“No matter whether your addictions are to substances or behaviors, God can set you free. What He requires from you is time, trust, and cooperation. The immense power of an addiction is rarely broken in a day. You see, God has as much to teach us as He has to show us. He could show us His power by instantaneously setting us free from all desire for our stronghold. Often, however, God chooses the process of teaching us to walk with Him and depend on Him daily. Few things beyond our salvation are “once and for all.” If He delivered us instantly, we would see His greatness once, but we would soon forget . . . and we’d risk going back. On the other hand, if God teaches us victory in Christ Jesus day by day, we live in the constant awareness of His greatness and His sufficiency. Hard lessons are often long-lasting lessons. Never forget that God is far more interested in our getting to know the Deliverer than simply being delivered.”
May God use the following Scripture-prayers dramatically in your life. May He enable you, His servant, to speak His Word “with great boldness,” and may He stretch out His hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of His holy servant, Jesus (Acts 4:29–30). Be tenacious and patient, child of God. If you fall, don’t listen to the accusations and jeers of the evil one. Get back up and walk with God again. How many times? Until you’re free.
God, I am so grateful that my own heavenly Father is the Sovereign Lord who made the heavens and the earth by His great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you! (Jer. 32:17)
I confess to You that I am overwhelmed by the task ahead, but I am thankful that You have authority over all things. Heaven is Your throne and earth is Your footstool (Matt. 5:35); therefore, anything over my head is under Your feet!”
Father, Your Word promises me that the one who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy. (Prov. 28:13) Your Word also says that if we claim to be without sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. (1 John 1:8) Help me, Lord! I need Your truth in me!
Lord, I confess all the sin involved in my addiction to You, and I thank You that You are always faithful and just to forgive me of all my sin and purify me from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)
Oh, Lord, You have searched me and You know me. You know when I sit and when I rise. You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, You know it completely. You hem me in—behind and before; You have laid your hand upon me. I do not need to feel shame or fear in Your intimate knowledge of every detail of my life because Your Word says that Your knowledge of me is wonderful! Thank You, Father! (Ps. 139:1–6)
O, Lord, please forgive me for my self-loathing. Help me to praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. (Ps. 139:14)
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Ps. 139:23–24)
God, according to Your steadfast Word, pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice. (Prov. 13:10) My pride has caused such conflict, Lord! Please help me to humble myself and receive Your wisdom!
"Although God Himself is never rushed to perform His will on earth, there is one thing He does rush to. He rushes to the aid of His children. Often He does not intervene, however, until that lost child cries out for help. He rushes to answer the appeals for mercy from those who have walked their own way and suddenly find themselves trapped in their own snares. He is not willing that any should perish, but He waits for us to use our wills to turn to him." Shawn Craig, Between Sundays
Father, Your Word says that he who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm. (Prov. 13:20) Please surround me with the right kind of companions!
Father, Your Word also says that fools mock at making amends for sin, but goodwill is found among the upright. (Prov. 14:9) Please help me to make any necessary amends for hurts I may have caused.
Lord, please help me to listen to advice and accept instruction so that in the end I will be wise.(Prov. 19:20)
Father, Your Word says that a person who lacks self-control is like a city whose walls are broken down. (Prov. 25:28) Sometimes I feel like there is so much rubble, I can’t rebuild the wall. (Neh. 4:10) Your Word claims that You are the Repairer of Broken Walls, and the Restorer of Streets with Dwellings. (Isa. 58:12) Please introduce Yourself to me by these wonderful names and rebuild the rubble in my life.
Father God, please help me to forgive and release anyone who had to confront or wound my heart in an effort to help me find wholeness. Your Word says that open rebuke is better than hidden love. It also says that wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses. (Prov. 27:5–6)
Father, according to Your Word, he who is full loathes honey, but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet. (Prov. 27:7) I am asking You in Jesus’ name to make even the thought of any harmful substance on my tongue bitter. Restore in me a taste for what is good.
