Mindful Prayer and Recovery from Sexual Addiction

In my work as a Christian Counselor, I spend the vast majority of my time working with the courageous folk who are working their way out of addictive behaviors. Recovery from addiction is never easy. It is a process marked by pain, frustration, effort, sacrifice, and great risk. Ultimately it’s a spiritual awakening that creates a new way of living life.

Daily Prayers in the Struggle against Addiction

Part of the process I walk clients through incorporates core mindfulness practices. That is, learning to pay attention to the moment-by-moment content of our thoughts, impulses, feelings, and sensations. Increasing our awareness and acceptance of self and others in the moment is a critical recovery skill.

One of the disciplines we incorporate into core mindfulness work is the practice of daily prayer and meditation. In this article, I offer one example of the kind of prayers we use in our recovery work. Each line of the prayer provides an opportunity for personal reflection. We work on allowing every word to sink in, feeling its weight and truth. Such daily prayers provide powerful opportunities for connection with God and with ourselves.

St. Patrick’s Breastplate

According to tradition, St. Patrick wrote the prayer below sometime around 433 A.D. as a request for divine protection in battle.

I arise today 
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
of the Creator of creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ’s birth with His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion with His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection with His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of cherubim,
In the obedience of angels,
In the service of archangels,
In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In the prayers of patriarchs,
In the predictions of prophets,
In the preaching of apostles,
In the faith of confessors,
In the innocence of holy virgins,
In the deeds of righteous men.

I arise today, through
The strength of heaven,
The light of the sun,
The radiance of the moon,
The splendor of fire,
The speed of lightning,
The swiftness of wind,
The depth of the sea,
The stability of the earth,
The firmness of rock.

I arise today, through
God’s strength to pilot me,
God’s might to uphold me,
God’s wisdom to guide me,
God’s eye to look before me,
God’s ear to hear me,
God’s word to speak for me,
God’s hand to guard me,
God’s shield to protect me,
God’s host to save me
From snares of devils,
From temptation of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
afar and near.

I summon today
All these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel and merciless power
that may oppose my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom,
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man’s body and soul;
Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me an abundance of reward.

Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
of the Creator of creation.

Christian Counseling in the Struggle against Addiction

If you are one of the people who is struggling with an addiction, it is very important to know that you are not alone. You are just one of the rare individuals who actually has the courage to be honest about it and to look for help. There is hope for you and you can be free.

The Christian counseling process is about redemption and the restoration of the soul. It is grounded in the belief in a personal, living God and involves experiencing the abundant life that Jesus came to offer us. You may not be in a place where that feels possible right now, and that’s OK. But with the help of a good Christian counselor, you can begin to begin to find the solutions you are seeking. I would be delighted to partner with you as you enter this challenging and important healing process.