Help Me...Im bombarded by thoughts of Lust Daily

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Veronica Anne:
Give thanks that you are aware of your problem… and that you know it is a problem.
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That’s a big step right there, for sure. Many are in denial about this problem, or that it is a problem.

Avoidence of this problem, especially for men, is a routine of prayer. Secondly, is avoiding the “triggers” that can cause these feelings, like certain places, TV show, magazines, and web sites. Sonny, if you are aware of your problem, you must now focus on what your specific “triggers” are and stay away from them!

May His peace envelope your soul and give you (and all others in this struggle) the wisdom, courage, and strength to carry on. Remember, our goal is Heaven!
 
we all have this problem. i realized today that going to mass and consuming the eucharist helps a ton. only God’s grace can help. also try and avoid the occasion of sin. if given the opportunity, i always fall. it’s hard but God’s grace is sufficient.
 
dumspirospero, you’ve already gotten lots of good advice in this thread, so I’m just letting you know that I’ll add you to my prayer list. 🙂
Crazy Internet Junkie Society
****Carrier of the Angelic Sparkles Sprinkle Bag
 
I don’t think that any regular poster here would deny that you are one of the more intellegent CA members we have. So my suggestion may be a resonable challange for you.

Learn Hebrew. St Jerome, who admitted to a constant problem with lust, would study Hebrew whenever the problem surfaced. He became what some considered the pre-eminent scholar of the day. (guess he must have lusted a LOT).

Anyway, it follows what Bishop Sheen advised. You do not drive evil out… then you have a void. You replace it with a good.

You are always in our prayers.
 
I don’t know if it’s been said yet, but along with all the other good advise, make sure you also fill outplace lust with love. Try to make some new relationships. Child, elder, peer, male, female, it doesn’t matter, shoot for them all. I don’t know if your plan is to get married or if you are already are, but I’m sure most of the females would back me up, your more attactive if you can be friendly to people who in no way you’ll directly benifite from. At least for me I seemed to really opened up more of a capacity to care and love the more and more I gave up lust.

You will be in my prayers. Also remember not to give up. Its really hard to know how big any’s cross is, so if you have a harder or easier time don’t worry just stay patient and keep to your faith. I’m sure with time you’ll get better and better.
 
i guess you can include me on the list. i have the same problem, although to a somewhat lesser extent. i guess what counts is to keep trying.
 
I can join the club of people struggling with “M.”

The longer you go without it, the harder it is, but then at one point it just lessens. Basically goes away.

I’m not exactly over this temptation, but I’m trying very hard. I can tell you God has helped me more than I ever expected. I won’t give details, but I went from doing it A LOT to being able to go a very long time without it.

I still slip, and when I do, I get so mad. I feel like I slapped God in the face, even though I’m fighting the battle as hard as I can. I get so upset at myself, I can’t even describe it. It’s not worth a few minutes of “feeling good” to commit a sin like that.

God has impacted my life greatly in this regard, as well as many others, and I know He’s with me even when I fall.

I’ll keep all with this addiction in my prayers, I know it can be hell at times. Just hang in there and have God come in at times of temptation.

Keep me in your prayers also. I need all the help I can get.
 
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dumspirospero:
I would like to ask for everyones prayers…I try so, so hard to be a devout Catholic, but I feel like I am lacking when it comes to lust…I don’t know what my problem is…maybe it is a habit I formed from my previous life before my journey home…or maybe it is just a real cross for me to carry…either way, I feel it is my heaviest cross and it is so hard at times to continue on without the burden of tremendous guilt. I feel myself constantly weighed down with thoughts of lust and sinful acts…I am so ashamed. Does anyone have any advice…I go to weekly confession to try and fix this problem…I can control it at times, however at some times I feel like I have no control. I honestly do not want to be like this and I want to kick this habit, just like I have kicked others in the past…but this one seems so, so hard. Please help…I am at a loss. Yours in Christ, Sonny
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I believe many of us have or are dealing with this sin. You are not alone. I’ll pray for you.

