How can I have faith with OCD?

[Eric29]

Hello children of God I have posted here before and I have OCD and I don't really have rituals like washing hands or repeating things etc. I mostly have thought problems. I did not have these type of thoughts two months ago it just fell on me and I got slammed with it and did not know why I have it so bad now. Everyday I get these blasphemy thougths about GOD all the time and I also get constant immoral thougths about girls slander about people , weird kinds of imageinations and others things etc. I had it so bad one time everyone I came in contact with I had slander about them going through my head and I just broke down and cried a lot of times becuase I could not stand the paing this gave me with all this. I have started to take meds a few weeks ago and I have been seeing my church's counsler to talk about all this and I have also gotten several books on OCD. But my hard part is having faith in Jesus Christ is all this and trusting him. I asked to be saved almost two years ago and I look at myself and don't see evidence that I have spiritually changed and keep wondering if I was ever trully saved to begin with. I have prayed many times to be saved but I get tired of it after a while and after these last two months when I sin I know that I did but it does not hurt as much like it use too and I am scared for my soul. These thoughts use to hurt a lot but after getting them day in and day out they eventually just get old and you get tired of it and it just makes me bitter and mad once in a while. I feel like I have not faith and feel alone and lost and dead inside and I feel like God has lost all interest in me and will not save me. People keep telling me that I am saved and so forth and its just my OCD but God can not look past any thing evil so what hope do I have of being saved when Jesus is the only hope and only he alone is hope of Salvation. I am getting too hte point to whee I don't care anymore and I don't know whats going on in my life and feel like I am too late for any hope anymore with all this. People around me can help me phiscally but not spiritually that is Gods' department to do them kind of things. I know others love and care for me but that is fine but the most important thing I am looking for is Jesus in my life and I just feel like he is not there and that he will wait till I die and then past judgement on me and destroy me because of all this. The ocd thoughts and my own just all seem the same now and it just makes me hopeless anymore. Does anyone else here have any advice. I can be happy for others that I have read about that have ocd but I can only get sad when I look at myself in the mirror cause I can not tell anything about me anymore and I just wish God would help me inside but my prayers just seem dead anymore. Thanks for any replies

Eric

 

[kharmon]

Eric I know somewhat how you feel, read my post I've been suffering, maybe we can help each other, God Bless You

 

[vimto]

Dear Eric29

thanks for the post and be assured of prayers.

Your friends tell you right - your salvation cannot be removed - it relies not on feelings but the promises of God alone.

Now listen, God can forgive all the thoughts and everything else - the cross of Chrsist is big enough for the whole world.

but your thoughts are from your illness and he will not hold them against you. Blasphemous thoughts are common and deeply distressing in Christians. You would not have the thoughts if you were not a Christian.

I have felt dead inside as well. I do not underestimate the distress you feel. The Journey back to being well is hard but rewarding.

Pray and persevere.

Warmest regards in Christ.

 

[jehovahjireh2007]

Dear God,
Please will take away these thoughts and give Eric29 peace
Amen

 

[Bluenose]

I feel your pain, I suffered from OCD for three years and never told anyone, and if i can give you one piece of advice, it is this;

Never ever give up hope.

For the majority of my fight with OCD, I prayed but subconsciously believed I was stuck with it for eternity. It wasnt until last summer, when I started praying with determination that the power of god could overcome things much worse than OCD.
After my first day of whole heartedly determined prayer, I just stopped giving any credence to the compulsions. I dont believe this was the work of god, I believe that god gives all of us the tools to overcome all of lifes hurdles, we just have to discover them.

So remember, you are strong enough and have the ability to overcome OCD.

 

[mikeforjesus]

You can lose your salvation.. but God will try everything He knows that might get you to repent throughout your life I believe... see how God dealt with Pharoah? but pharoah's hard was hard he wouldnt repent sincerly...

If you are worried that your sins are too horrible....its not about how horrible your sins are its whether you confess/repent and struggle against them.. if you honestly struggle against it with Gods power you will overcome or if God allows the struggle to continue it might be beneficial for you.. And sometimes these thoughts might not be from you.. and they are not counted as sin I think unless you take pleasure in them ... but you still should resist them I think


http://www.nd.edu/Departments/Maritain/etext/wd08.htm
I think you should go to that site and read from it..

As a coptic orthodox christian though I believe baptism by full water immersion and being annointed with Holy Oil by a legitimate priest I think is very important.. maybe you should read on it?


Hopefully nothing I said is wrong...

 

[BeJoyful]

Dear Eric29,

The thing that is not ot be taken lightly is that the people on this site are regulary, imperfect, people... we are not professional councelors. I was speaking to my therapist recently about OCD because someone close to me has it and sometimes I don't know how best to support or help them. She talked about a patient she had before, and said the only thing that helped him was medication and yet, he didn't want to take the medication so he continued to struggle. You really need to get professional help, and talk to them about how and if medication can help you. God has created and given talents to people, and has created all the resources we have in the world as one way of helping others.

