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Breaking Habits Through Prayer
By Eric Lowther
“Are you struggling with a habit
so stubborn that it has a life of its own?
A mind that thinks for you, a voice that speaks to you, a power that
keeps pulling you down? Nothing
brings victory like ‘praying the Word’, for God says, ‘I am watching over my
Word to perform it’ (Jeremiah 1:12 (NASB)).
So begin each day by praying:
“ ‘Lord, Your Word says that if
I call on You, You will answer me; You will be with me in trouble, You will
honor me and You will deliver me (Psalm 91:14-15).
You said that through the power of Your indwelling Spirit I would be
set free from this vicious cycle of temptation, sin and failure (Romans
8:2). You said if I fully commit my
life to You, I’d have the strength to stand up to the devil and he would
flee from me (James 4:7). You said
You have given me the power to pull down all my old mental strongholds and
take control of every wayward thought, imagination, and impulse (2
Corinthians 10:4-5). You said
that by reading Your Word each day and meditating on it, I would become a
partaker of Your divine nature, and overcome the destructive tendencies of
my flesh (2 Peter 1:3-4). You said
I’d be strengthened in my mind, my emotions and my will; that my self-worth
would be based solely on Your love for me; and that You would do exceedingly
abundantly above all I could ask or think — because You are at work in me
(Ephesians 3:14-21).
‘Today I thank You for helping
me to overcome this habit. In Jesus
Christ’s precious name I pray, Amen.’ ”
~ Reprinted from ‘The Word for
You Today’
~~~~~~~
“When
God gets ready to do something in the world, He sets His people to praying.”
~ Anonymous
‘Habits’ here could just as easily be synonymous with ‘addictions’.
If you are struggling with a habit and/or addiction that has you in
spiritual bondage (enslavement), if you are living with guilt from past
sins, you are not alone. This is
certainly nothing new, take for example:
We also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to
various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful,
hating one another … You have had enough in the past of the evil things that
godless people enjoy — their immorality and lust, their feasting and
drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols.
~ Titus 3:3; 1 Peter 4:3 (NLT)
To live a whole(some) life in
Christ, this is what needs to be done (as the Apostle Peter advised Simon,
who was previously a sorcerer):
“Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the
thought of your heart may be forgiven you.
For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.”
~ Acts 8:22-23
When one understands repentance and
forgiveness is what must be done, the process may take awhile (see also
The Race — Persevering to the Goal).
But this
is what God offers you:
When the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared … you
were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord
Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
~ Titus 3:4; 1 Corinthians 6:11
One big dilemma that someone who
is new in Christ may face is “how can I be in Christ, feel like I’m a
Christian, a child of God, and yet still struggle with the same old bad
habits/addictions?” I believe part
of the answer is that while Christ’s salvation may seem instantaneous to
some, salvation initially affects only the spirit, not the body & soul. The
fleshly body retains its craving for the old habits/addictions, while the
soul struggles with guilt & remorse due to the ongoing undesirable
behaviors. It may take months or
even years to retrain the body to ‘the new self’, to purge old junky
routines, patterns, practices … whatever you want to call them.
To effect the spiritual purity &
cleanliness Christ offers, this re-evaluation must take place on a daily
basis, a conscious decision whether to go with the spirit or desires of the
(carnal) body. Even then, after much
cleansing, just like a house that’s been thoroughly cleaned, each day when
the morning sun enters, there are still visible scratches on the walls, dust
on the baseboards, and scuff marks on the floor.
Even a brand new house will have a bit of debris hanging around; so
how much more an old ramshackle building that has been torn apart, gutted
from the inside, then rebuilt from the foundation up?
Daily prayer, communing with the Holy Spirit, is not only helpful for
spiritual housecleaning, it is essential.
Even though one does not want to
live in the old habits or ‘traditions’, as Paul wrote to the Romans, one may
continue to do so:
I do not understand what I do
[continuing to live in sin].
For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do … As it is,
it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that
nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.
For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not
want to do — this I keep on doing.
Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is
sin living in me that does it.
~ Romans 7:15,17-20 (NIV)
Blessed is the man
Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly [wicked],
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
But his delight is in the
law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
For the LORD
knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the ungodly shall perish.
~ Psalm 1:1-2,6
Rehabilitation centers teach
that is essential for ‘addicts’ to stop associating with those who encourage
addictive behaviors (known in psychology terms as ‘enablers’).
Realistically, this is not always possible.
Psalm 1 is both a beatitude & instruction (~or~
law, tôwrâh) for how to live life
according to God’s Word. Forget the
modern negative connotations of ‘law’, Christians are to delight in living
by God’s law/instruction. In Psalm 1
there is no ambiguity between ‘righteous’ & ‘wicked’, no gray areas, one
either lives life according to God’s Word or one does not.
The wicked clearly represent incongruence in the world between the
will of God and the will of humans.
