[__ Prayer __] In serious trouble...please pray for me

[Empty heart]

I've been battling a gambling addiction for 20+ years. The past few days I have lost over £80000 which is by far my biggest loss and that money has come from my family business. My wife left me with our 2 daughters 11 years ago and now it looks like I'll be losing the rest of my family too. They will never forgive me for spending this money.
I won't be able to pay our staff next week and I'm beside myself with worry. I feel like I'm about to have a heart attack as I'm now at the bottom of a very very deep and dark place. I have even thought about suicide this weekend.
I'm ashamed even asking for prayers here but I still believe that in spite of the lying and stealing that goes with being a gambler that I am a good person underneath it all. For years my heart has been empty. I only feel shame when I should feel love. I feel emptiness when it should be pride.
At times it's hard for me to have faith in God. I keep asking why I have been given this affliction...why my life has been wasted? Am I really that stupid that I have chosen to ruin my life....or has God forsaken me? I don't understand how this has happened and why? Until I was about 17 I had a lot of promise. My gambling started at University and dropping out of that because of gambling and money problems was the beginning of a 25 year nightmare that has just got worse.
I have never stopped praying for myself but my prayers never seem to get answered.I pray almost daily for help with my addiction. I know I have brought this all upon myself but what was always sort of manageable has just taken a whole different direction. About 12 people will seriously suffer because of me at the end of this week and I don't know if I can cope with the guilt.
Please please pray for me and forgive me.

 

[Paul1965]

Hello Empty Heart. God does not abandon anyone. We abandon Him. By knowing right from wrong and then choosing wrong we are slapping Him in the face. Many of us have been guilty of it to varying degrees, me included.
In your post, you said you have prayed for yourself. Do you mean you've prayed for a winning streak or truly and fervently prayed for His almighty strength to defeat your demon (gambling addiction)? Two very different things.
I also think that if you feel shame and helplessness and admit here that you have a serious addiction, you need to seek professional Christian guidance from an organisation such as Gamblers Anonymous.
I'll pray for the innocent victims of this situation and you brother but I urge you, please seek help immediately.
Go to a church you feel comfortable in, and confess your sins to Jesus, truly open your heart to His love, then ask Him for HIS strength to overcome this demon. Just as I could never beat my alcohol addiction until He defeated it for me, you need Him to kill this demon.
Remember Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"
You might consider these verses.
My first suggestion is the Lords Prayer.

​

Matthew 6:9-13
Our father who lives in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done,on earth as it is in heaven. Please give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory for ever Amen.

1 Corinthians 6 : 12 “All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any

1 Corinthians 10:13“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be
tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

James 4:7 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.


My prayers are with you and your staff brother
Blessings in Christ

​

 

[Eugene]

Dear Empty Heart, your problems are not different than others, and God can use whatever we lack to bring us closer to him. I hope you're familiar with the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32, but the father there waited patiently with a robe, a ring, and a kiss for his son, and when his son sunk low enough and came to himself in Luke 15:17-18 "And when he came to himself . . ." 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee.

Your very confession here is the beginning of something new in your life; take your experience and run with it. There are no shortcuts to life and finding our weakness is more than consequence of sin; it becomes the catalyst of recovery, and it is God leading you to His paths of righteousness.

In your very darkest hour God is with you. What might He allow you to yet face? I do not know but as I can attest to in my own fall God made it all work together for my good. Will you have problems again? Of course you will but I do hope you know better than to repeat your past mistakes, and even that is not a certainty. We are God's work in progress and He works in us to will and to do of His good pleasure, and you will discover His will for you in the word of God; do not neglect this great opportunity He is giving you. You may have accusers aplenty and probably deservedly so, but let us draw close to God in our time of great need.

Dear Father, have Your way in this dear man to rise above circumstance and reach to You for mercy and grace to help in his time of greatest need. Pour Your blessings upon him and restore his family and sustain him as he faces the time ahead. Give him the peace that passes understanding only You can even in the midst of the storm he is passing through. Help him to grow in grace and knowledge of You and glorify You to his soul as You carry him when he cannot do any more for himself. Father I laugh when I remember the statement I once heard, and that is one person advising another that they could only pray now in their situation, and the response was: "My God, has it really come to this?" Thank You Father for Your grace upon all of us, and we all are a needy people, and I ask these things for Empty heart in my glorious Savior's name of Jesus. Amen.

