Overcoming Gluttony: How to defeat being a slave to food

Before I get into the scriptures and some of the things I am going to share about overcoming food addiction, the most important part has to be done first, and that my friends is self-reflection which is done by being partnered with the Holy Spirit. So I would like to ask you to invite the Holy Spirit to help you look at yourself in truth and ask yourself these questions. (If you are not a Bible-living Christian who has not accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, please read this whole blog post before proceeding).

When do I run to food? Is it when feeling stressed, anxious, depressed, frustrated, rejected, bored, overwhelmed, lonely, bullied, etc?

How do I feel when I eat food? Do you feel comforted, protected, seen, hidden from embarrassment, at peace because what is bothersome is not on your mind, relaxed?

When I encounter an issue, do I run to food if I have the chance to or God?

Are there certain thoughts, memories, a thought of a person, or emotions that trigger me to eat?

Is social media an influence? For example, every time you see a cooking video you suddenly develop the desire to eat or make something to eat.

If you find yourself answering something besides no, it’s time you break free. God cares and His spirit is ready to break you free of this.

The spirit of gluttony shall lose its hold off of your life and bloodline by the power of the blood of Jesus Christ in Jesus’ name.

Please be aware that I did not ask if you are overweight. The spirit of gluttony preys more upon the lack of control a person has in eating. It’s when food is an idol however, being overweight is just one of the many consequences of the spirit of gluttony. I know because I’m a slim person, but God had his grace on me a few months ago and had me deal with the spirit of gluttony. Why? Because it was part of my healing process. Lol, I know if some of you saw me in person, eyebrows would be raised and some might even think I should’ve had that spirit a bit longer, but all jokes aside, the spirit of gluttony is less than a weight issue and more of an idolatry issue.

The spirit of gluttony is a stronghold that has taken place since the days of Adam and Eve in the garden. We witness this in Genesis 3 when the serpent deceived Eve into thinking that the fruit that God had forbidden them to eat should be placed higher than her worship for God, which showed she now worshipped what she believed the fruit could do for her. I wrote more about this deception in my Genesis 3: Blog-style Bible study. The Hebrew translation lets us know that when Eve saw the apple as good, she also saw it as something pleasurable. Food is not a sin, however running to it for satisfaction and fulfillment is. What was the fulfillment that Eve was seeking? To be like God not knowing both good and evil when she was already fulfilled and lacked no good thing. This deception started in her heart before she reached out her hand to grab the fruit to bite into it. What was something that got to your heart that convinced you food could distract you to the point of satisfaction? Mine was the shame I had dealt with from a family member who mistreated me growing up and feeling attacked used to cause me to make food a comfort. Anxiousness, boredom, and the fear of being alone and having to face certain memories used to be a trigger as well. I had been in a new unexpected season in my life, and access to things I didn’t have before was now available to me, which was a blessing, but the unfamiliarity with it along with open wounds didn’t go well together. I’m, talking about a cabinet full of any snacks I wanted anytime I wanted to eat them. The thing was these were healthy foods but my addiction to them where not healthy. Can I tell you something though? Once the addiction broke off, I didn’t care for these things not at much, sometimes not at all. It’s like the mesmerizing effect of food broke off completely, I no longer felt like I was missing out on life when I was not eating, and neither was I as bored, complaining, and getting frustrated with God that I needed him to “bless me” and “shift me” into something new in my life. I realized I needed to learn that what God has given me is good and to be content with that. He gave me what I asked for but according to His ways and thoughts. The darkness being exposed was Him blessing me and the deliverance was Him shifting me.

