Here is what works for me: Sit quietly when the thoughts are at their worst. Hand over each one to Jesus, asking him to replace the lie in it with his truth. Every sinful, unhelpful thought is founded on a lie. Then, when you receive the truth, meditate on it instead of on the lie. Do not entertain fantasies; they are false and lead only to pain and death. Do this until the urges pass. It may take a long time at first, but processing unhelpful thoughts this way becomes nearly automatic and instantaneous after long practice. I believe this is in part what the Scripture means when it instructs us to pray without ceasing.
Thank you. Too often I start to entertain the fantasies. Focusing on truth is good, too, instead of just trying to avoid thinking of anything bad. I need truth to fix my mind on. Every moment like this is an opportunity for prayer. Merry Christmas, by the way.
Today was a wonderful Christmas. I hope everyone was able to spend time with their family. Our Savior came to us to live and die for us and save us from our sins, including the kinds we all struggle with and confide in one another about on this site. Thank you Jesus for saving me and making me new, even if that process takes a little while on this Earth. Thank you for your everlasting patience and love. Thank you for renewing my mind, piece by piece, and guiding me to better habits and strategies I didn't know before. Thank you for the wonderful people here and for all the support and advice they have given. Please continue to work in me and through me. Please bring healing to those who are hurting from PMO and do not know how they are harming themselves. Please bring healing to those who are hurting from PMO and do not where to begin to change, or do not want to. Please open their eyes and help them find You. Amen. Happy Birthday, Lord Jesus.
I don't believe in the idea of "once saved, always saved" but I understand this is a bone of contention between faiths and I don't wish to dwell on such points in this forum. As far as combating intrusive thoughts, I have a few suggestions. If it is just a passing thought, I have found help in repeating a short phrase like: "Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory". If it is a lingering thought, more prayer is required. Sitting in a quiet place and sharing the ugly thought with the Holy Spirit for a few minutes is often helpful. He knows already what is in your mind but sharing the gory details with Him and asking Him to fight the temptation for you can be very helpful. If this is a strong temptation, I have found that contemplating each step of Christ's passion to be a cure that never fails. Begin with the Agony in the Garden and walk with Him every step of the way through His death on the cross. Put yourself into the scene, consider the sight, sounds, smells and emotions you would have. Consider how each bit of torture He endured was in atonement for our sins, past, present and future. This sort of praying while contemplating a bible scene, known as Lectio Devina, never fails to stop me from committing another sin. The devil may tell you that you don't have time for this but in truth you always do.
Thank you very much for this. I find this to be a useful strategy as well. Painful as it is to imagine Christ's suffering, it's a form of discipline as well. His death is what our sin costs. Even if we disagree on the previously mentioned topic, I still see God's wisdom in your words and I believe God is working through all of us as we have the shared goal of ridding ourselves of this horrible sin and walking on God's path. Thank you for your respect and advice and I respect your views as my brother in Christ. But we can move all that fun debatable stuff aside moving forward of course!
Yesterday, I had a terribly strong temptation and I had an opportunity to act on it. However, I reflected on Christ's suffering, how He died and rose for me to made anew... and that slowed it. Ate some dinner, splashed my face with water, did some chores, got into a different rhythm and headspace. I had to get mad at my thoughts and tell them off. I know how miserable they always make me when they act on them. I don't want to keep repeating the same pitfalls! I am happy to say I overcame the temptation, with God's help, and made it another day clean. I think it's important to share small victories on here as well. Only sharing failures brings down the mood! P.S... it's funny how when the temptation passes you realize just how much you don't miss it. Funny how the Devil lies in the moment and tells you you're missing out, then eventually you find that you really didn't miss out on anything but misery and wasted time?
You are very wise. It is tempting to debate the differences between denominations but we achieve little or nothing in such posts. When our judgement day comes, Christ will reveal our hearts to us. We are Christians and the most important thing, love of Our Precious Lord by loving one another is His bedrock message; doctrinal arguments will pale in importance.
So true! This morning I was tempted. It would have been so easy to give in. Instead, I came here and read your posts. Much better!
This thread has been a great source of encouragement to me on a few different levels. Thanks to all involved.
Hearing that this has been an encouragement to you both made me tear up this morning as I came here after an unfortunate reset. I never reset in the morning but today was different. Maybe it’s because my work shift starts later today and I had more time to lay around and let those thoughts come in while I’m drowsy. Each reset humbles me, like I’m a baby learning to walk and I keep falling just when I think I have it figured out. If only I had held out long enough to see your responses beforehand. It would have encouraged me as well in that moment I am still fighting! I’m not giving up. I should seriously consider making this forum/site a pit stop in the morning to read over or post in as the start to my day and be reminded of what my goals are. God, please help me fix my mind on You, help me develop better habits and start every day with prayer and thanks to you for another day. Help me navigate these new temptations and their ways of getting into my head. With each obstacle that I dodge, a new unfamiliar one emerges. Give me discernment and the self-control to say “No!”
Daily visits to this forum, to help and be helped, has been a big bit of encouragement and restraint for me. In addition to this, I have found that listening to the Bible on tape or other religious texts while I go about my day has greatly decreased the intensity of temptations.
I start and end the central part of my day with recovery work that includes a visit here. It is something I always look forward to. We are stronger together!
It was nice to spend some free time in the forums today connecting with people and reading inspiring advice. I wonder how much progress I missed out on just lurking for years using the reset counter and logging off. But I’ve grown up more since then. All I can focus on is the progress now. Thank you all for your support and engagement.
I have a similar lament. I have wasted so much time and energy following my own selfish and foolish desires instead of submitting to God's will. Would that my desire to do God's will would complete overtake my desire to do anything less.
Happy New Year to everyone! Let’s make this year a good one. A fresh start and opportunity to feel great with longer streaks and better progress (maybe even a streak that lasts the whole year? We’ll pray and see). Hope everyone is doing well and feeling somewhat refreshed after the busy holidays.
Happy New Year to you, as well! I plan to take 2024 one day at a time. The good days will pile up in no time!
Almost had a reset today, far too close for my liking. I stopped in time to say to myself, "I can say no." Sometimes, it can be tempting to think that when we have toying with the idea of MO for long enough, we are already too far down the rabbit hole and we might as well reset. But the truth is, we can stop at any time even if our brain doesn't want us to. Stop your hands immediately and make the voice be quiet. You can move on and do something more productive. Any built-up feelings eventually subside. You may have to lay still and reflect for a little bit in case a sudden move like getting up accidentally triggers and unintentional O and so you have to reset... yes this can apparently happen. I made it another day. The year has just begun and it's already a battle!
This morning, I opened my favorite news site to find an alluring picture of scantily clad female in a report masquerading as news. I had a hard time turning my eyes away from the image but I closed that page and came to this forum. 99% of the time, this is a safe harbor from temptation and fortunately being tempted is not a sin although as you say, it is the slippery slope. It is said that God gives grace to us when we resist temptation. A supernatural kick in the pants. It gets the will and intellect moving. Congratulations to us both for our gift of grace. Let us make the most of it today and everyday.
Every tempting fantasy or opportunity to PMO is like a warm home-cooked meal from the enemy. It looks amazing from the outside, but it is laced with poison because he hates you and wants you to die. Why indulge in something when you know perfectly well its origin? It all comes from sin. There is no intention of leaving you undamaged. Hard to remember this at times, but it’s so important. I have to keep telling myself this. It’s not on God’s “no” list just because He said so. It is literally harmful! Not only to me but also to my husband, if I get married. God's rules protect us. If I know this, then I need to act like it.
