I can't get away with masturbation

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I can’t get rid of this sin. I no longer feel any pleasure, but I continue to do so because I am unfortunately used to it.

I feel so bad after ejaculating; I feel real physical and spiritual pain. I think it was the last time, but the next day, and sometimes even at another time of the day, I start again.

I would like to pray but I feel so dirty, so hypocritical, so unworthy to pronounce the name of Our Savior and his Blessed Mother
 
Scripture teaches us about gaining control of our physical desires.

To not just say anything that comes into our heads because words can would others.

Assuming you have no medical disabilities, as a young child you learned to control the very strong urge to urinate and hold it til you get to a toilet.

You have learned that even through Ice Cream or Nachos are amazing, you do not simply eat them, go vomit, and keep eating more of them (again, unless you have a disability like an eating disorder).

By the same way, you learn to control your sexual urges by removing your triggers, by focusing on activities, exercise, by simply saying out loud “NO”, your priest can advise you on fasting to help get control over your urges.

And when you fall, repent, go to confession and try again!
 
Just like stated, confession will be of so much help. It is the best thing ever in these circumstances. If truly sorry, the Lord will forgive and forget your sin as if it never happened. Its our job to abstain from it. Easier said than done I know, but it gets to a point where you can abstain for long periods of time.

I used to be the same way, and we all fall its in our human nature. We just got to get up and keep walking. When in weakness, ask God to help you keep away from sin. Pray to our blessed mother. Whats helped me is distracting myself and asking the Lord and our blessed mother for help. Thinking about the true meaning of marriage and sex helps me abstain because I want to stay as righteous as possible being prepared of whatever God’s will is.

Another help is being involved with the church, become laity and just keep busy. If we get bored, were open to sinfulness, so keep busy righteously. Hope I helped a bit! Pray for me as I will pray for you also!
 
I was once where you are right now. It’s seems to me that you may be getting closer to being free of this just by the fact that you are no longer experiencing any pleasure in it. Sometimes we have to hit rock bottom. God’s grace is a very real power. But oftentimes we forget that God wants us to use our will to fight sin. I think a lot of times we pray but we forget about denying ourselves.

We have to be willing to endure the discomfort of absolutely refusing it to ourselves; essentially, we have to suffer, at least in the short term, in order to beat this. I’ve read this countless times in my spiritual reading: God wants us to fight against our sins. He wants us to be a warrior!

I can only relate my own experience. I know for me I would do the same thing as you, falling every day, sometimes even twice a day. Then a funny thing happened: I got so mad at myself that I just said: “I’m not going to do this today! I don’t care how lustful I feel! I will not masturbate today no matter how strong the temptation!” Every time I had the urge I would say a prayer for help and then just start doing something else to keep busy. I got through that day without doing it and I thought: “Well, I guess I can go a day without doing it!” And then I got through another day with the same plan: prayer and distraction.

And with each day that passed I gained strength and confidence that I was able to live without it. The grace of God began to flow. I also felt that I no longer desired it. He changed my desires. He will change yours as well.

Once you really begin to fight this and downright refuse the thoughts and feelings, his grace will be there to uphold you and strengthen you. But even if you fall, just take up the fight again. I once heard a good quote. I can’t remember it exactly so I’ll paraphrase it: “The saints weren’t perfect. They were just better than us at not giving up.” They refused to give in to discouragement. We must do the same.

Another thing that helped was praying to Mary. I asked her to help me renew my vision of women. I prayed the Hail Mary and Hail Holy Queen a lot. I truly believe that she did help me.

Yet another thing that helped was learning what sex is really all about. Learning about the Theology of the Body helped me to avoid it as well because now I knew why I should not be masturbating. The books If You Really Loved Me by Jason Evert and Good News About Sex and Marriage by Christopher West were crucial for me. Another book that helped, although not a Catholic book, was Every Man’s Battle.

We also have to learn how to avoid the occasion of sin. So that may mean being online less and watching less TV, especially in the beginning. We have to learn to discipline our eyes as well, avoiding lustful images. Not taking in so many images helps to calm down the fires of lust burning within us. Finally, we have to learn to deny even the mere thought of masturbation. As soon as you get the thought, say a prayer and distract yourself. Discipline is the name of the game.

Continued…
 
continued…

The devil wants you to feel unworthy to pray and utter the name of Jesus and Mary. Don’t take the bait.

Remember what St. Theresa of Avila once said: “Even if you are committing mortal sins, keep on praying and I guarantee that you will reach the harbor of salvation.”

Keep going to confession and praying! God Bless. You’re in my prayers!
 
I’m going to say just one thing and I believe this is truly sufficient

PRAY THE ROSARY. DAILY.

You cannot win this battle on your own. No amount of self control or avoidance is going to prevent you from falling again. The devil is hanging around you waiting to throw something in your way that will make you stumble. It can be something as stupid as bringing up a pornographic image in your mind for a few seconds.

I’m going to be realistic with you - It can take upto a year of praying the rosary daily for you to completely be rid of your sin and urges towards it but I ask you to be patient because it really does work and it is totally worth it.

If you are seriously considering this then here are some tips:
  1. When I say pray the rosary daily, I mean daily. The Rosary is like your sword. You’re in constant battle with the devil and temptation. How stupid would it be to put down your weapon for 24 hrs? You’d be taking major blows. Infact when I would skip a day or two days I saw myself automatically going back to my sin the next day.
    THE ROSARY IS YOUR WEAPON. and guess what, the devil absolutely hates it which brings me to my next point:
  2. The devil is going to make this SUPER hard for you. Especially if you are new to praying the rosary, it can seem like a long prayer and you might catch yourself dozing off or your mind wandering in between but that’s okay. You’ll eventually get used to praying the rosary and find it gets over real quick. I usually pray my rosary while on public transport, So I never forget and don’t leave it till bed time when I’m sleepy and my mind wanders off more easily.
  3. Even after beginning to pray the rosary daily, you will fall a couple of times (another tactic the Devil will use to prevent you from praying the rosary and making you feel like it’s all useless). I understand that in general when you commit this sin you feel super guilty and unworthy to stand in God’s presence and pray. That is only natural. But that’s why the rosary is amazing because we aren’t praying alone, Mother Mary is praying with us.
    Picture it this way, when praying to God in a state of sin, it hurts doesn’t it? and you feel hollow and weak inside, as if you’re calling out to God but your voice isn’t reaching him, but when you pray the rosary, even when in a state of mortal sin, it’s like Mother Mary is holding you up while she calls out to God in a louder voice and pleads with you.
  4. Another problem you will encounter while praying is that the Devil might put unholy images in your mind as you try and concentrate on the mysteries. When this happens don’t lose hope and don’t let this make you feel guilty. Continue praying and finish the rosary. You can and will get through this. If this is something you suffer from a lot, I would suggest asking your guardian angel to help you by putting holy images in your mind instead. Going for confession regularly also helps because it gives us the grace to forget any bad images etc that we might have seen which the devil can use against us by bringing it up at important times.
 
Contd. >>

There have been many testimonies from people who have suffered due to various mortal sins but were freed by praying the rosary. The power of the rosary is underestimated a lot today.

Overall don’t forget that God loves you and is willing to help you out of it. Don’t ever lose hope. The battle ain’t lost till its over 🙂

Also here is something to thing about: If the devil absolutely hates something, he’s going to do all in his power to prevent you from doing that. So if you really feel like NOT praying the rosary and if this feeling is strong you clearly know where it’s coming from. Don’t let the devil have his way! Go chase him down with your sword - the rosary XD !
 
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