Anyone else struggle with prayer? I do it obsessively and I have to do it just right or I think something bad will happen to my loved ones. Ive struggled with it for about 25 yrs. It's makes it so hard for me to pray but if I don't then the fear something terrible is going to happen kicks in I just can't deal with this anymore...
I used to but not that much anymore. God knows you have ocd
Hi! Good Morning! Yes, I have struggled with it, but this is something that I do to help me with this battle: 1) the voice of God (if we believe in him) will never be the accuser, he will lift you up 2) the Devil will always try to tell you, you need to pray more, more, more and more but in reality these are just our compulsions to want to try to earn the grace of God. Some tips that I do is understanding when I am doing something “to feel right” vs if I am doing something “to be in the presence of God”. Furthermore, you mentioned that you have to do it right or something bad will happen. I myself struggled with this especially in legalistic churches that mention we must pray in ABCD way in order for God to hear our prayers. What I recommend is definitely talking with your therapist to see if there are some ways that you can better on those intrusive thoughts. Furthermore, you could go against what OCD tells you which is to pray. OCD is like a little enemy that tells you everything has to be right in order to experience peace, but God stated that “if you are broken, you can come to me”. Prayer also is not a form of confession or compulsion but should be used as a way to communicate with God, again try to understand when you feel these compulsions just right. I will be praying for you! ❤️
I struggle with this too. I’m lost at what to do anymore
So am I and ppl say pray about it but don't understand that prayer is my problem I struggle so hard with.
@Peaceandlove777 When speaking about this thoughts into churches, people will say “pray about it”, but unfortunately they do not understand that this phrase just will feed into the compulsion. People view prayer as a way to just talk with God but don’t understand or have knowledge of mental illnesses. Telling someone to pray when they have a problem is just to me kind of “pushing the problem away”. Again as Christians, we must understand that prayer is not a “must”. The Devil will always accuse us of not praying the perfect prayer and it reminds me a-lot of the pharisees. The Pharisees continually stated that we must do this and you can’t do this on the Sabbath but Jesus went against those ideologies. He healed people on the Sabbath when the religious leaders ruled against, which can be inferred that Jesus does NOT ask us to be perfect but no means. In fact that’s why he came on the cross was to die for our sins because we are imperfect. Whenever you feel these compulsions to pray just right, try not feeding into those compulsions by prayer but rather sitting with the uncomfortably of the thought. I hope this helps and will be praying for you! ❤️
@MattoAmericano Thank you very much❤️
@Peaceandlove777 You are welcome! ❤️
Hi! I have been struggling with ocd for many years of my life, however, I have recently been struggling with religious ocd. Currently my ocd has been putting thought into my mind like, “you shouldn’t go to that party, because “God” doesn’t what you to” or “don’t do this or else it’s going to make “God” mad.” These thoughts have been overall causing me so much anxiety, and truly I don’t know what to do. I’ve been struggling to identify it’s actually Gods voice or not. Also, my ocd has been also making my prayer a very stressful part of my day, which is not how it should feel at all. Now finding peace in prayer feels more like a chore, than a conversation. Does anybody else have ocd like this? If so, any tips?
Hi! I have Religious OCD, and have been recently needing some tips on how to deal with this painful disorder. I constantly feel like God is telling me to do certain things for example, “don’t go there,” or “don’t do this or else it will be against my plan for your life.” This causes me so much anxiety, and makes me question if I am doing the right things to live according to his will for my life. I’m constantly worried I’m disappointing Him. Also while praying I get thoughts in my head saying I should for example, add for religious practices to my routine. This also causes me stress because while dealing with this disorder, daily religious practices become very overwhelming. I’m worried that if I ignore these thoughts during my prayer, I am ignoring God. I have truly hit a limit where I don’t even know what to do, and am searching for some tips if anybody on here has any. Let’s overcome this OCD together. Thank you
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond
