Prayer is a potent weapon that believers can leverage to fight off addiction. This doesn’t mean that other addiction recovery options are not useful.

It simply suggests that prayer makes the path easier for the addict to get their life back on track and start living anew.

When it comes to addiction, many people believe that it can be stopped by mere willpower.

While this is true to an extent, there is still the prospect of the individual going back to their addiction even after a long time of staying sober.

This suggests that many people are yet to understand the place of prayer in keeping addiction at bay.

Prayer is two-way communication between God and man. This means that man speaks to God, makes his intent known, and vice-versa.

Man does this because he believes that God is all-powerful to take care of any situation surrounding his life. This also equates to the fact that addiction is a condition that God can equally handle.

There is no problem that is too difficult for God. He is the ultimate creator of everything that exists, moves, and breathes in the universe. Therefore, putting addiction out of the equation in someone’s life is way too simple for him to do.

The Bible talks about communicating our requests to God and trusting him to answer them because he is a loving father.

However, many Christians struggling with addiction do not put this to heart because they are feeling guilty.

God loves the sinner and not the sun. So, no matter how filthy you might be feeling, he is ever-ready to welcome you with open arms. This means that you should feel free to communicate your intents to God and he will answer them.

Trusting God to break free from addiction is one of the best choices that someone can make.

As they go through the addiction treatment process, his power strengthens you to follow through with the addiction process from start to finish.  

Addicts need all the help they can get to break free from addiction. However, not all of them have access to the right resources and support system to bring them onto the sobriety path.

The church has a pivotal role to play when it comes to providing addicts with all the help they need to become sober.

Below are some crucial tips that can be implemented

• Unlimited access to mental health counseling

Mental health is closely related to addiction. This means that an addict needs mental health counseling for them to have a good idea of how their addiction developed.

A mental health counselor conducts a robust evaluation of the patient’s case and provides a treatment plan that they will follow through with.

Generally, mental health counseling is paid for but the church can foot the expenses and provide free counseling to everyone who needs it.

• Support system

Not all addicts are on good terms with their loved ones. The church has a role to play in helping them define their relationships because they play a good role as a support system.

Hence, if the addict has a strained relationship with their loved ones, the church will step in to mend the rift.

• Prayer

Getting help for addiction in the church comes with a big advantage because of the spirituality involved. The church believes that God’s power is quintessential in helping addicts break free from addiction. Therefore, they will support the addict in prayer so that they can draw strength.

The church also has a core responsibility to play when it comes to helping people avoid addiction. They need to be ready to educate people about the ills of addiction, and the strategies they can employ to prevent it.

With this, it would be easier to reduce the occurrence of addiction and focus on those who are already addicted.

The church is the gathering of people who believe and put their trust in God. However, the fact that they are spiritual beings does not understate their reality as humans. Hence, this means that they are susceptible to being addicted or having mental health problems.

One big mistake that the church has made is segregating and stigmatizing members of the church who are battling with addiction. This is a wrong act because addiction has the capability to sneak in on anyone without any prior warning.

As humans, we face various challenges in our lives which creates a channel for us to encounter addiction or mental health problems.

In other instances, if you are a believer and your family has a strong history of being addicted to drugs or alcohol, there is a tendency for you to be addicted if care is not taken.

Sadly in the church, issues such as addiction are avoided. And if they are broached, it is often from the standpoint of prejudice.

It is important for the church to change its approach to addiction, and start sensitizing the body of Christ about the ills and dangers of addiction, and how people can be helped.

The amazing part is, there are several health providers in the church who are well knowledgeable in the aspect of addiction. These individuals can provide free health consultation for people who are addicted in the church.

Moreso, they can give free counseling to members of the church on how to avoid addiction and maintain their mental health. Having these professionals in the church would come at little or no cost when they want to contribute their quota.

The church, just like any other organization, needs to be well-informed about important health issues like addiction and mental health problems. This is one of the ways to ensure that the society we live in is saner.

When the church is fully aware of addiction and mental health problems, the rate of the aforementioned health problems will be on the decline.

One of the profound ways to overcome addiction is by trusting in God. However, a good number of people are not aware of this. God, being the creator of the universe, is all powerful and all knowing. And he expects that people would come to repentance through his son Jesus Christ.

In this life, we need God to scale through in all hurdles we face. Sadly, many people would prefer to seek solutions for themselves rather than trust in God. And with the way the world is structured, some people are able to help themselves by what is referred to as luck.

What they fail to realize is, luck in the broadest sense means Grace. Despite the fact that not everyone acknowledges God, he is so merciful and gracious to provide and protect everyone.

For addiction problem which is one of the biggest health challenges that plague people, having faith in God helps to plague the disease.

One of the reasons why this is difficult to fathom is because addiction is a sin. Now, when you are addicted, it takes you further away from God and hence, it leaves you on your own.

Having and expressing your faith in God shows that you trust him to take control of your life. Owing to the powerful nature of addiction, it leaves you in a helpless state where you feel no one can help you.

However, the case is not the same with God. He is ever available to help anyone who is weighed down by the shackles of addiction.

In trusting God to help you overcome addiction, it is imperative to seek his mercy and forgiveness. Next, you need to draw closer to God and see him as a father who is willing to help you and provide you with strength to pull through.

Also, you will need to take conscious steps by going to the rehab to seek help for addiction treatment. With this, you will get better each day, and with God’s Grace, you are renewed to the point where addiction has no power over you.

The primary basis of a Christian rehab is hinged on the belief that spirituality and faith can aid an addict to recover from any form of addiction. At a Christian rehab, it is required that alongside receiving treatment, patients ask God to assist them in recovering from their addictions.

