OVERCOMING SMOKING

QUESTION: While shopping at a Christian supply store, the clerk informed me that a book I had ordered was in. I hadn't ordered any book, and it turned out to belong to another person with the same last name. I asked to see the book which was "SHATTERING YOUR STRONGHOLDS." Needless to say, I ordered a copy and have since finished it. I found the book to be very enlightening and have recommended it to everyone I know. I have struggled with the stronghold of smoking for over 25 years. I desperately want to be free. I do not know how to pray to have this addiction destroyed. Please fight in prayer with and for me. Thank you. God bless! "T"

ANSWER: "T" We will pray with you. Your smoking, which is only a symptom of something else that is causing you pain, has become a physiological addiction now, which will require some effort to overcome. The smoking began as an attempt to dull the drive coming out of unmet needs. I really do hope you will at least read the second book I wrote, Breaking the Power (of unmet needs, unhealed hurts, and unresolved issues). It will give you some insight as to what is actually going on within your unregenerated body and your unrenewed soul. Thank God that as believers, at least our born-again spirits are just fine! Our goal now is to use the keys of the Kingdom to bring our bodies and souls into alignment with the wonderful position and status of our regenerated, renewed, rebirthed spirits I love your testimony of how you found the first book. Thank you for the encouraging words. Remember, we are praying with you. Rev. Savard

QUESTION: I can't believe you responded to my first e-mail! Thank you for praying for me and thank you for the encouragement. I have since purchased your second book, Breaking the power...and I do understand how this smoking addiction started as an unmet need...my need for acceptance, my need to fit in somewhere. I do agree that my addiction has gone past "unmet needs" to physiological. Your books are powerful, God is All Powerful, and your message is greatly impacting and changing the way many of us think, act, pray and how we respond to God. I thank God for what He is revealing to his people through you! Please HELP ME. I am praying the training wheel prayers, and I am on my way to reading your third book, Producing the Promise. I need a training wheel prayer to specifically BREAK, CRUSH, SMASH, DESTROY, AND TEAR DOWN the physical, mental, and emotional addiction to cigarettes, smoking, and nicotine. Can you send me a training wheel prayer that I can diligently pray every day for this addiction? I so desperately want to be free. I pray, I groan, I throw away and say no more and begin to feel strong...then I weaken and the battle begins again. I lose every time, and then I feel guilt because of my failure. Then the cycle starts all over again. I have vowed that I would give the cigarettes up. I keep breaking my vow and I know what the Word says about this--which makes me feel worse! I know how incredibly busy you must be, I would be forever grateful if you could send me an e-mail training wheel prayer. "T"

ANSWER: "T " Your smoking habit is just a symptom. That is very important for you to see. There are much deeper issues here. The prayers in Breaking the Power regarding unmet needs, even the prayers in the preparing for a mate prayer (whether you are married or not even trying to find a mate) have some interesting prayer phrases regarding looking to other people or other things (such as nicotine, which as you recognize then becomes physiological as well--a double hook into the fabric of your life) for some kind of temporary relief of neediness and pain.

This is not an issue of giving you a prayer to quit smoking. The smoking is only a symptom that has become a physiological and soulish addiction--a wrong behavior. The real issue here is the loosing of the effects of wrong agreements in your mind that this unwanted behavior gives you comfort and relief that you cannot get any other way. This is the same issue that alcoholics and drug abusers need to be made aware of. Also, recognize that this is an issue of loosing of soulish stronghold patterns of thinking that you must do something yourself to get this kind of comfort and relief for yourself, because God doesn't care enough to help you. Actually, God is quite ready to help you, but the strongholds your soul has rigidly set in place regarding comforting yourself and easing your own stress have locked out any access to the SOURCE of why you became addicted to the nicotine in the first place.

You should focus your prayers of loosing, breaking, crushing, smashing and tearing down on the stronghold patterns of thinking that are keeping God OUT OF THE SOURCE. He will not tear your personal, inner strongholds of self-defensive, self-protective thinking down, but He is asking you to. Then He can move any area where you voluntarily do something to give Him access. To smash into those areas where your soul has erected its self-defense systems himself would be a case of violating the self-guards your soul has put in place. God wants for you to dismantle them voluntarily.

This is the only way you can have true intimacy with Him for the deepest of healings. You must voluntarily remove any "high" thing that your soul would "exalt between you and full knowledge of God" (2 Cor. 10:3-6--i.e. the high thing here being the stronghold-protected belief that this is the only way you can get any release and comfort for your inner neediness--especially if you have prayed and asked God to take away the smoking and you feel that He has not done anything for you).

Once more, smoking is just a symptom that has become a doubled pronged hook in your life. Focusing on a symptom won't allow God to get into the source. Even if you manage through sheer determination of your will to stop smoking and that "symptom" doesn't come back in the same "form," it will come back in another "form" because the neediness or pain from the source will still be driving for some kind of release. This is why a lot of former smokers turn to eating or other things. They have "overcome" the behavioral symptom of the smoking, but the drive to pacifiy and dull the need is still coming out of the source.

Please put yourself into every prayer you feel you can fit into in Breaking the Power and pray them. STOP FOCUSING ON THE SMOKING. I repeat: STOP FOCUSING ON THE SMOKING. I know that may sound contradictory, but you must stop thinking about the problem and your failure in overcoming it. You need to begin to focus on making a way for God to heal the source of the problem. You need to focus on praying for God to have full access to all three of the sources of pain and need in your soul (unmet needs, unhealed hurts, unresolved issues). You need to begin focusing on the source of all help and all answers with as much trust and confidence as you can. Faith is actually described in the original languages as "trust and confidence in the goodness and power of God towards you." My intercessors and I will be praying with you. Let me know how you are doing. Rev. Savard