Prayer for gambling addictions

Winning a game or a lottery ticket can be an exhilarating experience. The odds have been in our favor, and we feel elated to have such luck. But oftentimes, one can become too drunk with winning, he soon forgets his worth as he bets it all for the prize. Gambling is tiptoeing upon shattered glass. Trusting that gut feeling and considering the slim probability, we allow ourselves to be in danger of losing everything rather than being rational in weighing the consequences. Gambling is a destructive vice. It can affect one’s physical and mental health. It can lead to unpayable debts. It can lead to the deterioration of one’s social circles, more importantly: the family.   

We offer this prayer for the strength to stop gambling. This prayer can be for ourselves in our effort to get out from underneath excessive gambling. Or we can make this prayer for those people suffering from gambling addiction whom we know are deep within its hold. We hope to get rid of this vicious vice. Entrusting our lives to luck provides no stability and will only bring anxiousness and hunger for fleeting gains. Let us set our eyes on heaven, brimming with riches and glories, hoping to obtain them by following God’s commandments and through His mercy and love.

Prayer to stop gambling

O Lord Jesus Christ,

Hear my prayer to quit gambling. Kindly grant me the grace to develop the virtue of temperance to bring myself out of this disastrous predicament. Leaving my life and future to probabilities and luck has left me empty, both in body and mind, as I restlessly chase the ephemeral fame of gaining the riches of the world. I have become lifeless from the multitude of winning and objects which gave me false security and fragile pride. May You help me, dear Jesus, to stop gambling and walk on the other path towards Your footsteps.

I am but a weak follower of Yours, Lord Jesus Christ. This agitated appetite for winning has brought me more losses than wins. It led me to the downfall of my financial stability as I ruthlessly wasted away all of my money and savings on such petty games. I have become indebted to many people and institutions only to satisfy the itch that I may win everything back to pay for all of it. Gambling has also affected my physical health as I leave out the basic needs of my body and bet more on the slim possibility of winning. I have wagered my mental health to gambling as I become more anxious about my surroundings and the people around me. I am reduced to a mere sensitive being, lacking any reason or conscience. I ask for forgiveness, a second chance in life with You, my Lord.  

I also bring this prayer for gambling addiction for those suffering from it. The losses that they have accumulated can never pay back what they had before. They might have lost all their savings, their jobs, or their relationships. Gambling has brought more harm to their lives than benefitting from it. Through Your unfailing grace, help us, Jesus, to rise up again. May we pick ourselves up and shake off the dust on our feet. May we learn to quit gambling and begin a new life following in Your footsteps. O sweet Jesus, change our hearts and transform our lives.

May my prayer to give up gambling be heard for my sake and for the transformation of those who are greatly troubled. I offer all of these in Jesus’ name,

Amen.  

Short prayer for gambling

Lord Jesus, change my heart and transform my life. May I be filled with Your unending grace to obtain the temperance of appetite and to stop gambling. Grant me freedom from my addiction so that I may praise and thank You forever more. Amen.

The Word of God

Those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.

1 Timothy 6:9-10 NRSVUE

Prayer to Saint Cajetan for gambling

O heavenly Saint Cajetan, I seek your gracious intercession for my great need. I long to obtain the grace of temperance to break myself from the agony and effects of uncontrolled gambling. Through your miraculous intercession, I hope to be gradually transformed by the graces conferred to me by God. I long to break free and to live once again as a child of God.

Gracious Saint Cajetan, your exemplary piety and unending generosity made you a bulwark of great faith and indifference to material possessions. During the period of crippling corruption within the church and her structures, you remained steadfast and faithful as a priest of God. Your adamant opposition to the prevailing corruption led to countless conversions and contributed to the maturity of the church. Allow me also to be transformed by your example and through God’s word.

Let this prayer to stop gambling reach those who are suffering from it. Kindly assist them in their path toward recovery and rebuilding their relationships. Continue to inspire them to remain patient and steadfast in following Jesus toward a new life with Him.

Saint Cajetan, patron saint of gamblers, pray for us.

Amen.

Further reflection

Working to acquire the wealth of the earth is inherently not a bad thing to do. It is what we do to sustain our life. We work to attain stability in life and to enjoy further the gift of life God has given us. This allows us to develop the virtue of perseverance amidst the challenges of life. Conversely, relying on luck and chance through gambling can lead to personal ruin and the collapse of our relationships.  

It is true that gambling can provide a kind of entertainment and of excitement in life. The thrilling suspense and the alluring rewards of winning a gamble. But for what it is worth will not benefit us in the future. Developing the virtue of temperance can help moderate our gambling. God has entrusted to us the wealth of the earth that we can continuously rely on him. Becoming fully dependent on the world’s riches will only stray us away from God.

May we continue to hope for what we are praying for. Let us strive to attain the virtue of temperance. The journey may seem a long and difficult one, but may we be reminded that we are walking with God. He will sustain us with His grace in times of temptation. He will strengthen us every day in facing the challenges of life. He will continue to love us even when we fall and fail. Allow this prayer to be the first step towards a new life with Christ. God longs to see all of His children gathered under His care, away from the punishing flames of hell. “As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from their ways and live.” (Ezekiel 33:11)