I've prayed about this but......?

Question

why don't I quit yet? Quit smoking? I beg, I plead, I ask for help and how to use his help, what am I doing wrong? Honestly? Tell me the truth all believers in Christ. If I am doing something wrong, tell me. I have no discipline and am extremely weak. If you gotta be harsh I can take it, I just need to know what I can do to quit to serve God fully. I feel I am cheating myself and him by being a smoker, that is not what he wants me to do. Please help. Thanks in advance to everyone with serious answers.

Wow! Everyone is being so sweet!

Answer 1

Yes, do talk to your doctor, tell him or her you're serious about quitting. Don't worry, God knows you're trying hard to quit. Just concentrate on being a good person, think of what you can do to help others. Many times it helps to do things for other people, not only for them, but it helps to get your mind off your own troubles.
Don't stop with people, if you're an animal lover, volunteer at your local shelter. Do good and live life! And keep trying to quit!

Answer 2

Have you tried any of the over the counter "quit smoking" aids? I don't know how long you have smoked or how addicted to the nicotine you are but there are a number of products (and websites) that will give you the help you need. Did you ever think that perhaps God is giving you this direction? I have a neighbor who's 56 year old daughter just went for a hypnosis session and has been off cigarettes now for 42 days after smoking for years, 2 packs a day. I have also know people (myself one of them) that went to a healing service and had the prayers over me and I quit for 3 months, then foolishly picked up just one cigarette and there I was, off and running with this nasty habit again. I went to confession one day and had to confess that I was breaking the fifth commandment. "Thou shalt not kill" and was actually killing myself with each cigarette I smoked. Trust in God that He will give you the help you need because it is His Will for you and just keep on praying and believe me, it will happen. If you are determined to quit cold turkey, like I was the last time, don't let your mind keep you entrapped and try to find other things to replace this habit and if necessary, take it one minute at a time. Just tell yourself that you will not smoke right this minute, perhaps you will later, but not right now and all those minutes will add up and you will be a non smoker. Don't loose faith...God can do all things. Its a powerful addiction, but God is more powerful.

Answer 3

I am a Christian and.......I smoke. I think the Bible is clear on all these points that I am going to write. Our bodies are a temple for the Holy Spirit, and any thing we do to harm our body is sin, weather it is gluttony, too little exercise, too much exercise, smoking etc. . I also am very weak in this area, Satan will see to it that our weak buttons are pushed. To me the key is that we strive every day to be as Christ-like as possible, and when we fail we ask for forgiveness. That doesn't mean to just wallow in our sin but truly try to over come them. Some times no matter how hard we try we fail, but that is where Grace comes in, after all doesn't the Bible tell us that the only sin that is unpardonable is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, but that does not give us license to sin all we can. Like I said before God knows if we are striving to do better or we are content wallowing in our sin. I pray daily on this matter sometimes I can even dwindle down to a pack a week, then like I said that old liar will see to it that something crosses my path to discourage me, then I mess up and start smoking more again, but in a while I go back to cutting down again. I know what has to be done......we have to lay this at Jesus' feet and leave it there...but if you are like me you just keep picking it up again. Pray for me and I'll pray for you.

Answer 4

Yes, indeed, but what is it that you have prayed for? I find that very often, people will pray to have something done for them, or to make things easier, or to make things more possible than they seem, typically with an addiction, or a series of situations that don't lead to where one would like to be.

I think that when we pray to God ... if we pray correctly, in the way that Jesus taught us, we indeed to ask for things, but at the same time, we make commitments, and are held accountable for our actions based on those commitments. There is a call to action ... it's not just praying that will settle this for you ... it's praying and doing.

Sure, you can take a patch, or see a doctor, to prescribe some drug, but I get the feeling you want to do it without drugs. And you can do it without drugs ... but you may still need help from others. Perhaps you need some measure of accountability. When self-discipline fails, then it's up to you to find help so that you can be steered toward strengthening your self-discipline. This is how we Love as Christians ... we accept help, and we give help ... and if you take a close look at The Lord's Prayer, you will see that it's about acceptance of others, it's about giving to others selflessly ... you see, this prayer isn't simply a matter of talking to God ... it's realizing that God is in each one of us, and if our hearts are in the right place, and we truly submit to the truth and receive help, God is present, and is answering your prayers.

You know ... I have not looked at smoking as cheating God, but I think I see your point. We must take care of our bodies as best as we can, in order to please Him. That's very interesting. I hope that you're prayers are answered ... I'm sure that they have been, in fact ... the question is: Are you willing to accept the answer as it is from God without any ammendments? Accountability is key here.

Answer 5

Don't kick yourself.
Nicotine is more addictive than heroin.

