I kid you not, i was asking Our Lord to help me as i was unable to keep away from porn yet again and the moment i came out to the living room and opened youtube this video had been released 5 minutes ago at exactly the time i asked for grace. Thank you for this video, it is exactly what i needed.

Many people will benefit from this. May Christ strengthen all those who struggle!

I’m so sick of falling in this trap. Please pray for me. 😢☦️

thank you ! pornography is awful and i felt shame and guilt for so long. i pray to god every night when i am awoken in the early morning. i plan on attending a orthodx church this weekend. please pray for me.

I am Catholic and I find this very helpful to do real penances like fasting after falling into mortal sin. Thank you Father!

For anyone struggling don’t be ashamed to go to confession, don’t delay. Your confessor will not judge, he will smile as you confess. Please don’t think you can defeat it and repent by yourself. We need confession, we also need the accountability it brings

I'm 38 years old and have been addicted to dopamine and pornography since I was 11 years old. I've abstained for 1 month. The longest I've gone in many many years. I've been praying ceaselessly. Whenever impure thoughts invade my mind, i immediately pray the Jesus prayer. Everytime. Be mindful of your thoughts and transform them with prayer. You'll begin to notice the results by cutting it off before it comes to fruition. Fast. Be mindful of what you put before your eyes and what goes into your ears. Hate sin. Really hate it and it will flee from you. The devil is cunning so don't allow him any opportunities to poison your mind. Keep busy at any cost and develop strategies to better use your free time. Edit: For all my brothers that are also struggling; I encourage you to study the life and spiritual practices of the saints and monastics. KZfaq has incredible resources in this regard. In my inquiry and study of EO, the life of the monastics have been a witness to me and have inspired a zeal for righteousness that I've never experienced. Stay strong and let's finish this race well!

The pornography issue in particular is the number one issue/problem/plague for men in modern times, especially young men. It's hard for older generations of men to really relate to the issue because they simply didn't grow up with technology. Since the explosion of the internet over the past 20 years or so countless numbers of boys have been growing up addicted to pornography. Your sex drive is already through the roof while you're going through puberty, curious about sex, etc... combine that with high speed internet on demand and infinite pornography at your fingertips 24/7 365 and you get a perfect storm for generations of boys growing up and developing into adults with porn-brain. This does unimaginable damage to your brain and It's only very recently that this problem is finally being brought to light. It's good to see the church speaking out on the issue, it needs to be taken extremely seriously.

Father Peter can you please make an in depth lecture on the sin of pornography and how to overcome it? This is something me and many other men desperately struggle with and it would be very helpful.

God, strengthen my resistance to degeneracy. Amen.

I just went to confession this evening, I am so desperate to be done with this sickness. Watching this video, everything made so much sense and was so well put and easy to understand. Thank you so much Fr. Heers!!

Pornography and sexual sin latched on to me as a child. I was baptized at 16 understanding why I was being baptized and that Jesus was the only way that made sense to me, that my sin debt was paid through Gods grace alone, and nothing on my part, and I accepted his gift. I'm 52, and Pornography and sexual sin still infects me. There are times where I'm victorious for longer and then there are utter ruinous valleys of gratification and sin against God's spirit. But what has also caused me, and still causes me such torment alongside the sexual sin, is having heard and been led to understand that the ultimate source of deliverance for this and any kind of sin is Jesus' hand of spiritual deliverance in ones life. And that that deliverance isn't brought about by works, as works do not grant us salvation, but God's grace alone. So here I am, having been sincere time and time again throughout my life, repentance and tears and always looking to Jesus to deliver me. Deliver me as the Psalmist's write so often in their agony and yearning for God and his spirit. But God has not delivered me, otherwise I would not be writing this. And this leaves me in a deep well of despair, lacking the discernment and understanding of why God's mercy and grace through deliverance of this foulness within me, ever be given to me so that I can stand and know in my mind and realize in my very being and spirit that Jesus set me free. So my mind and spirit fails within me and I am brought so low where a doubting spirit consumes my thoughts, even in the middle of prayers and turning my eyes to God in the darkness, asking without answer or even any spiritual inkling as to what God would enlighten me to as why he abstains from deliverance of this sin. And I become lost in this balance of hope and despair, because inevitably, the chains have not been broken, and so therefore God's silence (as perceived by me), as i try to not trust my own understanding, crashes over everything and his rejection of me seems so complete. Yet I know Jesus says that he will never leave me nor forsake me. How lost I feel when all I long for is to be like the Psalmist who turns his eyes to the Lord and can say publicly and with complete Joy and trust, "The Lord lifted me out of the mud and the mire, out of the slimy Pit".

