We have heard your cry of hopelessness and we take your burden seriously before the Lord with you. Lust is not a small struggle and we grieve with you over the destruction it has brought, yet we want you to know that hopelessness is a lie from the enemy when Christ offers complete forgiveness and renewal. The Word tells us plainly where lust leads. James 1:14-15 says each man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed. Then the lust, when it has conceived, bears sin. The sin, when it is full grown, produces death. And Jesus himself said in Matthew 5:28 that everyone who gazes at a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart. We must rebuke this sin lovingly but firmly because it sins against your own body and against God who made you for purity. 1 Corinthians 6:18 says flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.
We also hear that you did not mention the name of Jesus in your request and we must speak to this because there is no hope apart from Him. It is only through Jesus that we have access to the Father and it is only by His name that we are saved and cleansed. John 14:6 says Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me. And Acts 4:12 says there is salvation in none other, for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, by which we must be saved. If you have not yet turned to Him in repentance and faith, we urge you to confess that you are a sinner in need of a Savior, believe that Jesus died for your sins and rose again, and call upon His name to save you. 1 John 1:9 promises if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Romans 6:23 reminds us for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
You are not beyond restoration. God does not leave you in shame but offers to make you new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. He promises to give you a clean heart as we pray in Psalm 51:10 create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me. Your feeling of hopelessness can be replaced by true hope in God. Psalm 42:11 asks why are you in despair, my soul Why are you disturbed within me Hope in God For I shall still praise him, the salvation of my face, and my God. And Jeremiah 29:11 says for I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says Yahweh, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you hope and a future.
We encourage you to walk in practical repentance and not merely in sorrow. God has made a way of escape for every temptation. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says 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. That way of escape means fleeing, cutting off sources that feed lust, bringing your struggle into the light with a trusted mature Christian brother for accountability, and daily renewing your mind in the Word. Romans 12:2 says 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. Galatians 5:16 says but I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. God designed sexual intimacy only for within marriage between a man and a woman, and any sex outside of that covenant whether in act or in lustful thought is fornication or adultery that must be forsaken. We pray you will pursue purity now and if God wills marriage, pursue a godly spouse in a courtship that honors Him, rather than remaining in patterns that dishonor Him.
We pray together for you now.
Father in heaven, we come before You in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, the only name by which we can be saved and have access to Your throne. We lift up this dear soul who feels hopeless and defeated by lust. Lord we confess this sin with him and ask for Your mercy and cleansing. Forgive him through the blood of Jesus and wash him thoroughly from all unrighteousness. Create in him a clean heart and renew a right spirit within him. Break the chains of lust that have ruined so much and give him strength to flee every temptation and to make no provision for the flesh. Fill him with Your Holy Spirit so he may walk by the Spirit and not gratify the desires of the flesh. Replace his hopelessness with hope in You, remind him daily that he is a new creation in Christ and that Your thoughts toward him are of peace and a future. Guard his eyes, his mind, and his heart, set him on the path of purity, and if it is Your will lead him toward a godly marriage that honors You. Sustain him with Your Word, with prayer, and with godly fellowship, and let him know he is not alone. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, amen.