How Long Will the Battle Go On?

IMO there are two possibilities:
1. Because the desire is out of control for us we can only choose not to follow it ( I mean by ''we'' people who got rid of this addiction because regular addicts aren't even able to go away from an attacking desire) - consequently, the desire experienced in us is not a sin as long as we don't follow it. So I can imagine somebody with a clean heart but experiencing the desire. If we want to go further and even extinguish the desire then we must pray for it because it's absolutely beyond human nature to get rid of it. So we can pray for a miracle.
However, another question is if God wants us to be without the desire altogether or if He wants us to react on the desire by not following it. When we don't follow it we gain a merit and merits increase our sanctifying grace ( we become more saint) and the more is our reward in heaven. If there is no bad desire there will be no possibility to gain a merit

2. Maybe the desire is a punishment for us too. We had been engaged in this addiction for decades. After honest confession our sins are absolved but what remains are consequences of them. The desire can be a punishment and at the same time an opportunity to gain a merit. The choice is ours. For active addicts the desire (punishment) is mostly a cause of a pmo sin which leads to a more intensive desire (punishment) but former addicts are able to choose freely.
Of course, I don't want to say that active addicts have no choice but to always give in when they experience the desire. If it were true then you and me wouldn't be free. There are some ways out but it's another story...

IMO till our last second on the earth. But there are real miracles. So nobody knows. But if one doesn't pray for such a miracle then nothing unusual will happen for sure.

 

1 Corinthians 10:13 "God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it."

Yes, but the decisive problem for many Christian addicts is that they understand 1 Corinthians 10:13 wrongly. Many think and I did so too that it's enough to be a Christian, a Catholic or to pray in the morning and evening or to go to church on Sundays (even receiving Communion) to ensure yourself this God's promise ''He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability ''

But all these above is not enough in case of addicts because you and me had done so for many years (you maybe for decades) without lasting results . And that's why lots of Christians cannot get rid of pmo because they have their own wrong understanding of the passage.

The right understanding of 1 Corinthians 10:13 give Jesus's words - Matthew 26:41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

And I would add to it that it must be at the time of temptation, not before, not after but exactly at the time of the attack and as long as the attack lasts.

And now some excerpts of ancient Catholic commentaries to 1 Corinthians 10:13 which give the right understanding of this passage (I sometimes added my own comments in the brackets):

Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637:

It follows from this that we can be so strongly tempted by the devil and the flesh as to be unable to resist if the grace of God does not help us

The best remedy, therefore, against temptation is prayer, by which we call down the help of God from distrust of our own strength

This grace is promised to all who duly call on God. See decrees of the Council of Trent

It is in the power of each Christian to obtain sufficient help to overcome all temptations and all sins ( my comment - to obtain help by prayer)

God will perform what He has promised, and will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able. Understand, however, that this is if you seek His grace and help, as is right, and co-operate with Him. ( my comment - to seek His grace by prayer and prayer means cooperation but lack of prayer at the time of temptation means to me the lack of cooperation and seeking)

the Council of Trent - God does not order impossibilities when He orders us to resist every temptation; but when He orders, it is to bid us to do what we can, to seek help for what we cannot, and then He lends the strength. ( my comment - to seek His help by prayer because we cannot get rid of pmo by ourselves and only then He will give us the strength)

The righteous wins merit by such acts; he seeks and receives from God an increased infusion of grace and all virtues. ( my comment - he seeks that is he prays and only then he receives from God an increased infusion of grace )

John Chrysostom
AD 407:

Paul implies that there must be temptations which we cannot bear. What are these? Well, all of them in effect. For the ability to bear them comes from God’s grace, which we obtain by asking for it. God gives us patience and brings us speedy deliverance. In this way the temptation becomes bearable. ( my comment - in what way? by asking that is by prayer)

not even those moderate temptations, as I was remarking, may we bear by our own power: but even in them we require aid from Him in our warfare that we may pass through them ( my comment - we get aid by prayer)


The source to these ancient Catholic commentaries to 1 Corinthians 10:13
https://catenabible.com/1cor/10/13

 

You are on the right way. Look below at the words of Jesus from a private revelation to my compatriot Alicja Lenczewska (examined by my local church and the bishop - nihil obstat) I think this can strengthen you in your efforts and show the way clearer.

(the entry written in 10.11.1990.)

'' It is bad when there is not a constant prayer in your heart, from which your life would spring.
Everyday: all your thoughts, all your reactions, all your actions. When you are in the state of prayer everything that flows out of you is love and mercy. It is also My wisdom and My peace. When prayer fades away in you – the conscious striving for oneness with Me – you remain with your human emptiness and there leaks the shadow of original sin from you. It may even be that an evil spirit comes through this emptiness and manifests itself in you.

You’re not the same person you were when you lived in the world without knowing the laws and depth of soul life and when the evil touched the surface of your heart only. Now your heart is open for spiritual life and for the working of the Holy Spirit, but it is also open to the working of other spirits, which do not bring peace and love. And you can no longer live as you once did, careless in the world, because now your threat is even bigger.
It is said: Where sin increased, grace was poured out. However, this right also works in the other direction:
where grace has been poured out, the work of evil spirits and their temptations have increased.
There can't be empty moments in your heart and in your thoughts, no neutral time. You can't be absorbed in the exterior that comes out of the world without remaining in Me consciously – without the inner state of prayer.
Take care now, My child, that the intensity of your inner life increases, that there is no decrease in
God’s love and devotion to your God. As long as you live on earth, this striving and effort cannot cease. You can only rest in Me when I give rest to your soul sunk in prayer.

All that is good and creative in you is born of Me, of your interaction with Me in prayer,
of communion with Me in your life. Not out of knowledge about Me, not out of morals and the prohibitions of the Decalogue. Not out of your decisions and your participation in religious rituals.

Everything comes from Love, because only Love is creative. Unite yourself with God-Love, so that your soul will blossom with all the colors of love. Nothing will replace the living and true Me who I am in your soul and give birth to goodness in your thoughts, words and deeds. As much I give birth, as much you unite with Me and give yourself to Me. ''