Albatross

Albatross

Many a believer was led to believe

That God is so holy that he cannot behold sin

They put on their game face and fine clothes to church

And struggle endlessly with killer habits in secrets

Some desire so much to stop smoking

The more they pray about the yoke, the more the sticks of cigarette they lit

Some cry daily to be free of masturbation

They pray and fast and skabash for weeks

The more they pray the more they wank away

For others it was pornography

No matter how hard they pray and fast

When the whispers of the shadow came knocking at night

They quietly sneak into ungodly sites to draw some carnal pleasure

Some labour under the yoke of drug abuse

A habit they picked up recreationally had become an albatross

They stagger and stumble under its weight

But it just wouldn’t let go

Alcohol was the undoing of some believers

They left it as soon as they became born again, but it creeped back like a bad dream

And stuck with them like a shadow

Such believers find themselves in a terrible situation

They cannot explain the abnormal reality they face everyday

How do you reconcile being Holy Spirit filled and lust filled at the same time?

How do you reconcile being full of God and being addicted to pornography at the same time

 How do you marry God and mammon?

Isn’t he or she that is joined to the Lord supposed to depart from iniquity?

And yet, Like Peter, used by the Spirit and the devil in one breath

Like Paul, willing to do good, yet, doing evil

That was what brought her nicodemously into his DM

She hid who she was

She chatted him up under a pseudonym

She told her story

“I am addicted to pornography, masturbation and lust

Sometimes, all it takes for a guy, any guy, to sleep with me is just a wink

I love the Lord with all my heart,

I pray in the spirit and I have seen many delivered from such issues through my ministration

And yet, I am under the same yoke

As a consequence, I find myself wallowing in shame, self-loathing and depression

I want to be free but I cannot

I have bought and read many books

I have listened to many sermons

The habit had persisted since when I was in secondary school

Now at the age of 46, it is only waxing stronger

Please help me”

He had dealt with several cases like that

Sometimes the guilt and shame would have calloused in the mind, becoming a stronghold all on its own

In such cases, the strongholds have to be broken down with the power of the Holy Spirit

But breaking the stronghold is not enough

Human beings are creatures of habits

The devil didn’t care how many demons you cast out

He knew how to get them back into the human body through the backdoor of the mind

The desire must come again

The resistance would be strong at first

But more often than not the mind will swallow the will

Resistance is futile

A slip here, a suggestion there,

A trap here, a trigger there

The demons will find their way back in

The individual will be so disappointed in himself or herself

That he or she would just accept fate and continue to indulge

He once tabled the same request to the Holy Spirit

Sir, he said, how come we have so many Christians battling these secret demons?

How come I love you this much and I am battling these demons?

The Holy Spirit told him something stunning that day

The Holy Spirit said, “Imagine you have a child you love unconditionally. Imagine the child mistakenly stepped on a hot nail one afternoon. You were not there and nobody was there. Imagine the child decided that because you might be angry or displeased, he or she will not tell you about the injury. So everyday the child will suffer and cry in the secret but pretend all is well while he or she is with you. Lets say the child fasted and prayed for the wound to be healed or for the pain to abate but he or she still kept the injury a secret while it festers and grew worse by the day. Would you be happy with such a child?

He: No sir

Holy Spirit: That is exactly how it is with secret habits. The enemy preys on it to sow seeds of guilt, shame, low self-esteem, self-loathing and condemnation in the heart of my children. Instead of my children to shed my light on the habits and ensure that the secret things are exposed to me, they keep them a secret out of a sense of shame and condemnation

He: But they pray about the habit sir, they even fast! And yet they find themselves in a vicious cycle

Holy Spirit: You try doing this. When you are masturbating start praying in tongues –

He: What! It will kill the flow

Holy Spirit: Exactly, if you deliberately pray in spirit while watching pornography, using drugs, masturbating and so on, you will immediately lose interest in the habit.

If the desire came over and over and you find yourself unable to resist, as you are pleasuring yourself, start praying in tongues! I assure you, the habit will die a natural death!

He: But is it not a blasphemy to bring a Holy God to a place of sin?

Holy Spirit: Do you think you can really leave god in the sitting room, go to room to commit an error and come back to meet God and pretend everything was fine?

The enemy’s target is your fellowship with God! He understood the inner workings of the human mind. He knew you would stop praying, reading the scriptures, see yourself as not good enough and distance yourself from God the moment you start feeling the guilt and shame of the closet habits!

But if you deliberately kept your fellowship intact, reminding yourself that nothing can separate you from the love of Christ. The purpose of the temptations would have been defeated. You have overcome

He started practicing it.

Within a month he was off every habit

He stopped smoking, drinking, pornography and masturbation all at the same time!

He told her the same thing!

She was shocked!

She: You mean I will be doing it and speaking in tongues at the same time?

He: How does that sound?

She: Yucky!

He: Exactly! Your mind would just shut down the habit once you have introduced the light to it. Once a secret comes into the open, it loses its power. Make an open show of all your easily besetting sins

She got it

She: What about the prayer to break the yoke

He: let me call you

He called her, they prayed in the spirit and they prayed in understanding

She confessed that she was calling under a pseudonym, she told her who she was. The power of the holy spirit tore the veil of sin asunder

She was set free

PS: In three months she had introduced nine people with the same issues to him. They were all set free

Are you battling a secret habit today?

Drag that habit to the presence of God

It will fade away