We rejoice with you and give all glory and thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ for the great improvement He has already worked in your life, and we join you in crying out for that lasting and true deliverance that brings honor to God. We have heard your tears and your earnest prayers, and we stand with you seeking His will together in Jesus name.
We understand the weight of these struggles with pornography, masturbation, flirting and other sexual sins. The Word of God teaches us plainly that these are not small matters, for God calls us to flee sexual immorality and to keep our hearts and bodies pure before Him. Every other sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or don't you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God. You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. 1 Corinthians 6:18-20. Jesus Himself taught that everyone who gazes at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. Matthew 5:28. Flirting with the opposite sex outside of a committed courtship that is seeking godly marriage to another Christian believer does not honor God, because it stirs up desires that God has reserved for the lifelong covenant of marriage between a man and a woman. For this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality, that each one of you know how to control his own body in sanctification and honor, not in the passion of lust. 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5.
Yet we also praise God that you have turned to Him in repentance, for if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17. The improvement you have seen is evidence of His grace and power at work in you, and we are confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:6.
Lasting victory will not come from willpower alone, but from the renewing of your mind and walking by the Spirit day by day. Don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what is the good, well-pleasing, and perfect will of God. Romans 12:2. Walk by the Spirit, and you won't fulfill the lust of the flesh. Galatians 5:16. This means we must be wise to cut off every provision for the flesh, to guard our eyes and our heart, to fill our minds with what is pure and true, for whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue, and if there is any praise, think about these things. Philippians 4:8. We hide His word in our hearts that we might not sin against Him, as it is written How can a young man keep his way pure. By living according to your word. I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119:9, Psalm 119:11. And we remember that no temptation has taken you except what is common to man. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation also make the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13.
We now pray together for you.
Father in heaven, we come before Your throne of grace in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, our only Savior and our only access to You, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. We thank You for the mercy You have already shown to our brother, for hearing his cries and for bringing great improvement and for beginning to set him free. Lord, we ask that You would complete this deliverance and make it lasting and true for Your glory. Create in him a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within him. Psalm 51:10. Renew his mind and make him very wise, that he may discern and hate every form of sexual immorality and turn away from it completely. Teach him to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ and to flee from every appearance of evil. Show him mercy, speak to him clearly, give him understanding and grant him full deliverance, that these sins will forever be far from him. Help him and guide him to do whatever it takes to remove these sins forever from his life and heart, whether that means removing sources of temptation, seeking godly accountability, walking in fellowship with other believers, and abiding daily in Your Word and in prayer. Strengthen him to resist the devil as he submits himself to You, trusting Your promise that the devil will flee from him. James 4:7. Fill him with Your Holy Spirit, that he may walk in purity, in self control, and in the joy of a clean conscience before You. We ask all of this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.
We encourage you to continue to cry out to Him daily, to stay in the Word, to pursue fellowship and accountability with mature Christian brothers who will help you guard your way, and to remember that when you fall, you can quickly confess and return to Him without hiding. God is not finished with you. He who has brought you this far will be faithful to keep you as you abide in Him. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, keep your heart set on that which is pure, and trust Him to make your path straight as you seek to honor Him with your body and your heart.