I realized I had an issue when I found myself eating something almost every hour, thinking about food almost all the time from the time that I woke up, during my devotion to the Lord, to the time I went to sleep. I would also be thinking about what I was going to eat next while I was eating something! I was eating while full, constantly overeating, and would get sad knowing that my hours to eat were about to come to an end because I needed to go to sleep, I remember it had gotten to the point that I did not know if I was hungry or not, it had gotten to the point that I would eat to “prevent my self from getting hungry”. I would get angry with a close loved one of mine if I felt like they interfered with the times I get to eat and even take it out on God, like woah. Like, how exhausting is all that? Where you are missing out on living your life because you have been convinced that food makes up your life? I’m here to tell you what the Lord told me during this process of setting me free, you are not your sins, so now it’s time to destroy those sins. You are not your temptations and you have the power and strength through Christ Jesus to resist those same temptations. Many times we look in the mirror or even think about ourselves and feel so disgusted with what we did, how we look, and even what we did to others. Jesus is not looking at you like that but through the power of His love, he knows you and wants to transform you into what you look like in His eyes, not other people’s eyes, or even your own. First, it must start with your heart and your mind, and the way you do that is by asking Him to help you because you can not do this in your strength. This is a key factor to hold on to during your process of breaking free from food addiction, the enemy is restless trying to keep us bound. He is going to try to convince you that you can not do it, that because you fell into temptation during the process God is not going to help you, or that you are hopeless, and possibly if this is a generational issue that It won’t stop with you. Sister! (or brother) stand up and say to the devil that THE BLOOD OF JESUS SAYS OTHERWISE! THAT ROMANS 8:28, GENESIS 50:20, AND JOHN 8:36 DECLARES OTHERWISE! And when the Lord has spoken it can not be overturned. Bind up the spirit of deception and any feelings you have contradicting what God has said, and go and possess your freedom, it awaits you.

Before we continue I would like to pray for you but also encourage you that Jesus has already prayed for you to be successful in this and in this life period in John 17 (I was encouraging myself with this prayer yesterday for something else, the fact that Lord himself prayed for us is powerful and gracious, thank Him when you read it)

Dear Lord heavenly father, I come to you presenting the blood of the sacrificial Lamb Jesus Christ that washes all our sins away, breaks down strongholds, brings forth protection, and cleanses our bloodline. I pray for my brothers and sisters in Christ as an intercessor and repairer of the breach and declare they shall be set free by your Son who has the power to set people free indeed, completely, and permanently. I ask that you strengthen them Lord Jesus according to your word in Phillippians 4:13 and not that you just strengthen them physically, but spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. That they have the strength and faith to see it through and be set free by the power of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you Lord this is not impossible for you to do and it is not even a hard thing for you to do. Help them, Lord. Let them know that you are not condemning them but walking right there with them, helping them to live correctly. May the strength you give them not just endure in the process of being set free from gluttony but last forever. May you heal them of any open wounds, mend broken hearts, cleanse and restore their bloodlines, and restore them as well as their sight to see themselves as you do. May they love you, love your will, and love the life you bless them with. I ask for abundant grace and mercy that will keep them Lord. Thank you Jesus that it is already done according to your word in 1 John 5:14. I pray this for your daughters and sons, in Jesus’ name Amen.

One of the things the Lord had me to work on is loving myself. The negative words I heard in my life before this issue formed had taken root in my heart and taken over my vision, so I hated myself. I didn’t realize it but I thought I was one of the most shameful beings on this planet and the Lord had to deliver me to see that was a lie. I felt rejected and even rejected myself before other people could. I had nothing to do because God commanded me to rest in that season, so one of the things I would distract myself with was food, I had left the environment I grew unexpectedly and suddenly (but God was behind it all), and backlash and fear of what people were thinking crippled me. Gluttony was a fruit of what had been crippling me before I ran to food to be my refuge but thank God that no matter what, Psalm 91 verse 2 never changed. “I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” Thank God that no matter what He remains our refuge and fortress, so though we may have been deceived for a moment, because He is the covenant-keeping God, he becomes the refuge for those who dwell in the secret place even if we don’t always get it right and that’s what brought forth my deliverance.

