Where there's a will, there's only one way...

Everyone has a soul, and the soul within every person contains the mind, thoughts, patterns of thoughts, emotions, and the will.  ​The will is strong and once the will within a person is bent in a particular direction it is powerful in guiding the flesh.  The Body goes where the will takes it.​  In the case of those people affected by addition, the will plays a vital role in the continuance or discontinuance of their illness. 

Step Two of God's Plan (by Pastor Tracy Strawberry)
Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God based on the true understanding of Him.
 
If you have ever been in a relationship with an addict of any kind, how many times have you tried to appeal to their will?​  You may have said things like, "Don't you know you're killing yourself?"  or "Just walk away from this before you cause more damage!"  These statements, and a thousand others like them, are all directed at the human will... as if our rant and directive will change their will.  Step Two clearly tells us that a change of the will is needed and that the change and the decision both come from within the person, not the external directive.

So, if this is true, and it is, ​then what can be done to help those gripped by addiction arrive at the place where they are ready to turn their own will and lives over the care of God?  In order to answer this question we need the true understanding​ of what is at work. 

• ​God is spirit, and he created us as spiritual beings, ​so...​
• A spiritual engagement must happen between God and the person for true and lasting change to come about, therefore...
  
• ​We must understand that directives at the will do not accomplish what only appeals to the spirit of a person can accomplish, and...
  
• ​It is the work of the Holy Spirit to make such appeals to the spirit of persons through conviction​ (John 16:8), so...
  
• ​The way to petition God to do the spiritual work that only He can do through the working of the Holy Spirit is to seek Him boldly, continually, humbly, in prayer.
  

Prayer is an atmosphere changer, not a will changer.​  ​Prayer is so very powerful.  Prayer will open the door to solutions previously not known because we know that God is able to do immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine.  (Ephesians 3:20)

​Jesus once shared a parable with His Disciples so that they would "always pray and ever give up."  If we will participate with God in bringing true and lasting change to the lives of those suffering in addiction, we must exchange our directives, usually laden with anxiety, for prayers spoken powerfully, yet humbly, on our knees.  Only God can change the atmosphere...

Where there's a will, there's only one way, and that is prayer.
​AMEN.