Dealing with Unwanted Thoughts
A Resources for Christians Struggling to Control their Mind
Persistent unconscious thoughts may indicate that the believer is suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder, a medical condition with devastating effects on spiritual life. In this case, the Christian would do best to seek psychiatric treatment and pray for relief from OCD.
Click here for more information on religious obsessive-compulsive disorder, and here for information on fearful thoughts.
Christians often experience unwanted thoughts or visions that contradict their beliefs. Such thoughts can cause great pain and guilt, but with a better understanding of their source, believers can get their minds back under control.
The Nature of Unconscious Thoughts
Every person dealing with this problem encounters a different set of undesirable thoughts. Some are besieged by fears that God hates them; others might experience idolatrous or atheistic thoughts. Such visions, given that they contradict what one actually believes, can cause one to think that they don’t love God—or, worse yet, that God does not love them.
Understanding the Source of these Thoughts
If a thought negates something that one truly believes, it is hard to imagine that he or she willingly produced it. Rather, the image or thought likely stemmed from obsessive-compulsive disorder or from a demoniac entity. (The devil, after all, knows that such unchristian thoughts can cast Christians into doubt and worry over their spiritual well-being.) The first step in overcoming the power of such unwanted visions or ideas, then, is to realize that they originate externally, not internally. Also, it is vital to recognize that involuntary thoughts--such as those produced by OCD or the devil--are not sinful, and should not be repented for unless they were deliberate.
This is an important conclusion, as it frees the believer from guilt over the thoughts that were never theirs in the first place.
Fighting Back Against Unwanted Thoughts
When Jesus endured the devil’s temptation, He had the Holy Spirit to rely on—and emerged successful and unharmed. (See Luke, Chapter 4.) Likewise, Christians dealing with a vision or thought that seems beyond their control can trust in the power of the Holy Ghost to resist and counter it.
Christians dealing with unwanted thoughts have a number of ways to reclaim their minds. First, they can reaffirm their love and trust in God . This may involve repentance for allowing Satan into their mind in the first place, even if they never intended to. Second, believers should put more focus on the Holy Spirit, either by listening to His voice or reflecting on God’s love for them. In this way, Christians can remember that the Lord’s love will always overpower the devil’s hatred.
Whatever the strategy one chooses to take back control of their mind, they should not let undesired thoughts impede their spiritual growth—which is, after all, Satan’s motive behind the ideas and visions. Instead, they should continue to praise God, study the Bible and allow the Holy Spirit to work and cast out evils from within them. When words or visions do arrive that go against one’s faith, they can renounce such thoughts and pray for the support of the Holy Spirit.
It can be a fearful and troubling period for Christians when undesired thoughts and images infiltrate their minds, but with the Holy Spirit within them, they have nothing to fear. By trusting in God and reaffirming their faith in Him, believers can distance themselves from the devil and experience a newfound relationship with the Lord.
Christians entering treatment for religious obsessive-compulsive disorder may wish to say this prayer at the beginning of the healing process.
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