Ken, I know you have the strength to overcome the pills just as you did the alcohol.  My prayers are always with you and Cindy because I love you both very much.

Our Father will hear nad answer you.

Thanks Stu, you are a brother to me! I will stand in the gap for you if you will for me!

Terry, thanks for the verse!

Tina, thank you so much for your prayers for us, we covet them!

that is negative accusational talk, just like the devil.  You have a problem and all your wife can do is complain.

the pain pills aren't the problem, what is?

btw, i should be on pain pills, but i'd rather take the pain (though I do take tylenol, it doesn't work very well)

have to point out that this is a wimpy post.  suck it up and take the pain

I have to admit that I am slightly disturbed by the responses so far.  Although it's great that we are all agreeing in prayer for you I am left wondering what those prayers might be like.  I also was expecting to see more testimonies from folks who have actually walked out the victory the Lord has already given us in this.  At the same time, I guess this reveals a false expectation on my part because, I believe, the Lord has been showing me how really sad the state of Christianity is.

So here are the prayers that I have heard over the years, with respect to this circumstance:

"Father, I ask that you give Ken the strength to overcome this temptation."  God responds "Craig, that just isn't going to happen because I've already told you that I will never allow you to be tempted—to sin—beyond what you are able to bear up under; I also said that a way of escape would be provided."

"Father, I ask that you just take this temptation away from Ken, and that he no longer be bothered by this."  God responds "Craig, I just won't do that because I love Ken and I don't want him to fall into the deception that he can live the Christian life without learning to walk in the spirit.  Remember how you were told that my Son's power is made perfect in your weaknesses!"

"Father, I ask that you do something about this!  Please, give Ken the strength to overcome and stand firm!"  God responds "Craig.  It's sad that you don't remember that I have immersed Ken into the death of my dear Son, that I have already crucified [executed] Ken in my Son.  What would you have me do Craig, besides what I have already done in my Son?  You should know that I can never give Ken the power to overcome this, in himself, or he would think that I am trying to perfect the flesh when all the time I am making my Son complete in him that He might dwell in Ken's heart by faith!"

"Father, I just ask that you would show Ken that he has the power to overcome this because you have given him your Holy Spirit."  God responds "Craig, my son…where did you ever come up with that?  My Spirit does not dwell in Ken to give him power to overcome temptation but that my Son would live his life through him.  Craig, how foolish you are to imagine that I am giving anyone the power [ability] to perfect themselves."

"Father, I ask that you would convict Ken and show him that it is wrong, wrong, wrong, for him to have those feelings!  I just ask you to show Ken what he is supposed to do!"  God responds "Craig, you Pharisee! You are not only keeping yourself out of my kingdom but you are a stumbling block to those who would enter!  It is not wrong for Ken to have these feelings!  Sin still dwells in Ken's body!  What is wrong is to try to talk Ken into depending upon himself, [who he was born as the first time] to try and overcome the flesh by following precepts!  I will teach Ken how to abide in my Son and walk by my Spirit so that he will bear fruit to me; and that the deeds prompted by his body would be put to death! Craig, you need to change your mind or you will be a branch removed from the Vine."

Or, would it be a prayer like this:

"Father, I thank you that you love Ken more than anyone of us.  I thank you that you have already done something about his flesh, about him, in your dear Son!  I ask that you might open his eyes to all that is his in your dear Son in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge!  I ask that he would be given a spirit of revelation in the knowledge of Him, that he might know the things that you have freely given him in Jesus, and the immeasurable power that is toward us who believe!  Thank you Father!"  God responses "Craig, so be it!"

Brother, in the end it really is about renewing our minds and coming to understand who we already are in Christ and who He is in us.  This is something we first have to understand in our heads before we ever mix it with faith.  It then takes time to get down into our hearts where we really believe.  The fact is, it's just like the historical event of the "Emancipation Proclamation" that announced the freedom of men and women from slavery.  The "good news" goes out but it is received by people who have been slaves for generations.  Slavery is all that they have ever known.  So the word is heard but the word is not understood.  And even when it is understood the old slave master is still there telling us that it isn't true!  And sadly, the other slaves tell us it isn't true too!  In fact, they say that we have to fight!  The only way out is to either kill the master or kill ourselves! As a result we continue to cry out for help that has already been given!  We will not experience the freedom we have already been given until we mix the word given with the faith that comes with it.

