A gloomy mood can bring a lot of trouble. Victory begins with self-confidence; defeat can be a consequence of bad thoughts in your head. The best remedy for them is prayer. You should not ignore your state of mind, because a lot in life depends on it. You cannot overcome difficulties if you constantly replay a negative scenario. Everything in a person must be harmonious - without positive thoughts there will be no positive changes.
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The power of faith is the salvation of the soul
Sincere faith can save a person from negative thoughts and depression. Anyone who sincerely prays to the Lord and heavenly intercessors gets rid of inner anger. The Savior sees everything and only those who often turn to him, ask for healing and forgiveness, receive what they want when it is especially bad and difficult for them. Therefore, whenever a believer feels the approach of despondency, he needs to pray or confess.
Bad thoughts usually have more power than good ones, because at the moment of understanding them within oneself, a person sincerely wishes harm to himself or others. At the moment of their visit, you should immediately ask God for protection from the evil one and sinful thoughts, since you cannot remain for long without his protection - anything can happen to a person.
Sincere faith can save a person from negative thoughts
Fear of society and people
Let's start with fear of people, society. Traditionally, David's psalms are believed to help with this type of anxiety. According to legend, King David, who ruled Israel in pre-Christian times, was fleeing from his own son Absalom, who wanted to take his throne. One day, pursued by enemies, King David prayed to the Lord asking for intercession. Surprisingly, the enemies were defeated without a fight, and the text of David’s prayer has survived to this day. Translated into Slavic, it is called Psalm 3 “Lord, why do my enemies multiply?”
Anxious anticipation
There are situations in life when a person is forced to be in a situation of anxious anticipation, worry and fear for himself, family and friends
For example, you are waiting for an important decision about work, health, a call from a significant person, and so on. In such cases, the believer is helped by a prayerful appeal to the Mother of God, whose help is especially effective in situations of anxious anticipation, when there are bad thoughts in the head and an uneasy soul
The prayer addressed to the Mother of God was composed by the Greek monk Theostirictus, who lived in the eighth century and was overcome by unfounded fears. A prayer canon to the Holy Mother of God, consisting of nine songs, can be found in every prayer book. There is also a shorter prayer to the Mother of God - singing “Offering to my Queen.”
Prayer for fear of people
The prayer is recommended for reading by those who are afraid of attack, robbery, deception and other dangers associated with people. Before saying a prayer, you should cross yourself three times. You need to pray for intercession in the following words:
“Lord, my Intercessor, protect me with holy angels from all evil, sorcery, misfortunes, from evil and dangerous people. May they not be able to cause me or my loved ones any harm. God, by Your power save me in the morning, in the evening, in the coming sleep, and by Your mercy prevent the evil deeds of people acting according to the devil’s decree. Whoever thinks, turn away their evil and direct them to the true path. Amen".
The root cause of any fear
Anxiety and fear can be both causal and without apparent causes. While human nature is damaged by sin, we all experience attacks of fear and anxiety from time to time. Fear is a consequence of the Fall, which means that the root cause of any fear has a spiritual basis. That is why prayers and appeals to the Lord for help and cleansing of the soul are the most effective and correct, in contrast to taking any “miracle pills for anxiety.”
We must also remember that the antipode of fear is love. Love in the present, not in the selfish sense of the word, is the most powerful energy of the Universe. In whom love lives, there is no fear. If there were no consequences of the Fall in man, then there would be no fear in him, but only love.
Prayer for anxiety to the Mother of God
There are situations in the life of every believer when they are overcome by anxious thoughts and worries about themselves, family, children, and friends. In such cases, prayers to the Mother of God help, they can relieve bad thoughts and mental anxiety. The most famous prayer to the Mother of God sounds like this:
“Mother of God, Virgin, rejoice, the Lord is with you. Blessed are You among women and blessed is the fruit of Your womb, for You have given birth to the Savior of our souls.”
We advise you to study Prayers for your son’s marriage
This is interesting: Orthodox prayers for the preservation of pregnancy and fetal development - we study the main thing
Who to contact with prayers
Prayer requests for protection should be addressed to the Lord himself and heavenly patrons. The most important earthly intercessor in heaven is the Mother of God. It is she who begs Christ for protection for man and it is she who needs to send calls for help. It is also worth asking for help in getting rid of despondency from Nicholas the Wonderworker and Holy Mother Matrona.
