A thought that crossed my mind concerning the title of this write-up, ‘Hooked’ was a fish trapped in a hook which is a tool that fishermen use to harvest fishes from a water body. I am John and pornography was a hook. 2 Corinthians 1:4 reminds me that God comforts me in all situations so that I would be able to comfort them which are in any trouble. I would be sharing my experience with you and it’s my sincere desire and prayer that you are blessed by this write-up.

I really can’t say how it all started but one thing I knew for sure was that I was hooked. I can vividly recall two cross over services where I kept praying to God for deliverance from the hook. You’d agree with me that we’re always desirous to start the New Year on a clean slate… smiles. I kept praying but it all seemed like help wasn’t coming. In all sincerity, I found myself continuously succumbing to pornography but I really wanted it to stop. I didn’t like it. Moreover it wasn’t aiding progress, obviously, a hook restricts movement. Do you remember Apostle Paul’s lamentation in Romans 7:19? “I want to do what is good, but I don’t, I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway”, I found myself in this similar situation.

In year 2015 or 2016, my sister began asking me some questions via Whatsapp. The questions were such that I doubt she had ever asked me since we’ve been living together. I wasn’t comfortable with them at all. I can still recall one of the questions which was; “what is your weakness?” (I’m not so sure if I’m paraphrasing the question) I answered her but my responses were not precise. She also asked other questions. A time came that she recommended a Christian book for me. The name of the book was The Purpose driven life by Rick Warren. At that time, I didn’t fancy reading books asides my school books. Anyways, I decided to read the book. The book has 40 chapters that I was supposed to read daily. This means that I was meant to finish reading the book within 40 days. Well, I wasn’t so faithful with the daily reading. Remember that I said I wasn’t a fan of books. I kept reading the book casually until the night of the 8th day in August, 2016. I laid on the bed getting ready to sleep but I decided to read one more chapter of The Purpose driven life before dozing off. The theme of the chapter for that day was avoiding temptations. Rick Warren mentioned some of the things that I had knowledge of regarding avoiding temptations but there was a particular solution that he mentioned that got to my heart. He wrote that if you’ve been struggling with a particular temptation and you keep being defeated every time and you’ve been praying about it, you should inform someone else about the struggle. That particular statement really had an effect on me and shortly after I read that sentence, a war began in my mind: The thought of acting accordingly versus The thought of not acting accordingly. If you’ve been following, you’d realize that the situation Rick Warren addressed was the exact situation I found myself in. The war continued and one reason why I didn’t want to ‘surrender’ to the thought of me sharing the struggle was because of shame and fear. I just couldn’t imagine myself sharing that particular struggle with anyone at all. Little did I know… smiles. The clock kept ticking that night and the two parties involved kept warring. After sometime, I received a greater supply of strength to surrender to the thought of sharing the struggle. I picked up my phone and I navigated to Whatsapp, then I chatted with my sister. I took the picture of the page containing that sentence and I informed her that pornography was the struggle that I was battling with.

…Oh the joy and peace that filled my mind after sharing with my sister. It was so divine and indescribable; I couldn’t understand how sharing a struggle with someone would bring about a total deliverance. The words that Jesus spoke; “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.” became so real to me cos I actually experienced that Peace that night of the 8th day in August, 2016. For real, the deliverance was total. Remember; the blessing of the LORD maketh rich and he addeth no sorrow with it. Glory to God in the highest!

I would love to share some lessons that I learnt from the whole experience that I’ve shared with you. As time went on, I began to understand that God really answers prayers. I kept praying for more than two years but it seemed like God wasn’t responding not knowing that he had a plan. The truth is this: God is faithful; he never forsakes those who seek him. He’s assured us of that already. Psalm 9:10; And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee. This experience actually helped me understand the importance of prayers. VERY IMPORTANT! …….. Whatever the situation, please don’t give up on God. He’s faithful. This experience also helped me to understand the significance of the words of Apostle Paul in Romans 7:19–25. Earlier on, I made reference to verse 19 where Apostle Paul was lamenting; “I want to do what is good, but I don’t, I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway” He lamented again in verse 24; O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of death? He went further to answer his question. He said ‘I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord’. The truth of the matter is that any man born of the seed of Adam cannot do but to sin because sin is his nature. Have you ever wondered how a small child learnt to do some petty things that are evil? Well, I gave you the reason in the sentence before this sentence. (Rom 5:12 wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned) Well, the good news is this: Romans 5:19; For as by one man’s (Adam’s) disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one man (Jesus) shall many be made righteous. In Rom 6:14, we see Apostle Paul addressing those who believed in Jesus that; For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law but under grace. Something that we have to understand is that we are helpless concerning expressing the sinful nature so far as we are still under the law (do this, don’t do this… that kind of thing). The law only reveals sin to us and it is the strength of sin (1Corinthians 15:56). Let’s look at Titus 2:11–12; For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and wordly lusts, we should live soberly, and godly, in this present world. From the above, you see that there’s a way out. The primary objective of Jesus coming to the Earth was to save every one of us from our sins which came as a result of Adam’s action. This was done out of the sincere and indescribable love that God the father has for us (John 3:16; for God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son (Jesus), that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. The arms of the Father are wide open to receive anyone who believes in his Son and comes to Him. Take a look at the prodigal son who offended the Father yet the father didn’t stop loving him, rather, He ran to his son and fell on his neck, and kissed him. To come under grace which enables you: live a righteous life, live a life filled with peace, not to perish among many other things, all you have to do is to CONFESS WITH THY MOUTH THE LORD JESUS AND BELIEVE IN THY HEART THAT GOD HATH RAISED HIM FROM THE DEATH (Rom 10:9) and look how your life would be changed for good. Afterwards, it’s important you abide in Him and have a relationship with Him (John 8:31).
Jesus loves you.
God loves you.
Thanks for reading.