Proactive Prayer

I find in my struggle that I often get frustrated with God. The problem usually starts when I feel very overcome by temptation...near a breaking point of giving in...and I cry out to him. I ask for him to take away the temptation and the strength to overcome it. But I find that I get very little relief. I recall many times I have gotten outright angry with God! Here I am...instead of just giving in to temptation like I've done so many times...I'm actually turning to God first and showing him that I want to choose him over sin...I just need the help overcoming temptation. Why then is God so slow to respond?

I've thought about this recently...and realized that the problem didn't start when I began feeling tempted. The problem started well before that, when I did not take the opportunity to pray and build a relationship with God in a time when I wasn't in need of something from him. Let's say you had a best friend when you began high school. You were inseparable...and always there for one another. Through high school, you both got involved with different things...and while you remained friends, perhaps you didn't talk every day and didn't get together as much as you used to. You graduated, and you tried to stay in touch...but as the years went by you communicated less and less. Eventually it got to the point where you maybe sent out a yearly Christmas card, but otherwise hadn't really had a heart-to-heart in years. Now you suddenly find yourself in financial trouble. You know your old friend was a wonderful trusting person, and would probably be more than happy to lend money to a close friend. So can you just call your old friend up and ask for a loan? Well of course not. You haven't really spoke in years...it would just be bad manners. Sure there was never any big falling out...but you simply aren't as close as you used to be. You may not even have their latest contact information. Before you could ask of such a big favor, you'd have to track them down, reestablish contact, and probably spend a year or more rebuilding your old friendship...then maybe you can be back to a point where you can ask a favor.

It's not much different with God. The difference is that God is always willing to take us back even if we had a big falling out. But if we're not terribly close to God, it's harder to expect God to perform a miracle. That's not to say he doesn't hear our prayer or begin helping us when we ask...but the lines of communication are fuzzy...we may not have our hearts open enough to hear his response. It's not that he isn't responding in our time of temptation...it's that we may not want to hear his response. We want a quick and simple solution to our problem...but there's really none. When we call out to God in times of temptation, we must have open hearts and be ready to pull our weight...not just expect the problem to disappear.

The solution here is to make sure we establish a regular prayer life with God. I still struggle with this myself. I try to remind myself each morning to say a prayer of Thanksgiving. I have so much in my life to be thankful for...so much that I risk losing should I continue to turn towards a life filled with pornography and masturbation. I have a beautiful wife and wonderful son. I have a great job and a great family. Me and my family are in good health. Some days of course I forget...other days I'm so groggy and grumpy when I get up that all I do is think about how I just want to go back to bed. But I must work past this. God has been so great to me despite how much I've sinned...and I owe him more than I can ever repay. The least I can do is to offer up prayers more regularly and try to develop my relationship with him. This can and should go beyond prayer. Being more active in our church is great way to grow closer to God (I regret to say this is something I've had on my to do list for awhile, and I really shouldn't put it off any longer). Reading the Bible and other religious material is another great thing. Something as little as taking a minute out of whatever we're doing a few times a day to thank God for his blessings and express our love...and remember all the great things in our life he has provided can go a long way. And yes, the next time we call out...we may hear and feel God's response...his love and strength...just a little faster. But better yet...our times of temptation will be fewer and farther between...and less intense! This is something I've experienced first hand in the past...and am working towards once more.

Please don't be afraid to comment! As always...God bless...my prayers are with all of you who struggle with pornography and masturbation like myself!