"Our Father"
This is the very first and most important prayer among Christians of different denominations. In Orthodoxy and in Christianity in general, “Our Father” is a prayer that helps with everything.
By sincerely pronouncing the words from the text, a person receives invisible protection from harmful thoughts and from the actions of the evil one, who tries to persuade the believer to fall into sin, including suicide and other mortal sins.
To the Guardian Angel
Every person has their own guardian angel. At the moment of birth and until death, it protects a person from visible and invisible enemies, all life’s obstacles and troubles. Therefore, at the moment of adversity, mental anguish and torment, the onset of bad thoughts, prayer should be addressed to him.
It should be said whenever a believer feels bad and wants peace of mind and heavenly protection. You can turn to your Angel either with a specific prayer or with any words at a time when bad thoughts interfere with your peaceful life.
To the Mother of God
The Mother of God is the queen in heaven, whose children are all people on earth. Like a loving earthly mother, the heavenly intercessor asks God for forgiveness for the actions of her children. Everyone can turn to her for help. She will hear sincere prayers and save a person from bad thoughts and despondency.
To the Most Holy Trinity
The Holy Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is a great power, which must be addressed with prayerful words not only at times of adversity, but also at the moment of expressing gratitude. This is the Holy Trinity, helping and guiding believers to pray in its name, think in the right direction and do good deeds. Therefore, you can and should turn to her for help at any time, especially when you are overcome by despondency.
Prayer "Our Father"
To the Mother of God
To the Guardian Angel
To the Most Holy Trinity
Prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary
No less effective will be turning to prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos, protector and female intercessor, especially if a woman turns to her for protection and patronage. The most effective way would be to say a prayer in front of the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos “Helper of Sinners.” A prayer is read before her for bad thoughts during times of despondency and despair, mental confusion. If there has been no joy and love, happiness and peace in life for a long time, reading it will help get rid of unpleasant thoughts.
My Most Blessed Queen, My Most Holy Hope, Helper of Sinners! Behold, a poor sinner stands before You! Don’t leave me, abandoned by everyone, don’t forget me, forgotten by everyone, give me joy, who knows no joy. Oh, my grievous troubles and sorrows! Oh, my sins are immeasurable! Like the darkness of the night is my life. And there is not a single strong help in the sons of men. You are my only Hope. You are my only Cover, Refuge and Affirmation. I boldly stretch out my weak hand to You and pray: have mercy on me, O All-Good One, have mercy on Your Son redeemed by the Blood, quench the pain of my much-sighing soul, tame the rage of hatred Those who offend and offend me, restore my fading strength, renew my youth, like an eaglet, allow yourself to weaken in keeping the commandments of God. Touch my troubled soul with heavenly fire and fill me with unashamed faith, unhypocritical love and known hope. May I always sing and praise You, the Most Blessed Intercessor of the world, our Protector and Supporter of all of us sinners, and I worship Your Son and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, with His Beginning Father and the Life-giving Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.
Sporuchnitsa means a guarantor. Reading a prayer in front of this icon and the resulting enlightenment and relief are a kind of guarantee from the Mother of God before the Lord to deliver the person praying from difficult thoughts, temptation and other sinful manifestations.
Rules for reading prayers and conspiracies against fear
Reading prayers and conspiracies allows the believer to free himself from sins and fears. You should read them at night and at moments when bad thoughts are spinning in your head. When turning to the Lord, a Christian invites Him to settle in his heart to cleanse his abode from filth and negative influence from the outside, from evil thoughts and depressive thoughts.
When God settles in the heart, a person receives not only peace, but also a feeling of divine grace.
In order for prayer to have an effect, you must adhere to some rules:
- read akathists, troparia and the Bible aloud daily;
- pronounce each word of the prayer clearly and meaningfully;
- light candles before reading for greater effect;
- give thanks for everything after turning to God and kiss the icons;
- the most important thing is to pronounce every word of prayer sincerely and with all love for God and heavenly intercessors.
You can read prayer speeches both in church and at home
Prayer to the Honest Cross
If your head is haunted by lustful thoughts and your soul is troubled by demons, you need to turn to the Honest Life-Giving Cross in prayer against lustful thoughts. It is small, but its essence is deep and is capable of removing embarrassment from the person praying, freeing him from temptation and temptation.