Please note the “have” means that this sin, like others, even though it may be extremely difficult, can be overcome and has by others.
 
Sonny,

Something that helps is to pray for the person that you have in mind and offer up the temptation for that person. I’m not saying that you’ll avoid the thoughts or even the act altogether; what I’m sure of, though, is since the trial is so great it makes for one intense prayer. And if you fail, offer that up as well.

Remember, God loves a repentant sinner who’s heart is so full of the desire to be holy even one who struggles repeatedly.

I’ll offer up this week’s rosaries for your struggle.
 
I’m not sure if anyone has said this yet, but have you given any thought to talking to someone professionally about it? It could be an obssessive-compulsive disorder.
 
My first impression is to say, welcome to the crowd. We are sexual creatures and sex is God’s way of making sure that we perpetuate the species.

However we are also intelligent and spiritual beings as well, we are required as responsible beings to control our natural desires and to reign in our lusts. We can not and should not act on every impulse or desire no matter how strong.

You can and you will overcome your desires and baser instincts. Keep praying, keep trying, and believe it or not in time, your sexual desires will become manageable.

It takes a lot of effort and discipline but you can force yourself to ignore the random and even semi-planned desires to respond to sexual stimulii.

What works for me is to recognize the impulses and immediately think of something else, prayer, the danger of the temptation, or the adverse effects that giving into the temptation or something completely different such as sports or some of my hobbies.

IF the souce of the temptation is tv, I will immediately change the channel or focus on the fact that indulging in such fantasies are not possible without committing very grave sin.

Age too has a lot to do with diminished desire. In my teens and 20’s I was a mass of raging hormones, at 50, I’ve got a lot more outside interests, hobbies, work, sports etc.

Hang in there and keep fighting off the impulses.
 
I have confessed this “thing” every time for decades. And decades.

Every priest has said the same thing… the lustful thoughts will stop automatically about 15 minutes after they hammer the nails into your coffin… “If it really bothers you, I can arrange to have you medicated”. Sometimes I get the “birds and bees” lecture.

Some have asked if I took pleasure in the thoughts. Well, of course. I almost never have unpleasant thoughts, except after watching the Animal Planet immediately before bed and having thoughts of being eaten by a crocodile. No joke. (Eating a pound of peanuts just before bed, while watching Animal Planet doesn’t help either!)

Excessive worry about this is called scrupulousity. The Redemptorists have a monthly newsletter called Scrupulous Anonymous. Just write a post card to SA at Ligouri, MO 63057-9999. It’s free.

Depending on how severe the situation is, you might might want to find a priest who has been helpful in confession and ask where you might find a spiritual director. The couple of minutes in a confessional isn’t the right place, but a half hour or hour session of spiritual direction once a month or so can be tremendously helpful.

Check to see if there is a Perpetual Adoration chapel near you. Check the internet for locations. And drop in on a frequent / daily basis. Consider doing a one-hour shift weekly. Put it all on Jesus’ hands; He’s good at solving these problems.

Jesus, you do it. I can’t.
 
Al Masetti:
…

Every priest has said the same thing… the lustful thoughts will stop automatically about 15 minutes after they hammer the nails into your coffin… “If it really bothers you, I can arrange to have you medicated”. Sometimes I get the “birds and bees” lecture.

Some have asked if I took pleasure in the thoughts. Well, of course. I almost never have unpleasant thoughts, except after watching the Animal Planet immediately before bed and having thoughts of being eaten by a crocodile. No joke. (Eating a pound of peanuts just before bed, while watching Animal Planet doesn’t help either!)

…
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:rotfl: :rotfl:

Its a good thing I don’t particularly care to watch animal planet …
ever…

The other thing to do is to get rid of any suggestive materials, magazines, avoid all the tv shows that focus on sex or feature scantity clad babes… etc.

and if you start to focus on getting eaten by crocs or sharks it will become very hard to focus on sex… but then you may never get to sleep.

getting the lustful thoughts does not mean you have to continue with the lustful thoughts. The trick is to be able to make these thoughts go away as quickly as possible. It may sound hard or impossible, but it can be done. It takes a lot of practice and discipline, and a strong determination not to let your sex drive dominate you.

