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Thoughts
Hey guys, how does one control thoughts, like thoughts you do not want to be thinking.
+please pray for me+
+please pray for me+
Comments
+please pray for me+
you can't stop the birds from flying around your head, but you can stop them from building a nest on your head......
from what you are saying, it would be likeyou are too scared to shoo the birds away off your head when they are building a nest in fear that they would bite you........
Guess what: THEY CAN'T BITE unless you want them too..... if you don't want to think about bad stuff or whatever, do not be scared from it IF YOU BELEIVE GOD WILL HELP YOU........... you have to memorise the "Salah 'el Sahmeya" (Ya Raby YAsou3 'el Maseeh 'erhamni, ana 'el khaty) **or something along those words**
and the devil attacks when you are idle...... when you not doing anything the devil will attack the most, but if you busy doing something (even playing a computer game, reading, sports, whatever.....) the more u r busy, the more you will keep the devil from attacking you
+Please Pray For Me+
pray for my weakness,
Coptic Youth
PopeKyrillos, I'm sorry I have to disagree with you, forgive me!
A thought in itself can be a sin, as Christ said in Matthew 5:28 -"But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart"
I agree with you that a thought expanded can lead to a much greater sin, and keeping yourself busy is the way to beat it. Sorry, I don't mean to start an argument or anything, just my personal reflection :)
I agree 100% with coptic pharaoh- it's the exact same advice my confession father gave me when I asked him about this. Have you ever heard the phrase "an idle mind is the devil's playground"? It's exactly as coptic pharaoh explained.
PopeKyrillos, I'm sorry I have to disagree with you, forgive me!
A thought in itself can be a sin, as Christ said in Matthew 5:28 -"But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart"
I agree with you that a thought expanded can lead to a much greater sin, and keeping yourself busy is the way to beat it. Sorry, I don't mean to start an argument or anything, just my personal reflection :)
There's a difference between the example you gave and what copt4eva was asking about I think. When a man lustfully looks at a woman then he already let the birds build a nest, it's not just thinking of a woman (which is not wrong in itself) but its probably lustfully thinking about her, thinking about her in a wrong way (that's the sin).
Respectfully and humbly I state my point, there's a difference between a thought just jumping in your head which might be influenced by something you accidentally saw or heard, and as long as you don't indulge in it I don't think it's wrong (plz correct me if I'm wrong) and something you do in full conscience while having chosen it, eg lustfully looking at a woman, this is sinful.
God bless
Please pray for me
I am very sorry to tell you this, but if you spread such ideas to people, you will burden them far greater than Christ actually intended. Not only that, you will have people questioning the holiness of sex (within the Sacrament of Matrimony), as they think their natural sexual instinct is the enemy, when it is actually our soul that is weak in not being able to align our body.
Remember this: the body is holy. It is the flesh that is evil. It is living carnally minded. But when we become spiritual, we give life to our body; we redeem it. Sexual instinct is a natural aspect of our body. It is because we are often stuck in the fleshy mind that our body has become such a mess.
Sorry - my mistake, didn't think about it enough before I posted :)
I agree 100% with coptic pharaoh- it's the exact same advice my confession father gave me when I asked him about this. Have you ever heard the phrase "an idle mind is the devil's playground"? It's exactly as coptic pharaoh explained.
PopeKyrillos, I'm sorry I have to disagree with you, forgive me!
A thought in itself can be a sin, as Christ said in Matthew 5:28 -"But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart"
I agree with you that a thought expanded can lead to a much greater sin, and keeping yourself busy is the way to beat it. Sorry, I don't mean to start an argument or anything, just my personal reflection :)
I was thinking the same thing until i confessed yesterday to my foc and I asked him if it was a sin if I get a thought in my head and then I reject it right away? I thought that if the thought comes into my head, it's then a sin. He said no. If you reject the thought right away, then it's not a sin. How can you stop Satan from putting these thoughts in your head if your not expecting them?
So what he told me made sense. What if I got a thought in my head that I want to steal that man's wallet which is right in front of me on the table but then I tell myself no, I won't do it. Satan is the one who told me to go steal the man's wallet, I didn't think of it until Satan told me too. Just like with Adam and Eve. Eve didn't look at the tree and decide she'll go eat from it. The serpent tempted her into going and eating from the tree. He put the original thought into her head. If she hadn't eaten from the tree, and rejected the serpents temptation, she wouldn't have sinned.
