- Worst thing an alcoholic

and addict can have is plentyof time, plenty of money.

When you're riding around on a brand new

Harley picking up $70,000 checks,

it's real hard to admityou have a problem.

- [Reporter] Jay Halmanstruggled with alcoholism

and addiction for over 30 years.

He says the cycles of addiction

and rebellion started early in his life.

He was raised in a Christian home but saw

other kids having more fun andfelt like he was missing out.

- I say I fell in withthe wrong crowd, I didn't.

I searched them out, I found them.

And immediately started smoking marijuana.

I had met a girl, we started dating,

and started cutting school.

So our parents basicallyforbid us to see each other.

So our solution was to just run away

and do, I just wanted todo what I wanted to do.

- [Reporter] Away from home,his substance abuse escalated

and so did his criminal activity.

- We started stealing, breaking in houses

to support our drug habit and have money.

- [Reporter] His actions landed him

in juvenile detention for nine months.

Jay soon realized thiswasn't the life he wanted.

- I was not cut out for prison.

I did not want somebodyturning off my lights.

That was not what it looked like on TV.

This ain't cool, this ain't fun.

And I was determined todo whatever I had to do

which meant not break the law.

[Reporter] For the next 30 years,

he worked hard and had aprosperous career as a contractor

but Jay still struggledto find satisfaction.

- As I was pursuing thisstuff, it didn't make me happy

so I would say, "Ah,I need a bigger house.

"I need a little more land,I need a prettier wife,

"I need some more money.

"That's not my problem,this is my answer."

But when I would get that,I would be happy for a day,

a week, or whatever, andthen it was like, what next?

- [Reporter] Despite his success,

Jay continued to feel empty.

- I did what I needed to during the day

and by three or four o'clock,I just wanted to escape.

So I started abusing prescription drugs

with alcohol to get me to just oblivion.

I just didn't want to feel,I didn't want to think.

I ain't gonna say I wanted to die,

but I didn't care if I lived.

- [Reporter] He eventuallybecame verbally abusive

towards his wife.

As the relationship unraveled,

for the first time since he was a child,

Jay cried out to God for help.

- I said, "God, get my attention.

"Help me, help me figureout what's wrong with me

"and then help me do something about it."

- [Reporter] Soon after that prayer,

Jay's wife had enough and left him.

He was devastated and triedto drink the pain away.

Jay says that's when Godfinally got his attention.

- I drank for a few days, got really drunk

and then just a voice in my head,

which I know is God, justsimply laid it upon my heart is,

"Do you think drinkingcould be your problem?

"Do you think maybeyou're drinking too much?"

And so I decided, "Okay,this is what I'll do.

"I'll cut down, I'll just drink beer,

"I'll just drink a couple beers."

I only did that for like of night.

There again, a voice, I know it was God,

clear as day said, "You'renot going to be able

"to do it like that, Jay, you're not.

"You will fail, you willgo right back to it.

"If you want to quit, you gotta do it."

So I woke up that morning,

I got rid of all thealcohol in the refrigerator,

dumped all the liquor down thesink and I said, "I'm done."

- [Reporter] Even thoughthe alcohol was gone,

the pain wasn't.

- I was just in mental distress.

I felt like it was surreal,

not drinking and notknowing, and the fear.

And I needed some consoling,and something said,

"Hey man, turn on CBN."

The lady was prayingand asked if you wanted

to give your life back to God.

And I knew that was my only choice.

So I said a prayer rightthere on my living room floor

and I asked God to come in my life.

And He did.

And I ain't gonna say it wasimmediate peace and comfort,

but I felt like I had a chance.

- [Reporter] After that day,

Jay never returned to his old lifestyle.

He began attending Alcoholics Anonymous,

where he grew in his faithand understanding of God.

- He let me find outwhat was wrong with me

as I was a godless alcoholic.

And He gave me the solution.

He showed me, He led me to the rooms

of Alcoholics Anonymous.

He led me to the church.

And through that, I got a fellowship

of Christian people that are trying

to live a different way, that support me,

that I can go to, thathave helped me heal.

- [Reporter] Now Jay can see clearly

how God is working in his life.

- He's the only good in me.

If I'm kind, loving, thoughtful,then I'm expressing God.

If I'm mean, hateful,blaming, judging, arguing,

retaliating, then that's the selfishness.

I'm not portraying God in me.

Today, he serves in his church

and leads an Alcoholics Anonymousgroup at a local prison.

- The lifestyle I lived, I should be dead.

And a lot of people that lived it are.

I'm so thankful God spoke to my heart

and rescued me from the prison of self

and alcoholism that I was in.

I'm thankful that He showedme a different way to live.