God, according to Your Word, blessed is the man who always fears the Lord, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble. (Prov. 28:14) Please make and keep my heart soft toward You, Lord!
Lord, Your Word says that he who trusts in himself is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe. (Prov. 28:26) I’ve come to realize that I cannot trust in myself. My safety is in learning to trust in You. Please help me!
"So how do we go from stumbling to standing? The answers will vary according to where and how we fail, but the source will always remain the same: God and His precepts of life. That’s why you must be in the Word of God on a consistent basis . . . You have to determine to take advantage of what God has made available.” Kay Arthur, As Silver Refined
O, Lord, cause my soul to yearn for You in the night and long for You in the morning. (Isa. 26:9) Please transfer my yearning and longing to You because I can have You to my fill! You will never be a detriment to me!
O Lord, our God, other lords besides You have ruled over me, but Your name alone is the one I want to honor. (Isa. 26:13) Please help me to understand that this addiction has been a terrible and destructive ruler in my life. Help me to cease to honor it.
My Father, please help me to see the object of my addiction like a bed too short to stretch out on and a blanket too narrow to wrap around me. (Isa. 28:20) Help me to accept the truth that it’s not enough!
Father, as a believer in Your Son, Jesus Christ, I am under grace, not under law (Rom. 6:14); therefore, sin does not have permission to be my master.
Lord, Your Word says that when I offer myself to someone or something to obey as a slave, I am a slave to the one whom I obey, whether I am a slave to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness. (Rom. 6:16) O, Father, I deeply desire to be a slave to righteousness!
My Lord and my Creator, I confess to you that I, like everyone else in the human condition, am weak in my natural self. I used to offer the parts of my body in slavery to impurities. I have also personally experienced the ever-increasing nature of wickedness. (Rom. 6:19) No matter what I’ve tried to tell myself, my addictions will only grow worse without Your absolute intervention. Thank You, Father, that no matter how I’ve been enslaved, You can set me free!
Father, I thank You in advance that I am going to be set free from this sin and I can become a slave to You, reaping glorious benefits that lead to holiness! (Rom. 6:22)
God, I have died to the law through the body of Christ so that I might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead. You saved me in order that I might bear fruit to You. (Rom. 7:4) Thank You in advance, my Father, that You are going to use my life and cause it to bear fruit!
My merciful God, I have learned the hard way 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. (Rom. 7:18) But in You I have the power I need! You’ve given me the treasure of the Holy Spirit who lives in this weak jar of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from me! (2 Cor. 4:7)
Father of mercies, no matter what I’ve done or how long I’ve done it, there is, therefore, now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. (Rom. 8:1–2) Hallelujah! Help me to fully accept this truth.
Lord, because I have accepted Christ as my Savior, Your Word says that I am controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, because the Spirit of God lives in me. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. (Rom. 8:9)
Father, according to Your Word, since Christ is in me, my body is dead because of sin, yet my spirit is alive because of righteousness. (Rom. 8:10) And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in me, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to my mortal body through His Spirit, who lives in me! (Rom. 8:11)
God, I claim Your Word that says I did not receive a spirit that makes me a slave again to fear, but I received the Spirit of sonship. And by Him I cry, “Abba, Father.” (Rom. 8:15) Help me to cry out unashamedly to You, my Father, when I am gripped by fear. This kind of fear is not of You! (2 Tim. 1:7)
"If you say there’s no hope, you’re listening to the father of lies (John 8:44). You’ve encountered the thief who comes to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10)—the one who’s determined to keep you a failure, to defeat you on every front he can. The only way you’ll bring him down, the only way you’ll extinguish those fiery arrows that will impale you on the stake of continuous defeat until you’re consumed in its flames of destruction is through the Word. His Word is truth, and it alone can sanctify you—set you apart for victory. You may think there’s no recovery from your failure. But my friend, if you have God, you have a future—and it’s not a dismal one." Kay Arthur, As Silver Refined
Lord, no matter what kind of suffering my addictions have caused me, I thank You that my present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in me. (Rom. 8:18)
Father, Your Word promises that we can know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. (Rom. 8:28) My addictions are not exempt from this list! As hard as it may be for me to comprehend, You can and will work this terrible challenge for good if I will cooperate with You and see myself as one called according to Your purpose.
