Justin Lakemacher, Program Director
A chief task of biblical counseling is to help counselees pray. Prayer helps them cultivate an intimate & dependent walk with Jesus through life, relying on His strength to overcome daily battles (Ephesians 6:10-11). Specifically, for those battling addiction it is important to help counselees learn how to pray when they are facing temptation. Here are 5 ways to help people pray when tempted.
1. Pray for Humility
The way we respond to temptation is usually indicative of how we have been living. Treatment centers often describe relapse as a process that begins long before we take a drink or a drug. If we cease to rely on God’s grace, we will likely fall at the first wind of temptation. Paul warns us in 1 Corinthians 10:12, “Therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.”
The gospel is great news for addicts because Christ overcame temptation for us. So we do not stand against temptation on our own strength but through His which gives us the power we need to overcome. But how do we cultivate this power and walk dependent on God and His grace? One way is by praying for humility. Humility is seeing ourselves rightly before God and understanding our neediness and desperation. The needier we are, the more we are willing to ask for help and rely on Christ’s strength in the battle. Pride or self-sufficiency on the other hand will often lead to relapse. Pride deceives us into believing the lie that we don’t need help. But in the words of Solomon, this dangerous disposition of the heart “goes before destruction” (Proverbs 16:18). Praying for humility not only helps us acknowledge our powerlessness in the face of temptation but helps us look to the One who empowers us to overcome through reliance on Him.
2. Pray for Sight & Awareness of Sin
Proverbs 23:29-35 gives us a picture of the enslaved alcoholic who, despite experiencing consequences of drinking wonders “when shall I awake? I must have another drink” (vs. 35). The interesting thing about this passage is that God also shows us the real picture of what alcohol is to the alcoholic. “Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly” (vs. 31). When addicts are tempted, they are particularly allured by the “sparkle” of alcohol. Like a horse with blinders, they are only seeing the momentary pleasure of sin apart from the pain it causes. However, the next verse describes the reality of sin, “In the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder” (vs. 32).
Sin, by nature, is alluring but in the end it always stings. However, God in his word has shown us the sting behind the sparkle. As a result, when we are tempted we can ask God to show us the reality behind the temptation. Ed Welch describes temptation as “Death with a mask on.” So when the adulterous woman tempts we can pray that God would grant us spiritual sight to see beyond the forbidden woman’s lips “dripping with honey” (Prov. 5:3) to her feet that go “down to death” (Prov. 5:5). Seeing our sin helps us to play the tape forward to the end where the trap of temptation leads.
It’s also important here to pray for clarity in your heart about why the allurement for temptation is still alive. We battle sin at the root of desires, thoughts, and affections, not at the fruit of behavior. Understanding our own heart in temptation will help us fight more effectively.
3. Pray for Sight of Jesus
Seeing our sin is only part of the battle. What we really need is to see Jesus as more satisfying. But we often lack the spiritual sight and the faith we need to see Him for who He is. Psalm 36:7-9 gives us a picture of the joy found in walking with God, “How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.”
The Psalmist saw the goodness of God who gives his people drink from the river of his delights. The drink that He gives is life but idols take spiritual life from us. Drinking regularly from the fountain of life is the key to overcoming addiction. In the words of Ed Welch, “In order to say no to our addiction, we must learn to say yes to something better.” Jesus is better than our addiction and one of the best things to pray when tempted is to see Him for who He is. He is far more worthy of our allegiance than our idols which make big promises but can’t deliver.
John Owen once said, “A due contemplation of the glory of Christ will restore and compose the mind…it will lift the minds and hearts of believers above all the troubles of this life, and is the sovereign antidote that will expel all the poison that is in them; which otherwise might perplex and enslave their soul.” The glory of Christ expels temptation. As we see Him more clearly and our hearts are satisfied, temptation loses its allure. Therefore, we pray to see more of Jesus every day and we pray for faith to trust that He is the fountain of living water who fully and eternally satisfies.
4. Pray for the Way of Escape
A helpful verse for those battling addiction is 1 Corinthians 10:13, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
This passage reminds us that temptation is common, God is faithful, and that He will provide a way of escape when we are tempted. The last part is quite hopeful for the redeemed Christian who is tempted to return to addiction. Temptation is common and it is to be expected but God promises to provide a way of escape and He never breaks a promise. Christians struggling with temptation to return to their addiction can escape the trap by praying for God to illuminate the way as we follow Christ who perfectly escaped temptation on our behalf, empowered by the Spirit, for His glory and our joy.
5. Pray for God to be Glorified
Addictions are all about selfish pursuits. The addict being transformed by the gospel has not only changed behavior, they have changed what they pursue. The old selfish pursuit is left behind for the pursuit of His glory in which we have found a superior satisfaction. Our prayers reflect this transformation so even in the midst of temptation, we pray that God would be glorified.
When teaching us how to pray, Jesus instructed us to pray that God’s Kingdom would come and that His will would be done (See Matthew 6:5). When tempted, pray to see God’s purposes in all things and that he would be glorified in and through this temptation.