Tammy Carnevale has been a member of Faithful Finish Lines 2.0 since January of 2020 and has lost 125 so far, bringing her starting weight of 349 pounds down to 224 pounds. She also manages her Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia with the tools she has learned in FFL program. Her passion is to use her writing and her own experience to help and support other women on their own weight loss journeys and managing chronic illness.
Use this prayer for gluttony as a powerful tool to overcome overeating and help you on your journey to better health and spiritual well-being.
Gluttony is a word that brings up so much shame and embarrassment. It is often referred to as one of the seven deadly sins, and it’s easy to see why.
Looking around our world and our culture, it’s easy to see that overeating is a widespread problem. When you really dive into the deep roots of overeating, you will see that the destruction goes so much deeper than just gaining weight from eating too much food.
Overeating is not just a habit problem. It affects your health, your relationship, your character, and so much more.
I know because I’ve lived through that destruction myself.
At 349 pounds, I didn’t want to hear the word gluttony, but I knew I was struggling greatly with food. I turned to food to fix my boredom, my stress, my overwhelm, and just about every other negative emotion I felt.
I didn’t want to be chained to food, but I didn’t know another way to cope.
And the word “gluttony” just made me squirm and seemed far too excessive to be accurate for me, but was it? Let’s take a deeper look at exactly what gluttony is and how it affects us.
Understanding Gluttony
Gluttony is “habitual greed or excess eating.”
Habitual is the key word here. Not a few times a year, but ongoing and pervasive overeating.
Gluttony in biblical times was reserved for the rich, as others simply could not afford to eat excessively.
Now, in our current day, with fast food restaurants on every corner, ready-made foods available in grocery stores, all-you-can-eat buffets, and even food delivery services, overeating is incredibly easy.
This is especially true in America. I spent 2 years living in Germany, and upon my return to the States, I needed to buy food for my new home.
I went into the grocery store and stood in the frozen cereal aisle. There were so many choices that I didn’t know how to choose.
I could have chocolate for breakfast, chocolate in cereal or marshmallows, or any other food luxury. It was no longer a food luxury; it was my everyday choice.
Contrary to popular belief, overeating is not just a food issue or a habit issue. There is a reason that there are more diets and weight loss programs out there than ever, and it’s still not fixing the problem.
Because the problem lies deeper than just our desire to eat. It’s an issue that affects the core of our hearts.
Gluttony is a sin issue, not just a “don’t eat too much” issue.
And gluttony harms your physical, spiritual, and mental health.
My regular habit of overeating, yes, gluttony, brought my weight up to 349 pounds.
I ate constantly. Not only when I was hungry, but for any emotion. I ate for any occasion, and I ate even when I was full. I just kept eating.
I had high blood pressure, borderline diabetes, hypertriglyceridemia, and a history of heart palpitations.
I couldn’t walk up or down stairs, I couldn’t fit into most chairs, and I couldn’t squat or kneel. The pain I felt daily was not worth the distraction food gave me.
Not only did my physical life suffer, but my spiritual life suffered as well.
Sometimes, I wanted food so badly that I would lie to my family.
I remember my first husband blaming my son for taking his candy bar. My husband could keep a candy bar in the house for weeks before he ate it. I couldn’t.
I stood there as my husband raised his voice and as my son cried, saying he didn’t take it.
I knew it full well, so I took it.
The shame of my having to admit that I couldn’t leave his candy bar alone was so overwhelming that I couldn’t even save my son.
Even the deep love I had for my son wasn’t enough to break the chains of gluttony.
Years later, my now-husband bought a pack of Hershey bars and hid them. I found them and ate every single one. I couldn’t stop.
The shame was overwhelming. I tried to push the package way down in the garbage so that no one would find the evidence.
Yes, I loved the taste of food, but what I’m describing here isn’t a food problem. It’s a heart problem. I had unintentionally allowed food to become an idol in my life and in my heart.
This lying and deceit are sin problems. They got in the way of my relationship with God. They also got in the way of family relationships.
Food was more important to me than anything or anyone, even though I never would have said that was true at the time.
Can you relate? If your desire for food is tempting you to hide your eating, lie about how much you ate, or steal food from others, please know you are not alone.
God warns us against gluttony, not because it is an arbitrary rule, but because He loves you so much and He knows it truly can destroy you, one bite at a time.
“A discerning son heeds instruction, but a companion of gluttons disgraces his father.” -Proverbs 28:7
God’s instructions in Scripture are written to guide and protect us, not to take good things away from us.
