keys to finding joy. Work consistently and patiently to make it happen. In my life, doing so was the best thing I ever did.
99% of people put up with some level of lust in their lives. We tell ourselves, "This smaller level is not so bad. This smaller level is not so destructive. Purdue Pharma created OxyContin, which is really fancy heroin. They said: "It is not so bad. It is not so addictive. It is good for you. They lied often over the years while they built sales up. Since the government put its stamp of approval on Oxy in the 90s, deaths from heroin overdoses have quadrupled. Many of these increased deaths were due to legal prescription drugs, and legal drugs now illegally sold by dealers. We do the same thing. An illicit fantasy or a quick look is not as bad as sleeping around with a bunch of people. That is 100% true from the point of view of society (harming others). But... this quick look or whatever is putting a 10-mile-high boulder between us and joy and purpose. Or, the recurring fantasy or whatever is making our lives so they are almost completely devoid of God's blessing, despite our beliefs. These things also increase temptation to go back to the full habit. Here are some facts. All heroin is bad unless you are dying, are in full distress from trauma, or some other situation just like that. #2 All lust is bad. If I look for 2 seconds with lust at my fav TV star in her bikini tonight, there will be consequences. I will get something like, "Extra anger, extra fear, or other emotions that go out of whack and mess up my life." Wow, all from 2 seconds... I better limit it to 1 second. Um, no. The same thing will happen. Note: These are the minimum things that "Will" happen. If I ask people to list the gigantic things that sometimes happen, we could be here all day. Some of you are 100 miles away from "Fullness of joy." But, it is vitally important to believe that it can happen if we change to allow it to start to happen. What smaller level of lust are you putting up with? Consider praying: "Father, help me to rase the standards in the area of lust. Please show me how to increase in Your joy instead of selfish pleasures. Help me to believe that "All lust is bad and destructive." Don't allow any level of lust in your life. It leads back to habits, is always destructive, and it keeps us from living the way God wants us to live. Today, consider raising the standards. It is a great way to get a closer relationship with the God that created you.
For many, the #1 most important time for hourly reboots is when life runs us over. When you are smashed down again by work, school, spouses, finances, and 100 other things, it is vital at these points to have a plan for consistent reboots. #1 Have a plan to fight in these situations. When life punches you in the face again, consider saying every hour, “I will not give up. I will fight.” #2 Have a plan of what to do. Every 60 to 90 minutes you can come to this site to find a plan or a prayer for these tough situations. Keep coming back “Until you get answers.” #3 Don't complain. My (bad) habit was to complain, feel sorry for myself, and grab my perfect excuse to fall... when life ran me over again. God does not like complaining. He actually killed a bunch of Israelites with fiery serpents for complaining. Instead, work on your “habit” of praising the Lord and giving thanks. #4 Reset as many times as it takes. When your car repair bill is 900 and you have about 400, read a few more scripture verses, later, a few more. Keep fighting... read scripture about money. Learn how to do things God's way when you are in a jam. When you do... God will lift you up the next time, and many more times in the future. When you don't, you get to take the “test” again, and again, and again, and again. Instead, reset again and again, and again, and again. That way... you will pass the test with flying colors.
I have improved on hating evil, but I am still human. Adam and Eve learned to hate evil after their life fell apart. Consider praying: “Father, help me to hate evil before bad things happen.” The problem is... you did not get kicked out of paradise the last time you blatantly sinned. You were not even aware that the blessing God had for you disappeared. You were not aware that this week could have been great. Very few people connect falling 24 times in the past year with a bunch of crap that fills their life. But if you spend the next week asking God every hour: “How does my lust make a mess of my life?” He will answer that prayer. He will show you if you keep on asking. He wants every sincere follower to know how destructive lust is. Second, this week strive to make it a habit to pray: “Father, help me to hate evil.” Pray it “before” you go near any place that tempts you. Pray it before and during watching TV. Finally, when you pray that remember: What happened to Adam and Eve, what happened to David, what happened to Sampson. After David had total disaster, he learned to “hate evil.” Joseph learned to hate evil first. He ran from what would have become a disaster. Instead of disaster, he became the 2nd most powerful man in the world and he saved his home country. Finally, evil makes me less popular, it turns me into an angry unhappy person who no one loves being around. People want to be around people who are filled with good, and joy. Become that person.
What you feed your mind will determine the release of your full potential. #1 Feed your mind prayers that will help you change. Every day pick a new or old prayer to pray that day. #2 Feed your mind a memory verse about the topic you want to change: Matthew 6:22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy,[a] your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy,[b] your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” Don't worry about reciting any verse word perfect. Worry about feeding your mind great things like scripture. Google “Verses lust” for new verse ideas. #3 I gave 20 things to think about in the August 13th article. As always, you have my permission to print this out. As I reread that article I thought, I wrote it, but I still need to print it out. #4 When you have a lustful thought think: #1 Prayer, #2 Bible verse, #3 Where is my list with ideas about what to think about? Finally, if you develop the habit of feeding your mind good things... The temptation will go way down. When I think right, more people want to be around me. That helps with loneliness. For the full article click.
