Satan and our minds

[michaellabibat]

Hello my brothers and sisters,

I have a big problem and please I need help. I know that Satan fight us all the time and it does this with all people. I'm a Christian but like many Christians I don't go to Church (unless I need something from God) and I don't pray (again unless I need something from God) and I don't read in the bible.
Few days ago I heard sound in my mind calling bad names on GOD and I mean bad name. I know that this is rowing and it's not forgiven and I'm going crazy because I didn't say that and I love Jesus but this voice in my mind keep telling me that God is ….., I told you it's bad names.



You may not believe me if I told you that I didn't work for a week because of that and because I know that God will not forgive me but many of you in the forums explain that it's not my voice and it is Satan as I guessed but I wasn't sure.



Please help me, these bad names that my mind call on God is mine or from Satan and it will not count on me?????????????????????



Note: This is the first time that I feel that Satan can destroy someone's life, before I have believed that it's exist but it can't harm you that way but now I'm pretty much sure it can.

Thanks,

Michael

[Matrona]

It's Sunday morning, and it's not too late to go to church. Please seek the guidance of an Orthodox priest.

[Michael the Iconographer]

Please seek out the spiritual care of a priest.

[gord96]

pray....pray to God in Jesus's name.....that could be a needed first step....ask for forgiveness....seek out a church and talk to a priest and let him help you....

[lovemysoldier]

Yes, please don't let the clock tick on this subject. Your salvation and your spiritual well-being are too important to put off for another second. Take back your life and choose to not live in the darkness any longer! Go to a priest and get help! You have a great support system here in TAW and they will help lift you up and support you as well.

[michaellabibat]

Thanks but please can anyone of you answer my question?
Thanks again,
Michael

[Matrona]

Thinking bad names about God comes FROM Satan, but it doesn't make you a hopeless person or mean that you are unforgivable. Satan wants you to think that the bad thoughts he puts in your head are unforgivable sins and after that you can't be saved--but that is not true. You can be saved.

Please talk to a priest about this. He will help you.

[Marjorie]

We are a death-and-sin-riddled species in a death-and-sin-riddled world. And yet we are created for Light; the world was created to shine more brightly than the stars. The voices that you hear are probably just the way the mind works when it is starved of divine love; and while, yes, this is the work of the Evil One, I wouldn't necessarily say it was direct. Please consider praying (especially in front of icons) and talking to a priest as soon as possible. A priest could give you much better advice and discernment than people on a messageboard.

The Holy Theotokos is our champion leader in the cosmic war against the unnatural darkness in the world and in our minds. Seek her as a refuge so that she might bring you to her All-Glorious Son and God.

I will remember you in my prayers. :crosseo:

In IC XC,
Marjorie

[lovemysoldier]

You have a great team of support here in TAW. Don't let those voices bring you down. The sinful voices are not a part of you and won't be counted against you. God doesn't take notes of your sins. He only wants a relationship with you and for you to be clean, happy and full of love and light. He isn't a grudge holding, angry God out to punish and destroy. He is loving, quick to forgive and slow to anger and He wants a relationship with you. He wants you to be happy. He wants to forgive you and for you to forgive yourself so He can hold you in His arms. He wants to make it all better but you have to let Him. The invitation has been sent, the doorbell has rung, all you have to do is answer. Run to God and to the church with all of your might. Turn towards the light and choose to live in darkness no more and the devil will flee.

[lovemysoldier]

Does anyone have any prayers that you could recommend for Michaell? I don't know enough about the Orthodox church to suggest one and I really feel that he needs a good prayer and the help of the saints.

[icxn]

One zealous brother, who was troubled by this demon (of blasphemy), wore out his flesh for twenty years by fasts and vigils. But as he felt no benefit, he wrote his temptation on a tablet and went to a certain holy man and gave him the tablet and bowed his face to the earth, not daring to look up. As soon as the elder had read it, he smiled and raising the brother, he said to him: 'Lay your hand on my neck, son.' And when the brother had done that, the great man said: 'On my neck, brother, be this sin, for as many years as it has acted or shall act in you; only after this, ignore it.' And this brother assured me that even before he had left the elder's cell, his infirmity had gone. The man who had been tempted in this way told me this himself, offering thanksgiving to God. He who has won the victory over this infirmity, has banished pride. - St. John of the Ladder

Also St. John says that "...this demon often likes to haunt the minds of simple and innocent people, and they are more upset and biwildered by it than others... nevertheless they need not think that the guilt lies within them, for the Lord knows that blasphemous words and thoughts do not come from us."

