Prayer for the Addicted

She is on the streets again and not taking my calls. How quickly from "I Surrender All" to "Where can I get another ...." -- fill in the blank with whatever the addiction requires to be satisfied: drink, hit, snort, sexual encounter, brawl, new purchase -- whatever it is that makes me feel whole and complete...

How those addictions control us; how they sap us from the energy that could be turned to better uses --
Inside jail, people are determined to stay in the word, stay on their knees, surrender their lives to Christ...but once they get a taste of the old drug on the outside, that resolve is weakened.

It just doesn't seem as important anymore when there are so many more, better ways to feel good.

In fact, following Christ often does not feel good. It exposes all the wounded parts that the alcohol and drugs have been good at disguising. It takes guts. It takes resolve. It takes grace and power and faith to be willing to subject yourself to the Holy Spirit scanner.

But oh, the result! The result of surrendering yourself to God is so sweet -- and that's the part that few get to...the peace, the joy, the abundance -- not material abundance, but the meaty substantial abundance of life that comes with oneness with the Vine. There is no drug that compares.

Who knows that? Every ex-addicted, Christ-follower I have talked to. Many of us have experienced a whole range of substances that took the place of God in our lives, and each one will attest to the fact that in this universe there is no drug of choice that supplants the delicious

experience of walking in unity with God.

Here is a prayer from one of those ex-addicts, who now ministers to the wounded of the streets., Pastor Marvin Pedigo:
Father in the name of Jesus I lift these people to you. Some in name and others that you know without naming. We thank you for sending your ministering angels into each and every one of the camps of these named and un-named people. Let them minister hope to the weary and tired souls. Let your Spirit become evident even in the midst of the darkness. Send them to us, Lord you are preparing us to be there for them. Let the deception of substances or whatever the addiction, be revealed as what it really is. Instill a hunger into the void that has been filled with less than the truth. Let the truth touch the void and remind all that there is only one that really will fit and stay in place if allowed. Thank you for protecting all that operate on the front lines in this ministry. Thank you for the finances that sustain us all. IN Jesus Name, AMEN