What do i do to battle bad thoughts?

[cgirl4ever]

Lately I’ve been have been having very twisted impure thoughts. Not just impure sinful thoughts they are really twisted and I think that they are worse than just impure thoughts thoughts. what should I do to get rid of them. THey are such a hard cross to bear and I need help. they make me feel really guilty. THey always seem to always come about no matter what i’m doing. Any advice.

 

[LilyM]

Don’t feel guilty - we can’t control our thoughts, at least not perfectly. You’re in good company, St Padre Pio and St Catherine of Siena both had periods where they were tormented by impure thoughts, and came through the period after a time.

The first thing to do is perhaps (please don’t get offended here) speak to a health professional. Thoughts that are way different from usual may be a symptom of some deeper underlying illness - could be physical or emotional.

And just simply pray. Pray whenever such a thought comes into your mind. If your thoughts are about someone then pray for that person. Don’t worry about specifically praying for the removal of your thoughts - that just causes you to focus further on them and probably makes them worse or more persistent. Just let 'em float away on their own like a soap bubble.

 

[Ceil-1]

And get yourself to daily Mass. And don’t skip Communion just because you’re having the thoughts. You are not willing them to occur, and you are not culpable. It sounds like you are under attack and you need your spiritual nourishment. Trust in Jesus to remove them, and pray for healing.

 

[cgirl4ever]

And get yourself to daily Mass. And don’t skip Communion just because you’re having the thoughts. You are not willing them to occur, and you are not culpable. It sounds like you are under attack and you need your spiritual nourishment. Trust in Jesus to remove them, and pray for healing.

but i’m only 16 and I get a lot of homework this year and I need time to relax and just lay back. I’m already burnt out fromt this year. i do trust that Jesus will remove these thoughts.

 

[water]

but i’m only 16 and I get a lot of homework this year and I need time to relax and just lay back. I’m already burnt out fromt this year. i do trust that Jesus will remove these thoughts.

Talk to a Confessor about it next time you go to confession. Usually, we are advised not to fight on our own; whenever the thought comes, you can pray quickly to God to remove the thought. I normally say “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph - help me”. Every night and morning, pray and ask Saint Michael and your guardian angel to to protect you.

Tomorrow is the feast day of your guardian angel. You might want to ask your angel the favor of protecting you.

You can certainly take time and relax so that you don’t get so burned out from school; however, between relaxing, please do pray. When we don’t think of God, we are more vulnerable to this world of flesh.

 

[RenaissanceMare]

Praying the Rosary is always very therapudic to me when I’m suffering from anxiety or I feel like I need a boost to get me back into good spiritual health. Sometimes we can’t get to Mass every day for reasons of school, job, family obligations, etc. and that’s a time to really appreciate the gifts we’ve been given to help aid us, such as the Rosary, personal prayer, etc.

Another thing that may help is to keep yourself mentally active. I suffer from anxiety and depression, and I find keeping myself mentally active and keeping myself busy is one of the best things I can do to keep balanced. (As a person with Tourette’s Syndrome, etc. “balanced” is my constant goal) Reading, working in the yard, and craft projects are good things to add if you have too much time on your hands for undesirable thoughts. And if you find yourself having thoughts when you’re doing something that leaves you idle and unable to do something else, like a bus ride or laying in bed at night, if worse gets to worse start playing mind games with yourself. Try to name all the state captiols. Try to recall a movie title for each name of the alphabet. Sounds cheesy, but it does work.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

Lately I’ve been have been having very twisted impure thoughts. Not just impure sinful thoughts they are really twisted and I think that they are worse than just impure thoughts thoughts. what should I do to get rid of them. THey are such a hard cross to bear and I need help. they make me feel really guilty. THey always seem to always come about no matter what i’m doing. Any advice.

Well I’m writing as a male,(which has a high probability of being wrong, ) and I don’t know what sort of thoughts your speaking about.

However, thoughts are not sinful, unless you desire them and hang onto them.

Also, sometimes young people confuse desire with sin.

I met a young man once, who thought that his desire for girls was satanic and sinful.

These are the natural biological impulses that God has given us, in order to mate. They are not sinful.

Don’t confuse these desires with lust, which is a different issue.

