Addiction

[defender4Christ]

I am having a terrible addiction problem right now. I hav had it for about 6 years and I can’t break it. I pray constinly about it and I always ask people to pray for me, but I can’t break it. Could you guys give me some advise? And please pray for me. I really need the help.

 

[marty1818]

Christ says that some demons can only be cast out through prayer and fasting. St. Paul also says in 1 Corinthians 9:27 that we must chastise our bodies in order to conquer our desires. With this being said I would suggest fasting to go along with your praying. Try giving up something you desire like meat or sweets. You can also try fasting for a day once or twice a week on only water or bread and water. Along with this I would suggest going to confession at least once a month,however more often if you are in a state of mortal sin. Through the sacrament of penence you will receive the graces to eventually conquer this addiction.

God Bless,
matthew

 

[Pace]

geocities.com/Hollywood/2093/elephantman/

 

[SummaTheo]

Pray the rosary in front of the Blessed Sacrament and fast. You will see your life change.

 

[Bootoo]

Defender4Christ,

I certainly do know what you struggle with. I struggle with an addiction, too. It has been way more than 6 years, for me. I don’t even know, for sure, but I am thinking more than 20. So I have walked a mile, or more, in the same shoes you do. And I would be mightl glad to take off these shoes, and not walk in them any more.

I have been lucky, in some respects. Before the death of John Paul II, and the Papacy of Benedict 16, I was a cafeteria catholic. Didn’t know any better, didn’t really care to. Then, in some way, with the death of the Pope that meant so much to me without mu even realizing it, I think that the Holy Spirit really came into me for maybe the first time, and made me accept and love Pope Benedict, and all that the Church stands for. And I have been doing so much better, in so many ways,since that day. But this addiction still beats me down, no matter how many times God tries to pull me up out of it. And I do pray, many times a day, every day. And I pray more than I thought possible, in ways I thought not possible. And God does answer, and I still don’t listen. Last Sunday morning I got awakened at about 6AM with this thought in my mind ""If any of this means anything (meaning all of my newfound faith) then I must stop sinning!"I though maybe I would, and could, on that day, because I really realized how much I sin against God, by doing this sin that so much harms the body he gave me. And I thought that I would, and could, but still haven’t.

Thanks to those of you who recommended fasting. I have not thought of that before. I plan to start on that, first thing tomorrow morning, and plan to keep the fast until after I attend Vigil Mass on Saturday.

Defender4Christ, would you like to do this fast with me? I make so many promises, to God and everyone, and then break them so easily. Maybe we could help each other keep our promises.

I am tired of this, for sure. It is hard for me to say “I surrender” and mean it. But I am tired of this, for, sure, and maybe it is time to say it and mean it.

I think maybe tomorrow I will hate myself for being so honest here, but I think maybe it is here, and in this honesty, that I need to be.

 

[Lux_et_veritas]

Bootoo - congrats and never give up. I too was brought back out of my rather complacent Catholic life with the death of Pope John Paul and the rise of Pope Benedict. It seems there is an entire group of us who were prompted this way. Surely, it was a grace.

The fact that there is a desire to remove any sinful addiction is a grace, as well. God so much treasures a heart that wishes to be fully obedient and falls due to weakness, then one who thumbs their nose at a church teaching out of mere convenience and goes about their way unrepentant. It is better to put in a full and repeated effort to stop no matter how many times one falls. Never give up because this would be a form of hopelessness and despair. These are seeds of the devil and he hopes that they will grow into the rejection of God’s love and mercy. This is evident when we shy away from confession or church because we feel it is a lost cause. This itself, must be confessed - such hopelessness.

Sinful addictions have the tendency to weigh one down like a boat anchor. It is so very important to find a single confessor - one that you are comfortable with, who understands and accepts that you want to beat the addiction. Some confessors have gone to downplaying certain sinful habits and mitigating them away. While it is true that a forceful habit in itself can make the action venial, not mortal, it does not eliminate the need to work at stopping the action. Rather, we must try various things to help stop it. The first thing is frequent confession - as in, weekly. A good confessor will ask you to come back weekly when you tell him it is a forceful habit. DO tell him that you understand that sinful habits can be venial due to the force of the habit, but that you want help in stopping the habit. If he seems complacent about it, find another confessor.

Prayer is the second thing. Go to Mass daily when you can. Say the Rosary daily as Jesus can refuse nothing that comes through His mother. Pray the Divine Chaplet. Graces come from God in the form of strength through all of these things. If your parish has Adoration, spend some time alone with Jesus. There is a book called, “My Daily Bread”. It was written long ago, but it’s message are timeless. You read one page per day.

aquinasandmore.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/store.ItemDetails/sku/2330

If you fall, don’t give these things up. Rather, keep doing them. Failure will try to weigh you down so that you don’t want to pray them. Follow through.

Never stop trying. And, if this is a sinful habit of impurity of any kind, please check out the thread at the very top of this forum. There are lists of Catholic websites run mainly by Catholic men who want to help others beat sinful addictions. They should know - they are former addicts. Make sure you scroll down far enough in the thread to capture the truly Catholic ones.

 

[Bootoo]

Lux_Et_Veritas,

Thanks for all of your good and kind advice. I am finishing a fast, and feeling a lot better, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. God has given me more willpower than I have learned how to use yet, I think. But maybe I am starting to.

Take care.