Tips for Avoiding Lust?

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Rosary_and_Chotki

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Hi all,

This Lent, I have tried (and mostly been successful) in kicking my lifelong sinful habit of masturbation and lust. However, there have been a couple of times during this period where it was extremely challenging to control, and although I did not intend/consent to it . . . (about 2 or 3 times in all of Lent, which is a huge improvement from what was a daily addiction, but less sin is still sin). I want to try to control it before it gets to that point. Any tips on controlling lust and desires of the flesh in the moment?
 
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Well 1. You probably don’t want to go into so much detail, especially online. Best to talk something like this over with a Priest if possible soon.
  1. Pray the Rosary daily, and say the devotion of the 3 Hail Mary’s in the morning, and before bed, to keep you out of mortal sin
  2. in the moment is much harder than preparing for said moment. For in the moment I would suggest getting away from your phone and computer, and start praying immediately for God and Our lady’s help. It is better to prepare for it. When you feel the temptation, start praying. Think about hell, and if you were to die. Think about the indignation of Jesus Christ towards you, as he casts you into ever-lasting hell fire for forsaking His mercy and graces. Think about the pains of hell, and the fact that you will never escape.
 
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Good to hear. I’m glad that you’re making progress. I also have problems in this area. In order to battle lust, try to control your gaze. When you’re at Wal-Mart, don’t look at the magazines at the checkout aisles. If you’re watching TV and a Victoria’s Secret commercial appears, look away from the screen. If you see a woman wearing inappropriate clothing, look somewhere else. Especially now that the weather is getting warmer, girls are going to start wearing skimpy outfits and skirts, so do your best to avoid looking at them.
 
Think of it this way: every time you masturbate, that is another whip crack to Jesus’s back.

Also, have a go-to prayer, a prayer that you know you’re going to as soon as the temptation comes. I recommend a Hail Mary or “O Mary conceived without sin” prayer. I know that Mary was instrumental in helping me to repair the damage done by porn and masturbation. So remember to constantly ask her to help you to not want to see others as objects. Beg God to change your desires.

Also, as you begin to tear yourself away from this, distraction is key. Keep yourself busy with good things and as soon as the temptation starts to sneak in–distraction! I can remember actually biting my hands and saying, “NO! I’m not gonna do this! Lord help me! Mary help me!” Your desire to stop has to be strong. For me, it got to the point that I would have rather died than do it, I hated it so much. I think that’s when I finally stopped. My will to stop was so strong and then God’s grace just flooded in at that point and finally took me away from it. He wants us to fight it! It’s a battle! Stay strong! You and God will beat this! God Bless!
 
drac16 said:
If you’re watching TV and a Victoria’s Secret commercial appears, look away from the screen.
Click to expand...
For what it’s worth, I can think of few things less erotic than a Victoria’s Secret commercial!
 
I recently discovered an app called BlockerX. It gives you the option to block YOURSELF from accessing sites.

The premium version is fairly inexpensive.
 
I’m having the same problems, dear brother.
We need to pray and trust in God, even when there are no temptations.
A post here says to think of hell and punishment, that is useful, but the most important thing is to hate our sin because we then injure our relationship with our loving and dear Father and Creator. While not forgetting about hell and punishment, let us have the main reason for repentance and penance, because we offended our loving and dear Father.
God bless you and help you! You’re not alone, I have failed 3 or 4 times this Lent, but I will not give up.
Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy upon us!
Mary, Mother of God, Refuge of sinners, pray for us!
 
Everybody that comes to this site admitting that they fell to the sin of masturbation never ever add that they consented to impure thoughts. That is where it begins. In the mind. So you nip it in the bud. Before I was baptized 7 years ago I had a problem with this sin too. I literally stopped watching TV. I only watched dvds where I knew when to turn my head at certain scenes. You can’t control what a woman wears to the gym while you are there and you can’t help when a attractive woman turns your head. But there is a difference between a quick glance (which is almost impossible to avoid) and staring for a few seconds.

As much as I can appreciate the logic behind “pray the rosary” and I do think that it should be prayed daily, I find another approach most effective when I can’t seem to shake lustful thoughts…

Look around and spot something, anything thing. For example, I’ll be driving and start having lustful thoughts. I’ll say a prayer to God and sometimes that will do the trick. But if it does not, I’ll begin to look around and I’ll spot a tree and say “green tree” the. Look around again. Spot something else like a blue car and I’ll say “blue car” then I’ll spot a yellow sign and I’ll say “yellow sign” never say similar things twice. Keep looking for somthing new. Pretty soon (less then a minuet) you get so focused on trying to find something new to spot that you forget the lustful thoughts. The technique is called “grounding yourself” try it! It works for me.

Now that I’m married I can be a bit more laxed in watching TV (a little, not too much) dont ask me why, I just struggle less with impure thoughts at this point in my life. But when I was single, it was a huge struggle everyday. But it can be overcome.

One thing that concerns me in your OP is that it seems like you are saying that you fell 2 or 3 times without consenting to it?? What does that mean? If you did it, you consented to it. No loopholes. We must take responsibility for when we fall, not try to say it is somehow less our fault. Not just for masturbation but that is a life principal. SonI hope that I am wrong and that is not what you meant.
 
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