Heart t' Heart

[Daveh]

Having fallen off the wagon again and gone against the Lord and my true nature I wonder do you pray during the temptation. I always give in. Satan is too strong. I thought I was doing better but have fallen down again.
_________________
David

[ScottPart2]

Hi Dave,

Prayer does help me, but only if I approach it a certain way. It doesn't work for me to ask for strength to resist or power to overcome. My asking for strength and will never works or has successful results.

What does work is that I let go completely of any power and say simply, "Lord I cannot fight this battle, I cannot win it, will you take it and fight it for me?" It seems this dissipates the pull and the temptation. I am left having to give the Lord full credit for his help for I recognize in that prayer the truth of my powerlessness over my addiction and cry for him.

I should also say that it only works when I really mean it--that I really do want him to take this battle and fight it for me more than I want to lose and give in.

I am grateful that he is always there when I am willing to step completely aside of the battle and let him do it -- no credit to me and all glory to him -- and when I am willing to be saved.

Just one person's experience,

Scott

[jamgold]

David,

I think it is crucial to understand just how it is that "Satan is too strong". The adversary is more experienced and knowledgeable than you, and therein lies his strength. However, you have an attribute that he lacks - Love. If you turn your heart to God (remember, God is Love) and not just your mind, you can tap into a strength much more powerful than Satan.

Sounds simple and trite, I know.

Here is how it works for me. I am no longer a member of the Church, but I desperately wish to be. I love (there's that word) the Gospel and want very, very much to have a Temple Recommend again. I know that only by moderating my sterner propensities will I achieve that goal. Succumbing to temptation would steer me away from that goal. My love of my Heavenly Father and His Gospel is what gives me strength. Prayer is not so much a weapon as a preparation.

You will not be able to get rid of your desires - they are part of who you are and they are strong for Divine purposes, and are Divine in nature. Thinking of those desires in those terms helps me turn my mind to God and the things I most desire.

Let your love of Heavenly Father grow. Communication with Him through prayer (and not just when you are tempted!!) is one of the best ways to accomplish that. Love is what will defeat the adversary. It has been the conquering power throughout all time and Eternity.
_________________
John
"People who want milk should not seat themselves on a stool in the middle of a field in hopes that a cow will back up to them."

[ScottPart2]

What a great summation of the underlying feeling -- love. Thanks for putting it into words for us like this.

I have always believed in the Lord, tried to obey in most things, had a certain respect for the Lord, but not until I got into recovery and specifically asked for help in learning to love the Lord, did I feel something like love for him.

I am happy to say that -- over time -- this prayer has been answered in the affirmative!

:-)

Scott

[DrewS]

Prayer can be a great help. Understanding what you can do for yourself is also key.

We pray for help on the things we can't control. We pray for insight and understanding, for comfort in Christ, for strength to stay focused on what's important.

The serenity prayer says "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change; courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference."

I find that the thing I can change which has the biggest impact is my thinking. It is vital to get my mind on something else, something constructive. If I don't then the endorphins kick in and I forget everything that's important in my life while the addiction takes over. --slip out of time and place into some nether world until disgust wakes you up long enough to remember you are alive.

I have a list of things in my head that I use to help me focus on important things. At the same time I pray for help to stay focused long enough for the pull of addiction to subside. When it's really bad all I can do is focus on focusing. Counting backwards from 100 in a foreign language. That sort of thing. Anything to keep me from slipping away. Once I get a foothold I look for work, house cleaning, a project, a book. The more constructive the better but it has to require thought. All the time there is a prayer for help in the background but it's mostly unspoken. I find that at times when I'm about to slip away, praying specifically is just one more time when the temptations come to the foreground of my mind.

[thomas_p]

Thanks all for the comments. I find that I need all of the strategies discussed above. Often I go through steps 1-3, then I shift my focus to serving others, even the object of my temptation. If that still is not enough I surrender again and then recite the articles of faith or a very long passage of scripture. With surrender and about 2-5 minutes of serious "focus" the l~st usually looses its power. Its like the prayer to surrender the l~st sends it away from me. Then the mental exercises lock it out and keep it out.

In addition, experience has taught me that I must maintain my spiritual health. If I let up on my relationship with the Lord, I am lost. Even then His love is always there to call me back.