I was always good at praying when the handcuffs went on. As soon as those all too familiar constrictive shiny bracelets were snapped on, I started praying.
It took me years of slowly being drained of any life I had left in me to finally give up and start praying before the handcuffs went on.
Surrendering to Victory - 6min Video about Victory over addiction
Relationship with God can be a difficult reality for some people in early recovery. I can say I’ve come a long way in just over a decade of knowing God and living free from addiction.
Here are 3 simple tips for connecting to God in a more sustainable and powerful way.
1- Be intentional about listening.
Have you ever met someone that never stops talking, and then doesn’t listen when you start talking? It can be hard to actually connect and get to know each other.
Prayer is two parts. If I’m just talking AT God all the time, how am I hearing the answers and getting to know Him? How can I get to know someone if I’m not listening to them?
I suggest this simple exercise to all my Recovery Coaching clients. Take ten minutes, three times a day, and quiet yourself and listen.
Be intentional, and position your heart to spend time with God throughout the day. Listen to His voice and grow in your connection with Him.
2- Trust that He is good.
In my early recovery I was a broken mess. The list of addictions left, but my internal world still needed healing and a transformational renewing.
I had to trust that God is good. I had to let Him past the walls I constructed around my heart, walls that I built to keep people out of my pain. I had been hurt, more then once, and decided to close off all access to my heart so as to try and keep others from hurting me again.
It only kept me sick, it was like mold growing in a dark damp closet. It was when I trusted that God was truly good, and began to let Him past my self made defense system, that I began to experience His light filled reality in my internal darkness.
He is good, and He has your best intentions in mind, but you have to let Him in.
3-Know and Pursue His Presence
I remember my first year of recovery I would sit in my room and listen to worship music. I would sit by myself and experience an other worldly peace.
I knew chaos, confusion, pain, and a mind moving a mile a minute. What I didn’t know was peace, I didn’t know healing, and I didn’t know how to slow down the pedal to the metal pace of my mind.
I’d sit in my room and fix my mind on God and the Holy Spirit would tangibly fill my room. His nearness was new for me, but it was also irresistible.
Once I got a taste of God’s presence for myself, the counterfeit reality of chaos and confusion left a foul taste in my mouth.
His presence is realer than any drug or drinking I’ve ever done, and I did a lot of it for a long time.
He is the Healer, He is the Prince of Peace, is a Good Father, He does save, and He does deliver on His promises.
Are you ready to surrender to His goodness?
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“The 5 Pillars of Recovery” -online recovery coaching course
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