2 Biblical Ways to Break the Cycle of Addiction
So many Christians are in bondage to addictive behaviors, they want to be free, but don’t know how. One such young woman came forward for ministry at a healing conference in Kentucky. Her addiction was cigarettes and it had control over her. But she wanted deliverance and freedom.
I laid hands on her and renounced the spirit of addiction in her, and declared that from now on when she would try to smoke a cigarette she would start to vomit. And she put it to the test. As soon as the service was over she ran outside and took a puff of a cigarette and her body immediately started to vomit on the church steps. Her body now rejected what it once craved. But along with physical deliverance, her soul, mind and emotions needed to be healed and renewed to remain free from the addiction.
You may be like this woman with an addiction to some type of sinful behavior and need deliverance and renewal of your mind. So, here is a plan of action from the Scriptures to help you overcome any and all addictive behaviors.
1. Before you can overcome an addiction you first have to admit that you have a problem and that it is a sin. James 5:16 instructs us to “confess your faults to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much.”
2. Make a quality decision that you will do whatever is necessary to be free from this ungodly behavior. There is a plan to freedom in James 4:7: “Therefore submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
How do you submit to God and resist the devil?
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Ask God for forgiveness. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
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Read the Bible and cleanse yourself spiritually so “that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word” (Eph. 5:26).
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Listen to faith-building messages. “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17).
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Fast and pray for deliverance. “He said to them, ‘This kind cannot come out except by prayer and fasting'” (Mark 9:29).
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Pray in the Spirit to encourage yourself. “But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith. Pray in the Holy Spirit” (Jude 1:20).
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Take control of your thoughts by “casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5).
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Confess out loud the promises of God over yourself. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit” (Prov. 18:21).
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Keep your joy level strong. “Then he said to them, ‘Go your way. Eat the fat, drink the sweet drink, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength'” (Neh. 8:10).
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Be full of the Holy Spirit. “Do not be drunk with wine, for that is reckless living. But be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Give thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 5:18-20).
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Don’t take on stress or worry. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with gratitude, make your requests known to God” (Phil. 4:6).
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Surround yourself with supportive people. “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company corrupts good morals'” (1 Cor. 15:33).
A spirit of addiction is out to control and destroy you. And to be free you have to make a quality decision that you will do whatever it takes to be delivered from its destructive power. If you will do these things on a daily basis, eventually you will break free from sinful and addictive behaviors. The enemy will flee from you, and the freedom you so desire will be yours.
Becky Dvorak is a healing minister and the Destiny Image author of DARE to Believe and Greater Than Magic. Visit her at authorbeckydvorak.com.