But it seems that is because of your laziness towards prayer and going to Church and participating in the mysteries that this demon found entrance into your heart... perhaps you need to change this. What do you say?

Your friend,
icxn

[Marjorie]

Michael,

Have you ever read any akathists or canons? The Canon to the Theotokos always helps me when I am despondent. Some akathists and canons can be found here: http://pages.prodigy.net/frjohnwhiteford/akathists.htm

The psalms also might be of help to you. Psalm 42 is what I read in times of despair.

You might want to ask other saints to pray for you... I think the Archangel Michael would be doubly apt in your situation, both because of your name and because of who he is: the leader of the Heavenly Hosts in the battle against evil.

In IC XC,
Marjorie

[lovemysoldier]

Do you mind posting a specific prayer on this thread to make it simpler for him to start praying? I checked out the link and was overwhelmed with all of the options. Please simplify.

[lovemysoldier]

Saint Micheal Prayer
Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in our day of battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray. And do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Hosts, thrust into Hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl through the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

The Memorare
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that any one who fled to thy protection, implored thy help or sought thy intercession, was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins my Mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful; O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy clemency hear and answer me. Amen.

Renunciation Of Satan and Claiming the Full Victory
I claim the full victory that my Lord Jesus Christ won on the Cross for me. Having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross" (Col. 2:15) His victory for me is my victory.


In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I renounce all the workings of Satan in my life in all its forms, whether brought into my life by my actions or by others. I break all attachments, ground, curses, spells, and rights Satan may have in my life whether such ground was gained through my actions or through others. Strengthened by the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God, of Blessed Michael the Archangel, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and all the Saints and Angels of Heaven, and powerful in the holy authority of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I ask you Lord to command Satan and all his minions, whomever they may be, to get out of my life and stay out. With that authority I now take back the ground in my life gained by Satan through my sins. I reclaim this ground and my life for Christ. I now dedicate myself to the Lord Jesus Christ; I belong to Him alone. Amen.


Breaking Personal Curses and Spells Against
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, strengthened by the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, of Blessed Michael the Archangel, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and all the Saints, and powerful in the holy authority of His Precious and Wondrous Name, I ask, O Lord God, that you break and dissolve any and all curses, hexes, spells, seals, satanic vows and pacts, spiritual bondings and soul ties with satanic forces, evil wishes, evil desires, hereditary seals, snares, traps, lies, obstacles, deceptions, diversions, spiritual influences, and every dysfunction and disease from any source whatsoever, that have been placed upon me.


Father in Heaven, please rebuke these evil spirits and their effects and cast them away from me so that I may continue to do Your Will and fulfill the mission you have for them to Your Greater Glory.

Thank you, Father, for hearing my prayer. I praise Your Holy Name and worship You and Love You. Thank You for the wisdom and light of Your Holy Spirit. Thank You for enabling me through Your Holy Spirit to be aggressive against the works of the enemy. Thank You for Your Hope, that takes away discouragement; thank You for ongoing victory. "...in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us" (Romans 837).

Father, I now place my enemies into your hands. Look with mercy upon them, and do not hold their sins against them. Anyone who has cursed me, I now bless. Anyone who has hurt me, I now forgive. For those who have persecuted me, I now pray Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Glory Be...

Hedge Prayer for Protection of Self
[The "Hedge Prayer of Protection" is one of the most powerful prayers in the arsenal of spiritual warfare. We learn from Job that God has placed a "hedge of protection" around his children that Satan cannot cross except that God allows it.)


Trusting in the promise that whatever we ask the Father in Jesus' name He will do, I now approach You Father with confidence in Our Lord's words and in Your infinite power and love for me, and with the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, Blessed Archangel Michael, my guardian angel, with all the saints and angels of heaven, and Holy in the power of His blessed Name, as ask you Father to protect me and keep me from the harassment of the devil and his minions.

Father I ask that You build a hedge of protection around me, like that which surrounded Job, and to help me to keep that hedge repaired and the gate locked so that the devil and his minions have no access or means to breach the hedge except by your expressed will.

