I wanna be addicted to God

One of the hardest things in the world is to confront an addiction.

We might have to confront it because it is harming the lives of those that love us or possibly because it is slowly eroding our ability to objectively perceive reality. We might have to confront it because our livelihood requires us to evaluate the situation and sometimes we have to confront it because of lack of resources.

Regardless why you might confront a personal addiction, there will be a spiritual component. The reason is simple: I believe addictions are spiritual in nature. I believe it is why some people are able to kick a habit five minutes after trying and why some people can't kick a habit, not really kick it, even if they've tried a dozen times.

But there is hope - there is hope as long as you breathe - as long as you are reading these words!

Your first recourse should be God. If this is the first day of your efforts to indulge in quitting, pray! You will find solace all throughout the Bible, for scripture speaks about being free from bondage in many forms, and addiction is certainly a type of bondage. My personal favorite is II Timothy 1:7.

Your second recourse should be friends. Find a loving support group that will support your choice and perspective. If all your friends still engage in the activity or addiction, spending time around them without your first recourse will be damaging, often destroying any progress you've made. Likewise, spend less time doing those things that trigger you. If you need to drink soda when you eat pizza, it would be foolish to eat pizza during this stage. If you need to drink alcohol during an intense sports program, don't watch sports. Whatever is a source of temptation to you is unique to YOU ... but be aware that although the particular addiction and triggers might be unique, the reality of temptation is not - we are all tempted. It is your responsibility to do your best not to be around temptation at the beginning.

Your third recourse should be God. Yes, this is the same as the first. But many people, once they've spent some serious time cleaning up their lives, forget their first recourse, and it is one that should stay with you. Often the root cause of the use of the addictive substance, whether coffee or cigarettes or other, much harder chemicals, will evidence after you've abandoned the usage of the drug. It is during this area in your healing that you are the most susceptible to return to you old path, simply because you feel as if you can "handle" it. During this time, keeping up a steady diet of prayer will help you maintain.

Later ... there will be a point, when you have enough discipline and self-control to remember what it was like to be forced, through the need, to engage in the addiction. Some of you will continue fighting it your whole lives if you forget your first and third recourses, and some of you will have finished fighting after a few months or years and will be fully recovered. When you begin to really think of the addiction in the third person, as in "I used to" or "Back then" or that kind of phrasing, you should engage in your fourth recourse: prayer. Pray to God that you will have the strength to continue fighting. Pray that you won't be unduly tempted. Pray that you will find joy in the struggle. And pray that you can be a lesson to others.

Finally, share.

Visit churches and witness to them.

Visit community centers and prepare a speech sharing your experiences.

Visit your old friends and share how your life has changed.

Visit your supportive friends and take them out to lunch by way of thanks.

Today's call to action:

Pray about your addictions. Most of us on this planet have an addiction, usually many. The obvious additions are comfortable to notice, and they're based on foodstuffs: caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, sugar, and the like. The less-than-obvious addictions are rarely comfortable to notice, and they are often associated with food too: pride, vanity, laziness, and anger are a short list. But pray that God will reveal your addictions to you, then ...

Pray for resolution and removal of those addictions. As above, I believe addictions are predominantly spiritual in nature, thus I ask that you pray for a deliverance from those addictions. Set aside time in your day to speak with God and tell Him you would like to be free of addiction but will need His help, and then stop speaking and allow God to fill you with His love and answer your need.

Pray for guidance on how to stay clean. Most addictions leave a residue, a gentle reminder they were there. Sometimes it is a smell, sometimes its a physical coating of their prior substance, but all of them are disconcerting and disgusting. So your next step should be to get rid of that residue. Consider getting some sort of inner-body cleanser, as well as spending some serious time around believers - those who are closest to the Lord, as they will often be supportive in a way you weren't aware.