1. Sexual Sin
1.1. can cause emotional confusion
1.1.1. * Recurring dreams and/or thoughts about former lovers
1.1.2. * Inability to achieve emotional intimacy with spouse
1.1.3. * Regret or bitterness toward people who hurt us in past relationships
1.1.4. * Comparing our spouse with former lovers in sexual performance
1.1.5. * Distorted understanding of true love (corrupted by lust or other selfishness)
1.1.6. * Increased promiscuity, in attempt to find true intimacy and love
1.2. causes lasting memories
1.2.1. See our prayers for healing memories for more info.
1.2.1.1. "Dear Lord, I pray that you will not remember the sins of my youth. Please think of me according to Your mercy and for Your goodness' sake, O LORD. Lord I turn from all of those sins that I committed. Please wash my memory of my sin and help me remove the sin from my mind completely. Help me not to return to those memories for lust any longer. Please restore me to faithfully obey Your Word. Please fill me with Your Holy Spirit anew, so that I may keep Your commands all the days of my life." (Based on Psalm 25:7)
1.2.1.2. "Lord God, how can I understand my errors? Cleanse me from secret faults and my cherished sins. Keep me back from blatant habitual sin. Lord, do not let sin rule over me. Cleanse me, forgive me and heal me. Then I will be blameless and innocent from my many sins. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you. Lord, you are my strength and my redeemer. I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." (based on Psalm 19:12-14 NKJV)
1.2.1.3. "Father God, please forgive me for cherishing sinful images in my mind. Lord, I commit my thoughts to You. I surrender the burden of holiness to You, and ask that You will strengthen me now to direct my thoughts in righteousness. Father, help me to not dwell on any image or memory that will cause me to sin. Please wash my mind with the blood of Jesus Christ. Please remove every depiction of sin from my memory and teach me how to walk in obedience and faithfulness to You. Please give me the strength and endurance to walk to victory, no matter how long it takes. I invite Your Holy Spirit to fill me afresh now and restart the renewal process of my body, mind and spirit in Jesus Christ. Thank You, Father and may I glorify You in everything that I do from this point forward. In Jesus name, Amen."
1.2.2. If we want to gain complete victory, we will have to stop lusting over the memories of past.
1.2.3. cherishing memories of sin can block our prayers, healing and deliverance (Psalm 66:18).
1.2.4. With the Holy Spirit's help, we can put the old memories to death, shut off the porn input and focus our minds on God (Romans 8:11,13).
1.2.5. The first step toward healing is to ask God to remove our pleasure from the sin memories and to help us want to surrender them.
1.2.6. We also want to ask God to help us to see our sin the way he does.
1.2.7. we need to confess and renounce the sin in the memories
1.2.8. we must start training our minds to think pure thoughts.
1.2.8.1. "Father God, please wash my memory with the blood of Jesus and help me die to any sinful pleasure I have in it. Please forgive me for any sin I have committed in my thoughts. Thank you, Father. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen."
1.2.8.2. I say something like, "The blood of Jesus cleanses my mind from that memory." I often repeat this until the temptation subsides.
1.2.8.3. we have spiritual enemies (Ephesians 6:12) who are masters at tempting us in our thoughts
1.2.8.4. The power of the imagination:
1.2.8.4.1. Our imagination is a powerful gift from God. Imagination is a collection of focused thoughts that creates a reality in our mind. As we are made in God's likeness, our imagination is a scaled down version of God's imagination. God spoke the universe into existence from his imagination. Similarly, we can create things in our imaginations. For example, with one glimpse at a porn picture, I can imagine what it might be like to have sex with the person in the picture. Where the picture only gives me a visual impression, my imagination fills in the rest of the details: sounds, feelings, words, scenario, etc. Through such a fantasy, I commit sexual sin with the person in my mind (Matthew 5:28).
1.3. can bring spiritual confusion
1.3.1. begins when we start pursuing the pleasures of sin and disregard our conscience of right and wrong
1.3.2. The more we pursue sin, the more our conscience becomes dulled
1.3.3. A dull conscience causes us to be susceptible to enemy's lies which will draw us progressively further from God
1.3.4. we may not even think our actions are sinful and our ability to repent can be hindered
1.3.5. Solomon, the wisest person that ever lived, descended into spiritual confusion through sexual idolatry with his pagan wives.
