10 year's freedom from pmo - my Catholic method

Great testimonial. I think I never heard something like that. 58 years of being faithful to the promise given to God. It's cosmos for me. Great respect to your father. This shows how God likes promises given to Him - of course promises that are kept. Even great miracles can be as a reward. That promise was combined with an everyday additional prayer - rosary in this case. So prayer plus promise plus trying to be obiedent to God (because somebody who additionally prays rosary every day receives for sure the grace to be more and more obiedent to God. CPilot, tell about this as many believers as you can because it's a great testimony and the path for you too this had been doing your father. The fruit can be great.

About promises, vows - taken from Summa Theologiae - https://www.newadvent.org/summa/3088.htm

(Ecclesiastes 5:3): "If thou hast vowed anything to God, defer not to pay it, for an unfaithful and foolish promise displeaseth Him."
A vow denotes a binding to do or omit some particular thing.....
we make promises to God not for His but for our own profit....
by vowing we fix our wills immovably on that which it is expedient to do. Hence it is expedient to take vows.....
Augustine says that "happy is the necessity that compels us to do the better things."...
a man incurs danger, not from the vow itself, but from his fault, when he changes his mind by breaking his vow. Hence, Augustine says : "Repent not of thy vow: thou shouldst rather rejoice that thou canst no longer do what thou mightest lawfully have done to thy detriment."...
a vow is a directing of the thing vowed to the worship or service of God. And thus it is clear that to take a vow is properly an act of latria (a theological term (Latin Latrīa, from the Greek λατρεία, latreia) used in Roman Catholic theology to mean adoration, a reverence directed only to the Holy Trinity. Latria carries an emphasis on the internal form of worship, rather than external ceremonies.) ...
The matter of a vow is sometimes the act of another virtue, as, for instance, keeping the fast or observing continency; while sometimes it is an act of religion, as offering a sacrifice or praying.....
He who promises something gives it already in as far as he binds himself to give it....

Article 6. Whether it is more praiseworthy and meritorious to do something in fulfilment of a vow, than without a vow?

it is better to do a deed in fulfilment of a vow than without a vow: since he that does it without a vow fulfils only one counsel, viz. the counsel to do it, whereas he that does it with a vow, fulfils two counsels, viz. the counsel to vow and the counsel to do it.....
the works of the other moral virtues (for instance, fasting, which is an act of abstinence; and being continent, which is an act of chastity) are better and more meritorious, if they be done in fulfilment of a vow, since thus they belong to the divine worship, being like sacrifices to God. Wherefore Augustine says that "not even is virginity honorable as such, but only when it is consecrated to God, and cherished by godly continence......
he that vows something and does it, subjects himself to God more than he that only does it; for he subjects himself to God not only as to the act, but also as to the power, since in future he cannot do something else. Even so he gives more who gives the tree with its fruit, than he that gives the fruit only....
a vow fixes the will on the good immovably and to do anything of a will that is fixed on the good belongs to the perfection of virtue,....
the necessity resulting from a vow is caused by the immobility of the will, wherefore it strengthens the will and increases devotion.....
the necessity resulting from a vow, in those who are well disposed, in so far as it strengthens the will, causes not sorrow but joy.....

 

The way is easy rather. I'm 51.

 

That's right but my childhood and young years were lost.

 

Two fundamental things are incomplete. In fact there are THREE fundamentals because even if two are present the lack of the third prolongs pmo fight. The three are:

1. A decisive and daily decision to obey God and His Church ( daily trying to do what the Bible and church say)

2. Prayer at the moment of sexual temptation (each temptation) and at the moment of intense negative thoughts or feelings (because they lead to 'medication' and 'relief' by the means of pmo)

3. temporary promises to God (not to do pmo, not to watch tempting images (even fashion shows and the like 'mild' scenes) , promises to start praying in each dangerous temptation)

Without comments the three are:

1. repentance
2. prayer at the moment of temptation
3. temporary promises to God

 

Excellent conclusion.

Our main problem, root of addictions, is not an addiction. Our main problem is where to find relief and healing when we are attacked by bad painful thoughts, emotions, feelings, -- how we react when something difficult and painful happens in our life.
As long as we don't look for relief nearing to God as long we look for relief anywhere else - often in addictions which are pleasant enough to 'heal' our pain. At least temporarily.

 

I understand these words so: we don't know when is the time when God heals us but it doesn't mean we can neglect our repentance thinking that it's maybe not yet the time of our healing. Our part is doing all possible now and God's part is to give healing whenever He will but there are some tips in the Bible suggesting that God's intervention will be soon provided we don't give up our honest prayer:

Luke 11:5-8 ''5 Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; 6 a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ 7 And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need.''

When I analise my addicted years I distincly see that my cooperation with God was not enough (often inconsequence, long periods of staying in grave sins, neglecting of prayer etc. ) in my case it's not that I tried as hard as I could and God gave me freedom after 33 years of my heroic fight. It's rather a chain of unbelief, free hunting after pleasure, neglecting faith life, prefering my own life plans, persuing vanity and so on and my efforts to listen to God and His church were less or more periodically (with some exemptions when I really tried hard but after some time seeing not much fruit my depression periods lasted sometimes longer than my efforts ).
I daubt God's plan was to keep me in pmo sins for 33 years. I rather think it was partially the result of growing up in a broken destroyed by alcohol family plus my own faults.

The lack of this (or later not enough of this) would I consider as the main source of my 33 year long addiction.
But God can use my lost years for sure.
Lazarus' death was not a sin. I mean God's plan can be allowing some trouble, suffering in order to collect something positive after even a long time. But can be God's plan allowing somebody to lead a sinful life? Yet God hates sin. God can use a sinful life of a person but it would be rather plan B in case this person didn't want to choose plan A or had not enough opportunity to choose plan A (because of the sins of his parents, enviroment etc.)
All I wrote in this post is only my opinion. I'm not sure why God allowed my 33 year long addiction or why God allowed the saint Mark (the addicted Chinese) to be addicted his whole life. Was that God's plan or only plan B? (my provisional dictated by logic answer is plan B)

 

But the case of your daughter and Lazarus' are not comparable with pmo addiction. Why? because their disease and death could be not a result of their sins but pmo addiction is something joining sin plus disease. The big question is if God's plan can allow sin? In another words - is God's will that we sin? I know that His will is that we become holy.