Father, I know that I am powerless against the spiritual forces of evil and recognize my utter dependence on You and Your power. Look with mercy upon me. Do not look upon my sins, O Lord; rather, look at the sufferings of your Beloved Son and see the Victim who's bitter passion and death has reconciled us to You. By the victory of the cross, protect me from all evil and rebuke any evil spirits who wish to attack, influence, or breach Your hedge of protection in any way. Send them back to Hell and fortify Your Hedge for my protection by the blood of Your Son, Jesus. Send your Holy Angels to watch over me and protect me.

Father, all of these things I ask in the most holy name of Jesus Christ, Your Son. Thank you, Father, for hearing my prayer. I love You, I worship You, I thank You and I trust in You. Amen.

[lovemysoldier]

I REALLY want you to read the Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyers. I have looked all over the web to find an e-book so I could e-mail it to you but had no luck. You are able to look inside portions of the book online before purchasing at Amazon.com.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0446691097/qid=1107731076/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-3729482-6887951?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

I can't describe just how much this book helped me and continues to help me whenever I struggle with temptation. You should definately go to the priest but this book teaches very simply how to arm yourself and protect yourself from the enemy through prayer.

[MariaRegina]

Here are some Orthodox Prayers from the Antiochian Church:

O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me. Today, I give You my soul, body, and will. Humbly, I ask You to live in me and direct me in ways pleasing to You. For help and assistance to please You, I call upon Your Holy Angels.

O heavenly Angels of God, you serve God at all times, you are protectors of God's people and enemies of the devils. I bow before you, blessed Angels, and rejoice in your greatness. You stand, never sleeping; with faith you watch and with swiftness serve the will of our God. Tireless, you fight and always triumph, having no other care but to chase away the enemies of God and of His creation. O blessed guardians of God's people, I respect you and thank you for the help, guidance and protection you give us every day. Above all, I bless you for your care of me, an unworthy sinner.

O Holy Angel, guardian of my soul, and Michael the Archangel, be my helpers. Do not be offended at me, a sinner, do not leave me alone; guard me day and night until with true repentance I give my soul into the hands of God my Maker. Save me from all enemies, seen and unseen, that I may not keep repeating my sins. I pray that upon my death I may be found worthy of seeing you, and that you will be standing around me to bring my soul to heaven, so I may worship before the face of God. Amen.
--Adapted from a prayer by St. John of Damascus

Suggested scripture readings:

Jude 1:9
Daniel 10:1-11:1; and 12:1
Revelation 17:7
Psalm 91 (90)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

These prayers have really helped me when I have been obsessed with diabolical thoughts. Remember that the devil can give us evil thoughts, but the above prayers along with the use of Holy Water is imperative.

Do you have any HOLY WATER? If not, then please go to your nearest Orthodox Church and ask for some.

Lovingly in Christ,
Elizabeth

[Dust and Ashes]

This is just my feeble, limited and maybe bad advice. Someone please correct anything I say that is wrong.

I would say that if a devil is determined to torment you in this way, make it an equally unpleasant experience for him. Every time he does it, say, "Lord have mercy." "Blessed be the Name of the Lord." or even the Jesus Prayer. This is not to replace but rather in addition to any and all regular prayers for intercession and deliverance.

I've had a lot of experience with harassing demons who say all kinds of horrible things in my mind and flash images, etc. Kind of like calling out random numbers when someone is counting to mess them up. It used to be really bad but it stopped dead when I converted to Orthodoxy. I had a bad day today but it's only because I haven't been guarding my mind properly lately and have been letting my mind drift to thoughts I should be avoiding.

St. Paul's analogy to athletics and a race are very accurate and we have to train ourselves and the more we resist a particular temptation, the easier it becomes to resist and avoid. I can sympathize with you in this and will keep you in my prayers. :crosseo:

[Wiffey]

Also: pray fervently and bless yourself with Holy Water. Actually, for the duration of this struggle, it might be good to drink a little (a few sips) Holy Water every day.