Father, what glorious news that You foreknew me and all my struggles, and yet You also predestined me to be conformed to the likeness of Your Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers! (Rom. 8:29)
God, how I thank You that I can confidently claim that if You are for me, who can be against me? (Rom. 8:31) As Your child, help me to realize every day of my life that You are for me and never against me.
Father, who can separate me from the love of Christ? Can trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things I am more than a conqueror through Him who loves me! (Rom. 8:35, 37)
Oh, Father, Your Word tells me that anyone who trusts in You will never be put to shame. (Rom. 10:11) How I celebrate that the time has come to put all shame behind me!
Father, You urge me in Your absolute mercy toward me to offer my body as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. This is my spiritual act of worship. You call on me not to conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of my mind. Then I will be able to test and approve what Your will is. Your good, pleasing, and perfect will! (Rom. 12:1–2)
Lord, Your Word exhorts me not to be overcome by evil but to overcome evil with good. (Rom. 12:21) Help me, dear God, when I’m feeling overcome by evil!
Father, help me to clothe myself with the Lord Jesus Christ, and not to think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature. (Rom. 13:14) I desperately need Your help to do this, Father! Teach me and help me!
Father, according to Your Word, it is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause a brother or sister to fall. (Rom. 14:21) I pray that not only will I be mindful of this exhortation with others but that You will cause those around me not to do things that will cause me to fall!
My God of peace, I celebrate that You will soon crush Satan under Your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus is with me! (Rom. 16:20)
Dear God, no matter what I once was, I have been washed, I have been sanctified, and I have been justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God! (1 Cor. 6:11)
"Knowing a truth intellectually is only half the battle. So what’s to be done? I have no certain cure, certainly no quick cure, but I know it’s important to rehearse the lovely, rich truths and promises that remain when other things change. Keep telling these truths, in all their many-sided glory, and one day, walls already cracked will crumble and fall." Jim McGuiggan, Where the Spirit of the Lord Is
O, God, I desperately need Your discernment when something may be permissible for me but not necessarily beneficial. Please empower me to resist things that are not beneficial so that I will not be mastered by anything! (1 Cor. 6:12)
Father, help me to truly embrace the fact that my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in me, whom I have received from God. I am not my own. (1 Cor. 6:19) Thank You, Father! I am so much better off belonging to You than belonging to myself!
Father, You found my life worth buying at a tremendously high price. Therefore please help me honor You with my body. (1 Cor. 6:20)
Victorious God, I thank You and boldly claim that the weapons with which I fight this addiction are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. I demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and I choose to take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ! (2 Cor. 10:4–5)
Lord, You have said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. (2 Cor. 12:9)
God, You have released me to resurrection life! For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. (Gal. 2:19–20)
We, too, have been freed—freed to serve God without looking over our shoulders to see if He’s glaring at us with suppressed hostility, freed to offer ourselves as servants, and freed to accept the commission. Jim McGuiggan, Where the Spirit of the Lord Is
Father, Your Word says that when the time had fully come, You sent Your Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because I am a son, You sent the Spirit of Your Son into my heart, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” (Gal. 4:4–6) I am Your child! I have the full right of a son! And it is my right to be free in You!
