Tip: Put a rubber band on your wrist. Every time you have a lustful thought, snap it and praise the Lord. It takes 66 days on average to form a new habit. If you are struggling, you need to know which new habits will work... Even though you are still struggling. For example: After 264 days of out of control porn, you come here and decide to read the top 60 verses for quitting every day. It works on day one, but on day 2 you only get through 3 verses before you fall again. The problem here is that if that did not work, then nothing is likely to work on that day. But we need to realize that this was how Jesus fought temptation. It works and it will work for you, but you have to get your triggers under control as well as many other things simultaneously. So you try again, you take a bunch of notes from articles, you try what they say, you focus on turning aggressively from sin and you start reading the top 60 verses every day again. Then your success begins to build. Secondly, if you are tempted to fall, never say, “This is the last time.” Instead say, “I am rebelling, and there will be a lot of destruction because of it.” Satan wants you to lie about what is going on. Be honest. Or better yet say: If I fight sin aggressively, the Holy Spirit mightily fills me. And the Holy Spirit is a mighty warrior, and a great conqueror and He is starting to fill me and empower me to overcome and to do good works. Thirdly, activities are a key to quitting addiction. When we are doing something, we don't give the devil time to exaggerate the pleasures that tempt us. And when those activities are good works, they become one of the keys to quitting addiction. If we are not actively doing right, then it becomes very easy for the devil to get us to do wrong.
Put a rubber band on your wrist. Every time you have a lustful thought, snap it and quote: Matthew 6:22-23 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!" This verse explains your joy level from a rate of 1 to 10. If you are always dark... Try this for a week. It should really help. Next week: Every time you have a lustful thought, snap it and pray: "Father, fill me with Your love." This prayer invites the Holy Spirit to fill us a tiny bit more. Every time He fills us more, there is less room for bad things. For the article listing 20 things to think about (Bottom article). https://forum.nofap.com/index.php?threads/taking-thoughts-captive.328767/
I talked about wearing a rubber band and snapping it when a lustful thought hit. Then quoting Matthew 6:22: But what if you have multiple bad thoughts when you are busy at work? In that case, shorten that verse to "Lust equals darkness - good thoughts equal light." Then you can use the whole verse when you are not so busy.
“Wear a rubber band on your wrist and try these six ideas about what to say about bad thoughts. Every time you have a lustful thought, #1 think about something good that has happened in the last 3 days. #2 Say: I believe that pure thoughts will lead to a great life. #3 Say: I reject satan's lies. I accept God's view that lust destroys. #4 My goal is to put off my old self. Lord, guide my thoughts. #5 Jesus, thank you for the cross. I will think about Your cross. #6 Pray: “Father, teach me how to be fully committed to You.” Last, start a “How to think right” file. Fill it with quotes about what to think about. You can change the way you think. It may take 66 days or longer, but you can do it.
In Matthew, one of the first things Jesus said was to repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. We repent by memorizing (over time) a list of proper things to think about. We repent by upping our standards in turning from lust by praying about it more often. By often saying: “Father, Your ways are always best.” By our willingness to try to do God’s will. Consider praying: “Father, take away this spirit of lust, and help me to do Your will.” Repenting is thinking: “I need to follow Jesus more, I need to think like Jesus more. I need to say more often: “My life will be better if I think more like Jesus, and if I submit more to His will.” Second, I am off on vacation tomorrow, but I will bring my lists of things to think about and keep working on them. I am going to Universal in Florida for the first time. Temptation will be everywhere, but I will have a list of things to think about and work on while satan is trying to tempt me. I will also pray about 100 times a day to be ready to turn from lust. Last, in life either we are going higher with Jesus, or we are mulling around giving satan a great chance at winning. Thinking Jesus' way is way better.
People think that the inability to stop P or lust is the problem, but that is only 49% of the issue, 51% of the problem is that we don't have a goal of how we are going to “set our minds on the Spirit.” Romans 8:6 ESV For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.” To quit right now we need to have skill in remembering to set our minds on spiritual things. When quitting you should consider planning your next 7 days every week. To do that write down exactly what Christian trait you are planning to set your mind on for every day this week. This can be done every week. Note: this thread “snap it” has at least 20 specific things you can choose from. Then, put an hourly reminder on your phone, put notes everywhere, ask someone to ask you (later) if you succeeded in thinking in new ways, and most importantly, make it a habit to think and pray about your daily trait every time you have a lustful thought. Second, pick a verse like the one above to remind you of what is messing you up currently, and to give you a new goal. Consider memorizing it. Finally, God is watching. If you strain to make it a daily habit to set your mind on things above, your prayers will increase in power.
We need to believe that we can have joy. If we don't, we will never be motivated enough to change our thinking. First of all, it is best to stop thinking that money, success, stuff, or any other worldly thing will bring joy. I had money, success, and all that other junk at a very young age. It never led to joy. The wisest man to ever live (Solomon) said that all that stuff is vanity. He said chasing it is like chasing the wind. If you believe that worldly things will be something great, you will not often set an hourly alarm so that you can remember to pray or to quote a quitting statement. So, today, decide whether you believe what Solomon said in the Bible (that all these things are vanity). If you believe him, make it an hourly focus to reset your thinking. Now, you may think that you will be 2% worse at your job if you do this. I don't agree. If you please God, you are much more likely to be promoted than to be 2% worse because of spending time renewing your mind. God always blesses people (sooner or later) who do things His way. This week, have your list of prayers and statements ready. Then start off every hour with a goal and a prayer. That is a key to quitting and it is the start to finding joy.
The Bible says “Take up your cross daily.” What is your system for taking up your cross to fight lust daily? How do u remind yourself “daily” about the things you want to change? Some set up a system in their phone, or use sticky notes, or a cork board with 3 by 5 cards pinned to it (so u can change your cards over time). To take up your cross, work often on a system of how to remind yourself of how to change. Second, the way God wants me to think is better than the way I think I should think. “If I think His way, I will be happier.” Consider memorizing that sentence. I spent decades with zero joy despite having success in many areas of life. Since I quit, my joy has been increasing and increasing. Third, you are not a slave to your thoughts. Your thoughts are a slave to you. Consider praying: “Father, help me to not allow my bad thoughts to control my life.” How to take control of your thoughts. You will “always” have bad thoughts until you pound them out of you with scripture. Today consider praying for 30 minutes about what extremes you want to go to to have good thoughts. Finally, we change from bad thoughts to good thoughts based on how much scripture we get into us. I have given a dozen ways to get scripture in you. Memorizing key verses, praying over them, etc. If after praying you say: “I will go to any extreme to pound out bad thoughts so that I can have a great life,” Then... write down every way that you can get scripture in you from every article that you can. Then add more ways to your list in the future. It works. For the full article click.
