Over the years I’ve met a few people and heard quit a few others say, “I don’t feel God.” Are they saying they don’t sense anything? That they can’t sense God at all?

Here’s something interesting: The people I’ve talked to, when pushed to describe what they mean by not feeling God, though it is hard to admit, mean they don’t feel God’s forgiveness, His love, His approval, His closeness.

What they feel is rejected. The problem isn’t a lack of feeling, but a it is the sense of a bad feeling. Now that we know what we are dealing with, there is hope for correcting that bad feeling!

This is what you need to know: The problem exists in your head.

Hold on! Don’t click off yet. I don’t mean that it isn’t real.

On the contrary, thoughts are real things. Every thought you have, along with the emotion you attach to that thought, are a real and are deposited on your brain. Now, imagine repeating that thought with the accompanying emotion you attach to it over and over.

Here’s how it works:

You hear of God’s forgiveness. It sounds wonderful. You want it. You accept it. Later you do something bad, or you think something you know is sin. Then you start to worry: I’m such a bad person. Surely, I have to pay for my badness. I have to stop being bad before God will love me, accept me, forgive me. God doesn’t want to be with me until I do better.

You don’t just think this thought once; you worry over it. To use an old word, you ruminate on it. The bad thought is the thought that you rehearse in your in your head.

So, intellectually you agree that God loves you, forgave you, accepts you unconditionally. But what you ruminate on, think on, is the opposite. Does that sound like something you’ve done?

Over time that thought has grown into, what the Scriptures call, a stronghold.

A good definition of a stronghold is this:

A stronghold is when a bad thought is stronger than a good thought.

The good thought: God loves me. I am forgiven in Jesus. God accepts me just as I am.

The bad thought: Yes, God loves me, and God forgives me, but I still do bad things, or have bad thoughts, so God surely is unhappy with me, or does not approve of me.

Your most dominate thought (what you ruminate on the most) will always be your stronger thought. In this case, it is the thought that, “I’m not a good person. God does not approve of me. God does not want to be with me.”

The cure: Take your thoughts captive—ruminate on the good and right thought!

The Scriptures tell us what to do and gives us some great news:

For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:4–5 (ESV)

What do we do? We take our thoughts captive to obey Christ.

What is the good news? Taking our thoughts captive destroys strongholds.

So, let’s get busy destroying those bad feelings by taking our thoughts captive to obey Christ. When we take our thoughts captive we’ll create not just a good and right thought, but we’ll create that good feeling, that feeling that I am forgiven, accepted, wanted, and loved.

How to change the feeling that you can’t sense God:

Step 1: Identify the wrong thought.

This is important. If you don’t identify the thought you won’t recognize it when it shows up. What is the thought?

• I’m a bad person.
• God doesn’t want to be with me.
• I’m not worthy of forgiveness.
• What I did is unforgivable.
• God does not want to be with me.
• God can’t love me.

Step 2: Craft a true and right thought.

We are told in Philippians 4:8 “Whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good report, if there is anything excellent, anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.”

Craft a statement so good that if you told a friend they would say, “Way to go. That’s awesome!”

• God has forgiven all my sins even ________ (fill in the blank).
• Since Jesus paid for my sins God wants to be with ME.
• Because Jesus died for my sins I have no guilt, therefore I have no reason to feel
  guilty.
• I am forgiven.

Step 3: Find a Scripture to go with your new thought.

• God has forgiven all my sins: 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins he is faith and righteous to forgive our sins and to
  cleans us of all unrighteousness.”
• Since Jesus paid for my sins God wants to be with me: Romans 8:39 “No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ
  Jesus our Lord.”
• I have no guilt, therefore, I have no reason to feel guilty. I am forgiven: Romans 8:1 “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.”

Step 4: Repeat that thought with the Scripture to yourself every morning when you wake up and every night before you go to bed.

Okay: Let’s get a win. Since you know the bad feeling is in your thinking, not in your goodness or badness, let’s destroy it.

1. Identify the wrong thought.

2. Craft a true and right thought—a thought so good that when you tell your friend what you are thinking they’ll be proud of you. BTW: Tell a friend your new thought.

3. Add a supporting Scripture. Memorize it.

4. Repeat each morning and each night before you go to bed.

That’s it!

Do you know a friend who needs this talk? Share it with them. Also, leave a comment and tell us how this helped you. And for more help on how to deal with negative feelings watch my free video on Shame: The Silent Killer of Your Self-Esteem.

Until next time, may the Lord help you change your thinking and help you to live the life you were born to love!

Craig