Intrusive thought question

[Renata8]

Can an intrusive thought make you feel like you agree with it?

I suffer from these awful blaphamous thoughts. A couple came in out of nowhere. They hurt me because they feel angry and like I agree with them! I usually get these when I'm stressed and there feels like pressure building in my head. It's hard to explain

One other person with OCD said it's not yours if you didn't agree with it. All my thoughts feel like that. This makes me feel even more lost.

Sounds like you have triggers? that bring on the stress that results in the pressure in your head? You might be one step ahead of these blasphemous thoughts, because you know when they tend to happen. See if you can avoid some of the things or issues that bring about stress.

When I’m faced with something unsavoury, I tend to say that, ‘I’m covered by the blood of Jesus Christ’, because I know it’s true. This has become such a part of me that once in a dream, a horrid woman was following me with a wooden box, she eventually got close enough to hurt me by dumping it over my head and I said that at the same time. The dream shifted from bad to good instantly and I was covered in flowers. It was just a dream though.

There’s power in the name of Jesus.

 

[Tania11]

Hello @Tania11, Satan and his demons are ~very~ good at what they do best, make confessing Christians' lives miserable So yes, what they whisper in our ears is said in the most provocative manner possible (and is most often done in concert with our emotions) to get us to believe his lies, rather than God's truth.

For instance, if you have a horrible, sinful thought, the Christian response ~should be~ to either,

1. immediately take that thought "captive" .. 2 Corinthians 10:5 or
2. (if you have allowed the thought to continue and become sinful) confess it to God and trust that He has both forgiven and cleansed you of it because you did, just like He promised us He would do .. 1 John 1:9.​

But with Satan and his minions help, we end up forgetting God's truth and His promises to us amidst our natural, emotional response to such ugly, horrible thoughts, and we start to believe Satan's deceptions/lies instead (that a TRUE Christian would NEVER think such a horrible thought, that such a thought ~must~ be unpardonable somehow, and that, in reality, having such thoughts just proves that we were never Christians to begin with .. when, in fact, it proves just the opposite, because non-Christians are not concerned about such thoughts, only Christians are ).

So, go back to the Cross, remembering everything that God both did and continues to do for you, & rest in the knowledge that, as His adopted daughter, you are loved by Him both from and to everlasting

Then go back to His word and prayer and continue to increase the knowledge and understanding you have of Him, treasuring His word in your heart (so that the Holy Spirit will be able to help you more quickly remember/discern His truth and His promises in opposition to our enemy's deceptions and lies in the heat of the moment, so to speak).

And continue to resist Satan by taking each of those horrible thoughts "captive" as soon as they enter your mind, again and again and again, as necessary, until Satan finally gives up and moves on to easier prey .. 1 Peter 5:8-9.

And of course, remember that the ~only~ reason that you are bothered by these thoughts is ~because~ you're a Christian (which is, in and of itself, a reason for you to rejoice every time Satan sends one of his flaming arrows your way, yes ).

God bless you! (Numbers 6:24-26)

--David

Thanks @St_Worm2 I would never wish this on my worse enemy. I had real bad scrupulosity as child but nothing like this. It almost seems like 2020 is a cursed year.

I know you're a Reformed guy. It kind of gives me hope that Spurgeon had this and came out of it.

This is from Charles Spurgeon whether it be oppression or an anxiety disorder..I figured you'd appreciate his take on this:

"I had once been alone musing on God, when on a sudden it seemed as if the floodgates of hell had been loosened; my head became a very pandemonium; ten thousand evil spirits seemed to be holding carnival within my brain; and I held my mouth lest I should give utterance to the words of blasphemy that were poured into my ears. Things I had never heard or thought of before came rushing impetuously into my mind, and I could scarce withstand their influence. It was the devil throwing me down and tearing me. Ah! poor soul, thou wilt have that perhaps; but remember it is only one of the tricks of the arch-enemy. he drives his unclean beasts into your field and then calls them yours. Now, in old time, when tramps and vagrants troubled a parish, they whipped them and then sent them on to the next parish. So when you get these evil thoughts, give them a sound whipping and send them away; they do not belong to you if you do not indulge them. But if you fear that these thoughts are your own, you may say, "I will go to Christ, and even if these blasphemies are mine I will confess them to the great High Priest, for I know that all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men."
Spurgeon "The Comers Conflict With Satan"

