4 Prayers for Quitting Smoking

Use these prayers for quitting smoking to ask for God’s help in breaking this addiction in your life and finding freedom and good health.

Trying to quit smoking may seem like an easy task for those who have never struggled with smoking. But for those who are heavy smokers or have made a habit of smoking, it can be very challenging.

But the good news is that it is possible to quit smoking, and part of that journey as a Christian is to seek help from God through prayer.

If you are a Christian who is struggling to kick the habit of smoking, I hope that you’ll be encouraged to know that many have gone before you who have smoked habitually and who no longer smoke.

Just like any habit or sin that we struggle with, it is not always something we stop doing overnight, but something we can grow to have self-control over, and even lose our desire for it.

Though smoking may seem like it is only an outward issue, there may be many hidden reasons as to why some people smoke, and there is certainly a spiritual aspect to it as well. Some of the reasons people smoke is because they are addicted to it. The main substance in cigarettes is nicotine, which is a drug that affects different parts of our body, including the brain. It is reported that around 80-90% of people who smoke frequently are addicted to nicotine.

But that is not the only reason people smoke. Some smoke to deal with negative emotions, moods, or use it as a coping mechanism for stress and anxiety. Yet, some may smoke because it is associated with a certain activity and they’ve developed a pattern.

These are a few reasons people smoke, for those who are battling with quitting, I do want to encourage you by giving you reasons to quit as well. First and foremost, pertaining to your spiritual life.

The best reason to quit is so that you can honor God with your body, and its health, because it is the temple of God.

He calls us to take care of our bodies, it is not ours to abuse. Other reasons are to protect your loved ones from secondhand smoking, for your health, to save money, to cough less and breathe easier, to have healthier skin and lower blood pressure.

There are both physical and spiritual benefits to quitting smoking. If smoking is something that you do as a coping mechanism, to help you deal with anxiety, or because you have become addicted to it, I encourage you to pray. Through prayer, we can ask God to grant us self-control and we learn reliance on God in times of anxiety.

Alongside prayer, I encourage you to meditate on God’s Word and use verses that will help you overcome smoking. There is power in God’s word, and it has the ability to change us as we meditate on it.

Here are a few prayers accompanied by verses to get you started!

4 Prayers for Quitting Smoking

Prayers For Quitting Smoking - woman holding cigarette in her fingers and breaking it in half

1. Prayer to Grace to Stop Smoking

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” – 2 Corinthians 12:9

We need God’s grace daily as we face different challenges in life, and that applies to when you are trying to overcome smoking. If you have become dependent on smoking, it can feel as though you will never be able to stop smoking. You may not feel like you have the strength to do it, but there is good news in realizing that though we ourselves may be weak, He is strong, and we can find that His grace is sufficient for us in our weaknesses.

Father in Heaven,

I am in desperate need of Your grace as I face this daily struggle to quit smoking. I know that Your hand is not too short to stretch out to me and neither is Your ear turned away so that You can’t hear my prayer. On my own, this habit seems like something I can’t live without.

But I know that is making an idol out of something, and taking away the glory that is meant for You alone as my Lord. Please forgive me for the times when I turn to smoking when I should really be turning to You. Help me to bring my burdens and anxiety to You, knowing that You care for me.

I confess that smoking has been a weakness of mine, and that I have grown attached to it. Though I feel weak in this area, I know that You are strong in all areas, and are able to lift me out of this. I ask that You would please be gracious towards me, and help me to seek Your strength in my weakness. In Jesus’ name, amen.

2. Prayer to Honor God with Your Body

“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” – 1 Corinthians 6:19–20

In the Old Testament, God’s presence used to dwell either in the tabernacle, or later in the temple. These were both physical places, and the people would meet with God in those places. But in the New Covenant that Christ has made, the curtain between God and man has been torn, and we now have access to God at all times, and in all places.

The reason for this is because He has made us His temple on this earth, and lives inside of us through His Holy Spirit. If God is living inside of believers, we should seek to keep His temple pure and unstained from the world. A part of this is through taking care of our bodies and health, which smoking naturally destroys over time. Remembering that we are not our own, but belong to God will help us to honor God with our bodies.

Lord,

I am so thankful for the body that You have given me, for the functionality that I have and for the ability to do what I do every day. It is so easy to take our bodies for granted, and to neglect our health. I am sorry for the way I have treated my body and health through smoking.

Please forgive me for the harm I have caused and for forgetting that my body is Your temple. Help me to remember that it is not mine to inflict as I would like, but it is Yours that You have blessed me with. Please help me to quit smoking, and to take better care of my health. Help me to use my body to serve and honor You, instead of serving my fleshly desires. In Jesus’ name, amen.

3. Prayer to Die to Your Fleshly Desires

“Clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.” – Romans 13:14

There is a theme in Paul’s letters of putting off and putting on. Like a stained garment, we are called to take off our sin and its worldly desires. And to put on Christ, to clothe ourselves with Christ means that we put on characteristics that reflect Christ, and do that which pleases Him. When we are clothed with Christ, we are better able to reject the temptation to give into our fleshly desires.

Dear God,

Thank You so much for Your grace and love in Christ Jesus. Thank You for taking a sinner, riddled with sin, and giving me a new nature and a new identity. I know that as long as I am in my earthly body, traces of sin will remain as the Spirit and my flesh are at war within me.

I especially want to pray about my strong desire to smoke and how reliant I have become on it. I ask that You would help me to quit smoking. It is a fleshly desire that is harmful to me and others. Please help me to put off this desire and to desire and seek Christ more than I do smoking. Help me to put off smoking and to clothe myself with Christ as His qualities of self-control. In Jesus’ name, I pray, amen.

4. Prayer to Break Smoking Addiction/Habit

“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” – Matthew 19:26

There are a lot of stereotypes that come with addiction, and one of them that does ring true, is that addiction is very difficult to deal with. If you are addicted to smoking, it can feel as though you will never be able to function properly without smoking. When you stop, you will go through withdrawal symptoms but they won’t last forever, and your body begins to heal itself the longer you refrain from smoking.

Lord,

I praise You for who You are, and I am thankful that I can always turn to You. Today I am really struggling with smoking, and no matter what I do, I can’t seem to stop. A part of me feels like I will lose my mind if I don’t have access to cigarettes, and that makes me realize how much I have grown reliant on them.

I ask that You would forgive me, and help me to remember that You are the only reliable Rock on which we can stand. I confess, I am afraid of what will happen when I try to stop, and the symptoms that I will go through. I fear that I won’t be able to bear them and will just fall back into the habit.

It feels impossible some days but I know that on my own I can do nothing, but with You, all things are possible. Please break this addiction, and the power that it has over me. Help me to break free from it, and to be restored to good health. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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