Communicating with Him

[Undeceived]

I just want to ask you theists how you know when God has spoken to you? I don't mean to ask this in a mocking sort of way or anything of the sort. I sincerely want to hear from you guys how it happens.

You don't necessarily have to share a particular instance of this happening, as I don't want to create a thread where atheists will come and start making fun of it or whatever. Actually.. I guess it's kind of hard to ask this question and not have people start posting silly stuff as a bi product of my question..

Anyways, I'm just interested because it seems like every Christian friend I have has had personal conversations with God.. So is there a definite way of knowing?

There is no definite way of knowing in someone else, of course. But most Christians will say they, in themselves, do know for sure. One could argue that if God didn't "reply" in some way, shape or form, people would stop being Christians. Unlike any other religion, Christianity relies on a personal relationship with God. Followers of other faiths can go years without ever receiving notice from their god and think nothing of it. Muslims, for example, pray out of duty. They have a set list of prayers which ask Allah for blessings and that praise him. Other than those, there is no exchange. Muslims don't ask Allah to change them internally, just to forgive them and make them prosperous. There is no "Your will be done," in Islam, or Hinduism, or in any other religion on earth. These are by nature "selfish" religions. People pray to the gods for what they get out of it. In Christianity, we pray for what we can do for God. "Answers" do not come so much in the form of blessings or words. They are more a change in lifestyle, a growing closer to Jesus.

God is in us all the time. We don't necessarily need to ask him to learn what we should do. By "should" I mean what is best for His glory, and in turn, best for us as well. The more we do God's will the more content we are. The more time we spend in prayer, the closer we are to God. Prayer is about strengthening your relationship with Jesus. You are looking for new explanations on how He "answers" prayers, and are having trouble finding some because it is hard to put into words, and the words we use have deeper meaning than their dictionary definitions--"hearing" from God, for example, is not literal. When you connect with God through prayer, there is no physical reaction, like His mind touching ours, or cold sweats running down our arms. It's spiritual. As such, answers come in the form of inspiration. See the word root there- "in-spira-tion." It means to breath in. In Greek, breath is synonymous with spirit. When you are inspired to do something, or to see something in a certain way, it feels as if you yourself thought it up. It's your thought, not a voice or a radio signal. God made nature to do His work for Him; He doesn't need to break it to communicate with us--this includes the function of our brains. How do you know it's inspiration, and not your personal thought, then? Through careful evaluation. Ask yourself: Does it reflect what the Bible says? Did it seem to come out of nowhere, and help your situation in a way you never imagined?

I find that reading the Bible is a sort of prayer/meditation. While reading, my trouble is invariably answered in some way, though it may not be the way I expected or hoped. I may be having a problem with my boss, thinking he is irritating. I find myself reading 1 John 4 and the section on love. Instead of fixing the situation by removing the stressor, God has helped me see that the problem lies in my heart, and not with my boss. Ultimately, I am more content with my life. I also became a better person through it. Prayer is partly about mending faults in yourself, like in this example, and also about comfort/encouragement, and lastly and just as importantly, for helping others. Prayer is related to fellowship; it is not one-on-one communication in the darkest closet of your house. It's not just private or personal. God is in all of us. That means he literally dwells inside and hears my every thought, and is able to repeatedly inspire me one way or another should I choose to listen. Sometimes it takes lots of coaxing before I do listen. I feel anxiety and guilt, as if something is unfinished and needs to be done. Non-believers feel guilt, so they get a taste of what it's like. Conscience is the outer edge of spirituality and prayer, the outpost next to the fort. Just as everyone feels remorse for already-completed actions, Christians through prayer feel drawn to do certain actions in the future tense.

I think non-believers don't experience this "draw" because their minds are walled up. That is not an accusation. To become a Christian, one needs to fully convict their self of sin and accept Jesus' sacrifice for all. That initiates a response and a drive in the converted individual. Because a non-believer is unwilling to admit their predisposition towards evil they feel no answer from God in the form of impulse or thought. If you want God to reveal himself you must first accept that He is there. Then you must put His wishes above your own. His wishes will become your own and you will be happier in a deeper, longer-lasting way. Prayer is not like a boring sermon. It is you in full contact with your creator, fully intertwined around one another. The love story between you and God is the purpose of the universe. You are only satisfied when you are in it, and before that you don't even know what true satisfaction is. Imagine your feeling after a job well done. You worked all day and just finished your lovely new house. That feeling of achievement is better than simply buying the house, is it not? As much as we seemingly hate work, nothing delights us as much as when we finish it. That's what a relationship with Jesus is like. It is the perpetual existence in that feeling of euphoria. None of your neighbors understand why you toil so much for such small resale value. You tell them they have to try it to know what it's like. They say, "No. It looks boring." You shrug your shoulders and move on to your next home improvement project, craving another dose of the euphoria. For Christians, that home improvement project is prayer. It's hard and encouraging at the same time, but at the end you're always soaring. Now if prayer is but a shutter-shot of a spiritual experience, imagine full exposure. That is heaven.

Do not take any of my words as absolute truth. I describe prayer as I see it, but the true purpose and meaning of the act is something we will never fully understand until we become like Christ in heaven. I know it's hard to accept Christians saying "you won't know unless you feel it" but that is the reality. In your position, I would probably search high and low for a natural explanation too--that Christians are all delirious. That it's all in their minds, or they're all lying and none of them feel God in prayer either. Pointing these possibilities out, however, achieves nothing. If you created this thread as a way to pad your own views on the subject, you're only driving yourself deeper into your fallible mind. If you are honestly searching for God, I don't know what to tell you to other than to keep searching. Read his Word. Pray honestly, and not testingly, that your eyes will be opened.