Note: Please share this testimony of His goodness with anyone you know who is struggling with any form of addiction. There is deliverance in this post that will set the captives free in the name of Jesus Christ.

 

A silent battle wages in the lives of many believers. As it escalates the tempest within begins to rear its head and cannot be kept hidden any longer. This battle is with the lusts of the carnal man who is at enmity with the Spirit.

I was in three rehabilitation programs for substance abuse and none of them helped to set me free from the claws of addiction.

In two of these programs I was told that addiction is a disease like any other which needs to be managed throughout my life. I was told I had to carry this label of addict and alcoholic throughout my life and attend support programs to help me abstain from substances.

I was in my early twenties at the time and I WAS SAVED. I was filled with the Spirit of God and believed in the name that was above all names – Jesus Christ, but I still had this weakness in my flesh that overpowered me.

I knew the one who formed me could change me and I was not willing to carry this label throughout my life. If God made me, then He will deliver me, if He cannot do that then He is not God and this belief of mine is a fallacy.

These were my thoughts on the matter and as such I was not going to align myself with what they were telling me in these rehab programs.

Don’t get me wrong, these programs have helped many manage their addictions and what they teach, does help but as a child of God – I knew He was greater than any man-made solution.

The seed of faith in God’s power to deliver me was planted and lodged deep in my heart and nothing was going to steal that seed.

Many years passed, many prayers prayed, endless strife and a great deal of loss was suffered through my twenties, but I still held onto the seed of faith in my heart.

Curiously, throughout these years I was growing spiritually and succeeding in many areas as well. There were terrible things reaped from my constant sowing into the carnal man, which brought much shame and guilt, but the LORD was always faithful to wash away the filth of my sinfulness.

I found another strange thing occurring, where I will meet other backslidden Christians in the world and we will talk about the LORD. In the most intoxicated state, I found myself fellowshipping.

We were definitely high and lifted up with the wrong spirits but even in the dregs of this world the Spirit of God was moving.

I detested this weakness in my life and hated the sin. I didn’t want to be controlled by this weakness, but this is the nature of addiction – it rules over you.

You become a slave to the appetites of addiction and like a puppet you are stringed along by the cravings of this vile thing called addiction.

I really did not want it in my life. It was like a cloud of darkness that hovered over me and limited my progression and ability to live a life of fullness in Christ.

In December of 2013, now in my early thirties, I was lying in bed asking the LORD about the coming year and what He had planned. He told me that 2014 will be my year of deliverance from addiction and He even impressed the month of May in my spirit. I believed Him and was overjoyed.

2014 rolled around and I was back in the cycles of addiction. Things were spiraling out of control and the enemy was luring me into some dark places where evil was like a thick smog and the stench of death was all around.

I knew in my spirit there was a war been waged for my life, but God held me close and the prayers of loved ones ensured I was always hedged in by His protective hand.

I am thankful to my Mum who never stopped interceding for me; when I left home she would be on her knees in deep intercession for me.

I encountered many situations which could have resulted in the end of my life, but through her prayers and the prayers of many other loved ones my life was spared. The LORD Jesus has been faithful to me even when I was not – His word is truth!

April 30th came along and I found myself with a bunch of people I didn’t know. I was on a binge that day and had met these guys at a crack house. We were all high and intoxicated which brought common ground and I had cash on me, so these guys were more than happy with my company.

We were outside some guy’s house in a dodgy area of town, in a road I had never been before. It so happened there was a Church gathering in a house on this road. The house itself was revamped into a little place of fellowship.

I could hear the saints singing and it was beautiful. In this highly intoxicated state that I was in, Holy Spirit was tugging at my heart strings to go this gathering. I was in a terrible condition and was fighting this tug within.

I was actually telling these guys, I need to go to that Church. I was saying it over and over again, because I knew I just had to be at that place. I was saying it so many times that one guy – an unbeliever — said he will come with me.

So off we went. It was easier for me to go with someone else and that was without a doubt God’s doing. We went into the Church, a small gathering of no less than 20 people.

They were in worship at the time and there was a strong presence of God in that gathering. We took our places and joined in with worship. Communion was taken during worship and I felt I needed to take communion, which I did.

The guy who was with me (I don’t even know his name) also decided to take communion. I was not in the right frame of mind to tell him he shouldn’t be taking this. The guy had volunteered to come with me, after all, and I was probably not in the best place to do it myself, but I knew I had too.

Amazingly when this guy was about to drink the wine (which was grape juice) the little shot glass slipped out of his hand and fell to the ground. It felt like everything went silent at that moment, as everyone’s attention was drawn to the “blood on the floor”.

The worshipper standing in the front was extremely sensitive to the Spirit of God and she suddenly went into deep worship crying out for grace… the LORD was moving as everyone joined in worship.