Bottom line, speak to your confessor. He can give you guidance on the issue.

God Bless
Jim

 

[St_Gabriel]

Our culture can really affect the way we think. TV, radio, internet and even our friends for example have a big impact on our thoughts and they aren’t always sending the right messages. If you spend a lot of time with these things, then take a break from it. I suggest that you spend some time alone away from these things to clear your mind. Try to fill your mind with godly thoughts by doing the following instead, listening to christian music instead of secular, watching christian television programs or leaving tv altogether. And most importantly, don’t stop praying, go to mass and receive the sacraments.

 

[MarcoPolo]

We all struggle. I still do too. I always will. But it is something you can work out and you have taken the first step toward ridding yourself of these temptations…you recognize them! Devils tempt us frequently. You are wise to recognize this.

My best advice…immediately when these thoughts occur try the following or some form of it:

**1. Be very humble. ** Battling the devil is not something you can win alone. But with Christ he is infinitely inferior. Understand and let God know you can’t do it without Him.
2. Immediately call on the Blessed Mother or St. Michael the Archangel or any saints to scatter these devils from you never to return. And keep asking for their help until the thought leaves or you find something else to occupy your mind. The Communion of Saints is here for our assistance (Heb 12:1)…they intercede to Christ for us.

In time you will grow stronger. Ask Mary to watch over you even when your mind isn’t thinking about it. And keep at it even if you don’t feel change…it will come!!!

 

[CatholicSamurai]

Take a moment to breath then start praying or chanting the Jesus prayer:

“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner,”

over and over and over…

It’s worked for me so far… anytime an evil or lustful thought pops up… bam! I start praying.

Hopefully, it will work for you. God bless!

 

[Coreopisis]

Lately I’ve been have been having very twisted impure thoughts. Not just impure sinful thoughts they are really twisted and I think that they are worse than just impure thoughts thoughts. what should I do to get rid of them. THey are such a hard cross to bear and I need help. they make me feel really guilty. THey always seem to always come about no matter what i’m doing. Any advice.

I’ve been through a couple periods in my life where this happend. In fact the thoughts I had were so horrible I can hardly bring myself to repeat them and they left me disgusted and ashamed. High level it was about murdering people and molesting children. Every time it happened I was shocked with them and ashamed and brought to tears a few times.

What I did is went to confession and confessed them. I told the Priest that weird thoughts had been coming to my head and I didn’t feel they were my own, nor did I like them, but I will confess them. Then I told him (embarassingly) about my horrible thoughts as politely as I could. He then asked me if it was possible I was remembering past wrongs done to me or otherwise. After we talked a bit he told me that I should take comfort in the fact that my soul was rejecting them and finding no comfort or alure in them. Because of that he thought it was probably a temptation. He forgave and blessed me. I started praying for protection from Arch Angel Michael and my guardian angel and God. After about another week they stopped. It wasn’t but a few months after this first occurance that it happened again and I did the same thing and it stopped.

My advice is to be comforted by the fact that you don’t like these thoughts. Go to confession and confess htem and then pray alot for help and protection. Depending on how that goes you may or may not want to seek advice from a Psychologist / Psychiatrist as well. That’s up to you…

I hope this helps a little.

 

[cgirl4ever]

Praying the Rosary is always very therapudic to me when I’m suffering from anxiety or I feel like I need a boost to get me back into good spiritual health. Sometimes we can’t get to Mass every day for reasons of school, job, family obligations, etc. and that’s a time to really appreciate the gifts we’ve been given to help aid us, such as the Rosary, personal prayer, etc.

Another thing that may help is to keep yourself mentally active. I suffer from anxiety and depression, and I find keeping myself mentally active and keeping myself busy is one of the best things I can do to keep balanced. (As a person with Tourette’s Syndrome, etc. “balanced” is my constant goal) Reading, working in the yard, and craft projects are good things to add if you have too much time on your hands for undesirable thoughts. And if you find yourself having thoughts when you’re doing something that leaves you idle and unable to do something else, like a bus ride or laying in bed at night, if worse gets to worse start playing mind games with yourself. Try to name all the state captiols. Try to recall a movie title for each name of the alphabet. Sounds cheesy, but it does work.

Io’ll be praying for you and your anxiety and depression problem.