Exercising Faith and Prayer to eliminate pornography - part 2

That’s faith. Let’s talk about prayer. I’ve often gone back to the bible dictionary to understand this principle and I am struck by what it teaches about the nature of prayer. First, it is work. So many of us go through prayer as though it were just an incantation that we learned to conjure the spell of this blessing or that. The way we pray over our food may be an example you can look to for what I mean. But work is uncomfortable, sometimes strenuous, and, often, marked by giving up something we want. Interestingly, one of the only things that we have that we can give up is our will. And in this context, our will is often, as much as it is anything in our lives, the desire to feel good here and now. When we layer that idea into our pornography use, it’s important to acknowledge that the thing we are often seeking when we seek out pornography is to feel good, here and now. In the ancient world, people hit themselves in the chest or tore their clothing as demonstrations of sorrow. They were, in their attitude of prayer, literally giving up comfort in the here and now and paying the cost of discomfort in giving up their will to God in that moment. Second, It is not a commandment, it is a conversation. It is an opportunity to acknowledge what we’ve been given by our Heavenly Father. It is an opportunity to discuss with him what we believe we need, want, and desire. Prayer is an intimate expression of our weakness and dependence on our Father. It is an opportunity to express and experience the love He has given us. Prayer, as far as I can tell, has two main purposes. Firstly, it is meant to help us bring our will into concert with that of God’s. Secondly, it is a place to seek out the blessings that are already ours, but that we are required to ask for. All of this, in my view, brings the discussion we are having with Heavenly Father about our pornography struggle into a bright highlight of what we might do better to fully realize the blessings our Father has in store. So lets start with the phrase that I used and I’m sure many of you have as well. “Lord, please take this pornography problem away from me.” That may not be your exact wording but, it is likely similar to things you’ve said in your moments of want and struggles to end pornography in your life. Let’s dissect where this type of prayer might miss the most powerful parts of prayer. First off, this sounds like we are giving up our will to HF. We’re thinking, I don’t want this problem any more, I can just ask HF to take it away and make it so that I don’t have to struggle with it, because I’ve asked for a clearly good thing. I’ve asked that I no longer look at pornography. But what this misses, is that in asking HF to “take this away” we are asking Him to be in charge of our choices. Problem there is, he gave you agency, he isn’t taking it back. It also doesn’t account for work. This is a want, a wish list item that doesn’t have any cost to it except that you asked for it. This is like a little girl who asks her dad for a pony. All she does is say, I want it and doesn’t create any path to making it a reality. But, you say, this is a blessing that God might be willing to grant. Sure, I think that might be possible. But I also think it is unlikely. To be honest, I don’t think HF cares if you look at pornography. I don’t think that sits high on his priority list of things to eliminate from your life. What I believe HF wants for each of us is an abiding testimony in the...