Yesterday I felt overwhelmed. To try to fight back I pulled up the article I referenced recently in the Christian group about 20 things to think about. That got my thinking on a better track and I thought: “Pray about the fruits of the Spirit, love joy peace etc.” I would love to say that heaven opened up and all my problems were solved. But... what really happened was, I was now getting busy, I was starting to climb out of my deep “rut,” and I now had a goal of what to think about. Today, I realize, I have not read my printout of my verses about love in weeks. If I treat other people better, they likely will treat me better. Today I read those verses. Today I prayed often: “Father, help me to turn from lust and fill me with your love.” When we are tired, overwhelmed, frustrated, or exhausted, it is vital to pray a prayer like this one “before” and during tempting situations. If we start praying this in earnest before temptation skyrockets, then the Holy Spirit might just remind us to pray it “instantly” when a real temptation starts. Second, when overwhelmed, review your quitting goals. Tip: Never say, “I don't care right now.” Instead say, “These are my goals, and this _______ is why I want to quit.” Third, make a plan of action. It's not a miracle plan. You won't likely go from depression to full joy, but you will be doing something. Thinking about something new. Not rehashing what is overwhelming you over and over and over again. Fourth, patiently work on your plan to turn things around. Prayerfully, ask the Holy Spirit to show you how to change so that your future can be brighter. Then pound a few scriptures into yourself so that the Holy Spirit pounds the darkness out of you. Finally, when you fight back with all your might when are overwhelmed, at some point, someday, you will be flying, instead of continually getting stuck in that rut. Isaiah 40:31 "But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."
Can you increase your pleasure by going back to an addiction? The correct answer is not yes, but it is also not no. The Heroin addict who relapses increases their short-term pleasure (unless they die or overdose), but, then they return to their own personal hell for the long-term. If you are addicted for life you will always choose the short-term over the long-term. Second, the pleasure that we get with addiction never includes joy. I wrote an article that stated: “You can't increase your pleasure with addiction.” While this does contradict the above statement a bit, it is true if you have any joy in your life. When you are free for a bit you may love your job, mom, spouse, hobby, sport or a million other “clean” things. But within hours of going back to our chains, the darkness surrounds us, we treat others more poorly, our great job seems meaningless, and we almost don't care about “anything.” The truth is... that tiny short-term bit of pleasure, made almost everything that was good in our life decrease. Now read the above underlined sentence again. It makes more sense now. But if you fully believe that fact, that is great news. With your new found faith you can now try activites with a new confidence. Example: you tried playing the guitar as an alternative activity. It did not take. If you were going back to the habit regularly, you contaminated that activity, or any other activity. Instead, if you are going to war with lust, and trying to do things God's way, guitar playing might become a great hobby for you. You might even learn a few spiritual songs to play. The key thing with hobbies is: “The more fully dedicated to quitting you are, the more fun your new hobby will become.” Do you believe your life can be great if you do things God's way? Consider praying: “Father, help me to remember that I can't increase my pleasure by going back.” Even our pleasure will “Always” be better for the week, month, and year if we focus on living life the right way.”
Satan will plant lustful thoughts in our minds. We can reject them, and we must reject them. Step one: Determine to control your thoughts. Many will try this today, only a tiny few will succeed. But those who employ the tricks of discipline will still have a great chance. Experts at discipline struggle and say: I need more notes to remind me to reject bad thoughts. I need to pray more. I need to say and think more often: “I will control my thoughts.” I need to pray more often: “Father, help me to control my thoughts.” Step two: Always “try” to reject lustful thoughts. Today I will watch pro football. Many receivers were drafted in the first round. The Lions star Amon-Ra St. Brown was picked in the 4th round but he has more catches than the 17 receivers picked before him. Why? He “Tries harder.” Not only this week, but this month and “All year.” Rejecting and replacing lustful thoughts is a skill that takes time to master. Consider praying: “Father, help me to work on the skill of rejecting and replacing lustful thoughts every day.” Today, consider praying this when lustful thoughts strike: “Father help me to reject this thought.” Today, pray about whether you will make a lifestyle choice to consistently “Try” to reject and replace lustful thoughts. It is a key to quitting. Clean thoughts lead to peace which really helps with loneliness.
I don't want to lust. I just want to Intimately know, and be known by another person that I can give myself to. God knows this. I just cannot find someone. I am just frustrated that I, with good intentions, cannot find someone. While some many others, with selfish intentions, wanting only sex, or non committed relationships, or flings, are able to have this intimacy. Isn't this so ass backwards? I know God will provide. In my head. I just haven't known this experientially yet. And I kind of want to cry
