I first made it clear to him that I could only show him the way to God, who was willing and able to help him in any case. Udo accepted God's offer and immediately became completely free. 14 days later, he asked God to set him free from drinking beer too.

He drank 10-14 bottles of beer a day. God also freed him from this addiction.

The doctor was amazed at the significant improvement in his blood values. After a year, Udo used the money he had saved to take his wife and daughters on a trip to the USA.

Many have said a simple prayer and have become free as a result. However, I wanted to give Udo a few pointers so that he could pray with conviction. So we read some Bible verses.

„And this is the confidence that we have in him [God], that he hears us when we ask anything according to his will.“  (1 John chapter 5, verse 14 Elberfelder Übersetzung EÜ.)

God promises to answer prayers that correspond to his will. I raised the question of whether it was God's will to free people from cigarette consumption?

I read 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 with him: „Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone corrupts the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and you are that temple.“ (EÜ)

I asked „What do you think? Is smoking harmful to the body?“ „Of course!“ „Does that mean smoking is a sin?“„ Yes!“

I asked hundreds of smokers this question. There was hardly anyone who disagreed. Every year, over four million people die from smoking-related illnesses.

Does God want us to sin? No! On the contrary: He wants us not to sin. It is therefore also his will that we become free from dependence on tobacco. This realisation is very important because then we know that God will definitely answer our prayer for deliverance.

I said to Udo: If smoking is a sin, then it is necessary to ask God for forgiveness. He grants us this request gladly and immediately:

„When we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. awards and cleanses us from all unrighteousness“. (1 John 1:9 ETR)

God promises us here that he forgives our sins that we confess.

My question to Udo: „May I ask if you are prepared to confess the sin of smoking to God?“ „Yes.“ Then God will forgive you this sin. We can be very grateful for that. But of course it is also about not committing this sin again afterwards. As God does not want us to continue sinning and harming ourselves, he is prepared to free us if we ask him in faith. We have his promise in return:

„If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.“ (Joh. 8,36 EÜ)

Jesus promises that if he sets us free, we will then really are free. This means that we no longer want or need to practise this wrong habit.

„And if we know that he hears us when we ask him for something, then we also know, that we are already in possession of what we have asked for.“ (1 John 5:15 Kürzinger-ÜB)

God hears us while we are praying. There is no waiting time. So if our request is answered while we are praying, then we can also give thanks for it straight away.

I explained to Udo that there are biblical statements in which God promises us something under a certain condition. This is called: Promises. There are thousands of promises from God in the Bible. God gave them to us so that we know his will and the conditions and so that it is easy for us to trust him. When we promise children something, they firmly believe that they will get it. We can and should practise this in our prayer requests.

Udo was not a believer in the true sense of the word. Nevertheless, God answered his prayers. God certainly did this to show him his love and to open him up to trusting him.

Desire or will? - Before praying, I asked Udo the important question: Would like you stop smoking (wish!) or want You really want to stop (decision of will!)? Udo assured me: „I really want to call it a day.“

I then asked him: „When do you want to smoke your last cigarette?“ I explained to him that it would not be appropriate to smoke the last cigarette after the prayer if God had already released him beforehand. Udo explained: „Then I've already smoked my last cigarette!“

I then discussed the content of the prayer with him so that he could decide whether he wanted to pray in this way or not. He said yes to the prayer, but asked me to recite it to him as he couldn't memorise everything. We knelt down. After I prayed for my ministry and for the special request for God's presence, we prayed together something like this: (I recited the prayer sentence by sentence and he repeated it).

Insertion for those who do not believe in God. Before the following prayer - if it appeals to you - pray additionally as follows:

Prayer
„Great God, I don't know if you exist. But if you do exist, please answer my prayer so that I know that you are there and that you care for me“.

„Father in heaven, thank you for allowing me to turn to you with my problem. I confess to You that I have damaged my body by smoking. I am glad that you forgive me for this sin because I confess it to you. For your word promises: if we confess our sins, you will forgive us. Thank you that you have already forgiven me. But, Father, I still have the trouble of not being able to quit smoking. I have already made many attempts, but I have not succeeded. Now I sincerely ask You to take away my craving and the taste for tobacco completely, for You have promised: Whom the Son makes free, he makes free indeed. Since Your Word also says that You hear requests according to Your will and that we then already possess what we have asked for, I thank You now that You have already set me free. With Your help, I will never smoke again. Praise and thanks for Your gracious help. Amen.“

When we got up, I congratulated Udo on the great victory that God had given him and gave him a hug. From then on, he had no more craving for tobacco, no more taste for it and no more withdrawal symptoms. He never smoked again.

I then advised him to support his body in cleansing itself of toxins by drinking plenty of water, exercising in the fresh air, etc. Some people put a few hazelnuts (nerve food) or juniper berries (blood cleansing) in the place where they had their cigarettes, so that their hand finds something else when they practise their movements. It is also a good idea to avoid smokers, as they often try to tempt you to smoke again once you are free.

Immediately after the prayer, Udo didn't realise anything. We receive such an answer immediately in faith. However, when he no longer felt a craving for tobacco after a few hours, he had the hearing in practice.

From the next morning onwards, Udo did something completely new. He took fifteen minutes a day to read the Bible and pray. It strengthened him greatly in his decision to remain free from addictions.

After two weeks, Udo asked for another visit as he still had a problem: he was consuming 10-14 bottles of beer a day. He also wanted to be free of this. So we prayed in the same spirit for deliverance from alcohol.

(We can pray with the same Bible texts for deliverance from all sinful bondage). Here, too, God gave immediate victory without any problem.

After another week, I visited Udo with the intention of helping him - if he was interested - to come to a personal relationship with God.

We read the booklet „Seize life“. As a result, he was ready to enter into a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. He was ready to pray aloud the following prayer contained in this booklet.

Prayer of thanksgiving
„Lord Jesus Christ! I thank you that you died and rose again for me. I am a sinner, please forgive me. Come into my life now. I cannot save myself. I cannot earn eternal life. That's why I trust you. Deliver me from the power of evil. Give me the strength to follow You. With all that I am and have, I surrender to You now. I accept eternal life. I am not worthy of it, but I thank You for this gift. Amen.”

We read this prayer twice so that Udo could realise whether this prayer corresponded to his attitude. Then we knelt down - with the small open booklet in our hands - and prayed aloud together. I told him that this prayer of surrender to Jesus Christ could be compared to an engagement. An engagement takes place in private. This is followed by a time of getting to know each other better, the deepening of the relationship, and finally the wedding.

After this prayer, it is also about getting to know Jesus better. This includes: reading the word of God in the Bible, daily prayer, possibly participating in a Bible study group, attending church services, etc.

The biblical baptism can be compared to the wedding that follows the engagement - at the appropriate time. Udo has gone this way.

He rejoiced in the forgiveness of all his sins, the liberation from addictions, the rich blessing of God for his life, the fellowship with like-minded Christians, the certainty that God's love surrounded him on all sides and the hope of eternal life in the presence of God.