I ended up sharing half the wine in my cup with the guy who was with me, as I felt there was grace for him and I do believe he will be saved.

As I am writing this the LORD says he IS saved… Amen and all Glory to God.

I then felt it was time to leave after what felt like a very long time… We were only there for less than 15 minutes. Before leaving, I had some strange spiritual contact with the worshipper in the front. We nodded to each other as if to say thank You and then my newfound brother and I left.

I was sober by the end of that experience, but nothing had changed in terms of my desire to go on partying all night. We continued with the binge until lunch time on May 1st.

I got home and slept. When I awoke, something felt different within me. I knew I was delivered, but honestly was not sure if this was indeed the case.

A week went by and no cravings. Another week, and still no cravings. By the end of the second week I knew that God had delivered me.

He set free and I was completely in awe of Him. All that time ,waiting for the moment when His power destroys the weakness that plagued me for most of my life. It was liberating and intoxicating in itself.

When I tell people about His work in me, I liken it to a switched that was flipped within.

One day the addiction was there and then the switch was flipped and BAM… addiction gone. All glory to God.

That was the appointed time for my deliverance, my Kairos moment.

There is an appointed time for You too who are believing God to set You free from whatever weakness is plaguing Your life. The one who has called You is faithful and He will do it.

Holy Spirit Led Prayer

Father, today I thank You for Your unfailing love that never disappoints; and for Your faithfulness to deliver us from all our troubles.

I thank You LORD, for in You we are made righteous and justified by faith through Your finished work on the cross.

I thank You that even when we do not understand, You are working on our behalf. Your grace is sufficient for us, and today I ask for this testimony of Your goodness to me to be a seed of faith that is planted in the hearts of those who need You to deliver them from addictions and any other weaknesses that are causing turmoil and strife in their lives and the lives of their loved ones.

Holy Spirit, take the words of my testimony and lodge it within the heart of Your child right now, and let this word ignite a new flame of trust in Your faithfulness to deliver.

Let Your child look at my experience and have the boldness to say, “If You can do it for him, then I believe You will do it for me.”

LORD, I ask that You begin to heal the deep wounds in the souls of Your children and take Your children through deliverance, in Your gentleness and love.

I ask that the Spirit of Might come forth in Your children to step into the deep recesses of their broken souls and take out all the hurtful things and hand them to You Jehovah – Rapha – the God who heals.

I ask for You to give them courage to forgive the people whom the enemy used to afflict, abuse and torment them.

May they see Your grace for them in this place of weakness and be empowered by Your love that forgives them of their sins, so that they can forgive those who have sinned against them.

My LORD, I ask that You lead Your children to a place where they can fellowship with true believers, who will carry their burdens and stand in the gap for them in intercession.

I ask that You take them on a journey of knowing You and Your perfect love.

I destroy every stronghold over their minds that has portrayed You, my God, in the wrong way — in Jesus Christ’s Name, and I ask that You show them who You truly are, as the lover of their souls.

Thank You for binding up Your child’s brokenness and making Your child altogether lovely, just as You are.

I bind every spirit of lust and perversion that has fed on the flesh of Your child and I cast it out of their lives in Jesus Christ’s Name.

I ask that You, my God, build a hedge around each child as You did for Job, so that the enemy cannot take anymore ground in their lives.

May the fruit of self-control, begin to birth forth in them by Your Spirit and may all the fruits of Your Spirit begin to blossom in their lives so that they too will share Your goodness with the world.

Father, I ask that Your angels who do Your bidding, go forth now to burn bridges with every association in their life that has given the enemy a foothold and allowed temptation to come into their lives.

I give Your holy angels charge over Your children to minster in weakness and to empower with strength to overcome every snare the enemy places on their path.

LORD Jesus, You are the source of ALL faith and I rest completely in You now and in You I declare that every child of Yours who comes into agreement with this word today will be completely liberated and set free from the stronghold of addiction in their life.

I declare that all that was lost in the areas of time, finances, relationships, gifting and every other place the enemy has stolen be repaid seven-fold.

I ask for You to begin to show these little ones the things they once enjoyed that You gave to them. Things of purity, gifts and skills, hobbies, sports, creative talents and whatever You have given them for pure enjoyment in life to be resurrected so that that can find joy again in their daily living without carrying burdens of guilt and shame.

LORD Jesus, You have told me that not a single word spoken in Spirit will fall to the ground and today I know You are praying and declaring these words through me over Your children and I know that You will watch over these words to perform it in fullness.

I thank You LORD, for whom the Son sets free, is free indeed.

I declare freedom from all bondages upon each child of Yours today in Your precious name, my LORD Jesus Christ. It is done. Amen

“Again, truly I tell you, that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven,” Matthew 18:19 (NIV)

 

~ Ashley Hutheram

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Ashley Hutheram – a son of God in Christ Jesus.

 

 

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