The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, “He’s dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up. After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” He replied, “This kind can come out only by prayer.”
(Mark 9:26-29 NIV)

Dear Jesus,  

You told us in your Word that you have all authority (Matthew 28:18). You have authority over every person who encounters our website. That includes authority over the powers of darkness and the human soul. 

We don’t know the people who will come to this page, but you do. You know them from the number of hairs on their heads to the deepest recesses of their hearts (Matthew 10:30)! We want you to do for them the kinds of things you tell us that you do in your Word—tell them the good news in their despair, free them from the tyranny of sin, and bring light to their spiritual blindness (Luke 4:18)—especially in the area of pornography.  

Please show your mercy to sinners, your power to doubters, and please transform those who are too afraid to ask for change. Lord Jesus, do what only you can do—set men and women free from the power of porn.

You tell us to ask anything in your name (John 14:14). Here is our prayer.

Feeling

Lord, you made our minds. You know that porn rewires the brain. And repeated sin desensitizes our consciences until they are numb altogether—and deaf to your Spirit (1 Timothy 4:2).

Lord, we ask for your mercy for the person reading this. No matter how numb they have become, give them an open ear to your Word, a sensitive conscience to feel the seriousness of this sin of lust afresh, and godly grief over their indulging in pornography (Psalm 40:6; 2 Corinthians 7:9).

Lord, let them feel again the preciousness of personhood and a holy fear of participating in the dehumanizing of those on the screen (Proverbs 8:13). Open their eyes to the sacredness of sex. May they feel your holy eye upon them (Hebrews 4:13). May they feel the weight and darkness of the evil they are committing, and recognize pornography for the demonic activity that it is such that they can’t help but flee and run to you (Ephesians 6:12).

Repentance

Lord, you alone can alter our desires. We’re naturally inclined away from you and don’t want you unless you pursue us.

Oh Lord, for the person reading this, would you please change their desires from wanting porn to wanting a pure life. In Psalm 19:7 you say that your testimonies have the power to revive our souls. Use your Word to plant the desire to change in this individual. May their grief not end with regret, but propel them to cry out to you for new life (Hebrews 12:16-17; John 3:3). 

Encounter With Jesus

Jesus, we praise you for you are like a lion—like Aslan in Narnia, who comes and goes on your own terms, as C.S. Lewis writes,

He’ll be coming and going” he had said. “One day you’ll see him and another you won’t. He doesn’t like being tied down.

Our friend wrestling with porn needs to know you personally. You have given us your Word to testify to your works and to tell us about you. But they may have not ever encountered you, or they may have lost sight of you in the fog of their sin. Jesus, please would you attend to the people visiting this page, and visit them yourself in ways they will receive.  

Would you help them to believe the good news that you died for their sin—for every look at pornography, ever desire for it—and you rose again to give them new life.  

May they hear the Bible verses they encounter as words from your mouth. They cannot obey you if they don’t love you. And they cannot love you if they do not know you. And they can’t know you if they’ve never met you. Please help them to see you, and help them believe in you.

Extraction

Lord, rid their hearts and minds of porn and the images that remain. Help them to see how it shapes their desires for things that demean and destroy. And how it is engineered to get their attention. Their own heart has desired it for so long, it’s hard to say no.

Jesus, please would you help them to do whatever is necessary to cut porn out of their life. Give them the courage to run to you when temptation strikes. Would you protect them amidst temptation and provide a way out. Lead them not into temptation, but deliver them from evil.  Please put in their hearts a greater love for you such that they flee from this sin and a resolve to live for you. 

Delight

Lord, your Word says that there’s more joy available in you than anywhere on earth (Psalm 16:11). But since we can’t see you, this can be so hard to believe. Please give this person faith that you can satisfy them, but also give them palpable delight in you and in your Word.

Help them experience the joy of hearing you speak in your Word (Psalm 1:2). Joy is the fruit of your Spirit—please send godly delights into their life. Graciously renew what they may have lost in real relationships to this sin. May they know the joy that comes from knowing you.

Overcome

Jesus, you rose from the dead so that sin would not have the upper hand in our lives anymore. You broke the bonds of sin. You didn’t rise from the dead for us to stay stuck in sin (Romans 8:11). There is no evil that is stronger than you. All things must bow to your authority. Shine your light into our friend’s darkness in such a way that it overcomes the darkness altogether (John 1:5).

Would you conquer their addiction to pornography, their desire for it, and the lust in their heart? Would you set them free not today alone, but for all their days. We know that whoever you set free, will be free indeed (John 8:36). Would you enable them to say no to temptation again and again and again and again until it is their joy to resist it? Would you give them self-control so that they are able to control their body in a way that is holy and honorable (1 Thessalonians 4:4)?  Would you give them the strength to endure the pain of denying themselves and faith that obeying you is always better

Mission

Lord, this person’s mind, heart, and body have been given over to sin for a long time (Romans 6:16, 22). Renew their minds and hearts and affections for Christ.

Would you inspire them to serve others, fill them with ideas of how to encourage others, and use their time and talents for good? Give them a vision for life—for how you want them to participate in your kingdom (Matthew 6:33). Would you open their eyes to see the ways you have created them uniquely to worship you and bless others (Ephesians 2:10)? 

Give them a renewed sense of purpose and an extra measure of courage to do good. Would you transform their perspective on their identity, helping them believe they are not defined by their past, but by the declaration of King Jesus that they are your child, and an heir of his kingdom by faith if they put their trust in you?

Freedom From Pornography

Jesus, these are big things for us—too big. These are vain hopes from feeble hearts without you. But we know you’re on the throne. We think it would please you to show your power in this way.

Show us your power so that many may know you are the King over even the secret things of this life (Ephesians 2:9-11). 

All by your grace and for your glory. Amen.