I will also agree with the others who have posted, that if you have been saved - don't doubt it. Live in God's grace knowing he can forgive you, and that some of the thoughts you are having are not natural to you - they are part of your condition. Forgive yourself, quit doubting God - and make sure you get help of a wise and good counselor.

May God Bless and strengthen you!

 

[trinitygrace]

Eric29,

I know what you are going through as I have sufferered from OCD for the past 10 years. I used to have blasphemy thoughts about God when I was younger as well. You just got to realize that what you are suffering from is not from God and those thoughts are from the disease which is not of God either. I will be praying for you as you recover from your struggle with this. Just remember that God loves you no matter what and he doesn't condemn you for having these thoughts because he knows it's Satan getting to you. But you can overcome these negative thought rituals by putting all of your faith in Him, getting in His word daily, seeking a counselor (which I did), and possible get on medication for depression which has been proven to really help with OCD (which I also did). I have been receiving treatment now for almost 3 months and feel better than ever and actually in control of my life for the first time. I will you find all the help you need.

God Bless you Eric!
In His Love,
TrinityGrace

 

[mikeforjesus]

If it gets better with drugs then how was it from satan? maybe accepting satans thoughts? through the years because of ignorance of how to fight him caused the imbalance and Gods because He is merciful allows medicine to correct the imbalance?

But for me personally I dont think antidepressant drugs helped me much and they possibly made me worse but prayer helps!

 

[sherbetbrown]

Eric29,

I am sorry that you are having such an difficult time at the moment. I went for years praying for salvation but never really believing I had it. I also had horrible OCD and the problems with terrible thoughts that I was scared were just making my salvation even more impossible. God did speak forgiveness into my life in 1999 on Easter Day which was fantastic. Sometimes I still struggle with feeling unforgiven (especially after I have sinned in some way) but reading the Bible and praying help a lot with this. I tend to suffer most with this when I neglect to spend time with God. God often assures me through sermons and repeated words of scripture that help me trust Him.

I wanted to let you know about what helped in dealing with the thoughts because they can really end up tormenting you. You feel like you have to make them go away in your own strength. However, you have to let them go and not obsess about them. It feels like the right thing to do to fight them because you are so disgusted by them. My compulsive reaction was to either ask for forgiveness constantly or a repeated phrase that I said over and over. There is nothing wrong with asking forgiveness at all, I think I was trusting more in the action of saying the prayer than I was in the God who is so willing to forgive.

When I first came back to God I felt like I had to pray and ask His forgiveness constantly. God taught me that I could just pray once or a few times a day and ask forgiveness and trust Him to take care of me during the rest of the time. After all, when we die we will surely not have remembered every sin we have ever committed and have asked for forgiveness. It is good to ask for forgiveness but in the gaps in between we can trust God and His generous salvation. I used to say this verse to myself at the time to make myself feel better and have faith:

Hebrews 11 v 1
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

You see, I had to take a step of faith and trust God that even if I didn't pray after every wrong thing I did individually (which of course would just cause me to find more and more things to obsess and pray about!), He would still take care of my salvation.

We need to make sure we are trusting more in God and in His forgiveness than in the compulsion itself, whatever it might be (a repetitive phrase, etc). It is really really hard at first but let the thoughts go by in your head - do not try to desperately strangle each one - and then allow yourself once a day to come to God and repent of the thoughts and things that have been going through your head. For the rest of the day trust that He has forgiven you for all sins past present and future. At first the thoughts may happen more frequently but then they will go away because you are not obsessing about them.

1 John 1: 9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

I still struggle with some OCD symptoms I think but nothing like the torment of how it used to be and I just offer the bit above as some things I have learned along the way.

This site has opened my eyes to the fact that there are a lot of people going through the same problem. I do believe that there is salvation for you as I found it despite thinking that maybe all was lost.

Why would there be such a spiritual battle going on over your soul right now if you were lost completely? I believe this is a spiritual battle that you are going through and it needs to be fought by taking up the shield of faith in God's promises and forgiveness.

Ephesians 6 v 2
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Romans 8 v 38-39
For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Ephesians 6 v 16
above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.

Hope this helps some!

SherbetBrown

 

[heron]

Eric, did you start those meds before or after the thoughts? If you go to the website of the drug companies that makes them, you can find a list of side effects. Sometimes things like this come from the meds.

Mike mentioned the possibility of thoughts from the Devil. I don't want to discount your symptoms, but do consider that the Enemy prowls like a roaring lion, seeking someone to destroy. (1 Peter 5:8)

When you get an impulse of flash of thought, that is not your sin. It is an impression that lands in your brain, whether from outside sources (even demonic), or neurological connections to stored memories (old impulses that popped in). What you do with the thought is what you're held responsible for. God knows that your heart is crying out to remove these blasphemous thoughts.

