Power

The Power of His name.  Jesus, Your name is... ("The Power of His Name" by Lincoln Brewster)

Step 1 is to admit we are powerless.  But sobriety is anything but powerless.  It is where we draw our power from that is key to our recovery. 

To have power over our sobriety and recovery means willfully giving over power to the one and only that is able to reign over our addictions.  Jesus. With Jesus, all things are possible.  Philippians 4:13 says "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."   We are not alone.  We were never meant to take this journey alone.  We were given the Power of Christ to overcome the enemy.

Isaiah 40;29-31: He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust the Lord will find new strength. They will soar on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.

There is power in a power. When we turn our lives over to the care of God we become much more centered on what we are doing and why we are trying to do it. When you think of a life without this addiction, it is as I have said before scary and exhilarating. But we have to admit we can not do it own our own and that God is the answer to it all. This is not a new concept, 12 step groups all over the world make God the center and the key to the recovery process. Treatment centers teach the 12 steps and offer church services on Sunday's or will take you to one (some of them anyway). But we have draw on a power greater than ourselves. In doing so we are taking power over our addiction and we are drawing power from an unending source of power, God.

Lets take a look at the 12 steps where God is key to that step:
Step 2: We came to believe a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
Step 3: We decided to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood God.
Step 5: Admitted to God, to ourselves, and another Human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
Step 6: We are entirely ready to have God remove our defects of character.
Step 7: Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings.
Step 11: Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of Gods will for us and the power to carry that out.
Step 12: Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other sex addicts and to practice these principles in our lives.

Prayer starts all 12 step meetings, the Serenity prayer: God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Amen.

They also end in prayer, the Lords prayer: Our Father who art in Heaven, hollowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the Kingdom, the "power" and the Glory, forever and ever, Amen.

God is the power we need in our lives. For a very long time I felt powerless over this addiction. I felt hopeless, and it seemed like it was never going to get any better. I was telling my wife the other night that when I wrote about this subject I wanted to get across how much more "powerful" I feel then ever before. God has been the reason for that. In the world I always felt like an actor, a fraud, like I wasn't like everyone else and they certainly were not like me. For those who have this addiction and are reading this than you can relate to what I am about to say. For those who don't have this but want to understand more than this is for you. Imagine living a lie, waking up not fitting in your own skin, knowing that the day faces new challenges that you detest but you know will come up, or feeling guilt from the night before over something you have done or have forced someone else to do. Feeling constantly dirty, I have had days where I was in the shower and I just didn't feel clean. And despite what you want for yourself inside, the addiction kicks in with a thought, a sight, a fantasy, a dream from the previous night, a touch to yourself or someone else and the cycle starts all over again. Then once again you are feeling so set apart from everyone, they are not having my day, they aren't thinking what I am, they must not find out who I am. I must fit in and act like they do that way nobody will know who I really am.  I could go on with that thought and speak in volumes the way we who are sexually addicted feel, think and react. However, that is not the point of this, the point of this is, now with God in my life, I feel much more in control of my day and how I feel. I have God to go to in my turbulent episodes and slowly but surely I am fitting more into the world than ever before. The reason for that is I drew on a power that is offered to absolutely everyone on this planet. That power is God and may you find Him.

There is power in recovery, there is power in a relationship with Christ, there is power in dreaming and wanting, there is power in trying, there is power in admitting weakness, there is power in seeking strength and there is power in living better. What kind of power? The power of loving yourself enough to seek those very things out. God already loves us, we just have to love ourselves enough to get better and to find our way home to God. There is absolutely no one on this Earth that is not going to receive His love if they seek it and ask for it. We have taken power and control over others on a regular basis, but never ourselves. What we have now is a means to do it. I can continue seeking God or I can turn away. I could keep trying to live better or I can go back. I have the power to make that decision and God gives me the power to make that decision. He wants us to choose Him, but He leaves the power of that choice in our hands. Just know that my story, and the story of Hundreds of thousands of sex addicts, alcoholics, drug addicts, gamblers, and countless others have God at the center of their recovery. That is just a plain fact, other wise if it did not work to have a relationship with God then there would be no more church's, no more 12 step meetings, no more missions, no more books that speak of a relationship with Christ, and sadly there would be no more hope. Now what kind of world would that be. My story is one of many, Power I have gained is one example of millions over the ages. Power you can gain; another testimony of God's redeeming love. Are you worth it? You have to answer that for yourself. Do I think you are worth it? Darn right I do! Tap into a power that loves you, because the power that controls sex addiction hates you. Satan uses us as pawns in a chess game that will claim our souls one day. You have the power to pick up the board and go home.

Father in Heaven, you alone have the power to save us from a life that means death. You give strength to the powerless and you do not grow weary. We ask in the precious name of Jesus that you help us tap into the power that you provide and give so freely to us. We as a people left on our own will fall victim to Satan and stay stuck with no hope, no dreams, no strength, and no purpose. You are clearly the key to recovery and you offer an ending to one story and the beginning of another. For those who feel you but do not act, and fear you but do not hear you, may they have the one moment of weakness where you Father, are able to step into their hearts and start a work in their lives. Also that once that work is started that they have the desire to want better and ask for the power to keep striving towards recovery one day at a time. We ask this in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

My prayers are with you. Jason.