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How Do I Pray about OCD Besides Take it Away - Carrie Bock

136: How Do I Pray about OCD Besides Take it Away?

Carrie explores four ways to pray about OCD that go beyond asking for removal. She shares how praying for key aspects of your journey can bring new strength and perspective to your path with OCD.

Episode Highlights

How prayerful guidance can help you navigate your personal OCD treatment journey.

How asking for spiritual clarity can help you manage and respond to persistent OCD doubts and fears.

Ways to build resilience and trust in God’s plan throughout your recovery from OCD.

Episode Summary

Hi, I’m Carrie Bock. In Episode 136 of Christian Faith and OCD, we explore a question many of you have grappled with: how to pray about OCD when it seems like God isn’t removing it from your life. As a licensed professional counselor and someone deeply rooted in faith, I understand how difficult it can be to find relief from OCD through my work with clients. Over the years, I’ve learned that there are several effective ways to approach these prayers.

Here are four ways I believe can transform how we pray about OCD:

  1. Pray for Wisdom: OCD is tricky, and it’s not always easy to distinguish God’s voice from the intrusive thoughts. James 1:5 reminds us that if we lack wisdom, we should ask God, who gives generously. I encourage you to pray for discernment in recognizing what is truly OCD and what is not.
  2. Pray for Guidance in Treatment: Whether it’s deciding on therapy, considering medication, or finding the right support, pray for God’s guidance in every aspect of your treatment journey. I’ve seen firsthand how God provides exactly what we need when we need it, so don’t hesitate to ask for His direction and provision.
  3. Pray for Courage: Facing OCD requires courage. It’s hard to move forward when uncertainty and fear are holding you back. Just as God called Joshua to be strong and courageous, I believe He calls us to take bold steps of faith in our recovery. Pray for the strength to do the hard things, knowing that God is with you every step of the way.
  4. Pray that God is Glorified in Your Weakness: This one isn’t easy, but it’s powerful. I’ve learned that God’s power is made perfect in our weaknesses. When we allow God to work through our struggles, He can use them for His glory. Remember, you are not disqualified from serving or ministering because of OCD—God can still use you in amazing ways.

In this episode, I also share some exciting news—we’re starting monthly Zoom hangouts! This is a chance for me to get to know you, answer your questions, and build a community of support. If you’re interested, make sure you’re on our email list to get the details.

These four ways to pray about OCD are just the beginning. I’d love to hear from you—what other ways have you found to pray through your OCD? Visit our website and share your thoughts. Let’s continue to support each other on this journey.

If this episode blessed you, I’d really appreciate it if you could leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your reviews help other Christians struggling with OCD find the show and start their own healing journey.

Thank you for being part of this community. Until next time, may you find comfort in God’s great love for you.

Explore Related Episode:

Episode 136. I know so many of you who I’ve talked to have just said I have prayed over and over and over for healing from this OCD. I have been praying that God would remove it from my life and take it Out of here.

Hello and welcome to Christian Faith and OCD with Carrie Bock. I’m a Christ follower, wife and mother, and licensed professional counselor who helps Christians struggling with OCD get to a deeper level of healing. When I couldn’t find resources for my clients with OCD, God called me to bring this podcast to you with practical tools for developing greater peace.

We’re here to bust through the shame and stigma surrounding struggling with OCD as a Christian, sharing hopeful stories of healing and helping you replace uncertainty with faith. I’m here to help you let go of the past and future to walk in the present abundant life God has for you. So let’s dive right into today’s episode.

I’m really excited to let you know that We are going to have some monthly Zoom hangouts. So this is just for me to get to know you, the listeners, a little better, answer any questions that you have. If you are interested, I will be sharing the Zoom link with our email subscribers at the time of this recording.

I’m not sure day or time of this event, but if you want to become an insider of these types of things, definitely get on our email list. I always enjoy hearing from our listeners. I thought about activating up and firing up a Facebook group, but I just don’t think that I have the bandwidth for any potential drama that may come from that.

We are going to just hang out on zoom maybe once a month, see how that goes and go from there.

I’m excited for today’s episode to be talking with you about four ways. to pray about your OCD differently. So if you just feel like you’re stuck in this repetitive cycle of asking God to take it away from you, asking God to heal you, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with asking for that.

I think that that is a beautiful prayer. But after a little while, you may just become frustrated if God doesn’t supernaturally take that away from you, or maybe you’ve been in treatment and it just still feels like that thorn in the flesh. So I want to give you some different ways that you can pray through this that I think will help you as part of your recovery process.

One is to pray for wisdom. James 1. 5 says that if any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. Let me tell you, OCD is tricky. Module 10 of ICBT, we go through all the tricks and cheats of OCD. One example is maybe this time. So you think it’s OCD, but then OCD says, maybe this time I’m not actually OCD.

And this is a real threat. So you actually do need to pay attention to it. My personal favorite is living the fear. You hear about the norovirus and your stomach starts to hurt. You experience a headache and you’re like, maybe this is a brain tumor. And then all of a sudden you focus on that headache. The more you focus on it, the worse it feels and you worry some more.

And just your, your mind and your body are interacting in that way. The more afraid. you are, the more your head hurts and vice versa. I believe that if you pray for wisdom, the Holy Spirit is going to guide you in those moments to build awareness of what is OCD and what is not. What is God’s voice? What is OCD?

