Seven Steps to
Helping People Quit
Smoking
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1. Recognize that smoking is a sin against your body and your God.
Romans 12:1
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
1 Corinthians 6:19,20
Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
2. Acknowledge your weakness and inability to quit on your own. Like the woman with the “issue of blood” in scripture, you may have sought help for years. Or like the man by the Pool of Bethesda for 38 years, you may be desperate in your attempt to stop smoking (see John 5:5-8). Admit that you are weak. Acknowledge you cannot do it on your own. “Without me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
3. By faith believe that although you are weak, He is strong. Although you cannot do it, He is all-powerful. When we choose to surrender our weak, wavering will to His all-powerful will, all the power in the universe is at our disposal.
Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
1 John 5:14,15
Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
4. Surrender yourself and all of your tobacco to God.
Joshua 24:15
And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
2 Corinthians 6:2
For He says: “In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
5. Believe that victory is yours now and thank God right now for giving you victory over smoking.
1 Corinthians 15:57
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Matthew 7:7
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
1 John 5:4
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.
You may have a craving to smoke as the result of the physiological effect of nicotine deposited in the cell system. But you need not smoke. Smoking is a choice. There is a difference between the craving and the victory. The victory is yours by faith in Jesus.
6. Destroy ALL of your tobacco. Throw it away. Don’t leave any around. Submit yourself unto God and resist the devil.
James 4:7,8
Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
7. Believe that victory is yours now. To sustain the victory, thank God for it! Praise Him you are delivered and follow the physical habits listed below to rid your body of nicotine.
— When you get a craving take slow deep breaths repeatedly until the craving passes
— Drink 10-12 glasses of water a day for the next five days
— Relax in a warm (not hot) bath before going to bed
— Plan to get at least 8 hours of sleep a night
— Avoid all caffeine and alcohol
— Take two 30-minute walks each day
Continually praise God that His power is greater than tobacco
1 John 4:4
You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.