Advice: Disconnect and negative thoughts while praying

Dear Chereen,

I am a practicing Muslim, pray and wear hijab and stay away from haram. However, every time I pray I don’t feel a connection to God, I always feel negative thoughts while I pray and it drives me crazy because I am trying to talk to Allah but these thoughts get in the way and I start to get scared to pray. I don’t like feeling this way, I thought prayer is supposed to make me feel better and erase all these negative thoughts (feeling disconnected/no love from God). I hate it. I try to have khushoo and take my time on prayer and talk to God but it’s like I feel the devil in my head telling me bad thoughts about God 🙁 I hope I made sense. Please help me.

Dear Anonymous,

My sincere advice would be to meet with a trusted Imam and discuss these concerns, because what you appear to be mentioning is “Wiswaas.” Prayer is supposed to make you feel better, but when you’re giving so much value to your thoughts then it makes it difficult for you to focus on your prayers. I’m assuming that this goes past your prayers and affects your daily life. If this is the case, then I would recommend speaking to a therapist so you can work on some thought stopping techniques.

Praying that you gain the peace of mind that you deserve. May God make it easy on you, and may you develop a valuable connection with God.

Sincerely,

Chereen

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