Conversations with God

This is a reply to the OP.Here is how I pray most often: I start by asking forgiveness for my sins in the name of Jesus. I like to get clean before addressing the Holy Father. Then I pray for whomever has triggered this need in the first place. For example, if I see a homeless person that I cannot directly go out and help, I try to at least say a prayer for them.When I feel the Lord's presence I get an overwhelming feeling that nearly instantly brings tears. It's a complex feeling, a combination of joy, relief and awe and it is very powerful.I have often wondered if others feel the same way, I will read through the thread now to see. Nice topic, as a new member I am heartened to see a lot of great discussions here. God bless.Edited by robertleva, : No reason given.

Thanks for the reply. You mention how important it is to constantly think about what you believe and even question it. As a scientifically minded atheist I ask you this one very important question:Do you leave room for the possibility that you could be wrong?

The question needn't haunt you brother. To have doubts is part of being human and our faith overcomes these doubts. Embrace the times when you have doubts as an opportunity to recognize them as the enemy's lies and deny them, thus making your faith even stronger.Do not be hard on yourself for having doubts! Making you feel bad about yourself is yet another tool of the enemy. He loves to make us feel shame for our faith. Deny that liar and laugh it him when he tries to make you feel shame as you reaffirm your salvation in almighty God. The enemy is not even a spec of dust before Jesus Christ and the Holy Father. And he will burn in the pit of fire for eternity. God bless you brother.

I see you in there and I deny you. You will never have me. My faith is in Jesus Christ.

You mistake me brother. I only wanted to know if you were capable of being truly honest and objective about your own views. You clearly are because you leave room for the possibility you could be wrong abotu all of this.So you do have faith you see. You have faith that there is no God, over what ever miniscule doubt that you harbor that you could in fact be wrong and that God does exist.I am sure this point is nothing new to you, if you have had many folks try to "convert" you (whatever that means). I am not trying to do that at all, simply pointing out for all to see that atheism is faith based at it's very core. Naturalism is the euphemized term for it these days, but call it what ever you want atheism requires some amount of faith like every other "religion".I resent the notion that somehow atheism is above reproach. It isn't. It deserves the exact same scrutiny we give any faith. You are one of the smart ones that is willing to question themselves. For now, that is enough for me.

Same answer. You won't have me.

My faith teaches about the lies of the enemy and how he deceives as many as will allow it. I choose not to be lead to hate by ridicule. If you continue to mock or humiliate me because of my faith I will only say that I love you as a brother in Christ. We are all sons and daughters of God and we are known to Him, you included.My faith teaches to love and forgive those who hate and mock us, so that is what I will try to do here. God bless you I am praying right now for you.Edited by robertleva, : No reason given.

@dwise: If you ask 10 different Christians what Christianity is you will likely get 10 different responses. If you ask 10 different atheists, yes you know this already...10 different responses. I do not presume to know your particular brand of it. I can only generalize on my experiences with atheists my entire life. Typically they do not believe in God. I have no clue where you fall in the spectrum. If you have some faith or you simply say "not sure" that is (in my opinion) a big step in the right direction. If not, well I still pray for you brother.@ringo: we are just looping now, I urge you to just stop altogether. I see into you with the eyes of a believer, whether you like it or not. I deny you. I put my faith in Jesus Christ my Lord and savior. I have endured MUCH worse than this I promise you! God bless you and I pray for the love and peace of Jesus to fill your heart.

quote:

---

I do not doubt that God is real and alive, but it scares me were I to be a good critical thinker and honestly attempt to falsify my belief. I suppose I see it as a slap in the face of Jesus, but critics may argue that if the God I believe in is real, He is tough enough to handle my attempts at falsifying Him. What scares me though is that lots of these guys stopped being believers.

