HOW TO BELIEVE IN GOD
Is God real? Does God exist?
Know how and where to look! How to engage with God.
How to build Christian faith. And yes, how to believe in God.
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1. INTRODUCTION
Many of us ‘thinkers’ are led these days to accept that both ‘belief in God’s existence’ and ‘Christian faith’ can never be based on sound logic.
And look, I know how difficult it is for so many people, in this day and age, to accept those possibilities. Completely understand! I was once a very serious atheist myself. Please see the article, “Too good to be true?“
But if you are coming to a stage in life where you are questioning possibilities, you will actually find all that is needed as a starting point for ‘faith’ and ‘belief‘ is an open mind. And I can say that with complete confidence.
Now, this article does get off to a slow start. However we all need a bit of ‘background knowledge’ before trying to believe in God; know that he is real. I hope you will find useful info in this article that can guide you as such. So, I do encourage you to just continue reading on through this entire article.
But … maybe … you would prefer to glimpse a couple of ‘bits of oomph’ under subheadings 4.4 and 4.5. That is before getting into the ‘nitty gritty’ stuff. Yes, God has a vital nature, that he is ready to share with those of us who are ready to open ourselves to it within some areas of the Christian Church.
(I am from a senior auditing background and the majority of my advisory team are Christian clergy. To glimpse the ‘who’, ‘how’ and ‘why’ of this website please click here.)
2. THIS WEBSITE’S INFO
This particular article introduces the website’s primary (or main) section, “Journey of faith”. Please see the Menu Bar above. Other following sections of the website go on to support the guidance offered here, in this ‘primary’ area.
The article also provides basic guidance on how each of us really can come to believe that God is real, i.e. recognise that he does exist. It also explains how, as a result of that journey, we can accept Christian faith for ourselves. And hey, if we can do that, then we can also have our lives ‘changed in a positive sense‘. I do mean that! That relates directly to God’s ‘grace’, that he can willingly apply to the lives of each of us.
3. ENGAGE WITH GOD: BELIEVE IN HIM
For me then, one of the most important goals when beginning my journey of faith, decades ago, was to find some kind of ‘evidence‘ of God’s presence/ existence for myself. I mean stuff that could show me that God was real. And I am meaning ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ at least!
So, what did I come to find? Basically, I now consider that anyone, at all, can come to believe in God by ‘engaging with him’. Opening themselves to him, by entering into that ‘all important relationship‘ he wants each of us to share with him. Yes, if we want evidence-based belief in God, this is where we start!
Let’s look then, at where and how to engage with him during that journey of ours.
4. GOD, THE BIBLE AND CHURCH
Firstly, we do need to join a church; a fellowship of faith. Look, even I tried at first to skip that step. But it just doesn’t work. Again please see, “Too good to be true?“.
Within the Church, we get together to learn from the Bible, have fellowship with other churchgoers and worship our Lord. We can also, as explained later, gather evidence of his actual presence there for ourselves. That is, engage with him through his grace! And again, I do mean that.
4.1 Is the Bible important?
Hmmm … I admit, when I began my journey of faith many decades ago, that I also had trouble with that question in the ‘4.1 subheading’ above. The Bible just gets so much ‘bad press’, and so often from people we trust, eh? And yes, I understand all that.
First off though, we have to know a bit about God, before trying to believe in him. Well, at least I guessed that much, before starting my own journey!
And what did I come to find through that serious long term evaluation of mine? Well, I now know just how wrong I was when doubting the Bible’s value. It is, in fact, an essential guide for us. Once we know how to understand its messages of course. I came to realise there is just so much wisdom there in that ‘big book’!
Please read the article “Our amazing Bible”, written by Rev Dr Bill, for a brief overview of its content and how to understand it.
4.2 Building our faith through church
Anyway, as beginner Christians, the messages of the Bible begin to ‘sink in’, guided by our ‘church of choice‘. And, you know, I’m not saying we need to be experts at first! However, the sooner we grasp what God has ‘done for us‘ through Jesus, the sooner we can understand his loving nature as a minimum! That certainly helps us get into the right frame of mind for building our growing Christian faith. And we need that faith so we can apply it to our lives, as we seek ‘evidence’ there. If you have any serious doubts about Jesus, say whether he even existed at all, then please read the article, “Evidence of Jesus“.
