Under demonic attack
- Thread starter Twigg
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Just relax, it is normal. They will probably go away eventually. The demons are doing this do turn you away from faith. I have blasphemous thoughts almost every time I read the Bible. Worrying about them only feeds into it. Also, very shortly after my baptism I began having lots of demonic visitations in my sleep. Just pray and relax. This is all very normal.
If you find yourself unable to manage through prayer and just ignoring it on your own seek spiritual counsel from a priest of church elder.
If you find yourself unable to manage through prayer and just ignoring it on your own seek spiritual counsel from a priest of church elder.
With intention and focus :::
The Jesus Prayer
The Jesus Prayer
This is one of the worst temptations one can face because a person feels responsible for having such thoughts. These thoughts aren't from you; they are from the demons, rest assured. It means you are on the right path, otherwise the demons wouldn't be working so hard against you.
This^.
Every time it happens, cross yourself and say the Jesus prayer. This is a great way to deal with temptations. What better way to get back at the demons causing this than to ask Christ for help whenever it happens!
Can you attend in person? I can't imagine the distractions of watching Liturgy on a screen.
I'm an Orthodox Catechumen myself and as part of my preparation, Father is having me read The Law of God by Priest Daniel Sysoev.
As it happens, I read a snippet about just your situation today:
As it happens, I read a snippet about just your situation today:
This is a common problem. Don't panic. It's not you coming up with the blasphemy. Maintain your prayer and it will fade in a couple days. Here are two articles that may help:
www.orthodoxroad.com
www.pravmir.com
Rejecting Blasphemous Thoughts
“When I was a novice monk, for a certain period of time, the devil brought to me such blasphemous thoughts even when I was in Church, and I grieved over them a great deal. Whatever I had hea…
www.orthodoxroad.com
The
One evening, while standing in the Church of Sts. Zosima and Savvaty during the Vigil, terrible, horrible thoughts of disbelief, doubt, and blasphemy suddenly and unexpectedly appeared in my head like lightening. This happened so quickly and suddenly that they, like lightening, burnt me with...
www.pravmir.com
Go to a service in person. There's a BIG difference between actually being in a church and just watching people at church in your home.
As I wrote elsewhere here, I'm under quite severe demonic attack and have been since I began turning my heart to God. At times it's been extremely testing to my faith, at other times, it's been beneficial. I focus my will according to the positives. It's beneficial because my thinking is along the lines of, "wow, the devil has taken a great interest to me since I began repenting and praying. Thank you Jesus for this reminder and this discipline". It removes any existing doubts I have about Jesus Christ being the Way, the Truth and the Life.
Reading the Desert Fathers, the Saints and significant Elders, I understand that these attacks always happen when we devote ourselves to Christ. My favourite is St Theophan the Recluse and I recommend 2 books, Unseen Warfare: The Spiritual Combat and Path to Paradise of Lorenzo Scupoli and Turning the Heart to God.
Reading the Desert Fathers, the Saints and significant Elders, I understand that these attacks always happen when we devote ourselves to Christ. My favourite is St Theophan the Recluse and I recommend 2 books, Unseen Warfare: The Spiritual Combat and Path to Paradise of Lorenzo Scupoli and Turning the Heart to God.
Unseen Warfare
This book is originally the work of an Italian Roman Catholic priest, Lorenzo Scupoli (1530 - 1610), a work very much part of the other s...
www.goodreads.com
Turning the Heart to God
One of the most profound works on repentance in all of Christendom. St. Theophan, a beloved Orthodox bishop from nineteenth-century Russi...
www.goodreads.com
I get blashemous thoughts even during liturgy and they are troubling. I don't want to explicitly write them here, they are usually related to lust and can be quite vulgar and dirty. Clearly they're not coming from my own mind, since even in my pre-religious days my thoughts were not like this. The vulgarity and exaggeration seems to have increased, not decreased.
Today, I focused on an icon near the altar and prayed to Jesus to stop them and they ceased during the Liturgy.
Today, I focused on an icon near the altar and prayed to Jesus to stop them and they ceased during the Liturgy.
I would place lustful thoughts and blasphemous thoughts in two different categories. In general a blasphemous thought might be thinking something like Mary was not ever-virgin, Jesus is human but not Divine, or that there will not be a resurrection (although there could possibly be a blasphemous thought overlapping with a lustful thought). By the way, thank you for not being descriptive of what your sinful thoughts were. Some people on this forum feel they need to relate their sins here, but this is not the place to do that. Even in confession we shouldn't go into too much detail about what our evil thoughts are, but rather we should explain them in a general way to the priest so that he gets an idea of what is being dealt with.
The struggle against evil thoughts is a big part of our spiritual warfare. If you are able to completely overcome your evil thoughts then you have attained to the first degree and I should probably be taking advice from you and not the other way around. Most of us will struggle our entire life with evil thoughts, sometimes falling, sometimes gaining the upper hand. When we fall, let us not become downcast. Dust yourself off, confess to your priest, take communion, and head back into the fray. From my own experience I can tell you that our success in this warfare depends a lot on God's Grace. When we have chaste and peaceful thoughts we should give thanks to God because this is His gift. When we begin to fall into the mire of evil thoughts it is often because we judged or condemned another person (pride) and God withdraws His Grace in an instructive manner in order to humble us. Always remember that our ultimate goal is to cross over the Jordan into the promise land where we will have peace from our enemies - evil thoughts.
If it helps, your inner demons will flee with prayer and the help of a strong church community and prayer. You will overcome them. They flee from the soul that seeks Christ.
However, it's the outer demons who masquerade as family, friends, and acquaintances that will be the bigger challenge for you to overcome. Jesus says, "if your flesh causes you to sin, cut it out"
He was referring to your own flesh and blood ie family.
This is the final spiritual boss battle and one that a lot of people fail. Cutting unhealthy and demonic family members out of your life is very difficult. Remain steadfast in Christ and they too will flee, but don't worry. Eventually family comes back and will be intimidated by your strength in Christ. We're here for you twigg.
Why do you feel guilt for believing in the truth?
God is merciful, He does not want to condemn you. He created you, and He loves you more than you have any ability to comprehend. Repent, confess, go to church, pray.
It is good that you fear hell, but you should also be hopeful, because God is merciful.
If you have not done so already establish a relationship with a priest, and go to church.