 

[Tania11]

Yes, that's what makes them so difficult to live with. That's what propels our sense of fear when they occur. Even at heart when we know we don't actually agree with or embrace that bad thought, even just the slightest feeling of doubt will have us in distress, because for a believer, what could be worse than rejecting God's love/rejecting Jesus Christ, and thus being marked for the second death (once again as a side note, I reiterate: that's second death, not eternal life in torment)? And then, the vicious cycle of becoming so afraid that we might seriously embrace the bad thought, thus we seek assurance that our worst fears are not true, thus the bad thought persists, continues.

Believe me, Tania, I went through a hellish cycle of thoughts of doubt on God's love and/or blasphemous sayings against the Holy Spirit once, myself, and it was only be a miracle of God that I was delivered from their torment. I certainly still have OCD in other, various ways, but thankfully not that any longer. I even still have a bad thought appear in my head every now and again, but I am able to deal with it quickly and efficiently now, and it does not persist. I pray that God will deliver you from the same.

Thank you. Your post brought me so much hope! I can so relate to your experience. I do hope I can get some relief and a sign He's still with me. I have so much doubts about my standing. It makes me wish I was never born.

 

[Citizen of the Kingdom]

If you did not choose to think a thought, even a "good" thought, resist it. You can choose to think right thoughts instead. Those thoughts that just drift into the mind are not of you and not of God. It's pretty obvious where they do come from!

I think you just agreed with me?

 

[St_Worm2]

Hello again @Tania11, oh yes, I definitely appreciate what Spurgeon is saying in that paragraph above (your post #22), and it should be always be remembered (by those who seek to faithfully accomplish God's will), that this is what we will be facing from the enemy as a result. This is also why we should remember to pray for our Christian leaders as often as possible, because Satan doesn't waste his time on Christians who make no difference for the Kingdom of God.

I, in fact, know of several ministry leaders who use the intensity of Satan's attacks to help them gauge how closely they are aligning themselves with/doing God's will (knowing that when Satan is involved and doing his best to disrupt their ministry's efforts, it's because God is involved as well).

--David

 

[Aussie Pete]

Oh, man. Aussie. I think I already know your opinion. But it's really hard to believe that John Bunyan, Martin Luther, Charles Spurgeon and St. Therese of Lisieux were all demon possessed. Plus these symptoms show up across the board in all Pure O OCD.

I'm not saying possessed. Evil spirits are real and the are easy to deal with. If you can find OCD mentioned in the Bible, I will change my mind. I know many people, including myself, who have had tremendous relief when evil spirits have been cast out. I suffered with suicidal depression for years. Not any more. I'm not saying that other factors are not involved. But to ignore evil spirits is to ignore one of the leading causes of mental and even physical problems.

 

[Aussie Pete]

I think you just agreed with me?

No. You said when a good thought comes..... No. Choose to think. If you have the thought of a beautiful flower drift into your mind, then it is more of a trap than if you have a random thought of beating up your neighbour. The "nice" thought can deceive you whereas the bad thought is obvious. Satan wants to manipulate you into accepting thoughts without question. I've suffered too much by allowing unfettered thoughts to lead me astray. I followed a train of thought that seemed perfectly reasonable, complete with Bible verses to back it up. It was a disaster and left me in a mess that took a couple of years to get over. The worst thing about it is that I knew better. I let my natural desires overrule my spiritual knowledge. We need to be alert. We are in a war, like it or not. We are victorious already, but we need to ensure that we do not let our guard down.

 

[SarahsKnight]

It makes me wish I was never born.

I felt the same way often during my own period of struggle with this kind of OCD. I know it sucks, Tania , but you have to hang in there.

and a sign He's still with me.

Even if He doesn't give you an obvious sign, I believe He is with you through all this, Tania. For what it can be worth, I don't believe for a second that He stands ready to condemn you at any point for any bad thought you've had or at have, or that it pleases Him for you to suffer through all this.

 

[Gkst]

I always expereince that too. And also, I have read that alot of people with OCD have hard times classify the thought too. So don't worried you are not alone. Trust in our god, He always with us in this tough journey.