Importantly too (as I keep writing), the Church has a lot to offer as far as believing in God’s existence is concerned. With guidance, I assure you that we can come to recognise his ‘actual presence‘ there in church services, as he engages with us. This evidence may be ‘subtle’ at times, but it can also be quite ‘solid’ if you are in the right place at the right time. Let’s look then:
4.3 Subtle evidence of God in church
Even in more traditional/ mainline churches we come, as a minimum, to recognise God’s ‘subtle connection’ with each of us individuals and the fellowship as a whole. That includes for example the way he ‘sets-up’ or orchestrates messages to each of us, and also the fellowship as a whole, throughout events in the service. You’ll find that other gentle ‘belief-building’ stuff happens there as well.
These little wonders never fail to impress good old analytical me. Please access the article, “The subtle stuff of God in any church” to read more on the subject.
4.4 Solid evidence of God in church
HOWEVER, if we choose to attend fellowships in the Pentecostal/ Charismatic ‘movement’ then we may witness, or even experience, relatively obvious evidence of his presence there. Whoa, you might well say? But, my golly, they can be so real to us. Yes! Remember, I am the old retired auditor here.
And at times, the evidence can even be what I call ‘palpable’. Yes, you can actually feel it. Or you can witness things happening that are so obviously Spirit-driven they ‘rock your socks’! Proof that is ‘definite to you‘. Absolutely! I offer a ‘taste’ of what is available there in the article, “Experiencing the Holy Spirit“.
4.5 ‘Final word’ on God’s presence in church
I am so firm in what I have written above aren’t I? Maybe you can accept that subtle evidence just might be witnessed. But my use of a words like “palpable” and “definite”, relative to that evidence? Well!
I know how crazy it can look to people with no exposure to the ‘movement’ (that I mentioned above). And look, I didn’t have a clue about this stuff before checking it out. Yet as that qualified and trained auditor, I was at the time, I just went into unfamiliar territory and thoroughly tested it for myself … decades ago. I can truly write, “I’ve been there, done that!” And I know it still goes on now! Yes I’ve been there, during recent years, checking it out again.
Please have a look at the article, “Is this Spirit stuff real?” As the name implies, it describes how I literally put it to the test for myself, over the years. Analysing the events and experiences on offer there. It includes my final evaluation on the subject.
You may have already guessed that your ‘church of choice’ will influence both your spiritual experiences, in that place, and your personal journey of faith. See the article, “Choosing a church” for more info on that.
Many articles dedicated to guidance on how to build faith and belief, through church attendances, are presented in the website section titled, “God in church”. Please see the Menu Bar above.
5. GOD IN LIFE
Secondly, we begin to apply our growing Christian faith to our daily lives. And that actually opens us to God’s loving and positive involvement there! His grace. Meaning more evidence for us.
So, once armed with some knowledge of what Christian faith offered me in theory, I began to open myself to God in day-to-day life. I mean through the relationship with him that I found was awaiting me. And the more I came to trust him, the stronger the evidence became. Remember the article, “A relationship with God” follows the article you are now reading. On my part, I’m writing about thirty-plus years of experience.
A complete section of the website, “God in our lives” has been developed to guide you on how to connect broadly with God in your life.
5.1 Beginning to engage with him there
Initially, once you know how, it should be possible to locate some subtle evidence of his presence just by looking ‘back through your life’. I am meaning maybe even while you were still an unbeliever. Some advice on how you can do this is provided in the article, “God’s guidance” for example. It is the first article in the subsection, “God’s guiding hand” – again, under the Menu Bar heading “God in our lives.”
There are other methods that God can use to guide us. Remember, God knows exactly which direction we should be travelling in life. We can, for example, intentionally look to his guidance in life when faced with hard choices. Even ‘ask for it‘! We can also ‘turn to him in prayer‘ whenever we are faced with challenges, or ‘real’ needs, in life. Note that I am not talking about ‘wishlists’ here.
