• Home
  • Start Here
  • About
    • About the Authors
    • Forgiveness Project
    • Statement of Faith
  • Media
    • Media Room
    • Videos
  • The Book
    • Buy the Book!
    • Get Book Discounts
    • Gifts with Purchase
    • Virtual Book Tour
    • Endorsements
    • Book Reviews
  • Speaking
    • Forgiveness Formula Seminar Series
    • Other Topics
  • Conference
  • Free Excerpt
  • Blog

Forgiveness Formula

Finding Lasting Freedom in Christ

Forgiveness as it Relates to Addiction

November 7, 2011 By shelleyhitz 1 Comment


by Anita Estes

overcoming addiction through prayerOne of the themes through the book, Letters to God on a Prodigal Son is forgiveness.

At first, I was angry with God, and had to forgive Him for allowing my son to become addicted. Here’s a prayer from the beginning on the book:

Please forgive me for being angry with You (God) and saying that You didn’t answer my prayers. I know Ben made his own choices. You are not responsible for his addiction. He’s stubborn and wants to do things his own way.

Later, I asked the Lord for forgiveness for my part in my son’s addiction:

Father, forgive me for anything that I did in his life to cause this. He was so sensitive. I tried to understand, but I lost my temper sometimes raising three children. Please forgive me for sins known and unknown. Take this broken heart of mine; heal it one piece at a time. You have given me a difficult load to bear. First, I dealt with these problems with my husband, now my son.

I waffled back and forth because forgiveness is a continual process.

At times, I  relapsed into what I call the blame game. Here’s an excerpt from Lessons Learned: “This was a very painful time for me. I tried to see things from God’s perspective and have faith, but then I’d lapse into blaming everyone for Ben’s problems: myself, my husband, our family gene pool, Ben’s stupidity and even God at times. Yet in these months I cried out to God more and more. Even though this wasn’t the end of my son’s problems, it was the end of myself—my pride, self-reliance, judgmental attitudes, and self-righteousness.  And so, though it was the worst of times, it was also the best of times.”

I often cried out to the Lord to forgive both me and my son: Look upon his (Ben’s) affliction and trouble and forgive all his sins” (Psalm 25:18—parenthetical material mine).

“For you, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon you” (Psalm 36:5).

God is always willing to forgive us when we mess up. The hard part is admitting it, but it feels great when we do. That’s one of the great benefits of having a personal relationship with Jesus—you can confess your sins, and you don’t need to feel guilty any more.


You can buy Anita’s book, “Letters to God on a Prodigal Son“  at Amazon.com or her website www.AnitaEstes.com.   For a sneak peak of Letters to God, on a Prodigal Son go to http://tinyurl.com/3pmzusd


Filed Under: all, stories of forgiveness Tagged With: addiction, stories of forgiveness

Comments

  1. Deborah H. Bateman says

    November 7, 2011 at 10:13 pm

    Anita, thanks for sharing your book with us and being so open and honest about the whole situation in order to help others who may be going through the same thing. Shelley, thanks for sharing Anita’s book on your site. Blessings to the both of you, Deborah H. Bateman

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Free Downloads

Join our list to download an excerpt of our book "Forgiveness Formula: Finding Lasting Freedom in Christ". Also download 20 encouraging MP3's. Sign up now below...

Get Our Latest Book

NEW: "Unshackled and Free:
True Stories of Forgiveness"

Get the #1 Amazon Bestselling Book!

Real life stories with practical application steps to help you find lasting freedom in Christ through forgiveness. Get your copy or share a copy with a friend.  


Get your bonuses here:



What People Are Saying...


"All I Can Say is Awesome!"

"Truly Enjoyed It!"

"Do Not Just Read This Book. Do It!"

"This Book Delivered - Boy Did it Ever Deliver!"

"Makes You Want to Keep on Reading."

"The book is TRULY A HEALING process!"

Get your copy here

Join the Conversation

self publishing twitter self publishing youtube self publishing linkedin

Follow @forgiveformula

Contact Us | Legal Information | Privacy Policy | Cookies Policy | Terms of Service



Copyright © 2019 Theforgivenessformula.com, a division of Body and Soul Publishing LLC, All Rights Reserved. Log in


Disclosure: Some of the links in the page above may be "affiliate links." This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, we will receive an affiliate commission. We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

By using this site you consent to the use of cookies and our terms and conditions as published on this website. Cookies can be managed in your browser or device settings. Thanks and enjoy your visit to our website!I agreeRead more