How to overcome gluttony:

This kind can only come out of praying and fasting. Gluttony is a strong spirit that has been a stronghold for a long time. It led to the first sin committed, birthrights being sold, leading people to make their bellies their Gods and even causing people not to complete fast to seek the Lord. It takes the full power of God to be able to do His work without anything interrupting it so that He can give revelations that will heal you and set you free.

Repentance. Repent for idolatry of food, pain, discomfort, or anything that caused you not to allow The Holy Spirit to be your comforter. The Bible tells us this in John 14:26, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” Another translation says, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.’’ Know and put to practice the Holy Spirit being your comforter, your friend, and the one you revere. You can declare that the Holy Spirit is your good friend and comforter, treat the Holy Spirit as that no matter how you feel, and ask the Holy Spirit to help you become a better friend toward Him. This will help you walk in true repentance no longer grieving the Holy Spirit, but instead pleasing Him. You will see how your delighting yourself in the Lord will grow and because of that, the joy of the Lord will strengthen you. The verse after verse 26 leads to our next point.

Declare the peace of God over your life. In John 14:27 it says, “27 Peace I leave with you, The peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Know that God has given you His peace for your mind, and heart, and for your life, he has given you peace with this battle with breaking this addiction because He has already won it on your behalf. You just have to push through enough to see the victory in the end. Declare you have peace of mind, heart, and a peaceful life in Jesus’ name. How you approach things will begin to look different once you have the peace of God ruling in your heart.

Find scriptures to speak over your heart and mind and declare that is the new direction you are going in.

Learn to love yourself God’s way. 1. Is because by loving yourself God’s way will stand no matter what, you don’t need someone else to validate it for you because you get your validation from the Lord Jesus and the word of God. Can Jesus stop being victorious on His throne (the answer is an everlasting no), so that means His love will never cease. We are reminded over and over again in Psalm 136 that God’s love endures forever. We are told in 1 Corinthians 13, that love is unconditional and endures through every circumstance. Declare Psalm 139 over yourself daily during your days of fasting and praying or until your breakthrough comes through.

Declare that you are not a slave to gluttony and that your God is not your belly but the Lord Jesus Christ.

Cast out whatever spirits and things the Holy Spirit is Highlighting to you. For example, spirit of gluttony and all gluttonous habits I cast you out and command you to never return in Jesus’ name. This can be the same for generational spirits, the spirit of addiction, pride, shame, guilt, rejection, fear, fear of missing out, etc.

Declare and practice the Holy Spirit being your comforter. Vent to the Holy Spirit, tell Him your pain and sorrows, he can help you. What the Holy Spirit is highlighting to you during this process bring it back to Him and ask for His help. Have conversations with the Holy Spirit, His advice is the truth, he is the ultimate counselor.

Create boundaries on times when you do eat, do not exceed past 3 times a day, and make sure what you are eating is not destroying your body. I find that the more unhealthy we eat, the more we eat. Eating snacks or getting fast food may seem more convenient but they do not fill your belly nor fuel your body like it should. Learn how to eat when you are hungry and don’t neglect your body of food either because you feel like you can go on without eating all day, you can eat something light but outside of fasting, you need to make sure your body is being properly nourished.

Ask God to help you. Though you want to begin having healthy habits you need to ask God to change how you think and to make your heart pure. This will help you not idolize food, become gluttonous, or starve yourself out of fear and shame of going back. Cast down that lie in Jesus’ name, no matter what declare John 8:36, that who the Son of God sets free, is free indeed. It does not matter what you are tempted with, declare in the enemy’s face that you are free. Don’t get weary, it may be tough at times but know God gives us grace that makes it easy, you just have to have faith in that.

This is so important:

Do not get discouraged or think that you are a failure just because temptation comes to try to make you eat. The enemy is just trying to make you condemn yourself and make you fall into the trap of doing it. It’s like demonic reverse psychology. It’s his trick to get you back. This is the same for if you are struggling with contradicting emotions to make you lose your discipline. This can be guilt, anxiousness, shame, loneliness, etc. Keep fighting with scripture, keep praying, and keep resisting. Declare that since you are resisting the devil he must flee (James 4:7).

