Getting Started on Freedom Journey

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As you take your first steps on this journey, I'd like to assure you that through faith in Jesus, you have peace with God. People often feel separated from God because of their bad deeds. The scriptures assure us that since Jesus bore the penalty for our sin on the cross, we have peace with God. He is not angry with us for our sins. Instead, he offers us the forgiveness that Jesus' death bought for us. You can now boldly approach God (Hebrews 4:16) in prayer and have full assurance that he will hear our prayers. God's Holy Spirit, who lives in you, will help you walk to purity (Romans 8:11,13).

Believe that you CAN be completely free! Breaking addiction is a healing process and believing that you can be free is an important part. Jesus said, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes" ( Mark 9:23 NKJV). We exercise our faith when we believe in God's word and confess it with our mouth (Romans 10:10). It could be as simple as saying to ourselves each day when we get out of bed, "I believe that in Christ I can be and will be free of my struggle." Often our natural circumstances may not appear to be lining up with God's word. The challenge is to not allow our circumstances (or past failures) to steal our hope. Faith believes in what is yet unseen (Hebrews 11:1-3). It releases God's power in us to perform the impossible and bring the unseen into reality!

As you go through Freedom Journey, we encourage you to tap into as many faith-building sources as possible. Here are some examples of faith-builders:

Reading God's word (the Bible): Faith comes through hearing the word of God (Romans 10:17). The Bible contains all of God's promises to us. It gives us many accounts of real people who believed God to encourage us in our faith. Scripture study, memorization and recitation help us learn the promises and their application to everyday life. See our suggested verses on faith to get started. As we learn God's Word through the Bible, our faith grows and we can speak God's promises into our life.
Prayer for help: Sometimes our pride can prevent us from simply asking for help. Jesus will help build our faith for freedom. In Mark 9:17-29, Jesus demonstrated that God will help us with our unbelief, perfecting our weak faith for victory (Hebrews 12:2).
Faith-filled friends: Our friends can influence our faith level greatly. Jesus healed the paralytic in Mark 2:1-12 because of the faith of his friends who dug through the roof and lowered the paralytic down to where Jesus was teaching. Faith-filled friends will encourage you in the Lord and strengthen your faith for freedom.
Faith-filled church: The church can influence our faith greatly just as our friends can. It's important to get "plugged in" to a church that will encourage you to believe God for victory (see Church Page).

Recognize that you need God's help: Pride is something that keeps us at a distance from God (James 4:6-8). Pride says things like, "I don't need God," or "I can get free on my own." The scriptures affirm that God resists proud people, but he draws near to humble people. The first step toward humility is to tell God that we need him. The prayer below will help you make that first step.

A prayer for the journey
The scripture says, "The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them" (Psalm 145:18-19). We encourage you to take time right now and pray this recommended prayer for your journey:

"Heavenly Father, I have sinned against you in many ways (name your sins as they come to mind). I ask for your forgiveness, cleansing and healing for every step of this journey. Lord, I need your help to get free of the sins that hold me. Please forgive me for any pride I have harbored in my heart. Father, please create in me a clean heart, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Please re-ignite the Holy Spirit's fire within me. Please restore the joy of Your salvation in me. Please uphold me by Your generous Spirit. I commit myself to serving you from this point on in my life, and ask that you will accomplish Your will in my life and not my own. You are my King and I am Your servant. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall praise You. Teach me Your ways, that I may walk in them for the rest of my life. Thank You, Father. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen." (based on Psalm 51)

The next page in Freedom Journey is our page Deal with Sin.

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