May God rise again, and may His enemies be scattered, and may those who hate Him flee from His presence. Like smoke disappears, let them disappear; As wax melts in the presence of fire, so let demons perish on behalf of those who love God and sign the sign of the cross, and say in joy: Rejoice, Most Honest and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, driving away and the demons have the power upon you of our Lord Jesus Christ, who descended into hell and trampled underfoot the power the devil, and who gave us Your Honest Cross to drive away every adversary. Oh, Most Honest and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord! Help me with the Holy Virgin Mary and with all the saints forever. Amen.
Saving prayers from bad thoughts
Prayer "Our Father"
“Our Father who art in heaven! Hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen".
Prayer to the Guardian Angel for every day
“O holy Angel, my good guardian and patron! With a contrite heart and a painful soul, I stand before you, praying: hear me, your sinful servant (name), crying with a strong cry and a bitter cry; Do not remember my iniquities and untruths, in whose image I, the accursed one, anger you all day and hour, and commit abomination to myself before our Creator, the Lord; Show yourself merciful to me and do not leave me, the vile one, even until my death; awaken me from the sleep of sin and with your prayers help me to pass through the rest of my life without blemish and create fruits worthy of repentance; moreover, protect me from the mortal falls of sin, so that I will not perish in despair, and may the enemy not rejoice over my destruction.
I truly confess with my lips that no one is such a friend and intercessor, protector and champion, like you, holy Angel: for standing before the Throne of the Lord, pray for me, indecent and most sinful of all, so that the Most Good One will not take away my soul on the day of my hopelessness and day of creation of evil. Do not cease to propitiate the Most Merciful Lord and my God, may He forgive me the sins that I have committed in all my life, in deed, in word and with all my feelings, and in the image of fate, may He save me, may He punish me here according to His ineffable mercy, but yes He will not convict or punish me according to His impartial justice; may he make me worthy to bring repentance, and with repentance may I be worthy of receiving Divine Communion, for this I pray more and I earnestly desire such a gift.
In the terrible hour of death, be persistent with me, my good guardian, driving away the dark demons that have the power to frighten my trembling soul; protect me from those traps, when the Imam passes through airy ordeals, yes, we protect you, I will safely reach the paradise I desire, where the faces of the saints and heavenly Powers constantly praise the all-honorable and magnificent name in the Trinity of the glorified God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, to Him honor and worship are due forever and ever. Amen".
Prayer to the Mother of God “All-Merciful”
“All-merciful, my Lady, Most Holy Lady, All-Pure Virgin, Mother of God Mary, Mother of God, undoubted and my only Hope, do not disdain me, do not reject me, do not abandon me, do not depart from me; intercede, ask, hear; See, Lady, help, forgive, forgive, Most Pure One!”
Prayer to the Holy Trinity
“Most Holy Trinity, have mercy on us; Lord, cleanse our sins; Master, forgive our iniquities; Holy One, visit and heal our infirmities, for Thy name’s sake.”
Prayer is the most powerful weapon against such a sin as despondency. By praying to the patron saints and God, you can not only get rid of depression and strengthen your faith, but also help your neighbor who suffers from bad thoughts.
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How to deal with sinful thoughts?
“Everyone must struggle with thoughts so that Christ may shine in his heart,” says the venerable Abba Isaiah. But it is precisely this struggle that turns out to be the most difficult spiritual battle for a person. The abbot of the Vatopedi Monastery of Holy Mount Athos, ARCHIMANDRITE EFREM, talks about what thoughts and thoughts are, where they come from and how to deal with them.
Geronda Ephraim, please tell us what sinful thoughts are and what is their spiritual nature?
Sinful thoughts are thoughts that oppose the divine will and revolve in the field of human thinking, regardless of whether a person wants it or not. The human mind is constantly in motion. He can produce thoughts himself, but they can also come from outside. As the venerable Abba Moses says, there are three principles of our thoughts: from God, from the devil and from us. But only people of high spiritual life can distinguish thoughts. Some of the holy fathers of the Church compared thoughts to a web, that is, they considered them something insignificant, powerless, and without power as long as they remain thoughts and are not implemented in practice. But such an attitude towards thoughts (not to put them into practice) is achieved by spiritually developed people who, after many years of experience in fighting thoughts, have become skilled in this battle. For everyone else, according to the Fathers of the Church, this spiritual warfare is very difficult.