Father, I celebrate as fact that I am no longer a slave, but a child; and since I am a child, You have made me also an heir. (Gal. 4:7)
My Lord and Redeemer, formerly, when I did not know You, I was a slave to those who by nature are not gods. But now that I know You—or rather am known by You—I desperately do not want to turn back once again to those weak and miserable principles. Help me not to be enslaved by them all over again. (Gal. 4:8–9)
Father, Your Word says that it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. With all my heart I desire to stand firm, then, and not let myself be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. (Gal. 5:1) Lord, I am helpless on my own. Empower me with the strength of Your Holy Spirit. Please help me, Lord!
Father, by faith I eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which I hope. (Gal. 5:5)
Father, Your Word says that I, Your child, was called to be free. Please help me not to use my freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, help me to use my freedom to serve others in love. (Gal. 5:13)
My Lord and Savior, you have told me that if I live by the Spirit, I will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. (Gal. 5:16) Please teach me how to live by the Spirit, then empower me to follow through.
“Often God seems to place His children in positions of profound difficulty, leading them into a wedge from which there is no escape; contriving a situation which no human judgment would have permitted, had it been previously consulted. . . . The issue will more than justify Him who has brought you hither. It is a platform for the display of His almighty grace and power. He will not only deliver you; but in doing so, He will give you a lesson that you will never forget, and to which, in many a psalm and song, in after days, you will revert. You will never be able to thank God enough for having done just as He has." Mrs. Charles E. Cowman, Streams in the Desert
Lord, I belong to Christ Jesus, therefore I have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. (Gal. 5:24) Help me to live in the reality of this liberating crucifixion.
Lord, since I live by the Spirit, help me to keep in step with the Spirit. (Gal. 5:25)
Father, according to Your Word, if someone is caught in a sin, someone who is spiritual should restore him gently. Your Word also says that even the spiritual believer must be very alert because he or she may also be tempted. (Gal. 6:1) Father, I pray for those You are putting in my path to help me. I pray for their protection as well as my own. I also pray that I will know when I am strong enough to help others. When that time comes, I pray that You will cause me to be absolutely alert so that I do not fall to temptation.
Father, Your Word promises that the one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction, but the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. (Gal. 6:8) Teach me and help me to sow to please the Spirit.
My mighty God, thank You for Your Word that exhorts me not to become weary in doing good. At the proper time I will reap a harvest if I do not give up. (Gal. 6:9) Father, this process of breaking free is hard work! Please remind me often that it is also a very good work. Help me to know without a doubt that any effort You require of me will have effect. Please help me never to give up, no matter how long it takes. I will reap a harvest, in Jesus’ name!
Glorious Father, and God of our Lord Jesus Christ, please give me the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that I may know You better. (Eph. 1:17)
Father, I pray also that the eyes of my heart may be enlightened in order that I may know the hope to which You have called me, the riches of Your glorious inheritance in the saints. (Eph. 1:18)
Father, Your incomparably great power is available for us who believe. This power is like the working of Your mighty strength, which You exerted in Christ when You raised Him from the dead and seated Him at Your right hand in the heavenly realms. (Eph. 1:19–20) If You can raise Jesus from the dead and seat Him beside You, You can deliver me from every stronghold!
Because of Your great love for me, You, God, who are rich in mercy, made me alive with Christ even when I was dead in transgressions. It is by grace I have been saved. (Eph. 2:4–5)
My wonderful Father, You have also raised me up with Christ and seated me with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus! (Eph. 2:6)
Father, according to Your Word, at one time I was separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigner to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus I who once was far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. (Eph. 2:12–13) O, Lord, help me to sense Your nearness!
I pray that out of Your glorious riches You will strengthen me with power through Your Spirit in my inner being, so that Christ may dwell in my heart through faith. And I pray that I, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that I may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Eph. 3:16–19)
Father God, please help me to get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. (Eph. 4:31) Only with Your help is this possible.
Lord, according to Your Word, I was once darkness, but now I am light in the Lord. Help me to live as a child of light. (Eph. 5:8)
Father, Your Word instructs me to put on the full armor of God so that I can take my stand against the devil’s schemes. For my struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore, help me to put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, I will be able to stand my ground. (Eph. 6:10–13) Don’t ever let me forget that I have a very real enemy who wants me in bondage. Help me to discern his schemes and take my stand against him in the power of Your Spirit.