I smoked for 25 years. I'd spark one up when I barely had breath to breathe. I'd hit an inhaler and then a cigarette. I know.
By the Grace of God I quit about 9 years ago. I used the nicotine gum. It gave me something to fixate on, orally - chewing gum instead of sucking on a cigarette.

I promised myself that even if I coughed up a lung I wouldn't have another cigarette. That, and the gum, I stopped in about 10 days.
Cold turkey. The first 3-4 are hell but it can be done. It's as much a mental thing as it is physical. I had to figure out what to do with my hands without a cigarette in them.

I pray that God grant you the strength and determination to accomplish this - His will be done.

Answer 6

I quit smoking when i was about 33 because I wanted to serve God better and I was playing music and singing in my church.I quit for 18 years then I went through a divorce ,I`d also been out of church for sometime,I went back to smoking.It was really hard quiting 18 years before I still wanted a cigarette even after a year went by.But I made it like I said and quit.When I went back to smoking it was like I`d never quit,I smoked 5 years then started having trouble with catching pneumonia,I had it several times in one year.I felt guilty smoking even though I was out of church I had never quit God.Anyway I got so sick that I couldn`t take two steps with out my heart going ninety miles an hour and couldn`t breath.I come very close to dieing,I never smoked when I was sick and decided that breathing was much more important then smoking and I haven`t smoked another cigarette.It didn`t matter who smoked around me I was never tempted again.I know this was God,I shouldn`t have picked the habit up again,but God was there both times but his compassion the second go round even though I shouldn`t have picked them up was awesome ,I didn`t want one.That was 6 or 7 years ago.

Answer 7

Quiting smoking is like quiting anything else that we need help with. Our Heavenly Father expects us to do all we can do on our own power before seeking his help.

Change your attitude. Be positive about being able to quit. Take it one day, one hour, one minute at a time. Make a goal of just one minute at a time if that is what you can handle at the moment then pray for the strength to reach just this goal. Later make it an hour, then a day, then a week. Baby steps. Heavenly Father will take every one with you.

Once you have prayed for that strength to reach that goal that YOU have made then let His strength support you. It will and you will feel it, I know.

Answer 8

Hey I hear you. But with me, it's not smoking, it's overeating. Man, I can't keep my hands off of sweets. Some days I do okay, and then I crash and burn. And I pray too.

Keep praying and remember that the bible says no temptation comes our way that God does not give us a way out. Right now I want to go get ice cream. And I'm trying to lose thirty pounds! It's a struggle every day. I pray that God help you kick this habit, and help me kick MY habit, and I ask for the strength of Jesus Christ, that His strength be made perfect in our weakness...and I ask this in Jesus name, through whom all things are possible.

Answer 9

Realize that smoking violates many principles of the Bible....

A. Stewardship- youre wasting money on something that helps neither you or anybody around you

B. Christlikeness- you set a poor example for those around and create a stumbling block for anybody else trying to quit.

C. Holiness- Treat your body like the holy place that the Holy Spirit rests in. Would you fill Heaven with 2nd hand smoke?

D. Concious sin- If you continue to do that which you know is wrong makes you more guity of the sin.

I have the same problem with lust but have discovered a loophole or escape route!

Everytime you attempt to light up (or engage in porn) ask yourself "What is causing me to do this, the HS or my evil desires?" And realize everytime you click on a porn link or buy a pack of cigarettes, you encourage the entire industry and give praise to those who poison the Earth with their garbage.

Also you have to pray that God instill hatred in your heart for such things-and ask yourself deepdown-"Do I really want to change and be cured of it or do I like who I am?" It is a hard thing to give up what you are but Jesus demands it of us. Know youre not alone and you'll be in my prayers tonight! Hope this helped.

16So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. -Galatians 5:16

Answer 10

First of all, You don't need a doctor, a preacher, or a patch.
Are you ready for a fight against YOURSELF? Because that is what you have to do.
Addiction of any sort changes your brain chemistry and will cause you to have the same physical pains you feel when you are really hungry, As with severe hunger you can think of nothing else but eating because your brain is telling you that if you don't eat you WILL DIE and FORCES the thought of food upon you until you eat.
Cigarettes or crack cocain or heroin will have the EXACT same effect on the brain, And you WILL experience the same physical pains as severe hunger, It is NO LESS of a real pain than if you cut your finger off.
Hunger really can have physical pain that is UNRELENTING until satisfied, So can cigarettes.
Unless you are willing to bear and overcome that physical pain that you WILL experience, You cannot quit.
It's going to hurt as bad as any pain you have ever felt before, But if you take the pain and endure it for as long as it takes you can overcome any addiction.