 

[Car Guy]

Dear God please help this brother in his darkest hour! Show him your grace and mercy in a mighty way. Deliver him from his addiction and give him 100% faith in you dear Jesus.

Please check out a bible based ministry that helps with gambling ASAP. Google search "setting captives free" is one you can use on line for starters.

 

[JLB]

I've been battling a gambling addiction for 20+ years. The past few days I have lost over £80000 which is by far my biggest loss and that money has come from my family business. My wife left me with our 2 daughters 11 years ago and now it looks like I'll be losing the rest of my family too. They will never forgive me for spending this money.
I won't be able to pay our staff next week and I'm beside myself with worry. I feel like I'm about to have a heart attack as I'm now at the bottom of a very very deep and dark place. I have even thought about suicide this weekend.
I'm ashamed even asking for prayers here but I still believe that in spite of the lying and stealing that goes with being a gambler that I am a good person underneath it all. For years my heart has been empty. I only feel shame when I should feel love. I feel emptiness when it should be pride.
At times it's hard for me to have faith in God. I keep asking why I have been given this affliction...why my life has been wasted? Am I really that stupid that I have chosen to ruin my life....or has God forsaken me? I don't understand how this has happened and why? Until I was about 17 I had a lot of promise. My gambling started at University and dropping out of that because of gambling and money problems was the beginning of a 25 year nightmare that has just got worse.
I have never stopped praying for myself but my prayers never seem to get answered.I pray almost daily for help with my addiction. I know I have brought this all upon myself but what was always sort of manageable has just taken a whole different direction. About 12 people will seriously suffer because of me at the end of this week and I don't know if I can cope with the guilt.
Please please pray for me and forgive me.

You must not give up! You are going to beat this thing and be blessed more than you ever have. You have a good attitude and you know God is your answer.

Use the pain of the latest loss to bring a deep repentance toward God, He alone is your source, it is not your ability to get wealth from your business, but His blessing and favor upon your bushiness that will cause you to be blessed financially.

The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and adds no sorrow with it!

The Lord can restore to you what you lost as well as exceedingly abundantly above and beyond all you can ask or imagine.

You have some challenges in front of you, but The Lord will walk you through them.

Surrender completely to Him, turn from gambling with all your heart and tell The Lord you will never gamble again, but you must surrender your whole life to Him, not just ask Him to deliver you from this addiction, but give Him your whole life.

You will have the victory. In Jesus name!

Bless you brother as you draw near to Him.


JLB

 

[Martin Luther]

Show God your love by giving this thing up.

 

[Gordon]

I will pray for you. I feel for you man. Killing yourself is not the answer. If this thought keeps coming to you seek professional help right away. Obviously you will need to deal with the fallout of this again. Please don't blame God for this. God has not forsaken you. You say this addiction has always been sort of manageable but you dropped out of school and felt shame for years and maybe lost your wife to it? It doesn't seem like you are owning up to having a serious problem in a way that you have sought the help you need. I'm not a gambler but I imagine there are safeguards you can put in place like freezing assets and stuff. I'm not trying to be mean but it sounds like this keeps happening and your post has no mention about all your time with your counselors not working. When God gave Moses something to do he started making excuses and God didn't want to hear it. We can forgive you man but you should ask God what should I do and then do it. Ask him to help you with the fallout then ask him to help you make this never happen again. You will get through this with His help.

 

[Mike S]

Please do not consider suicide. Pray that God shows you that your life is worth living, He has a mission for you. We will all be praying for you as well. You still have consequences to suffer through, but there IS life after sin.

 

[Eugene]

When God gave Moses something to do he started making excuses and God didn't want to hear it.

That's some good stuff brother. It boils down to the fact that when God gives a commission to us He supplies the ability and gifts to accomplish it. I will add that God also had Moses in forty years of training before tackling an impossible task. Oftentimes we expect an immediate solution to any obstacle, and the problem can be the very thing molding our character for the next necessary step. When we pray the answer is sure though according to God's will as we read in 1 John 5:14.

Blessings in Christ Jesus.