Father, help me to be confident of this, that He who began a good work in me will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Phil. 1:6)
Father, Your Word assures me that it is God who works in me to will and to act according to His good purpose. (Phil. 2:13)
Awesome God, Your Word says that knowing Christ Jesus my Lord is so wonderful that I can consider everything a loss compared to its surpassing greatness. Help me to consider anything rubbish that I have to lay down in order to gain (more knowledge and a more abiding presence of) Christ. (Phil. 3:8)
O, Father, I thank You that my citizenship is in heaven. I eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform my lowly body so that it will be like His glorious body. (Phil. 3:20–21) Lord, how I celebrate the fact that You have power to bring everything under Your control!
Lord God, I acknowledge the promise of Your Word that I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength. (Phil. 4:13)
"Nothing lies beyond the reach of prayer except that which lies outside the will of God." Mrs. Charles Cowman, Streams in the Desert
O, Lord, I earnestly pray that I may live a life worthy of You and may please You in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to Your glorious might so that I may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified me to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. (Col. 1:10–12)
Lord God, Your Word says that once I was alienated from God and was an enemy in my mind because of my evil behavior. But now You have reconciled me by Christ’s physical body through death to present me holy in Your sight, without blemish and free from accusation. (Col. 1:21–22) O, Lord, how I celebrate being free from accusation!
Father, Your Word exhorts me to set my mind on things above, not on earthly things. (Col. 3:2) This can be such a battle, Lord! Please help me every single day to set my mind on You.
My Redeemer, I know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that I was redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to me from my forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. (1 Pet. 1:18–19)
Father, I desperately need Your help to rid myself of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like a newborn baby, help me to crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it I may grow up in my salvation. (1 Pet. 2:1–2)
God, Your Word tells me to humble myself under Your mighty hand, that You may lift me up in due time. (1 Pet. 5:6)
Father, teach me and help me to cast all my anxiety on You because You care for me. (1 Pet. 5:7)
My Shield and my Fortress, help me to be self- controlled and alert. My enemy the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. (1 Pet. 5:8)
Thanks be to You, my God, who always leads me in triumphal procession in Christ. Through me and other believers, You desire to spread everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him! (2 Cor. 2:14) You only lead to victory, Christ Jesus. If I will keep following You, I’ll get there.
"When fitted with the armor of God, we will not be blindsided by the fiery darts of the Enemy. Past failures lose their power, for they have been dealt with. Present thoughts will not overrun me, for I am in command of my thoughts and I make the final decision on what I believe. The opinions of others do not bombard me, for I have decided to believe what God says about who I am—regardless of what I or anyone else thinks." Dennis Jernigan, This Is My Destiny"
Above content from Beth Moore, “Praying God's Word.”
I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him. Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods.[b] Many, Lord my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare.
11 Do not withhold your mercy from me, Lord; may your love and faithfulness always protect me. For troubles without number surround me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see. They are more than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails within me. Be pleased to save me, Lord; come quickly, Lord, to help me. May all who want to take my life be put to shame and confusion; may all who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace. May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!” be appalled at their own shame. But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who long for your saving help always say, “The Lord is great!” But as for me, I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; you are my God, do not delay.
I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live. The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came over me; I was overcome by distress and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the Lord: “Lord, save me!” The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion. The Lord protects the unwary; when I was brought low, he saved me. Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.
Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? Those who linger over wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine. Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly! In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper. Your eyes will see strange sights, and your mind will imagine confusing things. You will be like one sleeping on the high seas, lying on top of the rigging. “They hit me,” you will say, “but I’m not hurt! They beat me, but I don’t feel it! When will I wake up so I can find another drink?”
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin[b] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.