There is hope. It is important for us to remember:
“For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes.” – Luke 12:23
It is important to also remember:
“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.” – 1 Corinthians 6: 19-20
Our bodies are the Lords, and this is good news. God gave His only Son as a living sacrifice for us all.
He will help us and give us the strength to endure. As 2 Timothy tells us:
“For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline”. – 2 Timothy 1:7
God has given us strength, love, and self-discipline. One powerful way to lean into His strength and love is through prayer.
Prayer for Gluttony
Prayer is so important. It addresses our heart issue of unintentionally worshiping food above the healthy boundaries we know we should have in our lives.
Praying regularly is a transformative practice and power. Prayer is not a quick fix. One prayer, one time, will not solve all.
Work prayer into your daily routine. Pray:
- Upon waking, for strength and endurance.
- Before each meal, ask God to bless the food and help you be satisfied.
- In the evening to thank God for the day and to pray for continued strength.
Here is a prayer you can say to seek God’s help in breaking the chains of gluttony.
Dear Heavenly Father,
I realize that eating has become a true obsession with me, and I see the damage that this gluttony is doing to my body and to my relationships, including my relationship with you, Lord.
I ask for your help to break this craving for food and to remember that in all things, including my eating habits, my life should glorify You.
Help me Lord, to be wise in my food choices, and I pray that You will show me when and how to eat.
Lord, I know that when you are put in Your proper place in my life, everything else, including my desire for food, will also be put in the right perspective.
Help me Lord, and guide me to take stock of my eating habits and to break this pattern of overeating.
I give you all the praise and glory.
In Jesus’ name I pray.
Amen.
Finding Freedom from Gluttony
Gluttony is not a shameful word, it is a warning from God. A warning that this obsession can harm you.
He wants you to heal and live a life free of chains that bind.
“Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.” – Psalms 2: 3
Praying throughout the day will release those chains and draw you closer to God.
Making God the center of my weight-loss journey was not an easy feat. I tried saying a prayer, and I know God heard, but I didn’t feel different immediately.
I had tried every diet program on the market, and then one day, while praying, I felt that I should Google Christian diet programs. I followed God’s lead but didn’t think it would make any difference. After all, it would be just another diet program.
I found Faithful Finish Lines. They weren’t just another diet program. How did I know?
I went on Facebook and watched a pre-recorded video of one of their calls with women and they prayed. They read Scripture and prayed on their call.
I knew this was from God and He was leading me. He was answering my prayer.
I joined. While money was tight God showed me where I could find the money in my budget, and I knew this would be worth more than any money I could spend.
I dove into the teachable lessons and stages of Faithful Finish Lines and found God in every practical piece of advice. Yes, some of the teaching I had heard before, but not with God at the center.
They were honest with me, that this was gluttony, a sin, not just me wanting food.
The way to overcome was through Christ.
My relationship with God began to deepen, and I started to feel peace.
God then did something I never expected. He started to lead me to realize that, for me, I needed weight loss tools in addition to this diet program.
I was healing my sin problem, and now I needed physical help while still following all the guidelines of Faithful Finish Lines.
As happens with God, everyone around me started to mention the weight-loss tool of bariatric surgery. No, I would never have surgery.
God gently kept insisting. Then, on one of the live Facebook calls for Faithful Finish Lines, they began talking about weight loss medications and surgery and that people need different tools and that these tools are acceptable with their program.
I couldn’t ignore this any longer. I started my journey toward surgery, not leaving Faithful Finish Lines behind.
At this point, I had advanced through all the stages, and my relationship with God was mending and strengthening every day.
I had surgery in March of 2023. The surgery was successful, and I have had no complications.
The Faithful Finish Lines team has been so supportive and has cheered me on as I lose weight and as I strengthen my relationship with God even further.
Since I made God the center of my weight-loss journey, I have lost 140 pounds. I have 30 pounds more to lose, and God will be by my side all the time.
Could I have lost without God, just with surgery? Probably, but my gluttony would not have gone away.
Gluttony is not just overeating; it is a sin issue that needs to be worked through with God.
I would have been one who loses weight and just gains it back, as many do, even with surgery. But…
I no longer have a problem with gluttony. I have God given freedom and peace.
I encourage you to:
- Join Faithful Finish Lines 2.0, a Christian weight loss program that has practical and spiritual guidance to overcome gluttony.
- Read Pastor Vladimir’s How to Overcome Gluttony for further information.
- Create a habit where prayer is part of your daily time at many points of your day.
Do You Long to Lose Weight and Honor God with Your Body?
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