 

[Empty heart]

I thank you all for your prayers and advice. I'm not delusional and I know this is my fault. I have an addiction, an illness even which needs help. I'm so worried about all the people that will suffer when this gets out. My family are not religious, except my granny who just passed away, and I fear they will never forgive me. I also discovered today I may go to jail for what I have done.
Thanks again for all your heartfelt prayers. Please pray again if you can.

 

[Gordon]

Still praying for you. It's likely how you handle this will have consequences on your relationships. Ask God what to do then start doing it. I'd say be proactive don't wait for this to come out on it's own. If your family finds out because you've been arrested rather than you told them what happened they will probably be more upset. They might be more forgiving than you think but you need to be talking to people. Before going to an attorney or coming clean with people talk to God.

 

[HumbleOurselves]

We truly have a gracious Father. We all deserve death and hell. We deserve every once of his holy wrath. We are weak and wretched, BUT GOD! He is good, patient, kind, loving, gracious, compassionate, FORGIVING, the healer, all knowing, all powerful. God is bigger than we can comprehend and he has unlimited resources. O Father, please gives us hearts of repentance. Will in us your ways. Help us to bear fruit in keeping with repentance. Heavenly Father, when we are weak, you are strong. You give grace to the humble Lord. Please poor grace on us. Spirit, please intercede for us. If it is your will to let us endure hard discipline to bring about endurance and sanctification, your will be done. We deserve nothing and you owe us nothing, yet you have given us great promises. You have promised to comfort us in all our affliction. My brother needs you, even if a part of his flesh is opposing you Father. Please pour mercy and grace on him and us Father. Please forgive us our sins. I need you, we need you Lord. We know you never leave or forsake us. We know the blood of Jesus was offer once and it was enough. The blood of Jesus satisfied you Lord. Praise you! We have been forgiven. We are redeemed through Jesus Christ. Lord, please clean our hearts and consciences with the blood of your Son Jesus. Lord Jesus, we ask you to intercede to the Father in this matter for us. He needs your help. Help the families who will suffer loss through this. Let them be full of grace and forgiveness. Lord, if it is justice you desire in this case, let it be so, but heavenly Father, I plead through the blood of Jesus, clinging solely on mercy and no merit of my own. Please forgive this man, clean him, forgive him, and please work a mighty deed on his behalf for your own glory. Let him, as well as others praise you Father through this. Thank you Lord for your steadfast love and faithfulness, even when we are not. Thank you for sending your Son Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. Thank you for raising him from the dead. Thank you for this faith that we now stand in. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

 

[Sad Sack]

Empty heart - Don't lose hope. You have a lot of good people here praying for you. In times of trouble, I turn to the book of James, Chapter 1 as follows (I quote from the NASB):

Verses 2 - 8

2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various [c]trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces [d]endurance. 4 And let [e]endurance have its perfect [f]result, so that you may be [g]perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and [h]without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 being a [i]double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.


And also verses 12 - 18


12 Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has [m]been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 13 Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted [n]by God”; for God cannot be tempted [o]by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. 14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. 15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin [p]is accomplished, it brings forth death. 16 Do not be [q]deceived, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or [r]shifting shadow. 18 In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be [s]a kind of first fruits [t]among His creatures.


Remain faithful to the Lord and He will deliver. God Bless you. Hang in there Brother!

 

[Spring Waters]

Don't suicide because your family will have lost far more than what you think you've taken from them and the business.

Sometimes God lets us fall into the darkest pit due to our own responsibility climbing down into there, so that we'll then be able to truly see the light of salvation and know we're worth more than withering away in a pit.
If what you've done has served only to destroy you when are you going to realize what it costs to destroy the only you you'll ever have in this life?

Prayers are with you. Find a gamblers support group. Get help. You're clearly not cut out to be a gambler. We just met you and can read that it's cost you a fortune to realize that by now for your own sake.
Be blessed child of God. You're worth more than feeling this badly over something it is in your control to stop.

 

[wren51]

Dear Heavenly Father,

You alone know what this person is going through and I pray that You will comfort them during this hour of trial. You create them for a special reason on this earth and revealed yourself to them. Remind them not to lose hope in Your word and of Your forgiveness and abounding love. Sovereign LORD, I pray that they will know You more and continue to seek You. Draw them closer to You. I also pray for their protection as well as their family. Bless them, Oh LORD and thank You for their special existence. Most of all thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus Christ to suffer and die on the cross for our sins so that we can be able to spend eternity with You in a place where there is no more tears or sorrow.