How do sinful thoughts arise?
The sources of sinful thoughts are either the passionate heart of a person or demons. Christ Himself revealed to us that from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, blasphemy (Matthew 1:5:19). A person’s spiritual passions give birth to sinful thoughts and feed on them. Demons are specific creatures, evil spirits who hate people and in every possible way hinder their salvation. Their main occupation is to sow bad, evil, shameful, sinful, blasphemous thoughts in the mind of a person. There are, of course, divine thoughts, the sources of which are either God Himself, or Angels, or saints, moving the sinner to repentance, comforting those who grieve in various ways, enlightening virtuous people so that they penetrate the depths of God (see 1 Cor. 2:10) . An indicator of a person’s spiritual success is the “quality” of his thoughts. We must cultivate pure, holy, divine thoughts in ourselves; we must make our mind “a factory for the production of good thoughts,” as the blessed elder Paisius the Svyatogorets put it.
Father Ephraim, how can we recognize “our” and “not our own” thoughts in time, and how do natural human thoughts differ from sinful thoughts?
Only with the help of spiritual sobriety can we keep our mind pure, notice and record emerging thoughts. Sobriety is the abstinence and attention that we must “impose” on our minds. And sobriety itself is achieved mainly by invoking the most honest, holiest and sweetest name of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Jesus Prayer - “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me” - is the most powerful weapon against the devil and sinful passions; it restrains our mind, controls our thoughts. Thoughts are thoughts that are committed by our will, according to our desire. Having “processed, cultivated” a thought in the area of our thinking, we can turn it into a thought. But there are also thoughts that are not ours, as discussed above. These thoughts can come from Angels or from evil spirits. It depends on us whether we accept them, making them ours, or drive them away. But at the same time, we are not responsible for the fact that different thoughts come to us. Thoughts are like airplanes flying in the air. It is not up to us whether they will constantly fly over us or not. But it is up to us not to allow thoughts to “land” in our mind, that is, not to accept them, not to agree with them.
What is the difference between lust and thoughts?
Lust, desire, disposition to have some thing, to seek something, to perform some act - all these are movements of the heart. And the thought revolves in the area of thinking. First comes desire, which is then expressed internally through thought; then - externally through the word and, finally, embodied through concrete action. But everything begins with lust; it is the root. By cutting off sinful lusts, we are significantly freed from the influence of sinful thoughts. Therefore, the Lord says that anyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Matthew 5:28) - with this He advises cutting off sinful passion at the root. Saint Gregory Palamas says that the thinking of a believer who tries to pray is easily cleansed of thoughts, but this is not the case with his heart: it, as a force that gives birth to thoughts, cannot be cleansed unless all other forces of the soul are cleansed at the same time - the desirable and irritable.
Geronda, we are visited by a great many thoughts - do we need to confess them all?
The thoughts that come to our minds every day cannot be counted - there are thousands of them. Most of them are devoid of essence, they are vain, nasty, sinful. Tangalashka (as Elder Paisiy Svyatogorets called the devil - trans.) knows his work well and sows similar thoughts. We bear responsibility only when we agree with these thoughts, accept them, when we turn them into action. A person will be judged for his attitude to thoughts depending on his spiritual state. For those who have achieved perfect spiritual knowledge and observation of thoughts, agreement with some sinful thought is considered a sin. While for someone who has just begun spiritual life, it may not be considered a sin.
A person who strives correctly professes only those thoughts that are persistent, that oppress, and which he himself, through prayer and other spiritual means, cannot cope with. It is impossible to confess all your thoughts. Sometimes people come to confession with a whole notebook in which they write down their thoughts: not one or two, but thousands that pass through their mind every day. It is not right. This is how a person tires the spiritual confessor, and for him it is of little use. Such a detailed list is not control of thoughts, the fruit of sobriety and spiritual prosperity, but a painful mental state.
Father Ephraim, it often happens that after confession, just before Communion, sinful thoughts arise. Is it possible in this case to approach the Holy Chalice?
You definitely need to come over. What do we read in the prayer of St. John of Damascus before Holy Communion? “I stand before the doors of Your temple and do not retreat from evil thoughts.” Warfare with thoughts, as we have already said, the holy fathers called very difficult. In this situation, we must immediately neglect the thought, cut it off, and not pay any attention to it, because at this moment the devil brings it to us in order to deprive us of the blessing of Holy Communion. Of course, this does not apply to cases when a person remembered some mortal sin that he had not yet confessed, but I think this is unlikely - such sins expose our conscience much earlier.
