A former porn star-turned-pastor has shared tips for overcoming pornography addiction and encouraged those struggling to remember that God is powerful enough to heal even the strongest of addictions.
Brittni De La Mora, previously known by her stage name Jenna Presley, recently penned a powerful blog post in which she acknowledged that porn addiction is a "taboo" subject to address because it's glorified in the world and ignored in the Church.
"Whether you're a male or female, if you are addicted to porn, you are not alone," she said. "The Adult Industry is a multibillion dollar industry for a reason."
De La Mora, who performed in hundreds of films before finding Jesus and leaving the porn industry, said that like any addiction, pornography is an escape from boredom and pain.
"Addiction can bring forth an external euphoria that makes one forget about their internal trauma," she said. "Have you ever been heartbroken? Have you ever been rejected? Have you ever felt unloved or unlovable? Has it been challenging for you to truly forgive and let go of the pain that person has caused you? Because often a broken heart is most susceptible to an addiction."
When one's heart is in pain, it's natural to look for healing, she said. But far too often, people look for healing in the wrong places.
"Pornography will not cure a heartache, only Jesus can do that," De La Mora asserted, and shared a prayer for those seeking help to overcome their addiction.
"Father, I am powerless over this addiction, but you are not. I ask that you would forgive me of my sins and heal my broken heart," reads the prayer. "Right now, I forgive all whom have hurt me. Jesus, I make you my Lord and Savior and I pray that you would transform me and restore my purity and innocence to me. I command the spirit of addiction and lust to leave my life now in Jesus name. Lord I thank you because 2 Corinthians 5:17 calls me a new creation in Christ. The old has passed away and the new has come for me. I am a new creation. I am not a product of my past nor my mistakes. In Jesus name, Amen."
The former porn star then shared several tips for those seeking to heal and "walk in the victory that Christ has given you."
1 "Get plugged into Church - Make friendships by serving in Ministry. If you're new to all of this, send me a message & someone from my team can help you out.
2 Read the Bible - everyday. Pray - everyday. Worship with song - everyday. Google Hillsong United they have great worship music.
3 If you want stability, then you need accountability. Ask someone to hold you accountable (a leader in the Church would be a great choice.)
4 Check out https://www.xxxchurch.com they have a system that will block you from going onto pornographic websites.
5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlkEyZb7d2A&t=11s - This is a great grace filled message, check it out.
6 Do Not feel ashamed. Jesus died to give us freedom over our mistakes so don't allow your mistakes to hold you as a prisoner to your past. Walk into your future, and if you slip up, don't beat yourself up. Just get back up again."
According to statistics uncovered by the White Shadow Films docu-series, "Ten Million Throwaways", a new porn video is uploaded to the internet every 39 minutes. Yearly, the porn industry generates $32 billion, with $3,000 spent on internet porn every second.
A 2016 study from Josh McDowell Ministries in collaboration with the Barna Group found that nearly half of young people are actively seeking pornography weekly or more frequently. More than one-in-four individuals between the ages of 25 and 30 first viewed pornography before hitting puberty.
Sadly, the epidemic doesn't exclude the Christian community: the survey also found that 21 percent of youth pastors and 14 percent of pastors involved in the study are currently struggling with porn use.
In May, Christian apologist Josh McDowell expressed a belief that pornography's impact on the brain is akin to a mixture of both cocaine and heroin.
"Cocaine is a stimulant - you shoot it up, and it stimulates you," McDowell said, according to The Christian Post. "[And] heroin is an opiate, which means it brings you down."
The pastor said that unfortunately, most kids - some as young as five - will fall prey to the harmful effects of porn. To fight this rampant issue, McDowell urged Churches nationwide to discuss porn addiction with parishioners.
"If pastors don't wake up and Christian leaders ... [don't] do something - and I mean radical - then the devastating consequences [for] our children will be upon the shoulders and conscience of those pastors," he said.