PK
Hey guys, how does one control thoughts, like thoughts you do not want to be thinking.
+please pray for me+
Hi.. As J. Chrysostom said, bad thoughts can come from the devil. One cannot stop the birds flying over our heads, but we can definately stop them landing on our heads and building a nest.
This is where control comes in. The devil will always offer u bad thoughts to provoke u. U must respond and say "Get away from me, you evil doers" when these thoughts come to you.
First of all i should say that thoughts themselves can multibly as long as you feed them ..
here a piece of advice .. i hope it could work .... don't give a field to bad thoughts .. and don't just resist them .. but resist with feeding your mind and spirit and by controlling your body needs .. you can be feeding through the bible or prayer or even the saints stories ... try to change .. as you learn something new (related to God) .. like the church hymns or some holy songs and things like that ...
the best of that is .. your thoughts will change automatically .. believe it .. after you were thinking about bad things you will think about good things too, and after you were seeing every thing or most of the things bad you will see it so clear and good .. after you hate someone you will keep loving him and serving him too .. after your dreams were full of bad scences or problems or even dreams about life like being so strong or being so famous or being so rich or even having things in life you will think in another way .. you will dream with God .. with heaven .. with how the angels look like .. with or even you will think about some problems but in God .. like about a verse that you can't understand or accept .. in a commandment of God that you can't practice ... or about refusing the way of your heart that is still thinking about life and the world .. believe it .. you will change .. and may you forget many things as you used to do it .. like times of eating or how many hours you sleep even work .. you could think of God while you are working .. that is why our Christianity is a life ...
something to keep you in God : don't get depressed .. and all the thoughts that verwhelm your dreams and your mind will all vanish .. just keep yourself working and practicing in God ....
Sorry for being talkative ...
Thanks
Shady
What you said gave me hope
and May God Bless You
Ya rabby Yesu3 el-Messieh, erhamni, ana khaty.
WILL:
1) Pray: weakness--> God
"If the righteous one is scarcely saved, where shall I the sinner stand?
"The burden and its heat I could hardly bear because of my human weakness..."
"Who shall deliver me from the body of this death, except You my Lord"
"Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am weak." (Ps. 6:2)
2) Hate sin
"The wages of sin is death"
"Behold I a about to stand before the Just Judge, in fear because of numerous sins"
MIND:
1) Diagnose sin
Anger, Malice, Slander/dishonesty, Despondency/Apathy, Fear, Vainglory, Pride...
2) Arrest thought:
"Get behind me Satan" in the Name of the Lord.
"Through the intercession of (Intercessor/ Confession Father/ Spiritual Guide) I denounce this thought."
3) Hate
"O daughter of Babylon, the wretched, Blessed is he who seizes your children and dashes them against the rock" Ps. 137: 8-9)
4) Plea for mercy
"O God come to my rescure, O Lord, make haste and help me (Ps. 70)
Other psalms:141, 130, 142, 54, 57 etc.
5) Do opposite
"Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace and pursue it." (Ps. 34:14)
"Love your enemies, and do good to those who curse you and you shall be children of the Highest.
Lust--> Love
Anger--> Charity
Pride--> Humility etc.
Despondency--> Love of the Lord
6) Accept Abuse/shame when doing what is right
"Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you
7) Other battle cry
"The Lord is my light and my salvation..."
8) Perspective:
There are more with us than against us
"And behold, the mountains was full of horses and chariots of fire around about Elisha" (2. Kings 6:16-17)
Remember how God delivered Israel after demanding Joshua to shorten the number of soldiers
9) remember the crowns
10) Plant good thoughts
Complaint--> thankful
condemnation--> excusing
11) Distract (my addition)
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. 9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. (Phil. 4:8)
Hope this helps?
“You can’t stop a bird from flying over your head but you can stop it from making a nest of your hair”. The devil throws at us waves of evil thoughts which we might not be able to stop. But we can stop the evil thoughts from building its nest in our mind. We can choose not harbor evil thoughts.
May the Lord help us all!
In Christ
Theophilus