From my experience, surrounding yourself with loving Christian people for a long time can help overcome this passion. Surround yourself by your family (parents, siblings, children etc) with VERY frequent interactions with them.

21:30 This is so important! Children need to fast. I had never given much thought to this before, but considering that most children are exposed to pornography around age 11 (if not earlier), we need to make sure our kids aleady have some training in the arena of self-sacrifice instead of self-indulgence.

I used to be very addicted to porn and online games. I have been freed from those almost 4 months ago. I force myself to pray Jesus Prayer whenever I want to watch porn and online games. I thank Lord Jesus Christ and the power of Jesus Prayer help. May God always bless and protect us.🙏⛪

"Truly the evil of the present age has exceeded the evils and sins of all other ages.. In the present wicked generation the spiritual father ought to use oikonomia, for if he uses strictness, either none of those who confess, or few and far between, will be found worthy of recieving communion." - Elder Philotheos Zervakos, Paternal Counsels vol.1 These words from Geronda Philotheos is very much worth to consider on this sin, since self abuse and pornography has not only greatly increased but has become much more accessible and extreme.

Astonishing to realize Mary of Egypt likely had no spiritual formation before the age of 5. If she did, she proceeded to absolutely obliterate it and all fear of God and desire for anything good. Yet she repented to the utter core and far surpassed all Christians of her day and in most ages. As a laywoman, not a monastic. Lord Jesus Christ and our All Pure Lady, look on all of us the utterly unworthy who realize this even a bit. Let us noetically touch just the hem of her and thus Your garments and receive mercy and eternal life and not damnation when our souls depart, and at the Second Coming.

I thought it would make me feel better but it didn’t. Brains wired wrong. Peer pressure is what stole my youth. I never developed as a young man. Still in my twenties I’m just now seeing the damage and learning to pray. I need to quit smoking as well. Please pray for me.

Father bless. I needed this video so much. I'm afraid for my eternal soul and want to please and obey God.

Gods timing is perfect, speechless. God bless everyone here and may we all walk by the Spirit.

O father Peter. Your content and works are unrated enough by the people. Perhaps more by Our Lord Jesus Christ. Wish you more subscribers and Gods support in all your deeds. I'm so happy that i found you here, about one month from now ago. With a warm heart and may the Lord bless you.❤

I quit in 2019 for no fap November , before I became an orthodox enquirer.. I realised that it was a weapon used against us..

Father Heers is spot on.

The best NoFap video ever. God bless you Father

I thank all the comments. May God bless us all.

8:49 - the book is "Exomologetarion: A Manual of Confession" (it took me a while trying to phonetically decipher what he said and the image was fuzzy)

Much needed. Thank you so much may they blessing of God be with you. 40 days ❤

Truck loads of Grace to overcome this. You become a slave to your passions. 🙏🏻 for anyone going through this.

Fr Heers I thank you for showing the serious reality of this issue. So often whithin orthodoxy this issue is dealt with as an abstract, I have been taught this is something that will always be dealt with, and probably not overcome. And that sainthood is a pipedream for us, just something to be hoped for but not realistically sought. I thank you for helping me reject these notions, and understand the incarnational reality we are commanded to live. It takes time to unlearn all the reasons ive been given, as to why today, I cant live as early Chistians did. Thank God!!!

This was very useful, especially after the question occurs at 10:45, it is really hard to navigate this stuff because so far I have not received penance but I want so bad to be healed of this passion

20:41- 21:04 POWERFUL POWERFUL WORDS

may we all have a blessed Lent this year ❤️ we will defeat the passions by God's Will, pray for all the orthodox faithful this Lent🙏❤️

thank you Father.

Thank you, alot. Thank you.

As a single man I've been struggling for years with this sin but only recently took it seriously; at first I wouldn't mind even though I had read that masturbation was a sin. And it always happens when I'm alone in my house.

Thank you father, this is one of the best advice online about this subject ❤

Thank you for making this video, and i humbly ask that you continue to keep making content such as this it was very helpful and also gave me the assurance that i am not alone in struggling with this sin it is awful i feel far from my lord and it is a painful feeling

Video wright at the perfect time

LORD , BE WITH US COS WE ARE WEAK WITHOUT YOU, LORD PLEASE DONT TURN YOUR BRIGHNTHESS FORM US AND HELP US THE ONE THAT ARE SLAVES OF LUST. LORD JESUS CHRIST HAVE MERCY ON US SINNERS

Thanks!

Exactly the video l wanted, wished there was a greek version as well. Even though l do understand as a Greek. Ακηδια is everywhere in us

For me, pornography is relatively easy to give up and easy to stay away from. I have viewed it before However I have stopped using pornography for a little while now. However masterbation or self abuse as I prefer to call it is hard to let go of. I will go about a week without doing it and then the urge will really come that I feel I need to release and then I just give into it while having a shower or something. I really wish I didn't do it at all and really want to stop doing it, but that second week is brutal. I have abstained from it for eighty days before so I do know that it becomes progressively easy after not doing self abuse after a while. But that second week is nightmare fuel.