Sherbetbrown suggested breaking the cycle by changing your patterns. I think that's a great idea. It's scary to decide to pray less, but this is really about deciding to trust in God's forgiveness more.

Have you ever heard of people taking communion at home? I've heard some recent teachings on this, that it was common in NT days for families to do this daily. It's a great reminder that Jesus promised us forgiveness for all sins, healing, and restoration. He sat down with normal people and shared food with them. He wanted us to be connected to God, and show us that God wants connection with us. It's a promise, and communion is our action to declare our conviction of that promise.

The other thing, I don't want to go on and on, but I've found a lot of freedom through spiritual warfare. As a believer, you have the authority to shut off any spiritual influences that are coming against you. So if you think there's a slight possibility that this isn't all physiological, try this: say audibly, "in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Son of God, I command you to leave me alone for good." Nothing flaky or extreme...just direct and simple. You don't need to fear repurcussions...just stand on that authority.

Anyway, I hope things improve over time, and please don't feel guilty for thinking things that aren't in your heart.

​

 

[HisKid1973]

I went thru a very stressful period in the nineties with ocd..The hand washing had my hands sore and red all the time. The thoughts I had really affected work and driving.. I tried meds but idn't want to stay on them.I ended up having to leave that job which helped immensely. I still have issues with things being clean and still wash things when they fall but my wife ha s been very understanding..With the faith thing remember it is faith it's unseen..When you come to Christ and follow Him you can expect trials and tribulations..You have and enemy that wants to destroy you, but You have a Saviour that won't leave or forsake you. Go to Him for he will help you with your burdens and will carry you thru...He 's KNOWS your heart..shalom..kim

 

[heron]

Most of us find that faith is more about holding on to trust whether we feel loaded with faith or not. Keep that hint of security firmly inside you, no matter what's flitting through your head.

 

[intraining]

Eric29 -- I can really relate to your question -- thanks a lot for posting it! It makes me feel less alone to hear that someone else is addressing the same issue I am. I have had very similar questions about OCD, faith and trust in God. In addition to many other OCD symptoms (fear of contamination, safety of my daughter, excessive checking of everything, health worries, and many, many other things), I think my OCD makes it very hard for me to trust God. I sometimes feel like Thomas -- I need to see everything and have everything proved (multiple times) to believe it. I have prayed many times asking for God to give me more faith. I am also constantly worried about whether my faith is real. And I worry about why I don't seem to be able to trust God more, even though I really, really want to do so.
I now know that my concerns are very much related to my OCD. I started on medication and seeing a Christian therapist a few months ago, and, although I am still struggling, it is my understanding that medication and therapy can really help the vast majority of people if they stick with it. So I have more hope than I ever have that maybe things can turn the corner, even though I get discouraged at times. Please let me know how things are going for you since you last posted.

 

[Eric29]

Hello intraining please let me know if you get this message. Well I have been making progress over OCD and I will admit I still have my bad days and I don't like what I have but I have to deal with it anyways. One of the things I am learning is not to worry and I know that is hard and believe I still do but you just have to try to think out things and try to put it off to a later time and if it comes back up try to just brush off the thoughts and impulses and yes they will come back and go away but if you keep working at it you will get better but I can not gurantee that things will get really nice because I am not there yet. As far as having Faith in God well do you think any of this suprises him? He knows whats wrong with us and he sees what we go through and I am sure God feels for us and I ask and pray for more faith too and still struggle with things. I have some people who get mad at me and think that I keep putting Jesus on the Cross time and time again and said that I can not accept what he did for me. I have accepted and trust in that and believe I just struggle with whether at times if my faith is real or superficial but I keep trying. I don't think I am close to God like I would like to be but I know he Loves all of us since he can do no less then that and I know he will hear you and answer some of your prayers in do time Just keep asking him and wait. What can you loose if you keep trying? I still ask everyday for help and I try to handle the situations as best as I can and yes I still fail at times and the thoughts just keep coming into my mind but I just keep trying to ingnore them and tell myself its only OCD and this is not me and if I try to do a ritual I think to myself will this accomplish anything and will it really help? And then I just stop and move on. Please try to take things a day at a time and just pray anyways even if you don't feel like it. Lord I just pray that you would just help all the people on here to see your presence in there lives and that you would bless them with you in there hearts and help them to make progress in there walk with you and help them to have the faith you want them to have. In Jesus name I pray Amen. Well take care and keep trying and think good about things as best as you can and don't look down on yourself it will destroy any progress you make I am learning that.

Eric

 

[MercuryAndy]

You will get better as you want to change.