Does Imagining God as Human Harm Faith?

Sigalit asks: “Hello! I’m a religious woman, and I fully believe with all my heart that God has no body and no physical form. Yet whenever I pray and think about how He is before me, seeing me, my imagination gives Him the image of a person.

I once read a story about a woman who kept all the commandments, but when she passed away and her relatives came to greet her in the World of Truth, she was not allowed into Paradise because she had pictured God as a human figure. I was told this was a flaw in one of the Thirteen Principles of Faith.

Since learning that story, I’ve tried to fight this image, but after a short while it comes back into my mind again. I’m afraid this means I have a defect in one of the core principles of faith, and I want to know what can be done about this imagination that seems to harm me and disturb my simple service of God. Thank you so much.”

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Hello Sigalit, and thank you for your heartfelt question.

It seems you may be experiencing intrusive thoughts. In such cases, the advice of wise teachers is not to fight these thoughts, but to reach a state of inner calm, which often allows the problem to resolve on its own.

My suggestion is not to fight the image in your mind. Let the thought flow through and pass, just as you would ignore a barking dog outside your window during prayer. You wouldn’t open the window to shout at the dog; likewise, don’t struggle with the thought. Simply let it fade. These images do not reflect your true beliefs at all. Experience shows that when we try to suppress intrusive images, they only grow stronger.

As long as you didn’t choose these thoughts, you are not guilty of them. They are a test, not your faith. From your words it’s clear you know God has no body. That’s your real belief. You don't need to take these images seriously, and don’t be frightened by them. Ignore them gently, and they will fade.

I don’t know the story you mentioned, but if it is genuine, it probably referred to someone who deliberately chose to imagine God in human form — something closer to Christian belief. That’s very different from your case. God does not judge us harshly for involuntary distractions. He knows your true intention is good. If we can understand and show compassion for your struggle, how much more so God, the source of all wisdom and mercy.

Once you are calmer, you can move forward positively. When praying, instead of picturing God as someone right in front of you, lift your heart upwards to the heavens. The heavens represent vastness, majesty, and transcendence. That sense of greatness helps dissolve the tendency to imagine a human form.

This is why we speak of “Our Father in Heaven.” God fills all of reality, but we lift our thoughts upward to remind ourselves that He is beyond all images. As Maimonides taught: “When one prays, he should fix his eyes downward, as if facing the earth, but set his heart upward, as if standing in heaven” (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Prayer 5:4).

If you continue looking straight ahead, your mind will tend to project a human figure. However, when you turn your heart to the vast sky, you sense awe and wonder, which is too great to imagine in any shape or form.

In prayer, bow your head in humility, but raise your heart to the heavens. Speak to God as One who fills the skies, immeasurable and beyond all form, yet Who listens to you personally, like a loving parent holding a small child close.

Just as a mother surrounds her child in the womb, so God surrounds you everywhere — above, below, and within. As the prophet said: “Can a man hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? … Do I not fill heaven and earth?” (Yirmiyahu 23:24).

The Talmudic Sages taught: “Just as God fills the whole world, so the soul fills the body. Just as God sees but cannot be seen, so the soul sees but cannot be seen. Just as God sustains the world, so the soul sustains the body…” (Berachot 10a, Bereishit Rabbah 2:26).

Begin with calm, ignore the images, and gently direct your heart upward to your Father in Heaven. May you find peace in your prayers.