I am asking for fellow Freepers to please help this person if you have any good advice for our friend.
Dear Friend,
I have been there and it does get better. I completely understand how you feel and will pray for you as you go through this time. Just remember that every "cheat" prolongs the pain.
Only God can fill the void that you are feeling. Pride is Satan's way of keeping us separated from God. Understand that everyone has failed God and that it is only His grace that allows ANY of us to continue on. Once you realize that we are all in the same boat and free yourself from your pride, things will get better...
Seeking the support of friends and family and finding a way to serve Him by serving others was key in helping me through my dark period. Remember that God created you for a purpose and that He wants a relationship with YOU, not the happy-go-lucky drunk that was in your place. He knows your heart and will both trust and forgive you as you become a new creation.
As I said before, I will pray for you, but be sure you are also praying for yourself. There is no substitute for a direct conversation with God!
God Bless.
First, prayers for a fellow freeper.
Second, there is no shame too great to take to God. Peace amid the ugly chaos is the side effect of trust. Trust in God is built one prayer at a time.
I can not tell you how many times my prayer has simply been: "Help."
Hope you'll keep us updated Rob.
Whatever, my thoughts and prayers are with him. I've had spells where I just think I'm so worthless that I can't find any hope in my life. And the thoughts of ending it all cross my mind.
But my faith and belief in God does not allow me to end it all. My love for my family means that I can't do such a thing as to cause them undeserved guilt.
It's not easy; when I had those spells I would be on the floor crying from a depth I didn't know existed in my soul. And I only realized later that that crying was healing. All I could do was cry and plead "Help me God, Help me God." I was incapable of asking for specifics; but no matter, because God knew what I needed.
So friend, allow yourself to cry somewhere by yourself as much as possible. Let those tears flow and ask God to help you. Don't make a list of needs; you'll focus too much on what is wrong with you. Just ask God to help you - that's all. Over and over again if you feel like it but say no more than "God, please help me."
Those tears do wash out the toxic crud inside, they really do.
And now I lift you up to our Savior and Comfortor, Jesus Christ. Dear Lord, help this hurting soul. You know his needs and fears and guilt. Please release him and forgive him and help him to confess to you and ask forgiveness and above all, your perfect help. Let him cry and let his tears wash out the pain he feels. In Jesus' precious name, we pray, Amen.
This man is in my prayers tonight, asking God to grant him strength as he struggles with his addiction.
Self-pity during some long dark nights of the soul almost killed me a few times.
I had to begin to treat it like the satanic poisonous snake it is.
I had to practice much more tenacious and diligent taking each thought captive.
The following Scriptures may be good confesisons and good Scriptures to pray over yourself as many times a day as needed and certainly to start the day:
BLOOD SCRIPTURES
When you do anything having to do with demons, make sure you:
1) repent
2) cover yourself and your family in His blood
THE BLOOD SCRIPTURES:
Psalm 107:2:
"Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy."
Ephesians 1:7:
"In whom we have redemption through His blood the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace."
PROCLAMATIONS:
*Through the blood of Jesus I am redeemed out of the hand of the devil.
*Through the blood of Jesus all my sins are forgiven.
1 John 1:7:
"But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin."
PROCLAMATION:
*The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, is cleansing me now and continually from all sin.
Romans 5:9:
"Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him."
PROCLAMATION:
*Through the blood of Jesus I am justified, made righteous, just as though I had never sinned.
Hebrews 13:12:
"Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate."
PROCLAMATION:
*Through the blood of Jesus I am sanctified, made holy, set apart to God.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20:
19 "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
20 "For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's."
PROCLAMATIONS:
*My body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.
*I am redeemed, cleansed, sanctified by the blood of Jesus. Therefore the devil has no more place in me and no more power over me.
*Through the blood of Jesus I overcome satan by the blood of the Lamb and the word of my testimony.
REMEMBER ...
To Be Delivered:
1. Confess the spirit in the name of Jesus
2. Renounce the spirit in the name of Jesus
3. Forgive others
4. Call on the name of the Lord Jesus.
I also--ASAP--had to force myself to move my body as much as possibel--even just for basic chorse.
And, ASAP--I had to force myself to reach out to others who were hurting in helpful, listening, caring ways. That helped get me moving and also helped me feel better about myself. Old folks homes, hospitals etc. are full of folks needing a caring visit and touch. Some intensive care nurseries need skin touch for the infants to help them grow, heal, develope--just holding them and rocking them.
Writing in a journal can help distance yourself a bit from your feelings more objectively.
One needs to keep reminding one's self:
FEELINGS ARE JUST INFORMATION.
They are not air, water, food, clothing, shelter, transportation, sun, flowers, a good book, friendship, or even sex.
They MAY be useful information somewhat in some situations. They can be potentially deadly info in others. We have to choose.
FEELINGS MAKE TERRIBLE SLAVE MASTERS and tolerable servants.
God's best to you dear Freeper. Feel free to contact me directly, if you wish.
God's best in His wholeness to you.
LUB,
I hope I'm not piling on with more comment.
But some "stray voltage" hit me today and realized that The Freeper Friend
might want to look at the case of Dominick Dunne...good interview with
a bit of cursing at:
http://www.janmag.com/profiles/ddunne.html
IIRC, I saw Dunne in an interview talking about his low-period when
he spent six months alone in Oregon kicking booze and drugs.