However, every person should know: as soon as he decides to strive spiritually, decides to lead a more stable spiritual life, then the enemy will begin to fight him with thoughts. Try establishing a daily prayer routine for yourself. You will see that as soon as the hour of prayer approaches, or as soon as you begin to pray, warfare will begin, a whole flock of thoughts will fly in! All problems will emerge from the bottom and will require an immediate solution. Passionate, sinful and simply meaningless thoughts will try to take over your mind. For this we need a feat, that is, intense efforts, perseverance, constancy in prayer. Be constant in prayer (Col. 4:2) - says the Apostle Paul. Peace of thoughts, that is, a peaceful, unperturbed state of mind, comes over time, through spiritual labor and spiritual deeds. Only those who achieve spiritual dispassion have peace of thoughts as the fruit of their exploits.
Are there thoughts that are particularly harmful to the soul and lead to spiritual death?
Yes, these are thoughts of despair, hopelessness. Such thoughts, say the holy fathers, seem to behead the ascetic of piety. In such a state, he can neither fight, nor undertake anything, nor strive. A believer should never forget the love and mercy of our God and Father; No matter what depth of sinfulness a person has fallen into, he should not lose hope of repentance and correction. Christ did not come into the world to judge the world, but to save it. Christ accepted the repentance of the thief crucified on the cross, a villain who was on the verge of death, and saved him and brought him into heaven.
Geronda, do spouses need to reveal their thoughts regarding each other?
I don't think it's necessary. It is better to reveal your thoughts to your common confessor. It is important here not to confuse two different things: I am not saying that spouses should not talk, agree, or explain themselves - on the contrary: all this is necessary for unity and love. But one cannot tell each other sinful thoughts that come to them from the devil.
Know that as soon as a married couple is united by marriage, the devil sets out to separate them. Therefore, sooner or later, fighting begins between spouses, most of whom, unfortunately, do not know this reality. And, although at the beginning everything went smoothly, “like clockwork,” and love united two people, over time, disagreements and quarrels begin: “I stopped loving you,” “we are not suitable for each other,” “we have different characters”... What did it happen after ten to fifteen years of happy married life? So they got together and suddenly stopped loving each other? Didn't they get married for love? All this is spiritual warfare, an invisible spiritual war. As soon as such problems begin in the relationship of a married couple, it is best to entrust them to a common confessor, who, through the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, will find the right solutions and, with his prayer, will drive away the devilish misfortunes that have arisen in the family life of the spouses with the aim of separating them.
Father Ephraim, how should one fight thoughts?
With sobriety, the prayer “Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.” Saint John of Sinai in his “Ladder” writes: “Scourge the adversaries in the name of Jesus,” and adversaries-enemies are our passions, our sinful thoughts, demons. There is no more effective way to combat sinful thoughts than the Jesus Prayer, when it is done with self-reproach and heartache. If we see that some thought is persistent and, despite all our efforts to pray, does not leave us alone, then we must confess it. Such confession is practical, actually expressed humility, and God gives grace to the humble (see James 4:6). The shame that we will experience before our confessor, confessing this sinful thought, will become our justification before God, God will deliver us from the influence of this passion, this sinful thought.
It is also very useful to cultivate good thoughts and neglect sinful, bad thoughts. But doing this requires a lot of diligence and effort. Neglecting the sinful thoughts that come to us from the devil will put him to flight, make him “burst with anger,” because the devil is arrogant, self-loving, wants to be paid attention to, to be occupied with, and does not tolerate disdain. If you can, cultivate this particular method of combating thoughts, which, as Saint Porfiry Kavsokalivit said, is the most bloodless way. Let us seek peace, joy, and the love of Christ and let us not pay attention to our bad sides, passions, and sinful thoughts. Let us turn our entire nature to Christ and seek His goodness, His mercy, His light. So, little by little, without noticing it, a person is sanctified, and from the old man, with his sinful lusts and thoughts, is transformed into a new one, created according to God (Eph. 4:24).
Interviewed by Sergei Timchenko
Slavyanka Magazine No. 2(50)2014
