I have been faced with a struggle with masturbation for over 10 years now and dont know how to stop. It has been the singular most depressing thing in my life and becomes a screen to my fellowship with God.Please pray that last year becomes the last phase of my involvement in that sinful act and that after 40 days effective today, I become truly free from this sin and the guilt therein.
Solomon

Solomon,

Welcome to this message board. I will pray for God to help you over come any sin that is in your life. I will pray that satan will not have his way in breaking your fellowship with God and ministry for God. This of course is a sensitive topic. I don't have all the answers, but I will say this: pray to God with humble and open prayers. Read your Bible to search for God's answers on all types of sexual sin and false dependencies. He is the only one with the answers. If you would like more detailed prayer requests or encouragement on this issue, please feel free to send me a private message. The instructions are under the first forum.

Dear Solomon,
Thank you for your honesty-please don't be depressed, with your honesty, comes adversity, with adversity comes victory! God knows your heart and HE can remove all things. I stand in agreement with you and remember GOD loves you!

Dear Heavenly Father,
I lift up your Son, Solomon. He is calling out for you. I thank you father that as Solomon has repented that you are removing every sin from his life, past. ALL THINGS ARE WASHED AWAY! We thank you for removing the desire, we thank you for removing doubt, we praise you from removing depression! All THESE THINGS ARE NOT OF YOU. We glorify you Lord! God in 2005 you are preparing Solomon to be the man, the head and not the tail, the solider, you called him to be!

We pray the satan and the principalities of darkness has no rule upon Solomon's life. We thank you for restoring his innocence, his understanding, the desire to only love you when undeceit thoughts come. We thank you right now in Jesus name!
AMEN!

Your sister in christ,
Nicole (NB)

Soloman
You are in my prayers.

Father,
I stand with my other brothers and sister regarding Sololman request. I ask that you give ears to our voices right now. Master we need you as we are sinnners. Please give us the strength to over come sin. We thank you right now for your loving arms and we praise you becuase you are worthy to be praise. Amen

Hello Solomon,

What you are experienceing in this activity is a struggle of two natures, and a sin that I suspect is more widespread among Christian men and women than most want to believe or talk about.

You see, Solomon, each of us has a struggle between our sin nature we are born with and our spiritual nature that we gain when we come to Christ. Your feeling of sorrow and guilt about the matter arise from the rising up of the Holy Spirit in you, and praise the Lord, He is with you always, amen?

Although the Holy Spirit will not leave you in your times of sin, God will not have fellowship with you either while you are "in sin" . Repentence does come, and restores fellowship between you and the Lord but still, you feel emptiness until then and perhaps after as well. I imagine your repentance has been done so long, you almost feel that God may not forgive you even one more time.

Solomon, I would state that the sin of lust is a predecessor to your activity. In your work or your personal life, you naturally see a great many women come and go. Women will pass you by and the temptation will be to look at them. Lust comes when we keep looking and thinking, and we imagine that which is not ours to be ours. The act of masterbation is preceeded by the thought that kindles the act.

Your road back need not be tortureous but it will be a challenge. It need not take 40 days, but can begin in 4 minutes or even 4 seconds. Expect the enemy to tempt you a lot, my friend. We are more than conquerors, though, Soloman, so expect victory over this. I have several suggestions:

1. The Book of Romans, like few others in the Bible, causes us to make personal devotion and santification a life changing cause. I believe you will find Chapter 7 to be very revealing and Chapter 8 to be revelation as to victory over this issue.

2. Look if you cannot avoid it, then look away. Make this a rule. You will never be able to isolate yourself so temptation will not be there, and who would want to be so isolated? Let me give you an example. There times when driving my car that I will stop at a traffic signal. People will cross in front of me. When a pretty woman walks in front of me, I of course see her, as I am looking straight ahead waiting for the signal to change to "green". The flesh or sin nature in me wants to keep looking. Harmless enough, right? But the seed of lust is planted when we keep looking. Once the seed is planted, is isn't much of a leep forward for the seed to develop into imagination, lustful thoughts,and the physical act of sin you are pained about.

Look if you cannot avoid it, then look away. Don't look again. The more you put this into action, the stronger you will feel and less put into temptation. With the "plant" of temptation, the lower you cut it off, the more success you will have with not allowing the seeds of lust to grow in you.

Likewise, cleanse your life of all lustful materials, entertainments, and the like. Often, revealing advertisements are common in magazines, newspapers, or TV. Pass them by. Look if you cannot avoid it, then look away. You must do it with purpose and resolve.

3. In those times when you are tempted and alone, change your patterns. Read God's word before going to bed and again immediately after you rise. Flood your mind with it, pushing out the thoughts of temptation as they will surely try to creep back into your mind. Did you know that satan is a creep? He creeps around seeking whom he may devour. You know what you do with creeping things that are out to hurt you? Step on them. I am being somewhat trite here, of course, but my message is clear and powerful. God has given us the authority to stomp on the devil, and you can and should do just that on this issue. Amen?

My prayers will continue for you, Solomon. I will leave you with this victorious scripture:

Romans 8:

37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord

God bless you, Solomon.

Nick P.