[The Virginian]

There's something which is very important for all of us to understand, and that is the place of the mind in the spiritual arena, particularly spiritual battle. There is however, another truth which supercedes this which Jesus spoke to His disciples when they wanted to call down fire on those who did not follow Jesus with them. The Apostle Paul wrote it this way: "No one can speaking by the SPIRIT says Jesus is accursed, and no one can say Jesus is Lord EXCEPT BY THE SPIRIT." There is no deviation from this, none whatsoever!
It does not matter from whence comes the voice, whether from a demon or from self, which is actually a periferal (sp) issue here. The amount of concern over this is indication enough that there's a spark in all of us which is tender towards God. Knowing this, it is the work of all satanic forces to either keep humans from accepting the offer of the Gospel of the Kingdom, or if we do accept, to hinder as much as possible, growth in the grace of God. The first step then for each of us who desire to escape the snare of the Devil is to submit to the yoke of the Truth, by which we can then come to our senses. Infrequent and selfish prayer and fellowshiop in the Body of Christ, must then be overcome. For it is in communion with the people of God -the Church- that we find the Life which is perfect freedom, where we as humans can realize that which is our true selves. It sounds heavily theological, but it is true! Once we're submitted to being controlled by the "love of Christ", and the Holy Spirit indwells us we then have the power -though not of ourselves- to resist wickedness of every kind.
I am a Corrections Officer; quite often on my drive to work I pray something like the following: Lord Jesus as much as I know how, I by faith put on the belt of Truth, that my life and word smay be honest . And I put on the breastplate of righteousness, for I have no righteousness of my own,that I may be able to stand as a witness against the ungosliness around me. And I put on my feet the shoesof the gospel of Peace, that I may walk in peace with and towards all those around me. I put on the helmet of salvation that your redemption O Lord may guard my mind. And I take up the shield of faith and the Sword of the Spirit that I may be able to stand strong against the forces of wickedness in this evil day. I realize that having no strength or armor myslef, that to make no provision for the flesh I put on the Lord Jesus Christ, who is Himself my protection. Lord Jesus live your life through me today here at the prison, and so brig glory to your name and to your kingdom.
More often thatn not "bad thoughts" come into my mind during the day (and not just at work there). I don't waste time in trying to dicipher from whence they came, but either do as the Apostle Paul wrote the Phillipian Church, (4:7,8), or I beseech the Theotokos -for who better as an example of purity do we have- to interceed for me before her son and our Lord that I may be pure in mind , body, and spirit.
As I said previously, and will again in slightly different form: Don't get the cart before the horse. Resistance to, and freedom from the attacks of the world, the flesh and the devil are only possible when Christ Jesus frees us, and in reallity this is already done, for the Epistle of 1st John,3:8 tells us that "For this was the Son of God manifest, that He might destroy the works of the Devil." And since Jesus was Incarnate, died, was buried, resurrected, and ascended into heaven to sit at the Father's right hand, from whence He ever liveth to make intercession for us, it's safe to believe that the works of the devil have been destroyed. Those who then desire to be free from the snare of the devil through the Truth (2 Timothy 2:25,26), have only to "..take My yoke uon you , and learn of Me."
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD ANYONE EVER ATTEMPT TO BE FREE OF DEMONIC ATTACK BY THEMSELF! The information one receives may be as "good as gold", but it should not be attempted to be used without the aide of a muture Christian. The absolute maximum any of us can do alone, is to pray, and or enlist the prayers of others who know how to fight on their knees!

Forgive me for making such a long post!


asaus

[Eusebios]

It seems to me that the best advice has already been given. Michael, If i assume correctly, you are an Orthodox Christian who has admittedly been neglecting prayer and the sacraments. You need to contact your priest for confession and return to the chalice first.
In terms of prayer, the Jesus prayer is simple, direct and effectual:"Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner"
His unworthy servant,
Eusebios.
:bow:

[Maximus]

Hello my brothers and sisters,










I have a big problem and please I need help. I know that Satan fight us all the time and it does this with all people. I'm a Christian but like many Christians I don't go to Church (unless I need something from God) and I don't pray (again unless I need something from God) and I don't read in the bible.

Few days ago I heard sound in my mind calling bad names on GOD and I mean bad name. I know that this is rowing and it's not forgiven and I'm going crazy because I didn't say that and I love Jesus but this voice in my mind keep telling me that God is ….., I told you it's bad names.



You may not believe me if I told you that I didn't work for a week because of that and because I know that God will not forgive me but many of you in the forums explain that it's not my voice and it is Satan as I guessed but I wasn't sure.



Please help me, these bad names that my mind call on God is mine or from Satan and it will not count on me?????????????????????



Note: This is the first time that I feel that Satan can destroy someone's life, before I have believed that it's exist but it can't harm you that way but now I'm pretty much sure it can.

Thanks,

Michael





You're not alone, Brother Michael. I, too, have faced this in the past.

Please get to confession and Divine Liturgy.

Read icxn's post and take heart.

God will help you overcome this.