Why Is It So Hard to Spend Time With God When I'm Struggling With Porn?

You know prayer matters. You know Scripture matters. You know spending time with Jesus is good for you. You may genuinely want a deeper relationship with God, yet still find yourself avoiding Him, putting it off, or filling your time with everything else.

In this episode of the Secret Habit Podcast, Shawn Bonneteau explores a deeper question: what if the reason you avoid God isn't simply laziness or a lack of discipline?

Shawn introduces the idea of a core belief and the motivational lie attached to it. A core belief might sound like, “I'm a failure” or “I'm not enough.” The motivational lie then tells you what you need to do to avoid feeling that way - work harder, achieve more, prove yourself, stay busy, or become successful.

Shawn uses his own story to show how this can affect a man's relationship with God. Even when someone appears successful on the outside, the motivation underneath can still be driven by fear and the need to prove something.

In porn recovery, this matters because you can end up approaching God from a place of “I should” rather than relationship. The goal isn't simply to add another spiritual habit to your schedule. It's to understand what your heart believes it needs and begin bringing those deeper longings into your relationship with Jesus.

In this episode, we explore:

• Why you avoid spending time with God even when you know you should
• What core beliefs are and how they shape your behavior
• What a core motivational lie is
• How performance and fear can affect your relationship with God
• Why knowing what you should do doesn't always lead to action
• How this connects to pornography recovery
• How to move from striving and performance toward greater trust in Jesus

Take the next steps with your recovery:

*Take the free Heart Hunger Clarity Quiz
⁠https://secrethabit.ca/quiz/⁠

*Download the Freedom Foundations Recovery Guide
Work through Shawn’s 14-episode teaching series covering pornography recovery, the inner world, emotional maturity, faith, and lasting freedom.
⁠https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tilH7mi7A2WV9vW6kvSMW0Api8P_QWbs/view?usp=drive_link⁠

*Get in touch about coaching
Have another idea for how you'd like to get started with coaching? Reach out directly.
⁠https://secrethabit.ca/contact/⁠

Disclaimer:

The Secret Habit Podcast is for educational and informational purposes only. Shawn Bonneteau provides coaching, not psychotherapy, counseling, medical care, or psychological diagnosis or treatment. This podcast is not a substitute for professional mental health or medical care. Please seek support from an appropriately qualified professional for clinical or medical concerns.

Secret Habit Podcast | Spending Time With God | Porn Recovery | Christian Men | Christian Discipleship | Porn Addiction Recovery | Prayer and Porn Addiction | Relationship With God | Heart Hunger | Christian Porn Recovery | Quit Porn