1.4. can give evil spirits footholds to influence your life.
1.4.1. sexual promiscuity and idolatry opened the door to many other forms of evil
1.4.1.1. Romans 1:28-32
1.5. grieves God's Spirit
1.5.1. Any sin we practice will grieve God's Spirit (Ephesians 4:31)
1.5.2. It puts out the "fire" of the Holy Spirit in our life (1 Thessalonians 5:19).
1.5.3. The more we quench God's Spirit, the less we will be inclined to live a changed life in righteousness.
1.6. defiles your body and damages its ability to fulfill God's purposes
1.6.1. Sex sin is unique in that we commit it against our own bodies (1 Corinthians 6:17).
1.6.2. Our bodies function as temples of God's Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:12-20).
1.7. forms a stronghold for evil in our lives.
1.7.1. When we repeatedly sin, we give evil an increasingly protected place in our lives.
1.7.2. The more we give in to our sinful lusts, the more they have control over us.
1.7.2.1. slavery to sin in Romans 6:16.
1.7.3. Sexual strongholds are particularly powerful, since they involve our body, soul and spirit.
1.8. can lead to an unbridled pursuit of lust and perversion.
1.8.1. Sex sin usually feeds a growing fire of lust in our minds.
1.8.2. If we continue to feed that fire, we can easily drift further and further into decadence.
1.8.3. Paul described this state as indulgence in every kind of impurity, with continual lust for more (Ephesians 4:19, Romans 1:24-28).
1.8.3.1. Romans1:24-28
1.8.3.2. Ephesians4:19
2. Remedy
2.1. God is not shocked
2.2. God is waiting our humble, earnest cry for help
2.3. We are to take every thought captive and to cast down every sinful imagination (2 Corinthians 10:5)
2.3.1. Take the thought captive: When evil thoughts come into our mind, we must recognize them, arrest them and command them to submit to Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). We have about 2-3 seconds to make the decision not to sin with the thought. After that point, we're much less likely to stop resisting the temptation.
2.4. When police officers arrest a criminal, they restrain him with handcuffs so that the criminal can not do more harm. Likewise, we restrain evil thoughts so that they can not cause more harm by getting our imagination and memories involved with a sinful fantasy.
2.5. State audibly, if possible, "I take that thought captive to the obedience of Jesus and I bind that thought from corrupting my mind in any way, in Jesus' name." In addition, we can:
2.5.1. * Ask God to help us
2.5.2. * Bind any evil spirits that may be projecting the thoughts: "In the name of Jesus Christ, I bind any evil spirits that are projecting these thoughts, I loose the peace of Christ in my mind" (see binding prayers). Our authority to bind evil spirits comes from these scriptures: Matthew 12:29; Matthew 16:19; Matthew 18:18; Luke 10:19-20; Mark 16:17-18; Psalm 91:13; Acts 16:18.
2.5.3. * Apply the blood of Jesus: "I cover my mind and thoughts with the blood of Jesus. It cleanses and protects me."
2.5.3.1. "Lord, I cover myself and everyone around me with the blood of Jesus. I cover all of the members of my family (state them by name) with the blood of Jesus. I cover my home, my land, my car, my finances, my marriage, my ministry, with the blood of Jesus. In the Name of Jesus Christ, by the power of His blood, I break off every power of the kingdom of darkness and cancel every argument in heaven that has established itself against the plans of God in my life and spoil every attack of the enemy. I call forth, in the name of Jesus, all of God's plans and purposes for my life, and my family. As for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord. Satan, the blood of Jesus is against you and you have no authority over my life. NO WEAPON FORMED AGAINST ME (OR MY FAMILY) SHALL PROSPER!"**
2.5.3.2. Applying the blood of Christ should be done with understanding, reverence and recognition of its meaning. As with all spiritual weapons, our understanding combined with belief (faith) will unleash God's power in the situation we are facing.
2.5.4. Links
2.5.4.1. help
2.5.4.2. binding prayers
2.5.4.3. Matthew 12:29; Matthew 16:19; Matthew 18:18; Luke 10:19-20; Mark 16:17-18; Psalm 91:13; Acts 16:18
2.5.4.4. blood of Jesus
2.5.4.4.1. "It is when we testify personally to what the blood of Jesus does for us that we can claim all the benefits that God has provided for us through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. Our bold, continuing personal testimony becomes the hyssop that applies the blood of Jesus to our lives."