He said that one of his prize possessions was a letter from Truman
Capote that said how awed he was at Dunne's courage at having the
strength to make a decision to get sober and to stick to it.
And Dunne said he was still sad that Capote couldn't find the strength
to do the same (Capote died of complications from alcoholism).
So, there's a story of someone who was even a high-flier who had to
transit a deep valley before coming back and climbing to new heights.
Hope that's not too much moralizing. I guess I'm biased as a junky for
Dunne's tales of rich people behaving very badly!
Please do not be ashamed to pray. You are a child of the Almighty God. You are not a problem to Him. He wants the very best for you and wants to show you the way. Ask Him today for shelter in His loving arms. Leave all your cares and burdens with Him. Prayer for peace in your heart and strength in each new day.
Can only offer that, aside from chemical imbalance, chronic depression can have a root cause in something or someone who causes a person to feel inferior in some way. The difficult part is refusing to let others decide one's worth and to really, truly understand that God had already decided that by sacrificing His only Son for us. If our Heavenly Father places such a high value on us, no one else can take that away from us unless we let them.
You say that you've been "clean" for a couple of weeks (give or take) but if you've had anything at all with alcohol, you have not yet been "clean."
Alcohol can be found in your spinal tap for up to 30 days, so, my friend, you have to go really "clean" for at least that long before you really begin to think straight.
You have also made the following statement: "I'm a very proud, spiritual Christian, but I'm even too ashamed to pray, at least at length, since both He and I know that I am the problem." Pride is your first issue, friend. Christ/God can work with many sinners but the one that He cannot work with is the issue of pride.
The reason for that is that when you are giving into pride, you really believe in you, not the Lord. You falsely assume that you are in charge of your life and that you can do this or that and that you can choose to change something without His help.
Trust me, no matter what your problem (or even if you think that you have none), you are ultimately not in charge - it is God and unless and until you choose to make Him in charge of everything, holding nothing back, your habits, matter what they are, are not going to change.
The bad news, friend, is that everything that is wrong in your life is only going to get worse, not better, no matter how hard you (pride again) try.
If you have, indeed, become "born again" go back to Him and ask Him to convict you of the Sin of Pride and admit that without Him - you can do nothing.
I will keep you in my prayers as I know that God is not limitless in what He can do.
I will pray!
Rob,
My sister died yesterday. She ended up succumbing to a subarachnoid brain hemorrhage after first suffering from liver failure, kidney failure, and pneumonia. In reality she died of alcoholism. Her name was Wendy and she was 46.
I don't know what the status of your friend is, but I just wanted to share her story and let it be known that the alcoholic death is an ugly, painful death. I was warned ahead of time that it would be bad, but never could have fully anticipated the nightmare. This was not just "going to sleep" like in Leaving Las Vegas. It was lingering pain, agony, and suffering - for her and those that loved her and had to watch death creep in.
As her health began to fail she talked about getting clean, but by then it was too late, there was no going back. I don't know if my sister's story is important or will help anyone out there, but this thread has stuck with me as I have dealt with this and watched her condition deteriorate. I guess the odds would dictate that most alcoholics won't end up in her situation, but, man, for those that do...
And to think it all started with so much fun. But now she's gone. My sister is dead.
Steve
I am no Bible scholar, so I can't give you the exact chapter and verse; but, I do know that the Bible plainly states that when you cannot pray for yourself God "utters prayers for you". I was struck by the importance of that phrase because I have had many times myself that I just could not pray for a number of reasons. Please know that you are not alone. God is with you ALWAYS!
**but I'm even too ashamed to pray, at least at length, since both He and I know that I am the problem.**
Know that God loves you just the way you are and can help you revover one day at a time. Jesus came to redeem sinners, never hesitate to pray. Even if it is for help for the next five minutes.
May God bless you on your journey.
Please notify me via FReepmail if you would like to be added to or taken off the Prayer Ping List.
Please post your prayers to RobFromGa;
My mother quit drinkning in '95. She has been on anti-depressants ever since. I wish it weren't so, but I still like "this" mom over "drunk mom."
As I observe this statement, my spiritual teaching points me in two directions: "I'm even too ashamed to pray..."We always need to pray when we are ashamed, that's what God wants us to do.
Pray for God's forgiveness and ask always for strength to stand up to temptations - God didn't give us those, they come from the Adversary and are strong but God is stronger and can help us to overcome.
Besides, as Christians, the blood of Christ at the cross has already washed us clean of sin, past, present and future but we must always pray to God and confess our sins continually ask for forgiveness and ask for His strength to face strong temptations.
"I know that I am the problem."Actually, that is true but read, study and learn about God in the bible, wherein He tells us that we are all sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, our earthly ancestors, whose original sin covered us all. They didn't come up with sin on their own, that old Adversary, who is always at war with God, lured them into sin because God gave them the right to decide good or evil.
Yes, God does know that you are a sinner (as we all are) but He is on your side, He is in your corner wanting you to choose good choices over bad ones -- but He is always there for you. No matter what you have done or how long you have been making bad choices, turn to the One who made you "in His own image;" the One who "Has plans for you, plans for good and not for evil;" the One who "gives you life and wants to give it abundantly....."