Tak!

This is a sickness in this world and Internet worsens it. So available at all times, its so hard to fight. It's slavery. I pray my sisters and brothers overcome this passion and fight the temptations with the help of Christ our lord and savior that loves us infinitely. This battle is not meant to be fought alone. I have been struggling with his for so long and I hate it. But i know Christ isn't taking it away because he wants me to fight, to learn and become victorious with his help.

I'm glad to see this video I struggle a lot

Once a valiant general went to see an elder. He was far from the Church, and his many victories brought him no joy; he had no peace in his soul, no grace. He understood that something very important was missing from his life, and his church-going friends told him: “Go take counsel from the elder.” The general went to see the elder and asked: “And what is Paradise? That is, what does man need in his life to have Paradise in his soul?” The elder answered: “You’re a scoundrel, a coward, and a traitor.” “And why’s that?!” The general was indignant and even pulled his sword out of its sheath. “I just tested you,” the elder said to him, “and that’s hell.” “Okay, I get it,” the general said, putting his sword back in the sheath, to which the elder commented: “And that’s Paradise.” Such was the elder’s lesson. When we give free rein to our passions, that’s hell, but when we try to extinguish these passions, we can taste the sweetness of Paradise. Archimandrite Melchisedek (Artiukhin)

Lord have mercy

Pornography is the work of the devil. So demonic and obscene

Should do a more in depth video how damaging this is to the wives/children/families of porn addicted Fathers, especially self proclaimed Orthodox Fathers. This passion kills.

You'd save more souls if you talked about this a lot more and proliferated this content

Why is there no mention of God’s love. Understanding the love of God and the strength of forgiveness and the joy of fellowship with the Spirit is what healed me and kept me away from pornography for good. Your heart doesn’t change until you understand the lengths the Savior took in life to free you from that bondage. His passion replaces the passion for lust. Knowing that sin severs relationship with God and feeling that effect yet knowing his cross bore our sin

My husband still watches that stuff I’ve asked him to stop and he switched over to reading it. It’s not as bad but it still bothers me.

Thank you for taking time away from your free time and making content on this channel.

Nobody addresses how damaging this is to a wife as well. The pain of your husband no longer wanting you, trying to keep modest while still keeping your porn-loving husband interested in you, dealing with the porn-induced mood swings (withdrawal symptoms or the “down” that comes after the dopamine spike-dopamine falling below baseline) and porn-high that you know is not because of you. A man turning to porn when there is a conflict, rather than working to solve conflicts to come together as a married couple. Sneaking, lying, disconnection. It’s very very difficult and none of us women know how to navigate that with an Orthodox approach. Is it infidelity?? If the man was in the room with those people it would definitely be considered that but since there is a screen it’s not considered so? Is he binding himself to a prostitute? Also, chemically, he is bonding himself to himself. Selfish behavior throughout one’s life increases. Please address!

Thank you so much father for this, you are true blessing, we need more God-fearing and loving Priest like you! If I may ask a small question father. I‘m soon going to buy Patristic Theology, Exomologetarion by St. Nikodemus and Concerning frequent Communion by St. Nikodemus. In which order do you recommend me to read the books? Thank you and God bless!

❤️⛪️🙏☦️ GOD GIVE US STRENGTH TO OVERCOME TEMPTATIONS AND EVIL ☦️🙏🕊️💪

Father, have you ever thought of joining forces with AMEN DOMSE on this very important topic? They are doing really great work, and so are you. And so many men and women need help in this.

After waiting for marriage my wife turned out to be essentially asexual (no real reason just a workaholoc with no interest) . That was 9 years ago. Seeking prayers for the problems that causes and the long difficult road ahead.

Thank you for this. I’ve been ok for almost several days now. I felt it the case before, but within the first 6 minutes this confirmed that my parish priest isn’t going to be able to really delve deep into my problems and help me stop them permanently and heal from them. Even my thoughts are bad. I feel ok now, lustful thoughts and ideas are still there, but I don’t go and satisfy the visual fantasy. It’s a few taps away. I’ve felt this before: I’m going to try and keep away from it but I know deep down I want it and I’m going to open images and stories again and abuse my soul again and have to go to confession… again. I want to live my fantasy out in real life but it’s literally satans dream. I want to be married already. I’m 28 and I want a family. I’m so not worthy.

