Article by: Kenneth J. Ester
Fighting the Sin of Pornography?
Pornography seems to be one of the most prominent sins that hold Christians down. I often see them in Christian groups on Facebook asking for prayers to help them give it up.
Look, I know what you are going through. Believe me. I fell into pornography when I was just becoming a teenager. I turned to Christ back in 1982 when I was around 16 and it continued to hold me down. After a handful of years passed by, it never lessened up. It grew worse and I fell away from God. The Lord called me back to Him near the end of 2017 and at that time it still had a firm hold of me. So I know what you are going through. I really do!
The first thing you need to understand however is that it is not very common for God to just strip you from your desires to sin because you pray for it. People are always asking for prayers to help them stop, but rarely does that help them. Not because prayer doesn't work. It does work. But because that is not what God is looking to do. This is one of those cases that if you truly want to rid yourself of a sin, you must put in real effort on your part and that is when God will help you.
The best analogy I have ever heard of is to fill a pitcher with ping pong balls. That pitcher represents you. The ping pong balls represents your sin. Now you can pray until your heart breaks for those balls to leave the pitcher but they will stay there unless God chooses to perform a real miracle for you. Which is not likely. Now take another pitcher and fill it with water. That water will represent God. Start pouring that water (God) into the pitcher of balls (You and your sin) and see what happens. As God flows into you, the sin will begin to flow out of you. When you have filled your pitcher with the water (God) to the top, there are no other balls left in it. There might be a couple floating around still but you know what? That is life. We are imperfect beings. No matter how right with God we become, we will still fall short of perfection.
That is how you defeat a sin like pornography that really has a tight hold on you. You cannot just pray for God to take it away. Is it possible He will? Sure, but it is highly unlikely. Instead, God wants you to get really serious about filling yourself with Him. When you do that, you will find that no sin has control over you.
This is not something that happens in a few days or even a few weeks. This is a process. Going to church once a week is not enough. Praying once a day is not enough. You need to truly give your life over to God. Pray in the morning before you get out of bed. Pray in the evening when you go to bed. Pray multiple times throughout the day! Read at least one chapter of His Word every day. Read more if you can. Take time some evenings and put your TV watching or your porn aside and focus on actually studying His Word. Just reading the Bible now and then is not enough. If you really want to get to know the Lord, you need to dig in and study it. You want a good boost? Try sitting down and watching the "Passion of the Christ". That movie will give your heart a real wrenching and as you watch it, keep in mind that He already knew what was coming and He chose to go through with it anyway because our salvation depended on it. Let that story fill you with a desire to serve Him. A desire to build your personal relationship with Him as much as you possibly can.
The more you truly fill your life with the Lord, the more He will take away your desire for sinful things. That is how you break the hold of pornography. It is real effort. It is hard work. And that is what God wants from you. He never asked people to turn to Him and keep one foot in the world. He has always wanted us to give ourselves to Him completely. When we do that, and fill ourselves with Him, there becomes no room for sin to stay.
Here is a second analogy for you. Walk into a dark room. That room is filled with darkness. That room is you and that darkness represents your sin. Jesus is the Light! Turn on a light and what happens to the darkness? Most of it disappears, but not all of it. There are still shadows where sin is strong and holding on. The more light you add, the less darkness you will find. The only way you can get rid of all of the darkness is ti literally fill the room with light.
Do you truly want to be right with the Lord? Then prove it and put in real effort. Going to church once a week and reading your bible once in a great while is not enough. That is trying to skim your way into heaven. There is a difference between accepting Jesus and being saved, and truly serving the Lord.
If this article has been helpful, you may want to read more about how to have a better relationship with the Lord.
Your Personal Relationship with God
Look, I know what you are going through. Believe me. I fell into pornography when I was just becoming a teenager. I turned to Christ back in 1982 when I was around 16 and it continued to hold me down. After a handful of years passed by, it never lessened up. It grew worse and I fell away from God. The Lord called me back to Him near the end of 2017 and at that time it still had a firm hold of me. So I know what you are going through. I really do!
The first thing you need to understand however is that it is not very common for God to just strip you from your desires to sin because you pray for it. People are always asking for prayers to help them stop, but rarely does that help them. Not because prayer doesn't work. It does work. But because that is not what God is looking to do. This is one of those cases that if you truly want to rid yourself of a sin, you must put in real effort on your part and that is when God will help you.
The best analogy I have ever heard of is to fill a pitcher with ping pong balls. That pitcher represents you. The ping pong balls represents your sin. Now you can pray until your heart breaks for those balls to leave the pitcher but they will stay there unless God chooses to perform a real miracle for you. Which is not likely. Now take another pitcher and fill it with water. That water will represent God. Start pouring that water (God) into the pitcher of balls (You and your sin) and see what happens. As God flows into you, the sin will begin to flow out of you. When you have filled your pitcher with the water (God) to the top, there are no other balls left in it. There might be a couple floating around still but you know what? That is life. We are imperfect beings. No matter how right with God we become, we will still fall short of perfection.
That is how you defeat a sin like pornography that really has a tight hold on you. You cannot just pray for God to take it away. Is it possible He will? Sure, but it is highly unlikely. Instead, God wants you to get really serious about filling yourself with Him. When you do that, you will find that no sin has control over you.
This is not something that happens in a few days or even a few weeks. This is a process. Going to church once a week is not enough. Praying once a day is not enough. You need to truly give your life over to God. Pray in the morning before you get out of bed. Pray in the evening when you go to bed. Pray multiple times throughout the day! Read at least one chapter of His Word every day. Read more if you can. Take time some evenings and put your TV watching or your porn aside and focus on actually studying His Word. Just reading the Bible now and then is not enough. If you really want to get to know the Lord, you need to dig in and study it. You want a good boost? Try sitting down and watching the "Passion of the Christ". That movie will give your heart a real wrenching and as you watch it, keep in mind that He already knew what was coming and He chose to go through with it anyway because our salvation depended on it. Let that story fill you with a desire to serve Him. A desire to build your personal relationship with Him as much as you possibly can.
The more you truly fill your life with the Lord, the more He will take away your desire for sinful things. That is how you break the hold of pornography. It is real effort. It is hard work. And that is what God wants from you. He never asked people to turn to Him and keep one foot in the world. He has always wanted us to give ourselves to Him completely. When we do that, and fill ourselves with Him, there becomes no room for sin to stay.
Here is a second analogy for you. Walk into a dark room. That room is filled with darkness. That room is you and that darkness represents your sin. Jesus is the Light! Turn on a light and what happens to the darkness? Most of it disappears, but not all of it. There are still shadows where sin is strong and holding on. The more light you add, the less darkness you will find. The only way you can get rid of all of the darkness is ti literally fill the room with light.
Do you truly want to be right with the Lord? Then prove it and put in real effort. Going to church once a week and reading your bible once in a great while is not enough. That is trying to skim your way into heaven. There is a difference between accepting Jesus and being saved, and truly serving the Lord.
If this article has been helpful, you may want to read more about how to have a better relationship with the Lord.
Your Personal Relationship with God
