Believing in God and Having a Relationship With God

This is an instructable for people wanting to believe in God but are uncertain on where to begin. This is also an instructable for anyone wanting to be sure that they have chosen the right believing path. It is provided as a systematic way of looking at the belief process and presumes that the reader is either open-minded and/or has a good knowledge on basic theology.

As a believer I have often felt that believing people in this world have a responsability to ensure that all non-believing people at least have ample access to information surrounding their belief (without being harrassing and driving them away). After all, if we as believers truely believe we are right, then shouldn't we want to inform (and hopefully save) those around us? So here is another instructable on faith which people are welcome to read or not read as they feel compelled.

This is not an instructable on morality or values. It is simply about belief in God. I've done my best to evade any specific definition of God, as I believe such attempts only lead to more confusion.

I honestly believe everything I say in this instructable so I am not "trolling". You are free to respond or not respond as you wish. I would hope you would attempt to do this with some patience.

I do not assume that all non-believing people are ignorant, but however much each of us knows and understands, there is always another viewpoint to be understood, or another fact to glean.

But this is also an opportunity or believers who were raised as Christians, Jews or Muslims etc. to asses their beliefs. These people did not choose God; their parents did. Christian parents usually don't raise their children to be Athiest. Atheist parents generally don't raise their children to be Buddhist. This leaves us all with much we may not ever know if we don't seek this information for ourselves.

Regardless of belief, it is important that we all understand why we believe what we do and live accordingly. Thusly I have formed this instructable as a guide for people to give thought to ideas and information regarding belief they may not have ever had any exposure to so they can make a relatively informed choice.

Maybe you are thinking; But I don't like God, so why would I want to know him? How can I have a relationship with God if I don't know him? Hopefully the coming steps will answer your questions.

I don't think that I know it all, but I have gone through this process myself in order to answer all the questions I had and acertain my beliefs. Resultantly this intructable is written in the case that there is a God and thusly not believing somehow comes at the result of misinformation.

I feel that there is enough in our modern culture distracting us, insisting to us that there is no God or suggesting that if there is one, it is fair enough to ignore this God until you are in financial trouble or dying. Thusly I feel only the other possibilities need to be represented here. This may not be a popular way of viewing things, but if I though it was I wouldn't have felt the need to write any of this.

If you are the kind that can't handle having your beliefs or lack thereof questioned without being highly offended I recommend you don't read this tutorial.

In order to decide upon your beliefs you need to form a consistent idea about the nature and identity of God.

It is wise to ask yourself "Who do I believe God is?" and jot these ideas down and then asses these ideas. This requires a great deal of honesty on your part. Don't simply write "I don't believe God exists." If you were to believe in God, what would this God be like? Don't write what you think others would say.

Some people may say "I believe God is a force like the wind or electricity." Some will say "I believe God is a giant man with a beard."

Even within one religious or non-religious group you will find varying ideas regarding Who God is and What God does. As a result of this I've felt that Religious classification is almost meaningless and creates more problems then it solves but all faiths have this in common: They are a human reaction or response to the divine.

But what unfortuantly happens is that regardless of faith we tend to create a picture of "Who" God is in our head and then decide our beliefs and lifestyle based on this picture without carefully considering the accuracy in this picture.

Some will stop me and say, "But I thought God is meant to be beyond comprehention and understanding." Exactly, this is idealy the answer we would all give, but we often create ideas of a limited God, or a God that couldn't possibly exist and thusly we don't believe in God in the first place.

Maybe you have seen something bad happen and have decided that God must be hatefull or evil, but are you sure these are the only possibilities?

Maybe you have always thought that God must be a cloud up in the sky, or a distant spirit that has no interest, or a pushy father figure who doesn't tollerate any imperfection.

But in order to believe in and have a relationship with God we all need to consider the possibility that all our perceptions surrounding God up to this point have been wrong. So investigate all of the things you believe. Talk to people who believe the opposite you do. You don't have to agree with them and you can investigate their answers and talk to other people about these questions and see whether they are right or not. On that note I engourage anyone to send me their questions about any faith so I can find the answer for you.

You may study a myriad of sacred texts, you may travel the world, you may even have religious experiences, but if you have made up your mind and won't change it then none of this will do you any good.

Closely related the first step is the second. You need to think carefully and analytically about why you think the way you do now. There are many good reasons for believing in God, but there are many bad ones too that lead to a weak or ignorant faith. If a person has no

Do you believe only because your parents or friends do? You may only be one step away from a family tragedy, and when it comes you will feel as though God is absent or non-existant. A person who persues what they believe is right is much more respectable then a person who ruins themself for the opinions of others.

Do you disbelieve because it doesn't seem "scientific"? But true science means persuing all possibilities, regardless of how we feel about them or how improbable they may seem.

I have seen some people choose to be atheist purely because they want to appear "smart" to those around them. But when you die are these people around you the ones you are going to face?

I have seen some people disbelieve or have a weak faith because they thought that believing would mean they would have to participate in all sorts of unpleasant behaviors and activities or even fundamentally change who they are as a human being only to read a Bible later on and find that these behaviours weren't really expected of them.