And we’ve talked about this on the show before. So pray for wisdom. Two, pray for guidance in terms of your treatment process. What types of treatment should I pursue? If you’re thinking about getting a medication, pray about that. You know, there’s so many different options, and I know a lot of people have reservations about medication.

But what if that’s something that God uses to help you? You know, each person is individual. And so pray about the decisions that you make in regards to your treatment. And if you’re looking for a therapist, praying that God connects you with the right person. Pray for financial provision to get the help that you need.

I know therapy can be expensive. And also I know God is amazing at providing for exactly what you need at exactly the right time. So pray for guidance in terms of your treatment process. Number three is courage to walk in faith and do the hard things. God calls us to God sized tasks and we need faith and his strength to be able to do those hard things.

OCD recovery can be really hard and scary to move forward in faith and dealing with uncertainty and not knowing. God told Joshua after Moses died, before they went into the promised land, to be strong and courageous. And the strength and courage Joshua had came from his connection and partnership. In God’s work, God knew he was giving Joshua a God sized task, so while he told him to be strong, he had to be dependent on God to be able to have that strength.

It’s interesting how those two things play together. So pray for courage to walk in faith and do hard things. Number four, pray that God would be glorified in the midst of your weakness. This isn’t necessarily an easy prayer because we don’t want people to know about our weaknesses. We’re all about hiding those, but sometimes we just can’t.

We have story after story in the Bible of God using insignificant, broken people to accomplish his purposes. In 10, this is from the famous Thorn in the Flesh passage, Paul is speaking and says, But he said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I’m weak, then I am strong. Paul had a thorn. We don’t exactly know what that was, but I think there was a reason that God didn’t put it in the Bible for us is because we all have something in our life that feels like it’s holding us back.

But also in this passage, Paul talks about that being given to him to create a sense of humility. I’ve spoken to many of you who are involved in vocational ministry or para church ministries, missionaries, all kinds of different people with OCD, even people who are volunteering in their church, and I want you to never ever think that you are disqualified from ministry because you struggle with OCD.

That is a lie straight from the enemy, so do not give in to that. You’re not qualified by what you’ve done, or by worldly success, or trainings that you’ve had, but by what God has chosen to do through you. And when you are weak, He is strong. If there’s someone who exemplifies this really well, it’s my husband.

There are plenty of times where he’s physically weak, struggling with fatigue. Can’t really walk very long distances, but this summer he had the incredible opportunity to go to Guatemala with his former pastor and preach the gospel to kids and teenagers. And he allows God to work through him even when it’s not a good day physically for him.

Can God be glorified from OCD? You may be thinking, that’s ridiculous. I don’t even see how God could use this or use my situation to help anybody. It’s just so messy. But if you’ve been through something, God wants to give you a testimony. And we don’t always get to see what that looks like right now when we’re in the middle of it.

But know that maybe one day you’re going to be sharing that with somebody else, and you’re going to be able to help them. Maybe they don’t know they have OCD, and you’re going to be the one to say, yeah, all those spiritual questions that you have. I had all of those and here’s what it is. I found out it’s scrupulosity and I don’t want you to suffer one moment longer than you have to know that you can go get help for that and that this is not a spiritual issue of what you’re dealing with.

Like how powerful would that be if that was your experience, if you were able to help somebody or just to say, Hey, I know what that’s like. I’ve been there and I’ve wrestled with some of those same things that you’re wrestling with right now. And I just want you to know that there’s hope. And maybe you’re sharing your story with somebody, or God prompts you to share something that you struggle with, like OCD.

Not because that other person is dealing with the same thing, but maybe they’re going through something hard too, and they think, Oh, I don’t wanna, you know, go to therapy, I know I probably should, or I probably have a lot going on. Maybe you can help them work through that stigma. You know, there’s so many things that I don’t know why God allows them, but I have learned to say, okay, God, I want you to be glorified in the midst of this difficult situation.

I know this is a short episode and I gave you four different ways to pray about your OCD besides take it away. Certainly this is not an exhaustive list. There are so many things that you could potentially pray to God about. regarding your OCD. So I’m curious, what else would you add to this list? Find us on the website.

We’ll put a link in the show notes. You can let us know maybe some ways that you’ve prayed about your OCD that you feel have enriched your prayer life or your connection with God. Until next time, may you be comforted by God’s great love for you. Were you blessed by today’s episode? If so, I’d really appreciate it if you would go over to your iTunes account or Apple Podcasts app on your computer if you’re an Android person and leave us a review.

This really helps other Christians who are struggling with OCD be able to find our show. Christian Faith and OCD is a production of By The Well Counseling. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be a substitute for seeking mental health treatment in your area.

Author

  • Carrie Bock - By The Well Counseling Avatar

    Carrie Bock is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Smyrna, TN who helps people get to a deeper level of healing without compromising their faith. She specializes in working with Christians struggling with OCD who have also experienced childhood trauma, providing intensive therapy for individuals who want to heal at a faster pace than traditional therapy.

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Prayer, Scripture Versus, solo


Carrie Bock

Carrie Bock is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Smyrna, TN who helps people get to a deeper level of healing without compromising their faith. She specializes in working with Christians struggling with OCD who have also experienced childhood trauma, providing intensive therapy for individuals who want to heal at a faster pace than traditional therapy.