Freedom from OCD!

[1am3laine]

I have read Psalms 18 as I have so many times before but I read it very carefully and slowly so I know God's going to deliver me. Another question along with the thoughts I even have feelings and voices that seem to say I agree with the thought well as what I think to myself surely I don't agree with this nonsense a feeling comes over me so real that almost makes me believe as if I do agree with the thoughts so I know the powers of Satan must be so real to where you cannot even distinguish but I know that God is able to keep me from falling but yes I love Psalms 18 I know all about the sorrows of Hell come passing me about but yet Jesus has delivered me a calvary's cross

You are not just hearing blasphemy but you are feeling a light form of blasphemy.
It's actually low-high levels of blasphemy hearing/feelings.
Just know if you keep rejecting the feelings they do go away.
Keep speaking against the problem with the Word of GOD. Luke 10:19
Listen to soothing christian/gospel music.
OCD is name and that name has to bow to JESUS Romans 14:11

 

[zachariahjosephturner]

Amen! hearing thoughts all the time is one thing....but feelings are another

 

[Mari17]

Zachariah, knowing how OCD works, I'd be VERY leery of treating this as an explicitly spiritual problem. Of course, you can take my opinion or leave it, and if treating it as a spiritual issue works for you, great. It's just that often with OCD, treating the thoughts as a real threat often makes them stronger. For example, I used to have the obsession that I wanted to pray to the devil. Did I? Absolutely not. But, having my OCD, my brain is predisposed to anxiety, so when I had the fleeting thought that "maybe I want to pray to the devil," instead of my logical mind knowing that wasn't true and instantly dismissing it, my OCD went "Yeah! Here's a great thing to be terrified about!" Then, because I was so afraid of doing it (even though I never wanted to in the first place), my mind started hyper-analyzing everything. I couldn't "tell" if I really wanted to or not, and I would spend an agonizingly long time praying even simple prayers because I felt like maybe my mind said something bad while I was praying, or maybe I felt like I wanted to do something bad, etc. I had to learn NOT to listen to my mind; to only pray once (instead of over and over), to keep moving forward and not asking for forgiveness even when I was "afraid" I had done something wrong, etc. I had to learn to listen to my gut, which told me that I would never actually want to do such a thing, instead of listening to the fear buzzing around in my head. This obsession followed the same format as all my previous obsessions - fear of contamination, fear of lying, fear of making unwanted vows, and fear of committing hideous crimes. OCD doesn't care WHAT you're afraid and confused about as long as you're afraid and confused. Research as much as you can about OCD and ERP, because there's been a lot of research done that explains things much better than I can (Katie d'Ath's videos on YouTube are a good place to start). I'm not saying that you have to ignore the spiritual elements of your life in your quest to overcome OCD. It's important to realize that God is our help, that He can do all things and help us to overcome our weaknesses. What I am saying is that OCD stems from biological factors, and often needs to be treated as such - with therapy that retrains the mind and possibly with medication. I love God with all my heart and would never want to dismiss something that could be a spiritual problem. But I recognize that I have a clinical anxiety disorder, and that in order to overcome it I have to go through the necessary procedures for doing so, just as I might have to go through physical therapy if I had a bodily injury. Keep building up your knowledge of OCD, and keep seeking God. He is faithful and He will bring us through our trials!

 

[LTank7]

Hi all! I just wanna share my testimony about my struggles with OCD (this is a super simplified version, it was a lot more complex than this, but I hope you will get the idea!)

I suffered from all sorts of OCD for about a year. I'm currently a sophomore in college, but all of last year I suffered from so many different types of OCD - I was obsessed with wondering if I was really saved, if I blasphemed the Holy Spirit (I was struggling with blasphemous thoughts constantly) , and I struggled with doubting thoughts, sexual thoughts, etc that I really hated and didn't want. I felt tormented day and night, and struggled with insomnia for about 4 months as well. It was probably the worst time of my life - I was also dealing with other forms of anxiety and fear (I was constantly worried about the future, my appearance, what people thought of me, etc). Last winter, I was hospitalized for anxiety-related complications - I had trouble breathing and I had a terrible case of gastritis for about 2 weeks.

During the school year, I got in touch with one of the pastors of my church that I attend while here. I didn't know where else to turn. I was turning to the school psychologists (they did absolutely nothing for me, all they did was say, "just take some anti-depressants"). I didn't end up doing it because I just felt like there had to be some other way out of this mess. My pastor knows a lot about anxiety and fear, so he counseled me. When he prayed for me, he told me that he had a vision of me being held in chains, but with a chain breaking loose. I was literally in bondage. He told me that God wanted to say to me that He loves me, that I don't have to fear. And my favorite part was when he told me: "He's setting you free."

