I stopped believing after "risking" myself and my family by seeing what happens if I stop praying for our health. I was very scared that God will be upset with me and serve me punishment. Years afterwards, everyone is healthy and stable as much as it has always been. I never prayed again, and my belief has diminished to 0 on the faith scale.
You realized something, that perhaps what you say and want don't align with reality, and don't delude yourself into thinking you got by some degree everything you wished for - you most probably ignore what you prayed for and didn't get. Perhaps what you get IS by mere chance. and what everyone else around you gets by mere chance. Are starving african children less worthy than a prayer in the US? Don't oppressed and abused muslim women pray for God as well? Think about it. Perhaps a little more belief in yourself and thankfulness is worth more than trying to connect with mere chance.

From what I understand you hold a strong belief in an intelligent creator but you don't hold a strong belief in abrahamic religion. Perhaps you could clear away your confusion by separating these two concepts. They are not necessarily related. You can believe in an intelligent creator without having any strong feeling toward Baptism or the Bible or the Holy Spirit.

belief in god is more of a cultural thing than anything; god is only real if you have been brought up to believe he's real

>>17214863
Talk to Him, often. I try to before bed but nearly always forget.
Even if it's throughout the day, if it's a good one or a bad one. Thank Him for the beautiful day or the breeze you feel across your face, or ask him for strength when your pain is too much for your heart to bare. He is good, but not always fair in our eyes.
You have to open yourself up to Him for not only forgiveness, but praise in your downfalls which lead you to your path in life.
I have a chronic back condition and nearly never find solace in my dark places, He moreso helps me appreciate the good in life in so many small ways, like watching a dandelion's fluff in the breeze and thinking of how many dandelions pollinated before one finally struck just the right current for me to watch it gracefully float to my shoulder.
My back hurts daily, it hasn't changed through prayer but it's helped me change in so many other positive ways. Of course I'd love my health, epsecially when I see my other friends enjoying their twenties. But the fact is that isn't what is meant for me right now, I need more humility and many more trials before I feel grounded. Many people just don't have that "coming to God" moment or an absolute miracle before their eyes, doesn't sound like that's what you need to believe in his existance. Faith comes from within, not with our eyes.
God sometimes doesn't want you to submerge yourself in the negative aspects of life, he wants you to find inner strength and peace on your own. As humans, it feels right to earn to earn our strength and courage through our own travels.
Just talk to Him, sometimes you're not asking the right questions or for things that would be best in your life at this current stage.

Well to be honest I think one of your problems seems to be that you are looking for miracles at all. Like it would be great if God were an instant fix to whatever shit were bothering us in the moment. Trust me man, if you are looking for your problems to magically disappear, good luck.

If it were really this foolproof we would have Christians out the ass everywhere because God's existance would be more or less proven. Furthermore it's ok to be a skeptic with these miracle healing videos you find on the Internet. A lot of it has to do with large churches creating a cult-like congregation who is fooled into tithing out of fear or awe.

At the end of the day if you really want to believe in God then it has to be about being genuine and truthful with yourself about your intentions.

Best thing I can advise you to do (if this isn't bait) is just sit in on some sermons at a local small church. God might reach you through a message or you can ask a pastor these questions since he can probably answer thesee questions better than us fags on adv.

This is clearly not the place for this kind of question as most of us are atheists and will just tell you to stop having imaginary friends. I think 8 ch has a christian board, you might try there.

>>17214872
This

>>17214863
>>17214863
>i have been growing more and more skeptical of Gods involvement in my life.
>Even when i do get what i prayed for, I get it in such an exhausted lame way that I don't even think God had anything to do with it. I just look at other people/medications to be the real helpers in both physical and mental hardships that I have had.

31 here.

First, it sounds kind of like you view the extent of God's involvement in your life as measurable by him miraculously giving you what you want. Does that really make sense? A), if he's got a plan and he's different from you, I'd expect him to not be on the same page as you quite often, and B) why would you want it to be in some miraculous way? "God, I feel crappy today, can you make me feel better? "Nope, let this be your lesson to go to bed on time tomorrow" sounds like a pretty reasonable exchange.

Next, you posted a cross; are you a Christian? Can you sum up in one sentence what that means to you?

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When I read christian posts I literally can't imagine that somebody believes this nonsense idea of a magic man in the sky who just conjured up creation because he felt like it. Like.. I can put myself in the frame of mind of a lot of people, and sympathize with their struggles. But I seriously can't comprehend the mindset of religious people. Is it just because they were raised that way since they were small children, and never gave it serious rational consideration?
I can not believe that you believe. I mean that literally. I think it's all a joke. None of you are serious, right?

Skepticism is healthy. To end it is folly - you will stop thinking critically altogether. In this life you must doubt everything, question everything. Pay homage to your creator by using the gift of the mind you were blessed with.

ask /lit/

Do you have a skype OP?

>>17215111
>When I read an atheist's posts I literally can't imagine that somebody doesn't believe this beautiful idea of a God in the sky who just conjured up creation just because he felt like it. Like.. I can put myself in the frame of mind of a lot of people, and sympathize with their struggles. But I seriously can't comprehend the mindset of atheists. Is it just because they were raised that way since they were small children, and never gave religious faith serious rational consideration?
>I cannot believe that you don't believe. I mean that literally. I think atheism is a joke. None of you are serious, right?

>>17215111
It makes much more sense than the belief that the universe and every immanent thing, from the stars to our consciousness, is just an accident of undirected physical phenomena. We can even imagine why a God would want to create it by analogy to our own creative acts. But it must ultimately please Him, just as a child its mother and father.

You should disabuse yourself of materialism. It is certainly false:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4C5pq7W5yRM