"But he [was] wounded for our transgressions, [he was] bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace [was] upon him; and with his stripes we are healed" (Isa. 53:5).
I Believed God Could Deliver Me
At one time in my life, I needed deliverance and healing from a cigarette addiction. I progressed during a five-year period into smoking two packs of cigarettes daily. I could not quit smoking; I prayed, "Lord, take away the desire for cigarettes and give me freedom from its addiction!"
I confessed and mentally reminded myself often to delight in the Lord because I believed He would deliver and heal me from cigarette addiction according to His promises in Psalms 37:4 and Isaiah 53:5.
I delighted myself in the Lord by making time for Christian activities. My participation in the spiritual disciplines of learning at the Bible studies, practicing the lessons learned, and socializing in Christian healthy relationships improved my spiritual health.
My Spiritual Turning Point
One day after eating lunch with Christian friends, I took a couple of puffs from a cigarette and felt a little nauseated. I tried to smoke a few more times that day and on a few subsequent days but the result was the same. I was not going to continue to smoke if I felt nauseated.
My reaction to the aforementioned situation, given this physical consequence of nausea, was whether this could be the spiritual turning point that I prayed for—that being a miracle of deliverance and healing from the smoking addiction.
I needed to discover if this initial reaction of nausea after smoking a cigarette was the instrument of God's power to deliver me from the desire for cigarettes and its addiction.
I tested what I believed was the deliverance and healing process, day by day. I did not smoke for two weeks. In this deliverance period I did not have any strong desires or withdrawal symptoms; therefore, I knew the strength of the addiction and habit had been broken through the power of God's deliverance healing.
I tested the endurance of this deliverance by God on the third week out of curiosity, and found that the after-smoking reaction changed from nausea to strong distaste.
That's when I stopped smoking permanently.
Almighty God, through the grace of Jesus Christ, delivered me from smoking cigarettes by creating consistent distaste for them, even after the nausea sensation left and canceled out its addictive hold.
This was the miracle I was praying for; God was faithful to His promise that if I delighted myself in the Lord, He would give me the desires of my heart.
The Christian lessons I learned (which were answers to the inner disturbing problems I faced) were applied to cleanse, renew, and cultivate small changes in my life for spiritual transformation. The gradual changes of realizing God's promises while living in spiritual health created a deliverance healing from cigarette addiction.
Realize it by Faith
The Bible teaches that it is God's will for you to be healthy, and if you are not, the healing promises of God are available to realize by faith.
A believer needs to spiritually behave into a restoring condition by delighting in the Lord trusting Him to honor His healing promises. If we cooperate with God's restoration method—that is, by spirit renewal first—we will be delivered and healed physically.
The Bible states in Romans 6:13 that we can choose to die spiritually or resist sins of hate or wrongful anger in thought and deed.
If you agree with me and believe in the promises of God for deliverance and healing, take small steps in line with these promises because this makes God's will come true for you.
Excerpt permission granted by Publish America