So then we worked on something called a "Truth Book," where I wrote down all the lies and fears like:
- I'm worthless, I'm afraid that I'm not really saved, I'm ugly, I'm stupid, I'm afraid for the future, afraid of my life, what if I blasphemed, etc (the list goes on and on).

Next to each of these, I wrote down the biblical TRUTH. For example:
- I'm fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 193:14)
- There's nothing that can separate me from the love of God, including my thoughts (Romans 8:31-39).
- I have been chosen by God and adopted as his child (Ephesians 1:3-8).
- Etc, etc. (I can look up more truths for all of you if you're interested)

Essentially, I had to tell myself that: I AM A CHILD OF GOD. A precious, precious child of God. And so are you. It was really hard for me though because my brain was still all over the place and I kept wanting to "make sure," and I kept asking, "But what if..."

Lemme tell all of you something: God's love for you is BIGGER than you could ever imagine. There's is NOTHING that can change God's love for you, not even your craziest thoughts. HE LOVES YOU. Radically. And it has nothing to do with who you are or what you've done, He has called you because of His love.

Some practical steps for those who struggle with similar types of OCD:
1. No more obsessively googling "OCD"! Get off of this forum if you're using it as a way to obsess over your OCD (let this be the last OCD post you read, haha). I actually used to OBSESS over the OCD forums on this site. But hours of reading posts makes it worse. I made an account just because I felt moved to come back after these few months of freedom and write a little testimony.

2. Don't focus on the problem, as difficult as it is. Keep your eyes on Jesus. If you must do research, do some research on who GOD says you are. Chew on this, and embrace this identity. The truth will set you free (John 8:32).

3. EXERCISE. This seriously helps with sleep. Try for 3-4 sessions of aerobic exercise every week... anything that gets your heart rate up (at least for 20 minutes per session!).

4. Minimize stress in your life if you can, and eat healthy, drink lots of water, don't drink too much caffeine, etc. If you're a student, try not to procrastinate, haha~

5. Be patient with yourself. Freedom took me a LONG time. I doubted God's word of freedom over me because it took so long. God wants freedom for you too, more than even YOU want it!

6. Mediate on God's word for you, a little bit each day. Let Him break every chain, one by one. You are God's child. So when another one of those nasty thoughts pop in your mind (for those with the obsessive thoughts), realize that it's okay, realize that you are not your thoughts. Just let them chill there, even though they can be disturbing/scary thoughts - no need to fight against them because you know that God loves you no matter what pops up in your mind.


Sometimes I get tempted to fall back into insecurity, fear, shame, etc. We're in a spiritual battle. But we've already won the battle, because Christ lives in us. So don't be afraid! Stay strong!

GOD LOVES YOU<3

Here are some freedom songs for you to check out. Also, feel free to ask any questions I really wanna be of help to you guys.

Hi! I literally went through the exact same thing! Someone said that I might have OCD so I came here. I wonder if I really believe in the Resurrection. I believe he is coming back one day so I do. Lately I have been sick is something like swallowing snot a sin because its damaging to you body and we are a temple of the Holy Spirit. I've been wondering if I need to be reading the Bible more so I read it like a quarter of my day. (I'm 11) Please respond!

 

[Celticroots]

It's better to see a psychiatrist/psychologist so they can assess you to see if you actually have OCD than to try and diagnose yourself. If you do, they will help you manage your symptoms.

 

[Mari17]

Hi! I literally went through the exact same thing! Someone said that I might have OCD so I came here. I wonder if I really believe in the Resurrection. I believe he is coming back one day so I do. Lately I have been sick is something like swallowing snot a sin because its damaging to you body and we are a temple of the Holy Spirit. I've been wondering if I need to be reading the Bible more so I read it like a quarter of my day. (I'm 11) Please respond!

You're 11 years old?? Your profile says 48...
In any case, those things do sound like OCD. You can learn to battle it on your own but it might be easier with a therapist. It basically involves using ERP (exposure and response prevention) therapy. I can give you more info if you want it.

 

[JesusIneedYou]

Hey guys I dealt with ocd for 4 years now. I deal with different things like letters, and words sounding the same or trying to think positive and evil comes, it is complete hell BUT JESUS WILL HELP US. HE ALWAYS HAS. heres a letter God wrote through my hubby before getting this. I hope it helps you

What I want from you Brittany, I want you to focus! Focus on Jesus Christ He is your Lord! Focus on the priorities in your life. Your faith, MY CALL, you husband, music, serving ME! Focus on what you can do to strengthen these areas in your life that I just told you to focus on. How can you strengthen MY CALL for you? By

> realizing I have chosen you.

