I gave up smoking—for good

Among the commercials for products to help folks stop smoking are those that offer hope by saying “If you’ve tried and failed, we’ve got just the thing for you!”

These are products that claim to “double your chances” of quitting. But quitting is still viewed as a gamble, a bet many have lost repeatedly, even with these latest aids.

I have to admit, my own record of failed attempts to kick the habit was pretty discouraging.

During my last push to quit through willpower, I ended up fishing cigarettes out of the trash—the same ones I’d crushed in my confident resolve to smoke no more.

I gently straightened their mangled forms, chose the least damaged one and lit up as I considered the situation. I could try the willpower route again—puff away, ruminate, rehash—but it was only a temporary solution at best. And I wanted to quit for good.

I’d recently begun a spiritual journey, a quest to clear away mental haze and find solutions that would work for my life. I decided to try spiritual means—prayer—to gain my freedom once and for all from the smoking habit.

I’d tried “God help me” prayers before, but they hadn’t worked. So how could I pray effectively?

Turning to Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy, my guidebook on spiritual healing, I immediately found some helpful clues.

For instance, I discovered the way to gain more of God’s blessings was to pray with a “fervent desire for growth in grace,” instead of just telling God about my problems. To build on that basis requires that we live our prayers in “patience, meekness, love, and good deeds.”

I realized to grow in grace would require a more honest effort and less self-indulgence. Hoping that a higher power would handle this problem while I simply watched from the sidelines (smoking section, of course!) was only wishful thinking.

I had to be willing to do some work. The work in this case involved spiritually disciplined thinking.

And it didn’t make sense to get close to the goal, only to abandon all discipline. So many times I had gotten down to one or two cigarettes a day, only to escalate back to a full pack. It was clear that human willpower was not my answer. I wanted something better for myself.

Science and Health showed me I could express meekness and strength by continuing my efforts and facing down self-condemnation. Instead of feeling guilty and disappointed, more patience was in order.

I was yearning for more than freedom from an expensive, unhealthy habit. Beyond mere surface self-improvement, I wanted a life centered on helping others, rather than just being focused on my own problems.

I pressed on with more confidence than ever before. But then I came face to face with a fear that seemed insurmountable. Long-time smokers assured me that even if I managed to “quit” for months or even years, I would always have the lingering desire to smoke. It was like an inescapable cloud, with defeat just one puff away.

But even though I was still smoking, I could not accept the thought that I was doomed to be enslaved to cigarettes forever. My prayers for a spiritual solution were growing stronger, clearer.

I reasoned that since God is a “present help,” as the Bible says, He would give loving aid to every worthwhile endeavor. I determined to be dependent only on Him as my “refuge and strength.” I ceased to be cowed by a lack of willpower. It didn’t matter. I had God’s power to rely on!

Overcoming the intimidating threat of failure reminded me of David’s certainty of God’s power when he stood up to Goliath.

Although it looked like David needed all the extra help he could get to beat his giant problem, he confidently refused the king’s state-of-the-art weaponry. He faced Goliath equipped with only the simplest tools for defense and the deep spiritual conviction that the grace of God would be triumphant. And he won.

The same proved true for me. The results of my prayer were swift and complete. After years of smoking, it took barely a week to prove I’d stopped for good.

My success in overcoming this habit didn’t depend on personal ability to outlast or out-maneuver the big smoking ogre. I didn’t need the latest weapons, either. The power of God, good, could conquer this impertinent claim to power.

And it did. I gained my freedom from smoking many years ago, and I’ve never had any desire to smoke again. There was no backsliding, no guilt. I had my perfect cure. This experience gave me wonderful confidence in the practicality of spiritual healing.

And the desire I’d had to help others was fulfilled as well. Soon after being healed of smoking, I began a prayer-filled career, helping others through spiritual means as a Christian Science practitioner. I was doubly blessed.

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