In Jesus Name.
Amen.

 

[Empty heart]

Thank you again to all who have taken the time to pray for me. I'm now seeing the results of my actions....staff weren't paid....creditors constantly phoning. I don't have the strength to see my family so I'm basically in hiding now. Of course they will know what's happened but my shame is too deep to show face. My dignity is more important than my life. I know that's stupid but I cannot help it. The worst thing that has happened to me has been contact from my children with their Christmas lists.
I thank God for their existence but it causes me terrible pain to think I will not be able to either see them nor be with them at that time of year.
I have been asking God for guidance but I don't think that I'm capable in my present mind of hearing or feeling his word. I have been to Church to pray...to try to be nearer to him but I feel nothing..just shame, worry and pain.
Thoughts of suicide are again strong in my mind but I think I am going to run away instead. Because I've been feeling this maybe that is what God wants. Maybe he wants me to be away from the people I've hurt...those who will suffer at this difficult time.
I'm sorry again to use this forum to vent my feelings and pain but I am really alone in all of this. I cannot bear the thought of speaking to anyone I know about this. Most people think I am Ill....which is why I haven't appeared at work...or why I have have been acting strangely.
Thanks again for your prayers.....they are the only positive thing I can see iny life.

 

[NicholasJ92]

I don't know why you say "forgive me." This forum can't do quite what Jesu Christe does, but we can pray by the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit. Pray this prayer in song, low and somber as praise to God, and I ask now that upon your singing, that the Paraclete visit you. I ask that, in JESUS' name, God save and redeem your soul.

Can You Reap What I Sow? Written by Nick Jones.

A herald angel swiftly brings
Word to the poor, and lords, and kings
Through the air by dark of night
I behold from the bay and my spirit sings
The line of stars amidst moonlight
A tail leads down unto the kite

Can you see what I see?
Can you know what I know?
Can you be where I be?
Can you go where I go?

The angel played a trumpet's blast
Now Jesus come, The First and Last
Glory then and glory be
To cut asunder poison asp
The end is nigh to I and thee
Cry and shout, to God do plea

Can you see what I see?
Can you know what I know?
Can you be where I be?
Can you go where I go?

Can you hear what I hear?
Are you low when I'm low?
Can you near where I'm near?
Can you reap what I sow?

Alleluia, Glory-Yah, Glory be to Jesus Christ.
Amen.

 

[Claudya]

I'm sorry again to use this forum to vent my feelings and pain but I am really alone in all of this.

No, please don't feel sorry for "using" us.
I didn't post in this thread before, but I have been praying for you from the day you started this thread, and I was so hoping we'd hear from you again.
Please, if you can, keep us posted about how your journey continues. Even if all you can write at the moment seems to be bleak.
When you feel you can't pray we will keep praying for you. When you feel you can't stand before God because of your guilt then we will stand before Him on your behalf.
If the one thing we can is to assure you that you are not alone, dear brother, then feel free to use us for that purpose.

 

[Gordon]

I'm still praying for you. I hear you about your dignity. You sound like you are torturing yourself more than it would hurt to actually deal with the situation though. If you can't talk to people you know talk to a counselor. You desperately need someone to help you put this into context and deal with the situation. I don't know what the social services are like where you live but you may get free help. Or find a pastor to talk to. This is bad but not something so bad you need to run from your family. No one is dead. Things will eventually be ok again. Life will go on. You aren't alone. There are people who can help you. I'll keep praying please keep updating.

 

[providence]

I don't have the strength to see my family so I'm basically in hiding now. Of course they will know what's happened but my shame is too deep to show face. . .Because I've been feeling this maybe that is what God wants. Maybe he wants me to be away from the people I've hurt...those who will suffer at this difficult time.

Lord God, sustain this man that you love. Give him the courage to face what needs to be faced, not hide or run away but accept what has been done and strive forward to mend what can be mended and accept whatever forgiveness comes by grace. And guide him in these dark days in the way of discernment (Proverbs 2) so that in future years he may look back on them as a new beginning. "11 My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline or be weary of his reproof, 12 for the LORD reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights." (Proverbs 3:11-12, ESV).