When it comes to addiction, it is usually difficult to make the decision to remain sober. There is a high level of grit, courage and determination which is needed. It is a tremendous task which might look insurmountable, but it is very possible.

For Christians, it is advised that you seek a rehabilitation center which gives faith-related services.

Below are the benefits of Christian rehab:

1. Christocentric sober living format: Christocentric refers to Christ-centered, and this is what you get at a Christian rehab. At these homes, you will be provided with a safe environment which comes with a profound in-support system. In addition to this, residents would also have a devotion which would enable them have a life which is Christ-centered.

• Faith-based support: A good number of rehab facilities usually have treatment services which helps to conquer addiction and mental health problems. An addiction recovery which is Christian-based is structured to enable you achieve spiritual growth, and also have a profound relationship with Christ.

• Ample care: For people who need support in overcoming any form of addiction, or receiving any quality form of mental health treatment, they will certainly receive enough care at a Christian rehab. It is relieving to know that, at a Christian rehab, the risk of relapse is reduced, and your transition from rehab to the outside world is seamless. Receiving care at a Christian rehab, enables your recovery tools to be at par with what you learnt during treatment.

• Christian mentors: An important phase of your life, is bridging the gap between addiction and recovery. Within this time, you will have access to Christian mentors who have the same beliefs, and they will serve as profound life coaches, which would be quintessential to your recovery and also aid your growth positively.

Addiction plagues church members in almost equal numbers as it does in the secular world. A reaction of shock and disgust is common when people learn the statistics on addiction within the Christian church. This means for every sex addict, alcoholic, drug addict and so on who is not a Christian, there are equal numbers of sex addicts, alcoholics, drug addicts and so on within the Christian population. People are shocked to learn this because becoming a Christian entails parting with things like addiction. One who surrenders his life to Christ should have no need for a false idol such as alcohol, drugs or sex. The question is, why is addiction thriving within the Christian church?

Christians become addicts because they have not allowed transformation to occur within themselves. Or perhaps they have put things on the altar that are of lesser importance to them but have refused to part with the things they cling to the tightest. The tighter we cling to our prized possessions, the more they get in the way of our relationship with God, which is why God does not want us to hesitate to put these things on the altar first. Christians are imperfect humans who prefer the path of least resistance just as much as the next guy, but for he who submits to Christ in the way that we are intended, the power they receive over their addiction will be limitless.

The answer is simple. A martial artist needs to learn to master their craft over a long period of time under the guidance of their teacher. The same is true for Christians. The growth of a person’s strength in Christ, their savior, is achieved over time. There is no set amount of time that this evolution takes place in. Every person’s journey is unique, and every person’s heart makes different choices. Christ intended for us to be ever striving to know him better and continuously moving closer to him over the course of our entire lives. However, many Christians do not grasp this concept, or if they do at some level, they shy away from it because they do not want their life to change as drastically as Christ wants their life to change. This is not unique to Christians. This is a trait deeply ingrained in humanity. We want to stick to what we know, we would prefer not to be challenged and we resent what or who rocks the boat.

Statistics indicate that Christian addicts exist in roughly the same percentages as secular addicts. Christians are expected to lead cleaner lives than the average person does, but many people are surprised to learn that Christians struggle with addiction in the same ways that the rest of the world does. This means that Christianity as an institution has been largely ineffective in offering the type of transformation that it claims to provide. Many people, including this blogger, believe this is due to the institution of Christianity undermining the spirituality and relationship that Christ offers. Some of the most common addictions that Christians struggle with are as follows.

A certain amount of alcohol is negotiable in Christian culture because Jesus drank wine, but drugs are almost entirely universally frowned on in Christian culture. Abusing drugs, whether they are street drugs or prescription drugs, is illegal, and the bible is quoted to say that followers of Christ should obey the laws of the land. There is very little justification for drug use among Christians. Therefore, much like in the case of sex, many Christians become fascinated with the concept of drugs because they are a forbidden fruit. When they finally do try them and realize that they are fun, they become addicted to them.

Of all addictions, this one hits Christians hardest. It is not hard to understand why. Christian faith strongly encourages its followers to wait until marriage before having sex. Waiting until marriage is a very strong ethic of Christianity that is handed down from the highest of church leaders. However, despite the good intentions with this ethic, a large number of Christians go about trying to enforce it, in themselves and in others, very incorrectly, and end up turning this moral into a source of resentment, rebellion, secretiveness and repression. Sex is highly addictive to many people, Christian and secular, and for those Christians whose sexuality became repressed, sex addiction is a common road to walk down.

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At a Christian drug and alcohol treatment facility, you will not find merely Christian teachings and lessons on creating a relationship with God, nor will you find merely a mental health recovery program, but rather a combination of the two. It is common to find a touch of religion and a touch of secularism woven into the treatment program, which statistically works very well for people with any religious sensibility. The Christian rehab’s history of success would indicate that a Christian rehabilitation program is not just for Christians, but people from every demographic.

Apart from the usual recovery steps taken in most inpatient treatment facilities – including detoxification, counselling and after care services – also incorporated into the recovery plan is an introduction to Christian practices, and discussion of forming a relationship with God through prayer and reading the bible. Though these aspects are geared toward people who already embrace the Christian faith, they have been found to be very useful to many non-Christians as well.

However, not all Christian addiction treatment facilities are the same. Some will be less forward with their approach, only exposing patients to the Christian faith when they express an interest in it. Others will be more likely to try to convert their patients to the Christian faith. Some will be properly accredited by the jurisdiction they are located within and some will not. It is essential to thoroughly research any addiction treatment facility in order to gauge its credibility.

If you are requiring the services of Christian addiction specialists and you want to begin your path to recovery, do not hesitate to reach out to established Christian rehabilitation centers. You do not need to be controlled by your addiction any longer!