How Bad Do You Want It?

This wasn’t the first time we had counseled and prayed with Natalie (name has been changed for privacy) about her problem. It was the third, or maybe even the fourth time, and it didn’t appear that we’d made any progress. Something had to change, and quickly!

We met Natalie at a home prayer meeting many years ago. She was a lovely Christian woman who loved the Lord and even taught Children’s Sunday School. One night she seemed especially disturbed and asked if she could talk to us privately after the meeting, but we weren’t prepared for what she revealed.

Natalie confided that she had been having an affair, and it was with a married man. She wanted out, but didn’t seem to be able to break it off. We were shocked because it seemed totally out of character for her. Yet, we knew how deceiving the devil can be when he catches us in a vulnerable position. We counseled and prayed with her, and it appeared that a great burden had been lifted as hope and relief rose up in her.

When we saw Natalie again a couple of weeks later, discouragement and shame were written all over her face. She told us that she had broken it off with him, but that he wouldn’t leave her alone. He continually called and even did such things as leaving notes on her car windshield and flowers on her doorstep. Feeling so lonely and desiring to have someone love her, she would inevitable give in. Again, we counseled with her and prayed with her. She left believing that she had the victory over her sin.

However, Satan is a sly evil force. Once we’ve opened the door and allowed his evil into a corner of our lives, he’ll not only try and possess the ground he’s walked on, but he’ll also try to infiltrate every area of our lives in hopes of totally destroying us. That’s exactly what he was trying to do to Natalie. He wanted to destroy her witness, her ministry, and her Christianity, not to mention this other man’s marriage. Natalie was still trapped in this web Satan had woven around her.

One evening, she called us weeping in total humiliation and defeat. She had failed once again. Bill advised her to let us come to her apartment the next evening to pray for her and pray throughout her apartment, anointing with oil. She agreed, and we began praying, seeking God for total deliverance in this situation.

I was so burdened for Natalie that I could hardly think of anything else the next day at work. As I was praying, God gave me direction for that night. I was very resistant to His instructions. I even protested, “How come Bill gets to pray over people, giving them uplifting, encouraging prophecies, and I’m asked to give a hard word, that seemingly offers no grace?” Nevertheless, I couldn’t get it off of my mind, and in spite of my objections and reluctance, I knew what had to be done.

We all sat down at Natalie’s kitchen table as tears streamed down her face. Now, I’m one that if I know I have to do something unpleasant, I’d rather do it quickly and get it over with. So, with all of the love and compassion I felt, but with an unrelenting firmness, I looked her square in the eye and asked her, “How bad do you want it?” Are you willing to do all that is humanly possible to remove yourself from this temptation to allow God to give you total deliverance? We then began discussing her situation and offering suggestions as to what she could change in the natural. I knew that if she was truly repentant, and not just making excuses for her sin, she would be willing to go to extremes to be free.

The more we talked, the more excited she became. Before we left, we prayed over her and her apartment, believing God to lead her into total deliverance. The next time we saw her, she had a different color of hair, as well as a new hairstyle. She shared with us how God had given her guidance and favor in changing her entire life.

The next day, Natalie spoke with the manager of the apartment complex, and they allowed her to move into another apartment in a different building on the far opposite side of where she now lived without breaking her lease and with no additional costs. They also agreed that if this man came looking for her, they would simply say that she had suddenly moved. By the next day, she had moved.

Not wanting this man to find her at work, she took a few vacation days and went to visit her son in South Carolina, who worked in a body shop. For the price of the paint, he repainted her car and made a few other minor changes to the car’s appearance.

Natalie made arrangements with her best friend to become her answering service and had her phone calls forwarded. For several weeks, this friend answered all of her calls just as a professional answering service would in those days, screening out any calls this man made to keep him from having any contact with her.

When she went back to work, she parked in a different place and waited extra time before she left building. She did a few other things, too, such as getting a new license plate and staying away from places where she might run into him. For quite a while, this man continued to pursue her. He left flowers at her door, and when they were still there days later, He went to the apartment offices. He called her phone and left numerous messages, and he tried to find her at work. Needless to say, when Natalie submitted herself unto God and resisted the devil, doing all that she knew to do, the devil had to flee (see James 4:7), and she received total victory & deliverance.

Each one of us have things in our lives that we want to change and things that we would like to accomplish. It seems that we especially reflect on these things at the New Year. God wants to help us and He will answer our prayers, but He expects us to do our part, and sometimes He asks us, “How bad do you want it?”

Vicki