"At a certain point in the drinking of every alcoholic, he passes into a state where the most powerful desire to stop drinking is of absolutely no avail." --Alcoholics Anonymous, top of page 24
In recovery, we often hear people say that we must forsake our old friends and hangouts in favor of new friends and new playpens. This is suggested so that we are not tempted to fall back into our old ways of thinking and living. This is a New Testament principle as well...
"Many of us had moral and philosophical convictions galore, but we could not live up to them even though we would have liked to. Neither could we reduce our self-centeredness much by wishing or trying on our own power. We had to have God's help." (Alcoholics Anonymous, Chapter Five, page 62)