Weapons for the War Against Lust (Part 3)

Weapon #5: Fast. To fast means "to abstain." There is a tremendous power in fasting. Two different types of fasting have helped people overcome their addiction: From food. If you have never fasted or want to know more about Biblical fasting see Biblical Fasting: What It Is and How to Do It.

Why does fasting from food help sexual addiction? Abstaining from food: is a form of serious continual prayer (which God responds to), builds discipline (which is transferable to all areas of life), for 24 hours or more produces a side effect of diminished sexual desire. From physical unity in your marriage - 1 Corinthians 7:5: "mutual consent" - both must agree. "for a time" - Literally, a "season" (Greek: kairos) designated by the Lord. A short time. "devote yourself to prayer" - sexual fasting must have a specific prayer focus.

Fasting in either of these two areas can be a weapon to overcome sexual addiction. Don't overuse this weapon. Addicts can tend to be obsessive people, so don't become obsessive about your fasting. Use it as a tool, not a substitute. Weapon #6: Shout "No!" to temptation.

Titus 2:11-12 says: For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age. A literal, vocal, out loud "NO" can be a powerful tool in stopping us from moving to our addictive agent. Weapon #7: Get Accountable. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up.

But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. James 5:14-15 Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up.

If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Find another man or other men who will meet with you and hold you accountable. Accountability means that you will have to tell your story (Weapon #2), it means other people praying for you, and it means loving answerability, i.e. someone holding you responsible.

Create or join a Faithful & True Group. Faithful and True Groups have this hope: "If we remain constantly in accountability with God and with others, and if we search for ways to spread this message of hope, then we have many things to look forward to: We will know that God loves us for who we are and that He has sent his son to die for us. We will be able to forgive ourselves. We will accept that others love us regardless of who we are and what we’ve done. We will stop equating sex with love and nurturing.

Our lust will diminish. Fear about others finding out about us will stop. Anxiety about the future will begin to fade. We will learn how to make healthy physical choices. We will become more in touch with all of our feelings.

We will heal from the wounds of our past lives. We will be able to be more intimate, loving and patient with our spouses and friends. We will be better parents. We will come to know and praise the Lord in ever increasing and more meaningful ways." Find or create a group of men who will hold you accountable.

Weapon #8: Get Counsel. Proverbs 11:14 For lack of guidance a nation falls, but many advisers make victory sure. Proverbs 15:22 Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed. Get counsel from winners, not losers. Talk to people who have won the lust battle.

Talk to Christian counselors, older Christians, or your church elders. For other Scriptures about getting counsel read Proverbs 20:18; 24:6; 2 Timothy 2:1-2; and Titus 2:3-5. Getting counsel is not a form of weakness, but of strength. It is only the truly strong man who can reveal himself to another man. Focus on the Family has created a web site as a practical resource for individuals who want to overcome the grip of online pornography and affairs.

There are also resources for people who love someone who is struggling with online sexual temptation. Go to Pure Intimacy or Victims of Pornography or X3Church. Weapon #9: Try Saturation Scripture Reading. Psalm 119:9-11 How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands.

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. The Word of God needs to penetrate our hard hearts. Most of us merely give our hearts a tickle with the Word. Develop a list of Scriptures for your trouble area and read your list every day for 30 - 90 days. Example: Root Sin: Fear of Man.

Definition: Basing my actions or self-image on what others think. Scriptures to read every day for 30 days: 1 Samuel 15:24; Psalm 118:6-8; Psalm 146:3-4; Proverbs 29:25; Isaiah 2:22; Isaiah 51:7, 12; Jeremiah 17:5-8; John 12:42-43. "Isn't this a form of brainwashing?" I hope so! Our brains need to be washed! Of course, the bad type of brainwashing is something people do to you against your will. This is your choice. It's no more brainwashing than learning the names and statistics of your favorite football team by repetition.

We need the Word of God right there in our heads to transform our thinking when we are tempted. Weapon #10: Use the Guilt-Getter Gun. Sex addiction is a guilt/shame based addiction. Guilt must be overcome. Guilt (condemnation) is a powerful force which Satan uses to keep us from God and grace.

Conviction, yes. Godly sorrow that leads to repentance, yes. But condemnation, never! Guilt in a Christian happens whenever we are bound by: a fear of God's punishment or feelings of worthlessness or a fear of rejection and isolation from God. Christ answers each aspect of guilt: Christ took our punishment, we get only discipline. There are no IOUs.

