Relief from Severe OCD thoughts

[Nyfre]

I prayed for this in Jesus Name. Amen.

 

[Chrysostom]

Thank you for sharing this honestly and for allowing us to pray for you. Struggling with severe thoughts and the exhausting cycle of checking and compulsions is very hard, and it is understandable that you feel weary from trying so hard to shake it.

We have prayed for you, asking God for relief, for peace in your mind, and for wisdom to see what may be at the root of this struggle. We asked Him to bring you rest and steady help each day, and to surround you with wise and caring support as you seek healing.

Scripture reminds us that God is not distant from our inner life. He has fashioned hearts one by one and He alone knows the hearts of all people. He dwells in the heart and enters into our thoughts, and He is not surprised or confused by the thoughts that distress you. He sees the difference between an intrusive thought that comes unbidden and the true direction of your heart toward Him. You do not need to be ashamed before Him, and you can come to Him honestly just as you are.

Part of this struggle is learning how to relate to thoughts when they come. One of the early teachings of the church puts it this way, that we are to put a curb upon our reasonings and not transgress the bounds assigned to our knowledge, but to take refuge in the power and skillfulness of God. When reasonings spin on and on and checking feels urgent, it helps to gently withdraw from following every thought to its end, and to turn instead to trust in God who holds you securely even when your mind feels unsettled. As it is written, if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know. That is not a rebuke, but an invitation to humility and rest, to let God be God and to rest in His care rather than carrying the burden of having to figure everything out or to be certain about everything in your own mind.

We prayed that God would give you grace to practice checking those reasonings in a healthy way, not by force against yourself, but by persuasion and patience, learning with time to notice a thought, to not engage it as if it must be solved immediately, and to bring your attention back to what is true and good before God. This is a slow process, and progress often comes gradually.

Please continue to reach out for help. Along with prayer, it is good to seek support from a trusted pastor and, if possible, a counselor or medical professional who understands OCD and can walk with you with practical tools. You do not have to carry this alone.

We pray now for you. Father, we lift up this dear one to You. You know every thought and every burden. We ask for Your mercy and relief from these severe and intrusive thoughts and from the compulsion to check. Calm the mind and give rest. Show what is at the root and lead to healing, step by step. Give strength to endure on hard days, wisdom to those who help, and a deep assurance of Your love through Jesus Christ. Help Your child to take refuge in Your power and skillfulness, to know that You hold every heart with care, and to experience Your peace that guards heart and mind. In the name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

You are not forgotten. We will continue to pray for you, and we encourage you to keep sharing with those you trust as you walk forward.

 

[Silas]

Thank you for sharing so honestly about this struggle. Severe intrusive thoughts and the constant checking and compulsions can be exhausting, and trying so hard without finding relief is a heavy burden. I am praying for you, and I want you to hear what God says about your thoughts and His thoughts toward you.

The Bible says God understands your thoughts in their origin. That does not mean He is far away trying to figure you out. It means before a thought even forms, before the chemicals and processes in your mind produce that flash of an idea, He already knows it, where it came from and how it was formed. He is acquainted with your path and your lying down, with all of your ways. Nothing that enters your mind surprises Him or pushes Him away. He sees the difference between an intrusive thought that assaults you and the true attitude and motive of your heart.

That is important because His thoughts toward you are not like the distressing thoughts you are experiencing. Scripture says His thoughts toward you are more in number than the sand, and every one of them is precious and good. He says, I know the thoughts I think toward you, they are thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a hopeful future. When you feel forgotten or fear that God must be thinking evil of you because of what is happening in your mind, His word answers that directly. He is thinking of you constantly, with peace in mind, desiring your wholeness and your good end.

There is a great difference between our thoughts and His thoughts, and between our ways and His ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His thoughts higher than ours. He knows the end from the beginning, so when He acts He knows it is right. We often do what we hope is right and then question and check again and again. When anxious thoughts feel supreme and demand that you listen to them and obey them, that is exalting our own understanding. God invites you to trust the higher, wiser, kinder mind of the One who sees the whole picture and loves you.

The Bible also invites a very honest prayer, Search me, O God, and know my heart, try me and know my thoughts. That is the prayer of someone who knows he does not even fully know himself and asks God to do the examining. You do not have to sort out every thought alone or prove your motives to God. You can ask Him to search you, to test you and to reveal what is true, and to bring His mercy. The promise is that if we return to the Lord, He will have mercy and abundantly pardon. He does not meet an honest, weary heart with condemnation.

Human wisdom and understanding are limited. From the earliest recorded thoughts of mankind, people have wrestled with fear, suffering and questions about what is beyond. If we want truth that reaches beyond our own troubled minds, we go to the words of Jesus, who knows what we cannot know. He alone can give the peace that our own reasoning and checking can never produce.

So I am praying that God will bring relief from this torment, that He will quiet the cycle of intrusive thoughts and compulsions, and that He will show you the root of what is driving this distress so it can be healed. I pray He will let you feel how present He is, that He knows your thoughts at their source and is not repelled by them, and that His countless thoughts toward you are good and peaceful. I pray He will help you to rest not on the supreme authority of anxious thoughts, but on His higher thoughts and ways, and that He will give you daily strength to walk with Him, receiving His mercy and peace through Jesus Christ.

You are not forgotten. God is thinking of you right now with love and peace. Keep calling upon Him and praying to Him, for He has promised to listen.

 

[hostadmin]

Thank you for giving us the privilege to pray on your behalf. We are glad that you asked us to stand in agreement with you in prayer for relief from these severe OCD thoughts and for what might be the root of the problem.

We have been lifting you up and asking the Lord to bring you peace from the relentless thoughts and the compulsions and checking that you described. We understand how hard you have been trying and how exhausting it is when you can not seem to shake these patterns. We continue to ask God to bring healing to the root cause, to quiet your mind and to give you freedom and rest.

We pray that the Lord will fill you with His peace that passes all understanding and remind you that He has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind as promised in 2 Tim 1:7. We pray that you will experience His comfort and strength each day and know that you are deeply loved and not alone in this struggle. We pray this in Jesus Name.

If your request was answered and you have experienced relief, please post a praise report and let us all know so we can rejoice with you. If your request does not seem to have been answered and you are still struggling, please post it again as a new request and allow us to continue with you in prayer. May God bless you as you continue to seek Him through His Son, Jesus Christ.