---

I see what you are saying but it's really OK! Jesus loves us, warts and all brother! Don't waste one second on shame in your heart, Jesus wants us to have hearts for love alone.The fact that this forum is filled with those who have lost their way from faith does not surprise me in the least. There is false doctrine in every aspect of our lives. Every TV show / game / movie / book has completely accepted a false doctrine of Naturalism. Naturalism is taught to every single child in public school in the USA and in most of the private Christian schools as well.It's pretty tough to hear the truth through all that noise.

General reply to PaulK, ringo and honestly anyone else who attempts this kind of thing: You are wasting your time. You will never affect my faith in Jesus Christ and any attempts to humiliate / mock / harass me get met with the exact same thing: Love and forgiveness as Jesus teaches.There is a story in the Bible (I am not able to quote chapter verse off the top of my head) where Jesus tells his apostles that if you give the message and someone refuses to listen you simply wipe your feet at their door and move on. It is not my place to convince anyone here of anything. I leave those kinds of difficult things to almighty God. I do what I can for those inside my "circle of influence" as I like to refer to it. I have delivered the message. I wipe my feet at the door of any who refuse to hear me. I give you nothing but love and forgiveness now. This is the core of my faith.Edited by robertleva, : No reason given.

This is not the snake pit! Try spreading the word in a "professional" gaming community like League of Legends. You guys are a bunch of sweethearts compared to that ha!Seriously though, I am only sending y'all prayers of love and forgiveness. I have delivered my message. I am a man of faith, and I am willing to engage anyone who wants to hear my words in good faith. For those who will not hear, it is not my place to force you to believe. I wipe the dust from my feet at your door and move on. God bless and may the peace of Jesus fill your heart.

Paulk: This is the Faith and Belief section of the board. This supposed to be a place for people of faith to share their beliefs. The OP was started to talk about how we as individuals pray. I am very willing to engage in a discussion about that.But then I see 15000 post count ppl like you and ringo here. Why? The only reason you post in here is to do the work of the enemy. I see these obvious traps for what they and I will not surrender my joy by waging in some pointless circular discussion that you have likely had a bunch of times already.I have been given my marching orders already. I am to speak my message for all who will hear and let God almighty take care of the things that are beyond my control. There are plenty of faith hating forums on this board where you can go and speak to other like minded folks. But can you let those who want to share their experiences of faith be left in peace here?And if you can't stop, you should maybe do some internal reflecting on just why you feel the need to try so hard to stomp out any faith you see being shared. The enemy is using you brother.Edited by robertleva, : No reason given.

Iron does indeed sharpen iron, but I will get none of that here. These folks cannot hold a candle to the minds of Hitchens and Dawkins. I've seen those types, the so called "champions of atheism", be hilariously destroyed in public debates by Lennox for example. So no, we need not wade in here. They have nothing new to add to the discussion and I will not waste any time on their simplistic traps, only add them to my prayers. I will also add a prayer for myself to not harden my heart towards them as I am tempted by the enemy to do.Your original post was asking about how we as individuals pray and what our own personal experiences with God have been like. I absolutely loved this idea for a topic!But here has been none of that discussion at all...not even from you the original poster. Can I ask you why not? I almost feel like you are standing at the water's edge, just a little too cautious to jump fully into faith. I ask you to jump right into the water and fully embrace Jesus. He will carry your burdens, but you have to give it to Him! Do not let anyone here make you feel any shame for your faith. Be a proud Christian and shrug off these meat hooks that the enemy is trying to get into you.Your faith in Christ is the ultimate armor against all foes my brother. You don't need to listen to anything I say, just put your faith in Christ. God bless.Edited by robertleva, : No reason given.

double post-Edited by robertleva, : duplicate

@paul If you know Lennox and his work, and his arguments do not convince you than mine sure won't. Regardless buddy please try and hear this: I am *not* trying to convince you of anything.I came here to speak to others of faith about prayers and the nature of my experiences with God. It is not my place to try to convince you. I have done my part and I will keep you in my prayers now as I said. So please just move on in peace and love my brother, you are wasting your time I assure you.