Do not feel like because you fasted and prayed concerning this you should be so mature in fighting this issue that it’s dumb of you to rely on the Holy Spirit anymore. You are not a burden to the Holy Spirit that is exactly why we have Him in us. We can’t even deny a cookie that we are tempted by without the help of the Holy Spirit whether we know it or not. The Holy Spirit was sent to guide us and teach us, that is His Job (John 14:26).

I know I’ve mentioned this before but it is a tool in overcoming. Be in constant communication with the Holy Spirit. Let Him know how you feel, whether you feel it’s beyond your strength, tempted, angry, or sad, let him know what thoughts are coming to your mind. Did someone make you feel uncomfortable and now you want to eat? Surrender that to the Holy Spirit. Have patience for how the Lord is working in you and will see how speedily He set you free. Though it may not feel like it in the moment, it’s honestly supernatural.

When you fall into temptation you have the power to stop. Many times we think “I already started, so I might as well keep going” because we think it’s too late to stop but that too is a lie. It is okay to stop and instead of condemning yourself for what you started to do, thank God that he stopped you from continuing. Many times we continue because we feel shameful but don’t want to face that. Pray, repent, cast down shame and pride, and surrender it to the comforter, the Holy Spirit. If you are triggered by something give that to God, he did not cast you off for falling.

God has given His grace to overcome, so do not take that for granted. Yes God is extremely merciful and willing to help but if you are not even trying to break free, falling every time, and just doing whatever, God has no grace for that because you are not walking with Him but according to what you want the majority of the time.

There is a video I would like to recommend watching that helped me before I started the fast, by Vlad Savchuk titled “Breaking the stronghold of food: Conquering food addiction”. I only watched it once, however, the message and revelation are still bearing good fruit in my life.

There are still times, I am applying these methods, binding up and casting out the spirit of gluttony and addiction and casting down gluttonous thoughts not because I’m bound but because I am maintaining my deliverance and so I encourage you to do the same to protect your freedom.

I pray all this is effective and bless you all eternally. God bless you in Jesus name.

P.S. There is a possibility that I could be making updates to this blog as the Holy Spirit leads please subscribe to our newsletter for updates.

Also, If you would like to accept the love of God and His son, Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, or even if you have backslidden and want to return to the Lord, Here’s a prayer to guide you.

“ God almighty, I come before you to accept your love, to no longer reject you and what you have done for me. I choose to stop running from you and to finally stop rejecting myself of your love. Thank you for dying for me Lord Jesus, thank you for taking on my sins and shame. Thank you, Lord, that you became a curse for me so that I would no longer be bound by them but set free by your blood that was shed for me. Thank You for making yourself available to me, as a friend, father, Lord, God, helper, comforter, savior, and all the good things I need in my life. Jesus, I love you and ask you to help me keep loving you like how you want me to. I accept you completely as my Lord and savior, not what this world and demons have presented to me. Now I declare in the both spiritual and physical realms, that I no longer belong to Satan nor his Kingdom but according to Colossians 1:13, God has delivered me from the kingdom of darkness and has placed me in the Kingdom of light, where Jesus Christ is, I declare I belong to Jesus Christ and I now seat with Him In heavenly places. I rebuke all demonic retaliation in me making this decision and come into agreement with a sound mind in Jesus' name. I repent, renounce, denounce, and divorce myself from all the sins I’ve committed (list what you can remember) and break the evil covenants associated with them, and I declare once again I am a part of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. In Jesus' name, I pray and seal this prayer in His blood, Amen.”

Hallelujah! Congratulations if you made this decision. I pray that you prevail in your walk in the Lord, that forces of darkness continue to fail concerning you, and that the forces of light continue to persevere and propel you in the name of Jesus. 

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