Silas
Beloved of All
Giving thanks to God with you for the improvement He has already brought in your life is right, and all glory belongs to Him. It is the Lord Jesus Christ who brings cleansing and strength, and it is good that you want a lasting and true victory for His glory, not only relief for yourself.
Scripture teaches that many of our deepest struggles come from desires warring inside us. We want, we crave, and we fight to obtain what our fallen nature lusts after. That is why prayer is not a way to get our own will done on earth so we can spend it on our own desires. Often the selfish motive is hidden even from ourselves. God answers prayer according to His will, and His will for you is holiness, purity, and a renewed mind. When you ask for deliverance, you are asking according to His will, and you can trust Him to hear and to work.
The Bible is clear about where this battle is fought. It is fought in the mind and in the heart. What is planted in the mind stays and bears fruit over a lifetime. That is why we are told to keep the heart with all diligence. The enemy works by suggesting, as he did from the beginning, did God really say, does God really see, and by deceiving us into thinking we can hide. But God does see, and He is not mocked. Whatever a person sows, that he will also reap. If we sow to the flesh, we reap corruption, but if we sow to the Spirit, we reap life and peace.
Sexual sin begins in the heart long before it becomes an act. A person is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed, and when desire is allowed to remain it brings forth sin. Jesus taught that to look with lust is already to sin in the heart. For that reason temptation must be cut off at the first thought. Do not lust after beauty in your heart. Do not open the door to it. What the world calls love outside of marriage is not love at all, it is lust, and it has no power to satisfy. Pornography in particular never satisfies. It always demands more and more to produce the same excitement, and it takes hold of the mind and binds a person. It inflames the passions and leads toward further impurity, and it leaves filth in the mind that continues to vex the soul.
Scripture names the root as the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. These things are of the world, not of the Father, and friendship with the world is hostility toward God. The world and its lusts are passing away, but the one who does the will of God abides forever. To walk with God means to turn from that system and to walk in purity and righteousness, even as Christ is pure. Within God's design, sexual intimacy belongs only within the lifelong covenant of marriage between one man and one woman. Outside of that, it is not to be pursued or indulged.
The battle for the mind is a spiritual battle. If we set our minds on the flesh we reap corruption, but if we set our minds on the Spirit we reap life and joy and peace. God has given us the mind of Christ and He renews our minds through His Word. This renewal is how you become wise to discern what is good and to turn away from what would ensnare you again.
So continue to seek Him with the same earnestness you have shown in your tears and prayers, but now with your eyes fixed on His purpose for you. Ask Him to show you mercy, to give you understanding, and to deliver you fully. Fill your mind daily with Scripture. Write His truth before your eyes and keep it before you. Guard what you look at, what you watch, what you read, and what you allow into your heart. Put away corrupt speech and influences that pull you back. Make no provision for the flesh. Walk in the light, confess quickly when you are tempted, and bring trusted, godly believers around you for accountability who will help you stay on the path of purity.
Let us pray for you now. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ we thank You for the work You have already done in this life and for the desire You have given for complete freedom. Have mercy and grant deliverance. Renew the mind, make wise in Your ways, and teach how to guard the heart. Cut off lust at its first stirring and replace it with love for what is pure and holy. Uproot what has been sown in the past and plant instead Your Word, Your Spirit, and Your peace. Lead into lasting holiness, not by human resolve alone but by Your power, so that this life may bear fruit for Your glory. Teach to walk in purity and to find full satisfaction in You, and keep far from every form of sexual sin until You are glorified in all things. Amen.
Scripture teaches that many of our deepest struggles come from desires warring inside us. We want, we crave, and we fight to obtain what our fallen nature lusts after. That is why prayer is not a way to get our own will done on earth so we can spend it on our own desires. Often the selfish motive is hidden even from ourselves. God answers prayer according to His will, and His will for you is holiness, purity, and a renewed mind. When you ask for deliverance, you are asking according to His will, and you can trust Him to hear and to work.
The Bible is clear about where this battle is fought. It is fought in the mind and in the heart. What is planted in the mind stays and bears fruit over a lifetime. That is why we are told to keep the heart with all diligence. The enemy works by suggesting, as he did from the beginning, did God really say, does God really see, and by deceiving us into thinking we can hide. But God does see, and He is not mocked. Whatever a person sows, that he will also reap. If we sow to the flesh, we reap corruption, but if we sow to the Spirit, we reap life and peace.
Sexual sin begins in the heart long before it becomes an act. A person is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed, and when desire is allowed to remain it brings forth sin. Jesus taught that to look with lust is already to sin in the heart. For that reason temptation must be cut off at the first thought. Do not lust after beauty in your heart. Do not open the door to it. What the world calls love outside of marriage is not love at all, it is lust, and it has no power to satisfy. Pornography in particular never satisfies. It always demands more and more to produce the same excitement, and it takes hold of the mind and binds a person. It inflames the passions and leads toward further impurity, and it leaves filth in the mind that continues to vex the soul.
Scripture names the root as the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. These things are of the world, not of the Father, and friendship with the world is hostility toward God. The world and its lusts are passing away, but the one who does the will of God abides forever. To walk with God means to turn from that system and to walk in purity and righteousness, even as Christ is pure. Within God's design, sexual intimacy belongs only within the lifelong covenant of marriage between one man and one woman. Outside of that, it is not to be pursued or indulged.
The battle for the mind is a spiritual battle. If we set our minds on the flesh we reap corruption, but if we set our minds on the Spirit we reap life and joy and peace. God has given us the mind of Christ and He renews our minds through His Word. This renewal is how you become wise to discern what is good and to turn away from what would ensnare you again.
So continue to seek Him with the same earnestness you have shown in your tears and prayers, but now with your eyes fixed on His purpose for you. Ask Him to show you mercy, to give you understanding, and to deliver you fully. Fill your mind daily with Scripture. Write His truth before your eyes and keep it before you. Guard what you look at, what you watch, what you read, and what you allow into your heart. Put away corrupt speech and influences that pull you back. Make no provision for the flesh. Walk in the light, confess quickly when you are tempted, and bring trusted, godly believers around you for accountability who will help you stay on the path of purity.
Let us pray for you now. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ we thank You for the work You have already done in this life and for the desire You have given for complete freedom. Have mercy and grant deliverance. Renew the mind, make wise in Your ways, and teach how to guard the heart. Cut off lust at its first stirring and replace it with love for what is pure and holy. Uproot what has been sown in the past and plant instead Your Word, Your Spirit, and Your peace. Lead into lasting holiness, not by human resolve alone but by Your power, so that this life may bear fruit for Your glory. Teach to walk in purity and to find full satisfaction in You, and keep far from every form of sexual sin until You are glorified in all things. Amen.
