Thursday, 21st October, 2021
Bible Reading: Job 14: 7-9
Memory Verse: There is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its shoots will not die. Job 14:7 (CSB)
Does anyone know Tiger Woods? That’s the great golf legend. Sometimes in his career he went off course; got involved in drug abuse and all its woeful consequences. He became a shadow of who he used to be. Amazingly, he picked himself up again, got rehabilitated and wore the golf crown after some years. He bounced back. Indeed there is hope for a tree even when it is cut down. For many people struggling with addiction, the toughest step toward recovery is the very first one: recognizing that you have a problem and deciding to make a change. Once you’ve committed to recovery, it’s time to explore your treatment choices.
While addiction treatment can vary according to the specific drug, a successful program often includes different elements, such as:
1. Repentance: You need to sincerely tell God you’re sorry for defiling your body which is His temple.
2. Deliverance: For every bad addiction, there is a spirit involved. Go for deliverance.
3. Baptism of the Holy Spirit: Medicine is good but it has its limitations. You need the empowerment of the Holy Ghost.
4. Detoxification: Purge your body of illicit drugs and manage withdrawal symptoms.
5. Behavioural counseling: Individual, group, and/or family therapy can help you identify the root causes of your illicit drug use, repair your relationships, and learn healthier coping skills.
6. Medication: As prescribed by your doctor, this can be used to manage withdrawal symptoms, prevent relapse, or treat any co-occurring mental health condition such as depression or anxiety.
7. Long-term follow-up: It prevents relapse and maintain sobriety. This may include attending regular in-person support groups or online meetings to help keep your recovery on track.
8. Rehabilitation: You may have to live in a rehabilitation centre for a while in order to be under strict follow-up. You live with other recovering addicts in a safe, supportive, and drug-free environment.
9. Effectively deal with peer pressure: The biggest reason teens start dealing in illicit drugs is because of negative peer pressure. Find a better group of godly friends.
10. Deal with life pressure: To prevent using hard drugs as a cushion to life challenges, find other ways to handle stress and unwind. Take up exercising, read a good book, volunteer with the needy, create something good that meets people’s needs. Anything positive and relaxing helps.
11. Find new hobbies: Make prayer and fasting a lifestyle. Staying busy is the best way to keep your mind off your desire to use drugs. Not only that, but establishing an interesting and rewarding relationship can also help you find joy and purpose in your life, and replace your old unhealthy habits with new drug-free activities.
Quote: Breaking a hard habit may be hard, but it is possible.
Prophetic Decree: You are coming out of Babylon, in the name of Jesus.
Prayer Focus
1. The God of all possibilities, how excellent is your name in all the Earth.
2. Holy Spirit, deliver me from my evil yoke of addiction, in Jesus name.
3. Holy Spirit, overshadow my life, in Jesus name.
4. Powers from my root sponsoring evil addiction in my life, roast to ashes, in Jesus name.
5. Fire of deliverance and rehabilitation, fall upon my heart, in Jesus name.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Matthew 17; Mark 9; Luke 9:28-62