Freed From Masturbation

A number of years ago I was really struggling with masturbation (a lot more than the average male does).  I wanted to stop as I knew it was not pleasing to God.  I also wanted to stop in order to clear my mind of the unpure thoughts I was having.  However, I just accepted that it was part of a normal guy’s life (or so I thought).  One night when I was at a work dinner I was talking to a work colleague and he mentioned that he had not even French kissed his fiance (or ‘pashed’ for you younger folk).  I said to him, ‘Wow!  That is totally amazing, how do you show such self control?’  I then asked him about masturbation, as I felt that he was a guy who I could talk to about this (I didn’t just talk to everyone about it, for obvious reasons).  He then told me that he had not ever masturbated (and he was probably about 24 years old).  This astounded me.  He also told me that him and his youth group boys had been discussing the issue, and his youth group boys had agreed to try and stop masturbating for a year. 

After this conversation I thought I would try this also.  I prayed about it briefly and then began the year of non-masturbation.  I successfully completed the year to my complete surprise.  However, once the year was up I slipped back into the habit.  I tried on several other occasions to try and give it up for another year, but I would always fail after a month or so.  During this time things go much worse in this area of my life.  I began to masturbate up to five times a day.  This made me feel very dirty and embarrassed, but I just could not seem to control this behaviour.  I began to pray regularly for help from God with this issue as I acknowledged that He was the only one who would be able to win this battle for me.  After a couple of weeks of praying I was at my computer studying for uni.  In the middle of intense studying a voice came through my head that said ‘You will never have to masturbate again’.  This was such an obscene thought to have that I knew that it was not mine.  God had spoken to me and told me that I was free of this problem.  From that point onwards I have not masturbated. This was the only time I have ever heard from God, but it has changed my life in a major way.  I have now gone a number of years without masturbating, although there have been several times when I have needed to draw on God to help me stay pure in this sense. 

I hope that this may encourage someone to put their faith in God and ask Him for help in overcoming ‘every man’s struggle’. 

Glory to God