Bad Thoughts

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CuriousInIL

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Often, bad thoughts (sometimes impure, sometimes violent) enter my head especially when I am praying or in church etc.

How does one determine if these thoughts are more temptations of the devil that should simply be dismissed as quickly as possible or conscious thoughts conjured by me that are sinful and need to be confessed. They are never there long, but I am having an extremely difficult time deciding if I am conjuring these thoughts in the first instance or not.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
I would think that if you did not deliberately decide to think them, or deliberately prolong them, then you didn’t commit a sin. Though I don’t think it neccessarily means they are from the devil; they could be from your unconscious mind, but so are dreams and you are not responsible for what you do in a dream. I know what you mean, I’ve had that happen too, and I dismiss them immediately.
 
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CuriousInIL:
Often, bad thoughts (sometimes impure, sometimes violent) enter my head especially when I am praying or in church etc.

How does one determine if these thoughts are more temptations of the devil that should simply be dismissed as quickly as possible or conscious thoughts conjured by me that are sinful and need to be confessed. They are never there long, but I am having an extremely difficult time deciding if I am conjuring these thoughts in the first instance or not.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Prayer, prayer, prayer. I have these things a lot but continue to pray and not let them bury me in sin.
Of course this is what the devil tries to do to stop us from praying. Close your eyes and say the prayer to Saint Michael, then continue with your meditation.
 
Curious,

this happens to me a lot while praying as well. As soon as you notice an impure thought or evil desire arise, do not rely on your own strength to fight it. Rather, simply ask Jesus for mercy and help in keeping your focus on Him. As long as you are asking God to help you overcome these thoughts and temptations, it doesn’t seem that you would be consenting to them, and there is no sin. Only when we consent is there sin. I would, however, suggest you tell your confessor that you struggle with impure thoughts during prayer. This way he can help you and understand you more, and he can help determine if you indeed have consented or not.
 
Paris Blues:
Sometimes picturing the Blessed Virgin Mary helps!🙂
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I have actually tried that with terrible results. Often these thoughts arise during prayer of the rosary.
 
Wow, I thought I was the only person who had this problem due to my weakness. I dont feel so bad now. What I always do is close my eyes and try to envision the blood from the head of Christ on the cross pouring out onto my mind to purify it.
 
When this happens to me, I apologize to God as soon as I realize that I am thinking these thoughts. I tell Him that I do not want to think them, and that I want to dwell only on that which is pleasing to Him. I just think the main thing is to stop the thoughts from progressing as soon as you realize that you are having them.
 
Some times I think of a bible verse to refute the thought–

"Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground.So stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate, and your feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace.In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all (the) flaming arrows of the evil one.

And take the helmet of salvation and the **sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. **

-Ephesians 6"14-17

I usually use something like “you are not your own you have been bought at a price” or something from the ten commandments “thou shall not …”

Eucharisitc adoration might help as well. Thanks for sharing I used to think I was the only one with these kind of thoughts.
 
Thanks all for the responses. To try to focus a bit more, my real question is how do I decide if I am willing these thoughts. Generally, i do not believe that I am, but I am worried that I am just fooling myself and that I should take more responsibility.
 
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CuriousInIL:
Thanks all for the responses. To try to focus a bit more, my real question is how do I decide if I am willing these thoughts. Generally, i do not believe that I am, but I am worried that I am just fooling myself and that I should take more responsibility.
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You may be suffering from scrupulosity. From what you have said thus far it seems clear that you do not desire to have these thoughts and it seems clear that you dismiss them ASAP. You cannot control everything that enters your mind. If you deliberately call up such thoughts or decide to cultivate/enjoy the involuntary thoughts once you have them, then you have a situation of sin.

Based on what you’ve said, it would appear that you have no culpability whatsoever, and you shouldn’t feel guilty.
 
There is an anxiety disorder called Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder which comes in mild to more severe forms. I think I suffer from a very mild form, as I can’t leave the house without checking everything a couple of times, and I used to have intrusive nasty thoughts when in church.
I’m not saying that you do, but it might be worth investigating. There are medications that help if it’s really bad. (The TV show *Monk * is about someone with a form of this.)
"People with OCD are often plagued by persistent, unwelcome thoughts or images, or by the urgent need to engage in certain rituals. For example, a person with OCD might be obsessed with germs or dirt, and wash his or her hands over and over. Another person may check things repeatedly or be preoccupied by thoughts of violence and fear. "
 
God creates only good. So the absence of God mean that evil or bad has entered our life from whatever source we call it. But here’s the good news…God gave all of us a free will. What we decide to do when these temptation occur means we now have to make a choice. Do we cave in to these temptations or do we resist them?
Our actions or omission to act will tell if us if we have sinned.

Case in point…soon during Lent we will hear the gospel about the devil coming to Jesus who was in the desert 40 days fasting and praying…promising him the world…but how did Jesus respond. He was 100% human as well as 100% God…

He drove the devil away! That’s what we need to do. If it means by getting even closer to God thru reconciliation and frequent reception of the Holy Communion…then that’s what we need to do.
Where God is completely…there’s no room for anything else. We are filled with the spirit of God. Keep praying on it! Resist tempation and God will never leave you orphaned… and call upon all the saints in the Lord’s army to help you fight temptation as well. Anything is possible with God!
 
if it is a sin at all it would be venial meaning it does not have to be confessed in the first place. However, here in an example to show that you are not in control of your thoughts 100% and can’t really avoid them coming in. We did this experiment in one of my classes to prove that point.

Picture a white bear in your mind for 30 seconds and then try to not think of a white bear for 30 seconds. It will be a struggle to say the least and the thought of a white bear probaby wil come up at least once even if you try to resist.
 
Yes, Viki59’s post is absolutely correct. What you describe CuriouslnIL is OCD. I have the exact same problem: A horrible thought enters my head, part of me knows its crazy, but most of me is so interiorly upset and disturbed by the thought or image and I get consumed in anxiety, worry, doubt, and fear, and then can’t stop thinking about it. Like you, when I try to analyse the image and figure out why it’s there, I get afraid that I wanted it to be there, and it becomes this spiraling descent into almost a kind of madness. Like you again, not only do the images freak me out in and of themselves, I compound the worry when I start to believe I have committed mortal sin.
 
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Pax:
If you deliberately call up such thoughts or decide to cultivate/enjoy the involuntary thoughts once you have them, then you have a situation of sin.
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What this post said is very true; however, the problem with OCD sometimes, at least in my case, is that you get afraid that you will deliberately call up such thoughts, and in doing so, you consequently call up those thoughts–the images come into your mind for the very reason that you don’t want them to be there.
 
Just to clarify, there is no reason at all to believe that OCD is involved. Though, of course, there can be no definitive diagnosis of no OCB.
 
I don’t mean to pry into your personal state and what-not, but why would OCD not be involved? Like previous posts suggested, it may be worthwhile to get a diagnosis and either learn ways to mentally combat it, or to get medication

…sorry, I’m not trying to be your doctor–perhaps I should not have been as adement in my first post…but if you are really concerned, it would not hurt at least to seek help from someone who can professionally offer it.
 
What I am saying is that the diagnosis is that there is no reason to believe that OCD is present. However, one simply cannot get a doctor to commit that OCD is not present.
 
Have you tried complete indifference to the thoughts? I seem to recall hearing that, by not trying to think of something, your mind causes you to think of it even more. I may be wrong, but if you act as if the thoughts aren’t in your mind, then they won’t bother you. Worry about it, then it becomes a problem…I think.
 
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