Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.      (Romans 13:14)
 

If you are fairly new at Calvary, you may not be aware of our TLC program – Transitional Living into Community – which ministers to men overcoming addictions. They are provided with a place to live, counseling, standards and accountability, and life-skills training in a Christian setting. The “Community” of TLC includes our church body; the men of TLC are part of the Calvary family. This edition of the prayer blog is devoted to sharing ideas for how to pray for them.
      

I invited myself to the TLC house recently and had the pleasure of meeting with Brian, Brett, Curtis, Jason, Kevin, and Nikk. Brian and Kevin are in my age bracket. The other four are young men, 19-24 years old. They all shared openly about the addictions that landed them at TLC: pot, alcohol, cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines, prescription painkillers. I heard about psychosis, confinement in psychiatric wards, suicide attempts, damaged family relationships, homelessness. But the Lord loved them so deeply that He suffered, was crucified, and descended into darkness for their sake. He rose in glorious light so they can too.
 
Based on my discussions with the men of TLC and my own prayers for them, here are suggestions of how to pray:
 
When I asked about a Scripture passage that was especially meaningful in their journey, Curtis immediately quoted the verse from Romans, above. Let’s pray this verse for them.
 
Pray that each man will develop a relationship with the Lord that is real and deep, that can stand up to temptation and trials. Pray that each one will open the Bible daily and meet the Lord there. Pray that he will reach out to Him in prayer and experience His palpable love.
 
Ask the Lord to support the men of TLC in their sobriety – to strengthen them when they feel like giving up and to shake them up when they start feeling complacent and let their guard down.
 
Pray that they will experience true brotherhood within the house, encouraging and helping each other. 
 
Ask the Lord to shield them, as long as they are susceptible, from old friends and old environments that might tempt them back to old, dead-end roads.
 
Some of the challenges the men face as they strive to become productive members of society again are very practical. Transportation is often a problem. Kevin, for example, has succeeded in getting his driver’s license back but needs a reliable, affordable car.
 
Ask God to direct their career paths. Pray that they will work hard in their current jobs, even if they are less than ideal, and catch God’s vision for their futures.
 
Addicts can be master manipulators. Pray that these men will cast off any dishonest traits they have developed and build new habits of integrity instead.
 
Pray they can find something to thank God for and someone else to serve every day.
 
Ask the Lord to feed them hope and to help us express hope in them even when they don’t feel hope themselves.
 
Ask the Holy Spirit to remind you to pray faithfully for the men of TLC. That is the most important support we can offer for their transformation. Pray that they will feel embraced and loved by their Calvary family.
 
For more information about TLC, visit their website.

In Christ,
Carol Gilbert, Prayer Chair
Calvary Community Church of Brea