The important thing is not to give up. IF you fail, just start over again, and keep starting over for as long as it takes… Mother Teresa says, her job was not to succeed, only to try. IF she tried then it was up to God to make things successful. You can never fail if you keep trying.
wc
 
I too had the problem with lust. With beautiful girls all over it is difficult not to think impurely about them. My confessor told me to distract myself, when ever I feel the urge I go on a walk or read a book. The Rosary is also very helpful
 
Hi Duns,

Have you ever thought that maybe this is the attack from the Evil One due to the ongoing discernement of your state in life?

Prayers and love,
Shoshana
 
You know, contrary to popular belief, this isn’t soley a male problem. And although I wouldn’t consider myself “bombarded” by lustfull thoughts- they certainly do find their way into my thoughts often enough. :o

That said, I was offered a piece of advice recently from a priest. Father didn’t try to tell me to distract myself, or try devout prayer any of the other more typical ways to avoid these thoughts.

He told me that for some reason I wasn’t at peace. I was tempted to satisfy this spiritual unrest through my sexuality. He told me some seek food, some seek sex, some seek drugs. He explained peace isn’t something that we ‘get’ and then have forever. It is dynamic in us as we turn towards, and away from God in our thoughts and deeds.

I think most priests who offer the more ‘standard’ advice are just trying to get us to look toward God again for that peace we so desperately crave.

But in the communication either they failed to tell- or we failed to realize that our eyes are somewhat closed to the spiritual serenity that God wants for us. We try their advice for prayer and conventional distractions- but end up working out our frustrations in other unholy ways (including food, drugs, & alcohol) because we don’t realize what we are working for through our prayer and distractions.

I know I always felt like I was shooting into the dark when I sought guidance and support from the Saints, Mary, and Jesus. I guess I knew why I was praying, but I just wasn’t sure of the answer I was looking for until I realized that serenity (or the lack of) had everything to do with my lustfull thoughts.

I don’t know if anything that I’m saying here is ringing true with you. But I know that once I realized that I really didn’t feel at peace when I was tempted by those more sordid thoughts; I could have more successfull contemplative prayer, and overcome them.

After that, the more “regular” advice seemed to work a lot better. I could approach the prayer, or my relationships, or whatever with more clarity, and with more open eyes to the peace that I might find there.

I feel like a different person- and I’m not troubled (nearly) as much as I have been in the past.

May God Bless you, and may you find Peace.
 
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Shiann:
You know, contrary to popular belief, this isn’t soley a male problem. And although I wouldn’t consider myself “bombarded” by lustfull thoughts- they certainly do find their way into my thoughts often enough. :o

That said, I was offered a piece of advice recently from a priest. Father didn’t try to tell me to distract myself, or try devout prayer any of the other more typical ways to avoid these thoughts.

He told me that for some reason I wasn’t at peace. I was tempted to satisfy this spiritual unrest through my sexuality. He told me some seek food, some seek sex, some seek drugs. He explained peace isn’t something that we ‘get’ and then have forever. It is dynamic in us as we turn towards, and away from God in our thoughts and deeds.

I think most priests who offer the more ‘standard’ advice are just trying to get us to look toward God again for that peace we so desperately crave.

But in the communication either they failed to tell- or we failed to realize that our eyes are somewhat closed to the spiritual serenity that God wants for us. We try their advice for prayer and conventional distractions- but end up working out our frustrations in other unholy ways (including food, drugs, & alcohol) because we don’t realize what we are working for through our prayer and distractions.

I know I always felt like I was shooting into the dark when I sought guidance and support from the Saints, Mary, and Jesus. I guess I knew why I was praying, but I just wasn’t sure of the answer I was looking for until I realized that serenity (or the lack of) had everything to do with my lustfull thoughts.