> You did not choose ME I chose you before the foundations of

> the world. Before I said let there be light I thought of you

> and chose you to be with ME forever. You are MY child, do

> not doubt that or base your relationship to ME on your

> circumstances or on what

> you are feeling, thinking, doing, or saying at any given

> time because those all change in the tides of time. Like a

> high tide and low tide in the ocean, feelings, thoughts,

> circumstances. What you say, do, feel, change and sometimes

> very suddenly. But I do

> not change! I do not lie! I do not change MY Mind even when

> you get stuck on a sand bar and are afraid to swim on in the

> sea of Life. Trust ME Brittany my beautiful daughter. Trust

> ME with all your heart, that includes all of your mind, your

> emotions, your

> feelings, your words and actions, trust ME to direct these

> areas. Lean not on your own understanding, this leads to

> confusion and obsessions when your choosing your own

> understanding and not MINE. In all your ways acknowledge ME.

> This means having a knowledge

> of me, a consciousness of ME even when it seems I cannot be

> found I am always there with you. Sometimes I am silent

> because this helps you to learn the Word that is already

> written. Silence builds faith, faith in ME and MY Word

> already spoken. They do not

> change everything all is and can be solved by living in MY

> Word. My Words are eternal and so is MY Love for you. I have

> a vision of you Brittany, of who I want you to be, DON’T

> RESIST THIS VISION! Do not persist in self, in your way, do

> not lean on your feelings

> that will lead to more confusion and trouble. LET ME SHAPE

> YOU AND CONFORM YOU INTO WHAT I ENVISION YOU TO BE! The

> devil is a liar he lies to you often. He lies to you through

> feelings and your own reasoning and understanding and this

> is why I say to focus

> on ME, I tell you the Truth always and I always have YOUR

> BEST IN MY HEART! Because you are in MY Heart! I love you

> eternally and unconditionally and I will finish what I have

> started but you can hinder the progress when you start

> relying on your senses and

> understanding again. That is why you need to learn MY

> SPIRIT! He is in you and will lead you on the Righteous Path

> of Light. You know the Way! You know the Truth! Brittany MY

> daughter you know whats LIFE! Choose LIFE! If it is negative

> reject it quickly it

> is an evil seed, a fiery arrow from the evil one aimed to

> destroy you. DO NOT ACCEPT IT. USE YOUR SHEILD OF FAITH AND

> YOUR SWORD TO FIGHT HIM OFF OF YOU, THE WORD OF GOD! I tell

> you do not be lazy about this, STAND FIRM no matter how

> strong the attack or temptation

> is, I will deliver you. Brittany live by what is written.

> Live by what you have heard from ME and by what you hear

> from ME. Brittany be careful about giving in to something

> before you have good reasons to believe it. This will take

> care of and put an end to

> being gullible and naïve. Not questioning everything and

> wondering about everything will put an end to the obsessions

> and the compulsions. Brittany be calm, be gentle, be slow to

> speak and react. Be courageous and bold and stand firm

> against all evil. Do everything

> out of love and selfless ambition. This is the mind and

> attitude of Christ Jesus MY SON and what pleases ME

> (Philippians 2:2-10). Use this time and circumstances to

> develop patience, endurance, and godly character. The

> character of MY children. Because that

> is what you are Brittany. YOU ARE MY BELOVED CHILD. I want

> you to repent of all your old ways they are evil. Ways

> includes bad habits and thinking patterns. This includes

> relying on feelings and emotions. Remember they can be

> deceptive because of the devil

> and the flesh and the enemies ability to manipulate them

> through your senses. What you see, hear, taste, smell, and

> touch. Through what feels good and looks good. Remember what

> is real is what is within you through ME! I desire mercy and

> love not sacrifice.

> Remember Brittany the faster you repent of the old the

> faster you will be made the new. You already are new. You

> are a new creation but I have to cut out all of the evil

> that was alive but is now dead and passing away. The faster

> you repent the faster you

> will be chosen to lead. I have made you a leader but a

> student must be fully trained first in order to be like your

> Master and Teacher and that is MY ONLY BEGOTTEN SON JESUS

> CHRIST YOUR LORD AND SAVIOR! Remember I love you MY child

> and do not forget what I

> have said!

