Silas
Beloved of All
Thank you for sharing this honest cry from your heart. God hears you when you ask to be delivered from lust, and He is faithful to help you walk in freedom.
It helps to remember that being tempted is not itself sin. Every person faces temptation, and even Jesus was tempted in every way we are, yet without sin. Because He knows what it is to feel the pressure of temptation, He understands your struggle and has mercy toward you in your weakness. The sin comes not in the moment of temptation, but when desire is allowed to conceive and we choose to follow it instead of following the Spirit.
Temptation always presents a choice. It is an invitation to walk according to the flesh rather than according to the Spirit, often by promising immediate satisfaction if you will step off God's path. That invitation does not come from God. God never solicits anyone to evil. The solicitation comes from the enemy and from our own desires within. When a desire draws us away and we are enticed, and we yield to it, lust conceives and brings forth sin, and sin when it is finished brings death. That is why lust can never be satisfied by feeding it. The only way to deal with it is to starve it.
Scripture describes the avenues of temptation as the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. These things belong to the world and not to the Father, and the world with its desires is passing away. Recognizing this helps you see temptation for what it is and turn from it.
God has not left you without help. His Word says no temptation has overtaken you except what is common to all people, and God is faithful. He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear, and with every temptation He will provide a way of escape so that you can endure it. Your part is to take that way of escape when He shows it. Sometimes that means turning your eyes away, leaving a place, closing a screen, or calling out to Him in prayer in that very moment.
There is a battle within, for the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. You do not have to be mastered by the flesh any longer. In Christ you have been made alive to God, and you can choose to reckon yourself dead to that old pull and alive to Him.
A practical way to fight is to hide God's Word in your heart. When Jesus was tempted, He answered each temptation with Scripture. When you fill your heart and mind with the Word, you have truth ready to answer the lie of temptation. Memorize verses that speak to purity and to God's faithfulness, and speak them when temptation comes. Also, do not feed what you want to die. Guard what your eyes see and what you allow into your mind, and instead feed your spirit through prayer, Scripture, and fellowship with Christ.
God is also using this testing to grow patience and steadiness in you as you learn to wait on Him and trust Him rather than seeking immediate fulfillment.
I am praying for you now. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, I ask You to deliver this dear one from the power of lust. Give strength to choose the way of escape You provide, cleanse the heart, and fill it with Your Word and Your Spirit. Help to starve what is of the flesh and to walk in the Spirit day by day. Grant mercy, purity, and the joy of a clean conscience, and remind this heart that Jesus understands and intercedes with compassion. Amen.
You are not alone in this. Keep bringing this to the Lord honestly, take the escape He provides each time, and let His Word dwell richly in you. He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.
It helps to remember that being tempted is not itself sin. Every person faces temptation, and even Jesus was tempted in every way we are, yet without sin. Because He knows what it is to feel the pressure of temptation, He understands your struggle and has mercy toward you in your weakness. The sin comes not in the moment of temptation, but when desire is allowed to conceive and we choose to follow it instead of following the Spirit.
Temptation always presents a choice. It is an invitation to walk according to the flesh rather than according to the Spirit, often by promising immediate satisfaction if you will step off God's path. That invitation does not come from God. God never solicits anyone to evil. The solicitation comes from the enemy and from our own desires within. When a desire draws us away and we are enticed, and we yield to it, lust conceives and brings forth sin, and sin when it is finished brings death. That is why lust can never be satisfied by feeding it. The only way to deal with it is to starve it.
Scripture describes the avenues of temptation as the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. These things belong to the world and not to the Father, and the world with its desires is passing away. Recognizing this helps you see temptation for what it is and turn from it.
God has not left you without help. His Word says no temptation has overtaken you except what is common to all people, and God is faithful. He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear, and with every temptation He will provide a way of escape so that you can endure it. Your part is to take that way of escape when He shows it. Sometimes that means turning your eyes away, leaving a place, closing a screen, or calling out to Him in prayer in that very moment.
There is a battle within, for the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. You do not have to be mastered by the flesh any longer. In Christ you have been made alive to God, and you can choose to reckon yourself dead to that old pull and alive to Him.
A practical way to fight is to hide God's Word in your heart. When Jesus was tempted, He answered each temptation with Scripture. When you fill your heart and mind with the Word, you have truth ready to answer the lie of temptation. Memorize verses that speak to purity and to God's faithfulness, and speak them when temptation comes. Also, do not feed what you want to die. Guard what your eyes see and what you allow into your mind, and instead feed your spirit through prayer, Scripture, and fellowship with Christ.
God is also using this testing to grow patience and steadiness in you as you learn to wait on Him and trust Him rather than seeking immediate fulfillment.
I am praying for you now. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, I ask You to deliver this dear one from the power of lust. Give strength to choose the way of escape You provide, cleanse the heart, and fill it with Your Word and Your Spirit. Help to starve what is of the flesh and to walk in the Spirit day by day. Grant mercy, purity, and the joy of a clean conscience, and remind this heart that Jesus understands and intercedes with compassion. Amen.
You are not alone in this. Keep bringing this to the Lord honestly, take the escape He provides each time, and let His Word dwell richly in you. He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.