I don’t know if anything that I’m saying here is ringing true with you. But I know that once I realized that I really didn’t feel at peace when I was tempted by those more sordid thoughts; I could have more successfull contemplative prayer, and overcome them.

After that, the more “regular” advice seemed to work a lot better. I could approach the prayer, or my relationships, or whatever with more clarity, and with more open eyes to the peace that I might find there.

I feel like a different person- and I’m not troubled (nearly) as much as I have been in the past.

May God Bless you, and may you find Peace.
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I think you’ve really hit the nail on the head here, although I keep having to re-learn this over and over. Life is not so much about moving away from things; it’s about moving *toward * God. When you fill your life with the Beloved, nothing else will satisfy.

Of course that’s very easy to say, and few are really able to do it. “Detaching” from things–whether it’s material items, people, or ideas–is incredibly difficult. That’s why the rich young man, who had great possessions, walked away sadly. All of us face the same dilemna to some degree. You just plug in your attachment for “great possessions” and off you go. This came to me in an “aha” moment one day in contemplative prayer when the thought came to me very audibly “and the man turned away sadly for he had much anger.” I saw how much I was turning from God in my attachment to my anger, and while I still deal with that issue, I can often recognize it and cut it off before it does quite so much damage.

St. Francis probably had the right idea in renouncing all possessions and focusing all of his being on God. The more you focus on God, the less you’ll be drawn to whatever your attachment is, whether it’s food, sex, money, or even anger. :rolleyes:

Peace,
 
Code:
I wonder why some priests don’t even see lust, etc. as a sin???*

Well, I believe that if they recognize it within themselves, they are keen to recognize it somewhere else. There is no knowledge of God without knowledge of self. You cannot be aware of others if one is not aware of oneself.

As far as my speicritual director goes, I have no qualms (being a married woman) discussing the problems when they come up. I also believe that if one brings the problems into the Light, well, the devil will not have a chance to use it. Light being Jesus either in direction of in Confession.

Misericordie, when I see him in a couple of weeks (I usually go for direction about once a month or two, I will ask him for the title of the book he loaned me 4 years ago and it has to do with sexuality. The way the book was written (if my memory serves me well), the more passionate a person is in his/her sexuality, the potential for a better spiritual life exists. You integrate the both together to become a passionate lover of Jesus. (in a reverent way of course). I will get the title. It helped me to no end…it was refreshing to read such a book by a priest, no less. Our sexuality is a gift from God Himself, the book just channels this gift in the appropriate way to help us become the lovers that He has called us to be. (Song of songs…)

When I discussed my issue about being prayed over and going to bed with my bible, I was in Israel at the time. I prepared myself spiritually for months before going. The WHOLE trip was one cross after another. The Jewish tour leader took a fancy to me which made the girls very jealous, etc etc. With all of this, feelings came up that I have NEVER experienced so bad. But my husband was on the other side of the world. This guide’s room was beside mine. I clung to my bible with tears in my eyes…I did not understand why this was happening. The pain was so exquisite and it made the temptation so strong because of it. When I came back home, the same thing happened with the husband of my best girlfriend. And then I knew…it was truly the devil. His actions were a betrayal of our friendship but I realized that Jesus wants me for Himself and this has caused me great peace. I have not had any problems since. It was not my physical body whcih was the issue but my soul…and this became very clear. How can we say we are chaste if we are not tested in this virtue?

Anyway, I am just rambling …and I thank Jesus for these temptations and for His strength to overcome them. This is why I understand your trials…
Code:
Dums,
This was my answer to Misericordie. The name of the book is called ‘Why not become fire’…I hope this helps…:bowdown: prayers for ya…
 
Hey, dum s.,

do you have any other temptations? How do you handle them?

Remember, temptations are just temptations. Also, look how Jesus used scripture when he was tempted by the devil.

You’re tempted daily? Is that all?
 
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