>

 

[JesusIneedYou]

I am trying to see how I can message you girl. Oh man I want over this ((((( how did you get out? did you get out completely do you still deal with it. Have you dealt with letters playing with you. like a word and you got to find words for eachot letter like an acrynms its hardddddd

 

[JesusIneedYou]

Zacariah PLEASE stop saying what you exactly deal with Ilike seeing please triggers me. stop describing exactly the thoughts it can really trigger someone. I don't ever say what I deal with its horrible I cannot repeat it. Its from the pit of hell.

 

[Mari17]

I am trying to see how I can message you girl. Oh man I want over this ((((( how did you get out? did you get out completely do you still deal with it. Have you dealt with letters playing with you. like a word and you got to find words for eachot letter like an acrynms its hardddddd

Who are you talking to?? And take heart....OCD is hard to overcome, but it's VERY possible!!!

 

[bethanyjf]

Just want to send a thanks to each and every helpful person on here! I mildly struggled with this for YEARS & didn't even realize it, until one day last year it came on like a full blown attack and really bucked up strong, I guess you could say! That's putting it lightly! I never had the intrusive bad thoughts, but I would tend to associate and tie everything I did with being a sin, or blaspheming in some way. It was like my thoughts would be playing connect the dots or something! Very confusing and tormenting! It's almost like it would twist tons of different scriptures around to where I couldn't do ANYTHING I enjoyed! Such a small way to put it, but you all understand. Thank God for wonderful parents, strong and mature in God's Word that helped me get through, and thankful for you guys. Reading some of these posts really helped me tremendously. Especially this one. It really helped me feel free again from harsh/super-strict living, agony, misery and pure fear and panic. Praise The Lord! I feel much more back to the old Beth. I've always loved Romans Ch. 14 (all about Christian liberty) and it really helped me get back on track seeing that The Lord doesn't require us to live that kind of scrupulous life. Hope someone sees this appreciation and it brightens their day, and hopefully it gives someone else a boost to get loose from this! May God bless you ❤️

 

[fauna]

YES!! Bethany you're so right, God's love sets us FREE!! We're free to be loved! There's literally NOTHING that can separate us from the love of the Father (Romans 8:38-39). We're His babies!!!

He looks at us and thinks, "That's my baby girl! <3 And there's mah baby boy!!<3 My precious child!" We are to live in freedom, knowing that we are His treasures and he's CRAZY for us! This is the spiritual truth. And everyone, remember to also take care of the physical and mental -- exercise, sleep, take a walk, and sip some water!

Also, sorry for not being online in so long, The last few months have been super busy (I'm a senior in college now, woot woot!) So that's why I haven't been able to respond D: Sorry about that!!

One more thing: Pleeeeasee listen to this song I'm posting-- It's called "Reckless Love," by Cory Asbury from Bethel Music. It's great!! God's love is just wow

 

[bethanyjf]

@fauna You have been such a blessing to me. There surely is freedom in The Lord. Satan is the one who brings bondage, and what you said about the chains, that's exactly how I felt! Shackled up in chains with tape over my mouth. No freedom, no fun. But Praise Jesus, it's so much better now! I don't know you, but I still love you as a sister in Christ. Thank you for your testimony. ❤️ Oh, and I hope you're having a wonderful time in college! God bless!

 

[zachariahjosephturner]

I still deal with horrible disgusting Blasphemous thoughts against the spirit but if I've learned one thing it's that we walk by faith and not by sight. See it's easy to serve God when everything is going good and you can see the light but when one day you're on the mountain top and then you end up in the valley God told me it's what you do it's what you decide to do you can either give up on me and hate me and become bitter or you can allow it to mold you into what I want you to be thank God he doesn't give up on us and my faith as of right now is becoming more genuine day by day that we may not understand the pains and the trials and the troubles that the Lord may allow but we know that all things work together for the good to them that love God he is worthy to be praised and despite all my failures and the hell that I've been through God is still God and that's enough he's still the king of kings and he that endures till the end the same shall be saved.

 

[Phloating]

@fauna, God richly bless you. Struggling here like many have/ are but I have hope that I am free in Christ Jesus. It is very difficult.

 

[Phloating]

Thanks a lot Zachariah and Amen.

 

[Phloating]

If I may ask, is there a Facebook group where people are perhaps more active? The forums are great but people seem to spend less time on them. The support network is critical.

 

[Mari17]

If I may ask, is there a Facebook group where people are perhaps more active? The forums are great but people seem to spend less time on them. The support network is critical.

Yes, I'm part of a group called Christianity and Anxiety Disorders. Once you request to join, answer the two screening questions (asking if you're a Christian and if you struggle with anxiety) and a moderator will review your request within a couple of days. You're right, support is so important!

