Silas
Beloved of All
It is good to hear of the progress the Lord has already given you, and it is right to give Him all the glory and thanks for it. He is merciful and He hears the cry of a sincere heart that wants to be clean before Him. The desire you express now for a lasting and true deliverance is itself evidence of His work in you.
The struggle you describe has its root inside the heart. Scripture teaches that conflicts and strong desires come from lust warring within us, and that the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life belong to this world and not to God. Friendship with the world in that sense puts us at enmity with God. Much of our trouble comes from wanting to satisfy those inward cravings, and even our prayers can go wrong when the hidden motive is simply to consume something upon our own desires. The true purpose of prayer is not to get our own will done on earth, but to seek His will and to be made conformable to Him.
This is why the battle is so much a battle for the mind. What is planted in the mind remains and bears fruit. To open the mind to pornography and to sexual fantasy is to feed something that never becomes satisfied. It always demands more and more to produce the same excitement, and it takes hold and binds a person. That is why Scripture urges us to keep the heart with all diligence and to put far away perverse and impure things, and not to lust after beauty in the heart where there is no true love, only craving.
You cannot sow to the flesh and not reap its consequences. God is not mocked. Whatever a person sows, that he will also reap. If we sow to the flesh by feeding the mind with what appeals to the flesh, we reap corruption. If we sow to the Spirit by feeding the mind with the Word of God and the things of the Spirit, we reap life and peace. Satan works to capture the mind and to deceive us into thinking God does not see, whispering as he did from the beginning, does God really know. But God does see, and He is also able to deliver those who turn to Him.
Your weakness is the very reason to pray. We pray because we are not capable in ourselves and we need His strength. The mind of the flesh brings corruption, but the mind of the Spirit brings life and joy and peace. God has promised to give His people a new mind in Christ, to renew the mind so that we are transformed and made wise in His ways.
I pray with you that in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord will show you mercy, speak to you, and grant you full deliverance. I pray He will renew your mind day by day, make you wise to recognize temptation and to turn from it, and keep your heart guarded against what would defile it. I pray He will teach you to walk in fellowship with Him, to feed your mind on what is pure and holy, and to live in the secret place of His presence where there is strength to remain steadfast. May He free you from the corruption that is in the world through lust, and cause you to grow in Him in love and grace and in the knowledge of His Word, for His glory.
The struggle you describe has its root inside the heart. Scripture teaches that conflicts and strong desires come from lust warring within us, and that the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life belong to this world and not to God. Friendship with the world in that sense puts us at enmity with God. Much of our trouble comes from wanting to satisfy those inward cravings, and even our prayers can go wrong when the hidden motive is simply to consume something upon our own desires. The true purpose of prayer is not to get our own will done on earth, but to seek His will and to be made conformable to Him.
This is why the battle is so much a battle for the mind. What is planted in the mind remains and bears fruit. To open the mind to pornography and to sexual fantasy is to feed something that never becomes satisfied. It always demands more and more to produce the same excitement, and it takes hold and binds a person. That is why Scripture urges us to keep the heart with all diligence and to put far away perverse and impure things, and not to lust after beauty in the heart where there is no true love, only craving.
You cannot sow to the flesh and not reap its consequences. God is not mocked. Whatever a person sows, that he will also reap. If we sow to the flesh by feeding the mind with what appeals to the flesh, we reap corruption. If we sow to the Spirit by feeding the mind with the Word of God and the things of the Spirit, we reap life and peace. Satan works to capture the mind and to deceive us into thinking God does not see, whispering as he did from the beginning, does God really know. But God does see, and He is also able to deliver those who turn to Him.
Your weakness is the very reason to pray. We pray because we are not capable in ourselves and we need His strength. The mind of the flesh brings corruption, but the mind of the Spirit brings life and joy and peace. God has promised to give His people a new mind in Christ, to renew the mind so that we are transformed and made wise in His ways.
I pray with you that in the name of Jesus Christ the Lord will show you mercy, speak to you, and grant you full deliverance. I pray He will renew your mind day by day, make you wise to recognize temptation and to turn from it, and keep your heart guarded against what would defile it. I pray He will teach you to walk in fellowship with Him, to feed your mind on what is pure and holy, and to live in the secret place of His presence where there is strength to remain steadfast. May He free you from the corruption that is in the world through lust, and cause you to grow in Him in love and grace and in the knowledge of His Word, for His glory.