Often these days people reject faith because of percieved hypocrisy or they accociate faith with negative values eg. Chauvenism, Homophobia, Small mindedness etc. But these values and behaviours have nothing to do with God. These are all things that people do. It is important to make a differentiation between what other people do and what God does.

Rather then simply abandoning the notion of Faith because of something you've seen someone else do, it would do better to confront these people and still keep on believing (if you did in the first place) the way you think believers should. This would achieve much more then damning yourself pointing fingers.

Some poor reasons for believing may surprise you. It is unwise to believe purely out of fear of damnation. If your faith is built on fear then you can't really put your trust in God at all. It is unwise to believe so that you can "have a good life". While is is apparent that the attitudes surrounding belief are usually possitive, sooner or later something unpleasant will happen and you will loose your faith. These reasons are important ones to think about and remember, but they shouldn't be your only reasons for believing.

You need to ask other people questions about their beliefs. If you've always been a Muslim and think that Christians are pagans you need to ask them why they believe what they do. Otherwise how do you know you are right? How will you ever get answers to your questions about other beliefs if you don't ask them.

I highly recommend Googling your questions.

On a personal note I have always believed in God in some way, but only recently did I discover how warped my perceptions of God really were.
While I didn't want to admit it for fear of damnation I deep down felt that God was like a bad father; Hunting me down with his opinions, not wanting me to stand up for myself and always waiting for me to put a foot wrong so he could punish me.
I claimed to be a Christian and tried to convert others when I didn't even really feel forgiven by God myself.
Later I found in the Bible itself that God acutally does want us to ask him questions. We simply have to be patient and perceptive in waiting for the answer.
I also found out that God does want people to stand up for themselves and confront those around them. The only real limitation there is that conflicts should be resolved sooner rather then later. I digress, but this leads me to the third step.

Conciously or subconciously we sometimes harbour fears that prevent us from considering ideas that are new to us. Maybe as an Atheist you worry that you will loose all your friends if you become a believer, so you won't even properly investigate the matter.

Maybe as a Christian you fear that finding out more about Atheists wil make you loose your faith and then you will end up in hell.

Whatever your fear you must ignore it if you are to find the truth. Whatever you believe you must concied the possibility/fact that God wants to be known and this is the product of investigation.

Once you have completed your investigation I believe that armed with open-mindedness, carefull research and honesty you may believe in a God, or maybe you are still unconvinced but have learned things you didn't know before. But what now?

Write down on a page what you believe now and why you believe it. Writing this down as a final stage will help you to comb out any inconsistencies and also work out what implications these new ideas will have for your thinking and lifestyle. Maybe little will change. Maybe everything will change, but don' t make the same mistake I did.

How much you change your life is not always a reflection of how strong your faith is. What defines faith is the belief itself. Any changes to your life should be as a result of this new way of thinking, not simply because you assume that people who believe what you do should behave this way. Many customs and conventions used by various faiths have nothing to do with the origins of their faith, so again, be carefull and perceptive.

If you have arrived at faith at this point then you are prepaired for a relationship with God. If you have not found a belief in God by now I recommend repeating steps 1-4 until you have. One point I will reiterate

A relationship with God is similar to having a relationship with a human being in a few areas. These are namely:

- Time spent together (Meditation, scripture and Acknowledgment)
- Communication (Prayer)
- Consideration (What can I do for God?)
- Trust (Faith)

A relationship with God varies in only two real ways. Generally one is above and beyond much more responsable to God then then are to anyone else. Then there is the fact that God is unseen.

As with a friend you will need to spend time with God to get to know God. This doesn't always mean getting out a Bible. It can mean learning about God as you were doing in earlier steps. It can also mean going outside and enjoying what God has created. It can also mean that you remember that whereever you go, God is with you and you are not alone.

Instead of calling this new friend, whenever you want to talk to God, you only need to think of God and tell God what you are thinking. God already knows, much like the way an intuitive friend may be able to tell what you are thinking by looking at you, but telling this friend gives you an outlet, helps in affirming your life and cementing this relationship. God is one friend you can tell anything and contrary to reports will not be so easily offended as most people will. God's replies are not heard: You see them around you in your interactions with others and in what happens each day. As the Bible says "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then we will see face to face."

You wouldn't throw your friend into the mud or let people say bad things about a friend and similarly you wouldn't do things that humiliate God, and you would disagree when people are saying things about God you know aren't true. E.g. "God is out to get us" "There is no God". It should be noted that most if not all of the behaviours encouraged in various faiths are helpfull and positive ones e.g. "Don't harm yourself." "Treat others as you wish to be treated." So really, when you do things for God, you are really doing them for yourself, it just isn't obvious yet.

The last and most critical is trust. It is very hard, if not impossible, to maintain a relationship with anyone if you think they are secretly trying to harm or abandon you. You need to believe that God cares for you if your relationship is to mature. It also helps if you regularly spend time with people who believe as realistically you will have to deal with people who don't everyday and it can sometimes seem like you're the only one.

A relationship with God does require dedication and effort, but it is a path that leads you to self-improvement and one day a place where God reigns complely.