everyone says to read the Bible to get faith but I literally can’t because of OCD. Every time I try to read I get constant intrusive thoughts which make reading impossible. I’ve tried treatment for ocd and praying for the thoughts to go away but they won’t. if God really wants to connect with me why won’t He help me
Hey, thanks so much for reaching out. Sorry for the late reply. This is a long answer! I’m so sorry about the struggles you’ve been facing. I’d love to encourage you with this: God absolutely wants to connect with you. He sees you and loves you. I’m not entirely sure what you meant by “getting faith.” But the first step to connecting with God is entering into personal relationship with Him by accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior and securing your eternity with Him in heaven. This is the gift of salvation. You can’t earn salvation at all–there’s no good you can do to earn it. That’s why God sent Jesus Christ to die for all our sins. We’re all born as sinners, and this separates us from God as He is holy, without sin. As we learn in John 3:16, God loves YOU so much that He doesn’t want you to be separated from Him. So, He sent Jesus to die and be raised from the dead, essentially paying for our sins so that we can restore a beautiful relationship with Him. This saves us from paying for our sins in hell where we would be separated from God forever after death. Now where does faith come in? Romans 10:9 says, “…if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” Do you believe that you’re a sinner? And that Jesus died for your sins and rose again? If so, confess these things in prayer that yes I am a sinner, yes Jesus died for me, and yes I want to accept Him as my Savior. This is having faith in God’s saving work. And He will hear you and save you instantly, and you’ll have a new relationship with Him. Reading scripture is key to building our faith, but what I mentioned before is where it all begins – it starts with a relationship with Christ. So if you haven’t accepted Him yet, you can! Or if you want to rededicate your life to Him, you can! No matter who you are or what you’ve done, God wants to connect with you. I do recommend finding ways to help you with reading the Word. One way is finding someone strong in the faith within a solid church community to help go through and explain the Bible to you. Try using the Bible app and listen to verses being read out loud. Also, try gong through a devotional to get on a set schedule in the Bible–and devotional books are great because they explain scripture thoroughly. Please keep holding on. I love that you have a desire to connect with God and want answers. God says if you seek Me, you’ll find Me. Keep holding onto Him no matter what. Keep asking for healing, for focus while you’re in the Word. He will hear you. Trust Him. This is another form of faith… putting faith to the test! When you don’t see any hope, trust God with the solutions and give it over to Him. The enemy will try to prevent you from connecting with God by using any trial he can…even our health. The devil won’t prevail. God desires your heart, and He’ll take care of the rest.