Lord Jesus Christ have mercy on me a sinner ☦️. Father I have a question my eldest child is a type 1 diabetic and fasting becomes difficult for our house hold. Sometimes due to our economic situation and constantly working and basically being stretch out very thin we do not go to church. Is there an economy we can ask for during these times. We do our best to fast for lent but throughout the year it’s a real struggle. I pray the our lord helps guide us out of this difficulty I truly desire to be free on Sundays so that I can take my children to church. I feel as though the enemy has put obstacles in front of me one after the other. Please pray for us

Please pray for me so that I won't fall into temptation.

Father, When you say that one should refrain from communing until he enters some kind of therapeutic approach to his sin - ie. fasting, prayer, etc - is that not withholding the primary healing means of grace until works have been completed? How is one to heal from discipline alone. Should not the Eucharist be seen as the most important medicine for healing?

I am a sinner and I pray that the Lord has mercy for the great many sins I have committed against him. Does anyone know the name of the final hymn at the end?

How to overcome p. is by Marriage according to 1.Cor.7.9.

I have failed many time can god save us

Father, what is if I can’t go to confession yet, because I’m still a catechumen?

Where can I read said commentary?

Ill be honest Father. I know i cannot be like the Saints of the Church. all i can do is struggle. Ive prayed. Ive fasted. Ive prostrated and all i know is that maybe if i am going to Hell. Then so be it. I will continue to struggle to the very end. I cannot become a monk and escape this world in order to repent. (Under obedience) and i cannot see myself get married, especially with all these passions i have. And one of the best things ive found that has helped me against the passion. Ive been told by a priest that i shouldnt focus on. I enjoy BodyBuilding and that I have found it a great escape from this passion. Because it helps me focus my testosterone and desire to doing something BETTER than waste my life looking at images. So either way. I do not see myself being able to fulfill what the Church SAYS i should be doing. Maybe I am on a different Path to Christ. Or maybe im deluded and Im going to destroy myself eventually. Either way. At least ill find out where im going.

I have a question. If i go to a Orthodox Church will the Bishop there help learn how to overcome alcoholism?

I love the "just the Orthobros hanging out" vibes of this stream.

What orthodox churches would you recommend in the Maryland area?

How do these guys make a living financially, I can imagine some people like this might need to work hard in a factory and then continue to practice religion outside of work?

I had no idea Orthodox Christian’s struggled with pornography too. I thought you guys were unbreakable.

Should absolutely be illegal to show human trafficking online. We have gone to far

Can I Get a link on Saint Nikodemos commentary on the Canon? Could anyone also drop link of the Canon too?

(one of the) the root (s) of self-abuse is the passion of lust

My husband is doing anything li'm broken everywhere no soundNeed to find help pray for me please

I have a question. Can i be baptized orthodox Even If i got baptized a protestant, i was just a little baby?

what are dry foods

Is there even any hope?

Its paganistic. Stay away from people who live indifferent to the spiritual life to avoid this pit. Confession often and communion. Dont eat food as much. Fast for lengths if time as much as you can do. Stay off of sites that have any hint of nudity. Do not use drugs or alcohol. Without the workings of grace, it is not likely that you can escape this vice or any of the other ones. Do not be around peoole living in this sin or talking about it.

Pray first. Also, battling restlessness in the body can be helped with more physical fitness. Volunteering at your church will help with the loneliness and perhaps, introduce you to a partner or friend. Social media is a gateway to lust. Clean up your media feed. It will eventually tempt you into more graphic content.

What was the saint again google just giving me Saint Nicolas?

Father Peter Heers, you sound like you are judging others, you sound like you don't have any sins or passions.

I suspect only a few people here will agree with this take, but here goes. If you are struggling and feel like you just can't quit, you should not try to quit mast**bation and pronography use at the same time. These are two separate addictions, in my eyes. I think that it is better to ween yourself off of this poison than try to go cold-turkey and keep failing. It's not ideal, but i think it can be helpful for those among us who struggle more than others. Again, it's just my two cents. Take it with a dose of healthy skepticism.

Could we just get real here for a minute? In a state of nature, young men are married and having marital sex by the time they're 20 at the latest. Our sexual desires are natural, and intentionally powerful. The answer is to get married. We aren't supposed to resist sexual temptation, we're meant to pursue it and thus find love. Very few men are meant to live as monks.

What if you dont watch the porn but u just got to drain the tubes for health reasons on occassion? I really dont think that is sinful its like blowing your nose or clearing any other part of your body. The fixation on pornography is surely not good and sinful. Or what if you have a fap and think about your wife?

Tak!

Why is there no mention of God’s love. Understanding the love of God and the strength of forgiveness and the joy of fellowship with the Spirit is what healed me and kept me away from pornography for good. Your heart doesn’t change until you understand the lengths the Savior took in life to free you from that bondage. His passion replaces the passion for lust.