So, by actually opening your life to God, and engaging with him through faith, that evidence of his presence will again become much more obvious and positive. Of course, once again, I don’t expect that you will be convinced by just one little incident. But … once you start putting your growing faith to the test in life, you will begin to notice an ‘awful lot’ of unlikely ‘high odds’ events happening there.
As you may well guess, there are some responsibilities for us within our relationship with the Lord. The article, “Building sound faith” in this website section briefly discusses them there under Heading 3.
5.2 As our relationship deepens
Stronger evidence of the Lord’s presence in your life will become obvious as you begin to shape-up an ongoing, reasonably ‘faithful‘ and trusting relationship with him. You see, as our trust in him grows, so can his efforts on our behalf. Again, I refer to our real needs here. There are a few articles on that subject in the “God in our lives” section. The article, “Trusting God with your life” is the final one.
That is, it all becomes ‘quite obvious’ as your faith grows and your relationship with God deepens. And then the evidence does pile up. We literally end up just recognising his ‘grace’ as an expected and very important part of our lives. Briefly, the term “grace” relates to God’s unconditional love and goodwill for each of us.
Yes again, it all becomes a matter of ‘more of the same’, ‘more of the same!’ Eventually it just seems … natural … to us. That is, the positive effect of his ‘grace’ in our lives. (Of course, yet again, this does not refer to stuff like ‘wishlists’ or ‘fame and fortune’. No, I’m talking about events that lead to a truly contented and purposeful life. And I add a bit more about it later.)
5.3 ‘Final word’ on God’s presence in our lives
Without a doubt, I can write that his existence certainly becomes very solid within life as our faith becomes ‘sound’. Again, see the article, “Building sound Faith” later in this section of the website for an explanation.
Remember there are also many articles, presented in the website section titled, “God presence in our lives”, dedicated to applying our growing faith to our lives. They range from beginner Christian practises all the way through to those used by deeply committed, highly experienced Christians. That last group come to develop the ‘sound’, very rewarding, faithful relationship with the Lord mentioned above.
6. OTHER OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE
There are certainly other directions you can take to gain knowledge of faith and belief in my opinion. In particular, I recommend attending an ‘Alpha course‘. These are available in 100 countries across the globe. Over 24,000,000 people have attended Alpha, so it’s got to be doing something right! Yes, I have assisted with running these courses myself.
Churches offer these courses through the cities, suburbs and out to far-flung towns. Just look out for the advertising banners at churches. The courses basically allow participants to explore life, faith and meaning in a relaxed, respectful and fun manner. No pressure. And usually, with a ‘free feed’ to boot.
Alpha even developed on-line courses as a direct result of the threats of ‘transmission’ that arose from Covid-19. All Alpha courses, including those on-line, provide an understanding of Christian basics. What Christian faith is about. They also explain simply how to engage with God in our lives through the use of that faith. And they offer the chance, at least, of actually experiencing God’s presence in a way you may never forget. Looks impressive? I hope so. Of course, I am referring to the Holy Spirit’s involvement (as in the ‘movement’).
7. CONCLUSION
In summary then, as far as ‘believing in God’ is concerned, it largely happens through recognising his loving care and the way he works for our benefit in life. When I write “benefit” of course I again mean our ‘needs’, rather than our ‘wants’ (and not those wishlists mentioned earlier).
All of this can be explained in that one word: “grace“!
It all happens during our journey of growing faith, as the Bible actually explains – both in our ‘chosen church‘ and our day to day lives through the use of that faith.
The closer we walk with him in life and engage with him through sound Christian faith, as indeed he wants us to, the more real he becomes to us. AND as a result ‘the rewards‘, such as a real sense of ‘purpose and contentment’, unfold in our lives. The final article in this section of the website explains all about that.
The website’s last major section can provide a basic ‘understanding of Christianity‘. If you feel the need for ‘belief’ and ‘faith’ in your life, then please read on through this website. Just like me, I am sure you will find that it is a good idea to ‘care whether God exists!’
So, is God real? Does God exist? Can we believe in God? If so, will it help us in life? Oh yes! To each question.
Please give it a go!
Continue on to the next article relative to your journey of faith, “A relationship with God“. If you wish, you can also read the article, “Framework for evidence” which explains what is meant by the term in this website.