The following is an excerpt from, “Throw off Pornography”, the 4th book in the “Lord of My Life” series. You can download the complete book for free through Amazon Kindle, Apple Books or Barnes & Noble. You can also order the paperback version through the Amazon bookstore. Find direct links for all of these at ktfproductions.com under the store tab. Visit every week and receive weekly excerpts January through April of 2024.
SO, WHAT TO DO?
There are dozens of opinions on which method or practice will best help us overcome porn addiction. I’m sure that many are very good and come with varying levels of success. But in this book, I’ll simply tell you what has worked, and continues to work, for me. If it worked for me, I’m sure it can work for you. Regardless of which method you choose, or which practice you employ, my only caveat is that YOU MUST RELY ON THE AID OF THE HOLY SPIRIT TO TRULY SUCCEED. We are entirely too weak to do it on our own. If we only rely on our willpower and determination, our chances for success drop to near zero. Tap into the power of the Holy Spirit. God sent him to help us. Allow him to do what he came to do. As Jesus said to his disciples in Acts, chapter 1, the first part of verse 8:
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you;
Jesus promised them the Holy Spirit, and as an extension, he also promised him to us. We need his power to succeed. We need his active participation walking with us along the path to freedom. Pray, listen to the Spirit, and allow him to help you. There is no greater weapon. Have you ever felt the presence of the Holy Spirit? Have you ever felt his prompting? Have you ever sensed his direction, protection, peace, or intervention? The Holy Spirit is always with us. He lives inside of us. We are his literal temple. With his power, when we are tempted, he can provide a way out. When we are too weak, he can be our strength. When we don’t think we can make it, he can get us through another day. This is not metaphorical, whimsical, or positive thinking. This is actual, practical help from our God.
During one of my attempts to break free from pornography there was a day that I was particularly vulnerable. I was alone on vacation in my house with nothing to do. That morning I’d prayed for the Holy Spirit to help me get through the day. I knew that without him all that stood between me and failure was my willpower, and my willpower wasn’t enough. When temptation predictably poked out its ugly head, I tried to remind myself of the consequence of failure. After so many weeks, why would I want to fail now? Why would I want to ruin the progress that I made and allow pornography to undo my success? But the draw was too great. I began to accept that failure was inevitable. The fight had drained out of me. I thought after all, that if I didn’t fail today, I’d certainly fail at some point. I chose to give in to temptation. But when I tried to access my home internet, for some reason, the service was down. I became frustrated and angry. I wanted to scratch that itch. And at this point, the itch was overbearing. Then I came to my senses. The Holy Spirit had been at work. There was no logical reason for the internet to stop functioning at that moment unless the Holy Spirit honored my prayer for help and intervened. I was reminded of 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 13 which says:
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
It wasn’t easy to accept in the moment. It took a bit for the frustration and anger to subside. But later I was happy that the Holy Spirit helped me through another day. Admittedly, there are times when I choose to circumvent the aid of the Holy Spirit. There have been times when I’ve decided to find ways around any roadblock he would put up. But when I stand, and when the temptation has abated, I feel such happiness, victory, and relief that I can’t help but praise God. However, when I fail, when I push the aid of the Holy Spirit aside, I feel awful! In those moments, there is no way to stop the flood of shame and condemnation that overtakes me. My point is that the Holy Spirit is here to help us. You are not in this fight alone. In my experience, he helps in very practical ways. He helps in ways that are obvious, presenting solutions or avenues of escape that are unmistakable. And if we obey, we will be happy that we did. There are also times when his intervention isn’t invasive. I have experienced scenarios where the perfect storm of being alone and knowing that pornography is available to me resulted in a lack of desire to partake. Though I could fail there was no itch to scratch. At those times, I’d also give thanks to the Lord for his protection because contrary to my typical pattern, God had lessened the intensity of the temptation by unexplainable means. Either way, the Holy Spirit was at work and without his help, failure was inevitable. I could go on recounting the many times I’ve seen his hand at work in my recovery. And there are likely even more times that I can’t remember. But he is faithful. In this journey, call upon him. Ask him to help you succeed and he will.