We are all addicts or recovering from something, but after reading the front page of today's paper, once again the stats are in our face about meth and oxycontin use. In Kentucky, we are losing an alarming rate of young people (and older) to this addiction.
Missy and I got back from our trip with Compassion International this past Wednesday and on Thursday, I shared a message about Addictions and Strongholds at our monthly "Learning to Pray" series. The message had come together pretty good over the last three weeks but I needed a good way to start it so I did a Google search and simply typed in "statistics on addictions". You can read the stats yourself on Tobacco, Alcohol, Cocaine, Meth, Gambling, Prescription drugs, Sexual addiction, Pornography and Eating Disorders. These are all challenging, to say the least, not to mention my potential addiction to chocolate or my Mom's addiction to shopping!
In Romans 7:14-25, Paul sums up the problem of our human condition. Take a minute and read it in a translation that you can understand easily. We all struggle with sin, and even though we know what we should do, and want to do it, we do the very thing that we hate and know is wrong. Even though we know God’s law, our human nature is at work within us to make us prisoners and slaves to sin. Satan, our adversary, seeks to devour us all through his lies and deception. His goal is to entangle us in sin and strip us of our freedom.
Missy and I got back from our trip with Compassion International this past Wednesday and on Thursday, I shared a message about Addictions and Strongholds at our monthly "Learning to Pray" series. The message had come together pretty good over the last three weeks but I needed a good way to start it so I did a Google search and simply typed in "statistics on addictions". You can read the stats yourself on Tobacco, Alcohol, Cocaine, Meth, Gambling, Prescription drugs, Sexual addiction, Pornography and Eating Disorders. These are all challenging, to say the least, not to mention my potential addiction to chocolate or my Mom's addiction to shopping!
In Romans 7:14-25, Paul sums up the problem of our human condition. Take a minute and read it in a translation that you can understand easily. We all struggle with sin, and even though we know what we should do, and want to do it, we do the very thing that we hate and know is wrong. Even though we know God’s law, our human nature is at work within us to make us prisoners and slaves to sin. Satan, our adversary, seeks to devour us all through his lies and deception. His goal is to entangle us in sin and strip us of our freedom.
I used to love to watch the Tarzan movies, as a kid with Johnny Wiesmueller. One of the most frightening episodes for me as a kid was when Tarzan’s son, Boy, got tangled up in a huge spider web and he was struggling to get loose. Our Enemy continues to spin many webs and we get hung up in them. “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” I Peter 5:8
Paul acknowledges his inability to free himself from the slavery of sin and asks the question in Romans 7, “Who will rescue me?”. Then, he quickly follows with the answer, “Jesus Christ, my Lord.” So, first of all, we need to learn from Paul. The answer is “who” will deliver us, not “what!” The very heart of addiction is loss of freedom. One of the main themes of the Gospel of Jesus is freedom. “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:36.
When we talk about addictions, we are actually talking about bondage and slavery. But, what is an addiction? An addiction is any compulsive or habitual behavior that robs us of freedom. People who struggle with addictions are not in harmony with themselves or with God. They are like the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde that represents the good versus the evil within us. They are literally held prisoner by the addiction, whatever it is. The point is that if anything has control and power over them, it is an addiction. The addiction becomes the object of desire and it displaces God in their own lives. The attachment has moved into idolatry, where there is nothing more important that the thing itself.
How do people get to the point of bondage? Usually, some level of emotional pain will cause them to medicate themselves in order to get relief from the pain. The addiction works, but only temporarily. It is not that people intend to sin or do evil things; they just want the pain to go away.
There are a variety of ways that Jesus wants (and is able) to intervene in our lives to take away the pain of what compels us to try to numb it. There are prayers for inner healing, cutting free prayers, cleansing prayers for the mind, body and spirit, physical healing prayers, generational prayers, breaking of inner vows and judgements, etc.
Here is a wonderful prayer from Robert McGee in “The Search for Significance”.
“I have great worth, apart from my performance because Christ gave His life for me. And therefore imparted great value to me. I am deeply loved, fully pleasing, totally forgiven, accepted and complete in Jesus Christ.”
It is important to start listening to the voice of truth and not the lies of our Enemy. May God bless you in your journey to recovery and wholeness.
Absolutely nothing is impossible for Jesus Christ.
He promises us freedom. Corrie Ten Boom said, “No matter how deep the pit is, He is deeper still.”
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