 

[St_Worm2]

I had real bad scrupulosity as child but nothing like this. It almost seems like 2020 is a cursed year.

Hi Tania, you weren't a Christian as a child, so you probably didn't have your new "friend" (Satan ) seeking to run roughshod over your life back then.

I know you're a Reformed guy. It kind of gives me hope that Spurgeon had this and came out of it.

Yes, his life was ANYTHING but easy. I don't believe I could have survived 1/2 of what he faced.

--David

 

[Tania11]

Thank you @Gkst

 

[achildinchrist]

Can an intrusive thought make you feel like you agree with it?

I suffer from these awful blaphamous thoughts. A couple came in out of nowhere. They hurt me because they feel angry and like I agree with them! I usually get these when I'm stressed and there feels like pressure building in my head. It's hard to explain

One other person with OCD said it's not yours if you didn't agree with it. All my thoughts feel like that. This makes me feel even more lost.

I've recently started experiencing this as well, it's really hard to deal with it. It makes me feel horrible inside and so I started thinking of ways, I can replace those thoughts with good ones instead, so I started thinking and speaking out loud good things about God, in a way I'm praising him. My thoughts even made me believe that maybe this is how I truly feel inside and it's not, it's not true at all. When these thoughts come, I think of all the good that God has done in my life and what He will do and I praise by saying "God is amazing, God is good, God is love and God is patience". I'll say this over and over, until I feel those thoughts go away.

 

[Aussie Pete]

I've recently started experiencing this as well, it's really hard to deal with it. It makes me feel horrible inside and so I started thinking of ways, I can replace those thoughts with good ones instead, so I started thinking and speaking out loud good things about God, in a way I'm praising him. My thoughts even made me believe that maybe this is how I truly feel inside and it's not, it's not true at all. When these thoughts come, I think of all the good that God has done in my life and what He will do and I praise by saying "God is amazing, God is good, God is love and God is patience". I'll say this over and over, until I feel those thoughts go away.

An excellent approach. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable— if anything is excellent or praiseworthy— think on these things. Phillipians 4:8

 

[Macchiato]

Unpopular opinion: i had intrusive thoughts and they stopped after deliverance i did to myself, i 'detected' the source of those thoughts and drove them off. Done, never had intrusive thoughts again, i need to share this because it may help someone, i don't believe these are 'brain chemical imbalances' we know God exists and he is spirit, we know the devil also exists, and we are basically a soul and spirit our body and brain though very important for us to function is not everything like science says.

How did u detect the source?

 

[NBB]

How did u detect the source?

we can't 'detect' anything if God doesn't show us. We may be having lots of spiritual problems but if God doesn't reveal them we can only be 'suspicious' and don't know for certain.

 

[Larniavc]

I've recently started experiencing this as well, it's really hard to deal with it. It makes me feel horrible inside and so I started thinking of ways, I can replace those thoughts with good ones instead, so I started thinking and speaking out loud good things about God, in a way I'm praising him. My thoughts even made me believe that maybe this is how I truly feel inside and it's not, it's not true at all. When these thoughts come, I think of all the good that God has done in my life and what He will do and I praise by saying "God is amazing, God is good, God is love and God is patience". I'll say this over and over, until I feel those thoughts go away.

Have you looked into getting some Cognitive Behavioural Therapy? It’s very effective in treating OCD. Can you get your doctor to refer you for a course of treatment?

 

[Mari17]

I've recently started experiencing this as well, it's really hard to deal with it. It makes me feel horrible inside and so I started thinking of ways, I can replace those thoughts with good ones instead, so I started thinking and speaking out loud good things about God, in a way I'm praising him. My thoughts even made me believe that maybe this is how I truly feel inside and it's not, it's not true at all. When these thoughts come, I think of all the good that God has done in my life and what He will do and I praise by saying "God is amazing, God is good, God is love and God is patience". I'll say this over and over, until I feel those thoughts go away.

I agree with Larnievc, CBT (and specifically, ERP) therapies are considered very effective for OCD!! I also like the website OCD & CHRISTIANITY – CHRISTIANITY for scrupulosity. I think there are several blog posts on there about blasphemy obsessions. Jackie Lea Sommers also talks about this kind of obsession on her blog, Welcome. Having intrusive blasphemous thoughts is VERY common in Christians with OCD!!