 

[Livvv2001]

Hi all! I just wanna share my testimony about my struggles with OCD (this is a super simplified version, it was a lot more complex than this, but I hope you will get the idea!)

I suffered from all sorts of OCD for about a year. I'm currently a sophomore in college, but all of last year I suffered from so many different types of OCD - I was obsessed with wondering if I was really saved, if I blasphemed the Holy Spirit (I was struggling with blasphemous thoughts constantly) , and I struggled with doubting thoughts, sexual thoughts, etc that I really hated and didn't want. I felt tormented day and night, and struggled with insomnia for about 4 months as well. It was probably the worst time of my life - I was also dealing with other forms of anxiety and fear (I was constantly worried about the future, my appearance, what people thought of me, etc). Last winter, I was hospitalized for anxiety-related complications - I had trouble breathing and I had a terrible case of gastritis for about 2 weeks.

During the school year, I got in touch with one of the pastors of my church that I attend while here. I didn't know where else to turn. I was turning to the school psychologists (they did absolutely nothing for me, all they did was say, "just take some anti-depressants"). I didn't end up doing it because I just felt like there had to be some other way out of this mess. My pastor knows a lot about anxiety and fear, so he counseled me. When he prayed for me, he told me that he had a vision of me being held in chains, but with a chain breaking loose. I was literally in bondage. He told me that God wanted to say to me that He loves me, that I don't have to fear. And my favorite part was when he told me: "He's setting you free."

So then we worked on something called a "Truth Book," where I wrote down all the lies and fears like:
- I'm worthless, I'm afraid that I'm not really saved, I'm ugly, I'm stupid, I'm afraid for the future, afraid of my life, what if I blasphemed, etc (the list goes on and on).

Next to each of these, I wrote down the biblical TRUTH. For example:
- I'm fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 193:14)
- There's nothing that can separate me from the love of God, including my thoughts (Romans 8:31-39).
- I have been chosen by God and adopted as his child (Ephesians 1:3-8).
- Etc, etc. (I can look up more truths for all of you if you're interested)

Essentially, I had to tell myself that: I AM A CHILD OF GOD. A precious, precious child of God. And so are you. It was really hard for me though because my brain was still all over the place and I kept wanting to "make sure," and I kept asking, "But what if..."

Lemme tell all of you something: God's love for you is BIGGER than you could ever imagine. There's is NOTHING that can change God's love for you, not even your craziest thoughts. HE LOVES YOU. Radically. And it has nothing to do with who you are or what you've done, He has called you because of His love.

Some practical steps for those who struggle with similar types of OCD:
1. No more obsessively googling "OCD"! Get off of this forum if you're using it as a way to obsess over your OCD (let this be the last OCD post you read, haha). I actually used to OBSESS over the OCD forums on this site. But hours of reading posts makes it worse. I made an account just because I felt moved to come back after these few months of freedom and write a little testimony.

2. Don't focus on the problem, as difficult as it is. Keep your eyes on Jesus. If you must do research, do some research on who GOD says you are. Chew on this, and embrace this identity. The truth will set you free (John 8:32).

3. EXERCISE. This seriously helps with sleep. Try for 3-4 sessions of aerobic exercise every week... anything that gets your heart rate up (at least for 20 minutes per session!).

4. Minimize stress in your life if you can, and eat healthy, drink lots of water, don't drink too much caffeine, etc. If you're a student, try not to procrastinate, haha~

5. Be patient with yourself. Freedom took me a LONG time. I doubted God's word of freedom over me because it took so long. God wants freedom for you too, more than even YOU want it!

6. Mediate on God's word for you, a little bit each day. Let Him break every chain, one by one. You are God's child. So when another one of those nasty thoughts pop in your mind (for those with the obsessive thoughts), realize that it's okay, realize that you are not your thoughts. Just let them chill there, even though they can be disturbing/scary thoughts - no need to fight against them because you know that God loves you no matter what pops up in your mind.


Sometimes I get tempted to fall back into insecurity, fear, shame, etc. We're in a spiritual battle. But we've already won the battle, because Christ lives in us. So don't be afraid! Stay strong!

GOD LOVES YOU<3

Here are some freedom songs for you to check out. Also, feel free to ask any questions I really wanna be of help to you guys.

Hi,I want to ask you some questions,can you give me a private message please? I don’t know how to use this site )

 

[NBB]

I was free of OCD, those intrusive thoughts that come like repeating themselves over and over and we think those are our thoughts and scares us because we think we are the ones thinking that stuff and usually is very disturbing ideas the content of those thoughts, and are against what we want.

But i can't share my testimony here, which i find annoying, because of forum rules.

God can free us of those chains like the OP said!