By not following God, the wicked are living in the wrong by their own
autonomy (Job 21:13-15). But this
does not mean that those who are anointed by God’s calling should withdraw
from society in general, as supposedly recommended by rehab centers.
On the contrary, the anointed may socialize with the wicked, but not
to the point of allowing themselves to be influenced by such.
After all, Jesus ate with sinners, but did not follow their ways
(Mark 2:16-17). And while there are
those who argue that ‘The Law’ was overridden by the New Covenant, keep in
mind there is a New Testament
tôwrâh: the Sermon on the Mount
(Matthew 5-7). For Jesus said,
“blessed
are those who hear the word
of God and keep it!”
(Luke 11:28).
While the above paragraph may
seem to have nothing to do with breaking habits, it actually ties in with
the moral decisions a Christian faces each day.
Some of my mature Christian friends have mentioned that every morning
upon awaking they still struggle between the body/flesh & the spirit.
They tell me that, even after being in Christ for many years, one
must choose early on how the day will proceed.
Unfortunately, it is the soul — itself an imperfect being — that has
to take ‘middle ground’, to cast the ‘swing vote’.
This is why I believe morning prayer & devotional time is vitally
important, even if you have to get out of bed at 5am to do so.
Another part of the answer to
the big dilemma is this: Dr. Neil
Anderson, in his book Released From
Bondage, poses the question:
“Can we be a bond servant of Christ and at the same time be in bondage to
sin?” From my experience the last
four years the answer is definitely “Yes!”
Neil continues “sadly, many who have been delivered out of the
kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son are living as bond
servants to both kingdoms [emphasis
mine]. Even though we are no
longer in the flesh because we
are in Christ, we can still walk & live
according to the flesh if we
choose to.” Take note here:
if we choose to (Romans
8:5). He goes on to recommend, “if I
had to summarize two essential functions that must take place in order for a
believer to become free and stay free, they are:
1) take action. Do something
about the neutral disposition of your physical body by giving it to God [in
other words, don’t be lukewarm (Revelation 3:15-16)];
2) win the battle for your mind by reprogramming it with the truth of
God’s Word (Romans 12:1-2).” The
bond to the kingdom of darkness must be broken, for one cannot serve two
masters (Matthew 6:24)
Expect to encounter resistance
from the enemy. The more you
spiritually mature in Christ, the stronger your heartfelt prayers become,
the more vicious & numerous the adversary’s attacks will become.
In addition to the opening prayer above, pray each day on Ephesians
6:11-18, asking for the Lord’s help in suiting up for the day’s spiritual
battles. Be prepared for spiritual
warfare, but take only the defensive.
The enemy will certainly counter-attack offensively, but always
remember: Satan & his entourage are
already defeated! They simply can’t
stand their circumstances and are continually trying to claw & crawl their
way out of the hole that the LORD
put them into (Isaiah 14:12-15; Luke 10:18).
Another big part of breaking the
habit(s) and/or addiction is forgiving yourself.
I’ve found it much easier to forgive others than to accept God’s
forgiveness for myself, my own past actions.
But there is also a Scriptural truth I must accept:
as long as I’m alive & living in society I will have to continue
forgiving others & myself (Mark 11:25-26).
Ordinary life is accompanied by experiences of antagonism & hostility
that run the gamut of spheres in which life is lived. Opposition can arise
anywhere, from inside the family, to the neighborhood, the workplace, even
religious communities. In fact,
holding on to anger & grudges and not forgiving is tantamount to the worst,
most deadly sin: pride & ego.
Praying to God for release from the bondage of bad habits and/or
addictions, then accepting God’s grace & forgiveness, creates a spirit of
humility, making it easier for the spiritually cleansing waters of Christ to
flow through us (see Springtime — The
Living Waters). Only by God’s
grace can we be saved, delivered & healed.
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all, teaching us
that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly,
righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and
glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave
Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify
for Himself His own special
people, zealous for good works … that having been justified by His grace we
should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life … For by grace you
have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves;
it is the gift of God, not
of works, lest anyone should boast.
~ Titus 2:11-14; 3:7; Ephesians 2:8-9
Finally, pray faithfully every
day, allowing God’s grace & peace to flow into your life.
The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much (James 5:16):
Pursue peace with all people,
and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:
looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest
any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become
defiled.
~ Hebrews 12:14-15
“Grace, which is the
sanctifying presence of God in an individual person, is available to
everyone. Every human person is
oriented toward God and possesses the radical capacity to receive the grace
of God. Human existence, therefore,
is graced existence. We are fully
human, yet, by the grace of God, we have the capacity to become more than
that, namely, to become partakers of the divine life itself and to share
ultimately in God’s eternal glory.”
~ Richard P. McBrien, from ‘Lives of
the Saints’
Blessings in
Christ Who guides us,
~ Eric
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