How can we control our thoughts?

Without a doubt, it takes a lot of conscious effort and discipline to direct our thoughts. It cannot be done without effort and the grace of God. The human mind will always be full of thoughts, so the goal is to saturate it with holy and pure thoughts, without allowing room for evil ones.

Practice redirecting any impure or sinful thoughts as soon as they start. Don’t dwell on them. You can recite the Jesus Prayer- “My Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me a sinner”- whenever you are attacked by evil thoughts. Knowing the Holy Bible is very helpful too, because you can remind yourself of key verses whenever you’re tempted. If you are tempted to judgment or anger, remind yourself that “If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:14 – 15). And if you are tempted by a lustful thought, remember that “your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God” (1 Corinthians 6:19) and you will be encouraged to preserve your mind and body pure for the Lord. There are many examples of Biblical verses that can be very effective weapons to fight evil thoughts, just as our Lord taught us when he was tempted by Satan. He used verses from the scriptures to combat each temptation (Luke 4:1 – 13).

It is also very important to cut off sinful thoughts from the first moment, and not to allow them to progress. Again, this requires discipline, but is a very important step to controlling our thoughts. The sacrament of confession is a critical tool also. When you expose the thought to your father of confession, you take a very important step towards defeating this evil thought, and you can obtain valuable guidance from him. 

In addition to resisting evil thoughts, take steps towards filling your mind with holy thoughts. These will saturate your mind, which allows much less room for any impure thoughts. Fill your mind with holy thoughts by prayer, the Holy Bible, spiritual readings, listening to sermons and spiritual songs and hymns, and contemplation about the elements of a Godly life. And when you strive to live by our Lord’s commandments, your thoughts will reflect your actions, as the Book of Proverbs says, “Commit your works to the LORD, and your thoughts will be established” (Proverbs 16:3).