We are a "new man in Christ, a new creation." We must learn to repudiate our fallenness, without repudiating ourselves. We are always special to God. We are far from worthless. Christ paid a very expensive price for us.

God never leaves us or forsakes us, even in our sin. Even when we are sinning, He is always ready to come to our aid. Condemnation (guilt) causes us to turn away from the only source of help: Jesus! Romans 8:1 makes it very clear that condemnation has NO place in the Christian life. It says, There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. If guilt is a problem for you, read a book like Freedom From Guilt by Bruce Narramore.

Write down the Scriptures he quotes and memorize them. These will be your guilt-getter gun. Take out your gun and blast the evil one whenever he tempts you to condemnation. Meditate on the cross. The cross of Jesus is for your sin of lust, too.

Jesus died for sexual immorality. Jesus offered Himself as "the atoning sacrifice for all our sins" (1 John 2:2). The cross was for your sin problem -- no matter how bad, no matter how many times. As you meditate on the cross, guilt will leave. The cross is your guilt gun.

Blast away. Weapon #11: Get Squeaky Clean on the Inside. We need periodic washing on the inside. The Bible says, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:19). Set aside a time for inner purifying.

Make a list of your sins. Then confess them one by one to the Lord. Grieve and weep over the pollution in your heart. Get every ugly, stinkin' thing out. Psalm 51 provides a good pattern for this procedure.

David began by confessing all of his sin of adultery with Bathsheba. But David didn't stop there. The next step is just as important. By faith receive into your mind and heart the inner cleansing that the Bible promises. Set your will to accept Christ's inner purifying and feel the evil flow out of your system.

This isn't just an exercise. It's an experience. David prayed to the Lord, Create in me a clean heart, O God (Psalm 51:10). Consciously accept God's provision of inner purifying. Weapon #12: To Deal With Your Thought Life, Think 777.

Charles Mylander in Running the Red Lights (Regal, 1986, pp. 65-66) writes: Try a simple experiment with me. Think about the number 666 for a moment. You may know its association with the beast in Revelation 13:18. Next, tell yourself to stop thinking 666.

Concentrate on not thinking 666. If you find it tough to turn off your mind about this infamous number, you are normal. The problem with directly resisting a powerful, negative thought like 666 is one of focus. Like lust, the more you think, "I won't fantasize about 666 anymore" the more you bring it to mind. For a moment think about 777.

Divide it by 7. Multiply by 3. Can you divide the answer by 2? Are you still thinking 666? Probably not. Why? After thinking 777 and dividing by 7, you come up with 111. Multiply by 3 and you are now at 333.

Can you divide 333 by 2? No, it's an odd number. Now your mind is onto something helpful. A time-proven, powerful method of resisting lust is to replace wrong thoughts with good thoughts. Instead of 666, think 777. To make this happen use the "Thought Stopping Exercise" which is based on 2 Corinthians 10:5.

When you first identify a dysfunctional "automatic thought" (such as lust), practice your thought stopping technique: Stop the thought immediately and recognize the dysfunctional pattern that follows; dysfunctional thought -- negative emotion -- counterproductive behavior. Imagine your mind is like a cassette tape player. You hear a lustful thought. Press the STOP button! 2 Corinthians 10:5b says: We are taking every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ. Replace the automatic thought with truth from God.

Take out the bad tape and put in God's tape (a memorized Scripture). Press PLAY. 2 Corinthians 10:5a says: We demolish arguments and every pretext that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. Begin to memorize some of these or other Scriptures that can serve to replace the "automatic thoughts" that you have with the truths that the Bible teaches about who we are as Christians and what is right thinking. Memorize These Passages Psalm 145:13-14 Matthew 5:8 Matthew 11:28-30 John 8:11 Romans 6:11-14 Romans 7:24 & 8:2 Romans 8:31-32 Romans 8:37-39 Romans 12:1-2 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 1 Corinthians 6:13b 1 Corinthians 6:15-17 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 Galatians 2:20 Galatians 5:24 Ephesians 2:6 Ephesians 2:8-10 Colossians 2:9-10 Colossians 3:1-6 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 1 Thessalonians 4:7 2 Timothy 2:22 Titus 2:11-14 Hebrews 4:14-16 1 Peter 4:1-3 1 John 3:1-3 1 John 4:4 Adultery happens in the head long before it happens in the bed.

Turn your thought life to something positive and helpful. The mind filled with God's truth (777) leaves little room for sexual lust (666). Click here for the last section of Weapons for the War Against Lust (Part 4).