2.5.4.4.2. Using the blood in spiritual warfare:
2.6. When the temptations to lust over memories of porn images assault me, I say (audibly or in my mind), "Satan, in the name of Jesus I rebuke you and command you to leave me alone. I am saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, who died for me and defeated you." When the temptation persists, and it usually does, I keep speaking "the blood of Jesus covers me" until the temptation subsides. In the rare cases that the temptation continues after applying the blood, I find that singing praise songs helps to eliminate any remaining distracting thoughts.
2.7. The idea is to reject the thought as you would close your door on a person trying to rob your home. A simple rejection statement is, "In name of Jesus, I reject (or rebuke) that thought and imagination. I send you to Jesus right now."
2.8. State the truth: A powerful way to secure your rejection of the evil thought is to state the truth that destroys the lie. Every evil thought is based on a lie.
2.8.1. Matthew 5:28 "But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart." (NKJV)
2.8.2. Luke 11: 34 "Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness." (NIV)
2.8.3. 1 Corinthians 6:18 “Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.” (NKJV)
2.8.4. 2 Corinthians 10:-4-5 "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (KJV)
2.8.5. Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things." (NKJV)
2.8.6. Colossians 3:1-4 “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” (NKJV)
3. Assault
3.1. We are being sexually assaulted by Satan
3.2. Satan is trying to distort what God ordained a marriage to be
3.2.1. Ephesians 5:22-32
3.2.2. God instituted marriage between one man and one woman to be the closest earthly representation of a much greater reality; Christ and His Church
3.3. Satan is driven by a manic jealousy of Jesus Christ
3.4. Satan is relentlessly seeking to undermine and counterfiet the relationship that God ordained for the purpose of revealing a "type" of Christ and His Bride
3.5. Satan desires to undermine the sanctifying work of Christ
3.5.1. He knows that when believers act like the sanctified people they are God is released to do powerful wonders among them
3.6. Satan knows the overwhelming effects of sexual sin, that not all sin is equal in it's earthly ramifications
3.7. Satan's goal is to persuade us to engage our imaginations and lead us to sin.
3.8. Satan has been baiting people's imaginations ever since the Garden of Eden.
3.9. Satan said in his heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High"
3.9.1. Satan was cast out of heaven as a result. Likewise, using our imaginations sinfully places an obstacle between us and God. Thankfully, we have the power to control our thoughts and honor God with them.
3.10. books.google.com > Books ? ...
4. Purity
4.1. No Purity = No Power
4.2. Purity = Boundless Power
5. Pornography
5.1. Viewing porn is a form of sex sin committed through lust and idolatry
5.2. If you are looking at pornography, you are susceptible to the same consequences that result from other forms of sexual sin. The consequences may not be easily absolved, but God will forgive you of your sin through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.
5.3. The less a guy feels like a real man in the presence of a real woman, the more vulnerable he is to porn.
5.4. EVIL
6. Practical Defense
6.1. Subconcious Programming
6.1.1. Nude girls programs subconscious; telling it that it's what your body desires
6.1.2. We can fight it using this
6.2. Alternative Pictures
6.2.1. Our brains like pictures
6.2.2. Pictures speak a thousand words
6.2.3. Something interesting I do is...
6.2.3.1. Look at Pictures
6.2.3.1.1. Starving Children
6.2.3.1.2. Abortion Photos
6.2.3.1.3. Genocide
6.2.3.1.4. Things that are going on in the world that we need to change, things that are close to God's heart.
6.3. Joseph Prince's Advice
6.3.1. Parents
6.3.1.1. Logistics
6.3.2. Youth
6.3.2.1. Dating
6.3.2.2. Destiny
6.3.2.3. Flee
6.3.2.3.1. Lusts
6.3.2.3.2. The Bible says bluntly, "Flee from sexual immorality" (1 Cor. 6:18).
6.3.2.4. Pursue
6.3.2.4.1. Righteousness
6.3.2.4.2. Faith
6.3.2.4.3. Love
6.3.2.4.4. Peace