The devil to me is acting like he is God

[RomanRyan1088]

I wanted to pray the rosary and a Chaplet of Divine mercy tonight. I started praying the Rosary, but i kept on reflecting on this sin I have done. I have confessed this sin, but something in my head said “You didn’t confess it good enough, you didn’t confess it good enough”. I couldn’t even finish the rosary because I was saddened and i couldn’t concentrate on my prayer, my mind kept on going to this certian sin. I felt that this was God trying to tell me something. While in Confession, I felt I had confessed it good enough, then i occured to me, maybe this was the devil trying to get me from praying, by keeping my mind on this sin. This sin is my weakness (As im sure, many out there know what it is). IS it possible that God can use our past sins, already confessed, to his advantage?

 

[jeffreedy789]

romans 8:28 says that God works everything for our good. even our sin. i think you might have meant can SATAN use our sins, already confessed, to his advantage’ in which case the answer is also yes.

God will use your sins for your good and His glory. satan will use your sins to steal, kill, and destroy.

when we pray, we engage in things in the spiritual realm that we don’t completely understand. satan hates it, and God loves it, when we pray.

sure, satan will try to remind you of all your sins, and try to convince you that you aren’t worthy of praying, or whatever. just ignore, or if necessary, rebuke that thought, and go on praying. this is the sort of wrestling that grows our spiritual muscles, and pleases God.

you’ve confessed this sin to a priest? you might ask a priest about it (in confession), to see if there is anything you might explore about the sin to bring peace to your mind about it. then satan can’t use it against you any longer.

peace be with you.

 

[csr]

At some times I have found that the Rosary is not an ideal prayer for me, because the repetitive aspects would play off of whatever I was dealing with, and it wouldn’t lead me deeper into prayer life in the right way. Even today I often pray only one decade of the Rosary in a day. I often pray an hour from the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin (St. Bonaventure Publications sells one), and I sing the Salve Regina several times per day, and I pray the Angelus: in other words I supplement my Marian devotions, you might say: you could try this as well. I realize that Our Blessed Mother commends the Rosary to us, but it may happen that sometimes we are better able to pray with something more variegated. OTOH, sometimes when we feel troubled we might find the repetition soothing. I don’t mean to imply that a prayer is valuable to the extent that it happens to suit our particular mood: but the divines of our holy faith do acknowledge that different laypeople will find different devotions most conducive. It is the religious who most of all commit to specific prayer outlines. So, I’m just saying, as blessed as the Rosary is, it may be that sometimes you’re just not up for it. It’s something to consider.

Incidentally, the Little Office (and any other liturgical prayer book) is extremely educational. You encounter, in prayer–almost akin to lectio divina–the details of our faith: you pray the psalms and additional pieces of Holy Scripture. As you pray the hours on different days, you see more and more of how they mean.

 

[Philip]

“Next time the devil reminds you of where you have been , you remind him of where he is going!”

Seriously, pray to God to clear your heart and to hide you from the evil one. I open find that the prayer to St. Michael works well in this situation.

"St. Michael, the Archangel,
defend us in battle;
be our defense against the wickedness
and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray.
And do thou, O prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God
thrust into Hell Satan and all the evil spirits
who prowl about the world
seeking the ruin of souls.

Amen."

 

[Bulldog]

“Next time the devil reminds you of where you have been , you remind him of where he is going!”

Seriously, pray to God to clear your heart and to hide you from the evil one. I open find that the prayer to St. Michael works well in this situation.

"St. Michael, the Archangel,
defend us in battle;
be our defense against the wickedness
and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray.
And do thou, O prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God
thrust into Hell Satan and all the evil spirits
who prowl about the world
seeking the ruin of souls.

Amen."

I agree with this. You went confession your fine… Just
tell the devil he can sit on a tack!!! Also get some holy water to bless your room with. Also a good pre Rosary prayer is :

I unite myself with all the Saints in Heaven, and with all the just on earth; I unite myself with You, my Jesus, in order to praise Your holy Mother worthily and to praise You in her and by her. I renounce all the distractions that may come to me while I am saying this Rosary. Amen. — St. Louis De Montfort

 

[T.A.Stobie_SFO]

The devil loves to imitate God (in a twisted way). Learn to recognize what is of God and what is not. When it is not, say a prayer invoking God’s protection. Ask you guardian angel to protect you from the influence of the devil. Continue refocusing on your prayer and letting the temptations depart from your mind. Do not dwell on them. Learn from the sins of the past and let them go when confessed and forgiven.

 

[Edwin1961]

ryan,
i have told you my struggles.
now that i have turned back to Christ i do experince this very same thing at times.

Satan, has just found another way to attack you.
do not be discouraged!

go with God!
Edwin

 

[Scott_Waddell]

Sounds like you might have a touch of scrupulosity. There is a Ligouri publication called “Ten Commandments for the Scrupulous” that might be worth reading. Anyone got a link to it?

Scott

 

[csr]

csr:

At some times I have found that the Rosary is not an ideal prayer for me,

I said this earlier, and that I might supplement each day my Marian devotion with other prayers. But today I found this paragraph (see article in my signature):

A layman I met once who did not say his rosary told me that he read the breviary every day. That is fine. It is what priests have to do. It is the prayer of the Church. So in a way it is better than the rosary. But it is not what Our Lady asked for. She asked for the rosary. If a mother sends her child to the shop for a bottle of milk, and he comes back instead with ice cream, is she pleased? In a way, ice cream is better than milk, but it is not what she asked for.

Now I am going to make a better effort to pray the Rosary (five decades, not just one) each day. Perhaps doing something I don’t like as much will in some way be good for me, in ways I won’t fully understand, much as a boy told to eat his peas won’t necessarily understand why it is good for him.