Almost all the books listed on my homepage speak to these facts.  One of the best at bringing it down to our level [because its not something that slaves teach one another] is The Rest of the Gospel: When the Partial Gospel Has Worn You Out.  I point you in this direction because a change in behavior only comes with a change in thinking.  God isn't going to zap this problem away.  You're going to be transformed by the renewing of your mind or you are not going to be transformed at all.

I'll post my own testimony, regarding my own addiction to sex in another comment.

Ken, I love you brother and I know what you're feeling.  There is not only hope, but there is victory…not in our self, but in Christ!

Blessings!
Craig

James: I am Ken's wife and I do hope you enjoyed your exercise today in jumping to conclusions. You have no idea who we are and what our life is.......yet you assume. Maybe before making comments like you have you should read our profiles and blogs so that you have a better understanding of our life. You tell him to suck it up and bear the pain, you have no clue of his pain unless you've walked in his shoes with MS. This is a man who in 2005, had no use of his left leg and arm, yet he learned to walk again and use his arm again. How, by the grace of God! I am so happy for you that tylenol works for you and I give God the glory for that.

Now, onto your comment that all I can do as a wife is complain. Again, you don't know me. So please allow me to enlighten you! I divorced Ken in 2000, due to alcohol and drug abuse, but first I offered to go to counseling with Ken, he refused. That same year God told me to come back to Ken and trust God. I did. Since that time, I led Ken to the Lord, I have been his biggest cheerleader and I love him with all my heart. I, also, have had to stand by him for accountability for his addictions, which should not happen, but finding men to do that isn't easy. Praise the Lord, Ken does have men on this site now to do that. Please read my blogs, then draw your conclusions about who I am and what I do. 

Now, I challenge you to pray and reconsider your comment and repost another that edifies God instead of yourself. I will be praying for you.

Craig,

Thank you for your up-lifting blog!! I understand what you are saying and I will be able to kick this problem!

Being a man, who just celebrated the 39th anniversary of his 20th Birthday (3/31), I can affirm that this is every man's battle.  I didn't come to the Lord until I was 25, had done two tours of duty in Vietnam, and was totally given to the passions of my flesh. This problem didn't go away when I became a Christian—well it did for about 3 months when I first came to the Lord :-) –but those particular temptations returned and a decades long struggle began.

I think I've heard pretty much everything that is generally taught about how to overcome in this area, from "when you receive the Holy Spirit, you have the power…" to "you have to be delivered of an evil spirit."  But, I found that the solution was something different than most teachers teach. A very few do, like Watchman Nee in The Normal Christian Life.  But, it almost seems to be an open secret.

As men what we want is a handle on the problem.  We want do know what "we" need to do to get "control" of our own passions and the desires of the flesh.  We then are given various solutions that run the gamut from fasting to deliverance.  We are told that we need to crucify our flesh, die to our self, have a greater commitment, or even to become accountable to other men in the same boat.

I must say, that for me it was a revelation about what God has already done about "me" and my "flesh" in Christ.  We have to start by just accepting what Roman 6-8 actually says.  We don't need to crucify our flesh, "we" have already been crucified with Christ (his history is ours, just like Adam's history "was" ours).  God has made us a new creation in Christ and deliverance only comes when we understand what has been done in Christ and learn to mix that understanding with faith.

Instead of having a bunch of false expectations about myself and how "I" am supposed to have the ability to overcome—with Jesus' help of course—I have come to realize that "I", that is the flesh, will never change and the only thing that could be done about it, by God, is for him to put "me," the old man in Adam, to death!  And then to raise me, in Christ, an entirely, never seen before, creation in Christ.  He is now my life.  I do not attempt to live for him, rather I now learn to have faith that He will live through me for himself and unto God our Father!

Therefore, when temptation comes and I see the flesh rise to the occasion, the real temptation is to attempt to do something about it by myself.  I must consider myself to be dead to sin [which still dwells in this body] and to be alive to God in Christ.  I must understand, and believe, that my flesh has already been crucified with Christ and that I already have the victory in him, or I will move into the flesh [e.g. self-dependence] and attempt to achieve my own victory [which is, in general what we are actually taught to attempt to do!!!], this always leads to failure because we are no longer abiding in Christ and his word is no longer abiding in us!

Yours in Him,
Craig