Overcoming bad spirit upon my life

[Chrysostom]

Your honesty in bringing this struggle into the light is a good and necessary step, and we have prayed for you and continue to pray with you.

Watching pornography is not a small matter before God. Scripture calls us to purity and to keep the gift of sex within the lifelong covenant of marriage between one man and one woman. What is done in secret through these films defiles the heart and mind, and it opens the door to further uncleanness. The good news is that God does not deal with us only to punish, but to amend and to heal. Through Jesus Christ alone there is forgiveness for sin and power to turn from it, when we come to Him with a humble and repentant heart that trembles at His word.

You asked for prayer to overcome a bad spirit upon your life. We pray that God would deliver you from every evil influence and from the power of lust itself. This evil is not overcome by adding more to it, but by taking it away and turning the mind fully toward what is good. That means making a clear break, removing access wherever possible, guarding your eyes and your thoughts, and turning away from filthy talk and jesting which feed lust and lead the heart further astray.

Growth in holiness comes little by little, as a house is built stone by stone. Do not try to do everything at once and then grow discouraged. Divide the work of virtue in your soul. Learn first to flee from this sin, to close the door to it, to fill your time with prayer and with the reading of Scripture, and to practice self control with your body and your mind. As you are faithful in these smaller steps, God will strengthen you for greater ones, and He will make you an example in purity, in speech, in conduct and in faith.

We are praying for you in this way:

Heavenly Father, we come to You through Jesus Christ Your Son. Have mercy on this Your servant who confesses his struggle and desires to be clean. Forgive his sins, cleanse his heart, and set him free from every bondage of the enemy. Give him hatred for what is impure and love for what is holy. Teach him to walk in purity, to guard his heart and mind, and to find his satisfaction in You. Fill him with Your Holy Spirit, grant him strength in the moment of temptation to turn away, and raise up faithful brothers around him for encouragement and accountability. Restore to him joy and a clear conscience, and make his life a testimony to Your power to save and to change. In the name of Jesus we ask this, Amen.

Stay in the light. Bring this struggle to a trusted pastor or mature believer who can walk with you, keep yourself from places and devices that lead you back, and each day give your eyes and your heart anew to the Lord. God is faithful, and He who has begun a good work in you will be faithful to complete it as you continue to seek Him.

 

[Silas]

Thank you for sharing this struggle so honestly. God sees your desire to be free and He is able to deliver you. What you are calling a bad spirit upon your life is described in Scripture as the pull of the world and the flesh, and the enemy uses that pull to ensnare people.

The apostle John explains that all that is in the world comes down to three avenues, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, and these are not from the Father but from the world. That is how the enemy has always worked. In the garden he came to Eve and she saw that the fruit was good for food, that it was beautiful to look upon, and that it promised to make her wise like God, and he tripped her there. He tried the same with Jesus in the wilderness when he urged Him to turn stones into bread to satisfy physical hunger. The appeal is always to the body, to the eyes, and to pride.

Pornography is one of the great snares of our day for the lust of the eyes and the lust of the flesh. The opportunities to fulfill that lust now seem endless through images and films that are so easy to find, and what may begin with a small sample or a curious look can quickly take hold. Many who have counseled others have seen that it can grip a person like a drug. It acts like an addiction that is hard to break because the flesh is never satisfied. The more you feed it, the more it demands, and it will keep asking for more while leaving you empty. It can become a master that holds you captive and you find you cannot free yourself by willpower alone.

You are not alone in this battle, and there is no reason to stay in shame. Scripture says we all once walked according to the course of this world, living to fulfill the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and by nature we were children of wrath. Yet the same Word says the world is passing away along with its lust, but the one who does the will of God remains forever. 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. The purpose of prayer is not to get God to approve what the flesh wants, but to bring our lives into agreement with His will.

God has given a way to be free. He calls you to walk by the Spirit so that you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. That means making a clear choice not to feed the flesh, to deny yourself, to take up the cross and follow Jesus, and to guard your heart and your eyes. Do not lust after beauty in your heart. What is presented in those films is not love at all, it is only lust that embraces anyone, and it leaves the soul polluted. Instead, wash your mind daily with the Word of God. He has given us great and precious promises so that through them we may share in His divine nature and escape the corruption that is in the world through lust. Turn away from whatever sows to the flesh and deliberately sow to the Spirit through prayer, through Scripture, through honest fellowship with a trusted mature believer who can help you stay accountable, and through filling your time with what is pure.

God ordained sexual intimacy to belong only within the lifelong covenant of marriage between one man and one woman, and any use of it outside that is not His design. He is gracious to forgive and to cleanse when we turn from it and trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation.

I pray for you now. Father, in the name of Jesus, I ask that You forgive this dear one through the blood of Your Son and set the mind free from the hold that pornography has had. Wash away the filth that has been sown there by Your Word. Break the power of this addiction and deliver from the darkness that has taken hold. Fill this heart with Your Spirit and with a desire for what is pure. Teach how to claim Your promises, to walk in the Spirit day by day, and to find strength to say no to the flesh. Bring growth in love and grace and in knowledge of Your Word, and let there be a new hunger for what pleases You. Keep this one close and make the way of escape clear whenever temptation comes. Amen.

Keep seeking the Lord and stay in His Word. He is faithful to complete the work He has begun and to bring you into purity and freedom as you continue to look to Him.