- Date posted
- 11d
anyone have any tips on how to get closer to God
i’ve had religious ocd pretty scary but i feel lost rn i need help getting closer to God
i’ve had religious ocd pretty scary but i feel lost rn i need help getting closer to God
I can only think about this from my perspective with religious ocd. God is so gracious and kind he will show himself to you in a new light without the OCD. God is greater then this. In the end praying is enough. start there.
@sunnyjulianna aww thank you sm for this 💗
Sure, I hope you get all the support you need! Hopefully if you talk to a pastor they’ll be understanding. Stigma and ignorance about ocd can definitely be a challenge in the church, but not all. My friend with rocd ran into that with a number of churches.
@Chiranian aw i’m sorry that happened to your friend but yea i get it 100% ignoring the ocd comments and intrusive thoughts and feelings especially with religion is so hard bc you don’t wanna be disrespectful yk it’s just difficult but gotta just ignore it
@Chiranian but tbh i’m scared to tell a pastor i feel like they will judge me bc i’ve been thru a lot with disrespectful situations with ocd and just stuff like that it’s a lot to take in tbh but i really hope i can open up
@berrybrynn I’m not quite following, don’t want to be disrespectful? You mean like when interacting with pastors or other believers? Do you have a home church already? What I’ve seen is that this tends to happen more with churches that are more homogenous. If you find a church that has more cultural and generational diversity, and/or has more neurodivergence, then they tend to be less stigmatizing. It’s easier in cities for sure.
@Chiranian No, I don’t wanna be disrespectful to God if I get an intrusive thought and I don’t do anything about it, but I know it’s only OCD so I just have to ignore the thought and not do a compulsion
The religious and moral scrupulosity support group that meets on Thursdays could be a good option. I more tend on the moral than religious side but the group is for everyone
@Letstrythis Where does this group meet? Is it on this app?
@sunnyjulianna Yes, it's on Zoom through the app. I forgot to mention you have to be working with an individual therapist to be able to join, though
@Letstrythis okay thank you!!
@Letstrythis ohh i’m not working with a therapist rn
I think what is best for you really depends on things like your church history, your strengths, and how the ocd shows up. In general this is more a pastoral question. But if there’s ocd barriers to engaging with Christian practice you’re encouraged towards, well then that’s therapist territory. Something I’ve seen helpful for myself or others who’ve dealt with religious scrupulosity is to shift away from rational, logical practices in the faith to experiential practices. These might include things like various forms of worship, meditation, using imagination, spontaneous spiritual activities etc. The Western church tends to emphasize the rational heavily over the experiential. The monastic tradition has some really wonderful ways to engage with our faith experientially. But that of course does not nullify having a basic foundation in the Bible though, hence talking to a pastor would be a good idea.
@Chiranian honestly their are some things that hm like ocd is creating some barriers from engaging in christian practice and then some just like in general for a pastor but honestly kinda a mix them you for sending that:)
Ohhh, kk I’m tracking. For sure, that’s great you’re recognizing that and not just acting on the compulsions. Have you been able to learn ERP? It seems like you get some of the principles whether you have or not.
@Chiranian Like I kinda understand what you need to do for ERP but I don’t get it fully. It’s kind of confusing because like some situations then I freak out if I’m not doing ERP cause I’m gonna make it worse so then my OCD will last longer you know and I think that’s a compulsion but then I have to do a ERP. I don’t know. I just wanna get better but honestly, I have been getting better kind of just been forgetting about my OCD, which is progress.
You should pray just talk to him like a friend about everything on your mind also the book of Roman’s helps me with my overthinking and grounding maybe it could help you too
@chris tee lo awww thank u sm
Yeah it’s really hard to just pick up naturally without a therapist. I’m sorry about the pressure you’re feeling. I find it hard to maintain my rhythms with it when I’m not periodically seeing a therapist as well. Let us know if we can do anything to support your OCD journey, you don’t have to go at it alone 🙂
@Chiranian aw thank you for this
Hi everyone. I'm wondering if anyone has any tips for dealing with religious OCD. I'm a Christian and I struggle with Harm OCD but then somehow, my religious beliefs got mixed into this where I am suddenly asking all these questions on whether God/Jesus is even good. And as a result, I feel so distant from my faith which makes dealing with my harm OCD so much harder 😢 Any advice would be appreciated.
Anyone else struggling with reading their bible or having a certain feeling to feel like God loves them and if they don’t it ruins their whole time with God. Makes pursuing him really hard. Any tips ?
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?
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