How does God talk to us?  I have been a christian for several years now; I pray to Him everyday; I read my Bible and go to church, but I do not hear God.  I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.

Sincerely,
Feeling Deaf

Dear Feeling Deaf,

God speaks to us through His Word.  If we want to know God’s desire for our life, we must use the Bible to get our instructions.  Faith comes from the Word (Rom 10:17), and the Bible contains all the information we need for life and godliness (2 Pet 1:3).  If we want to understand what God wants for us, we can find the truth in the sum of His Word (Ps 119:160).  Prophecies and visions are no longer given to people directly (1 Cor 13:8).  Instead, God speaks to us through the teachings of His Son (Heb 1:1).  It is normal for our emotions and desires to send us conflicting messages; that is exactly why God tells us to not trust ourselves or any "voice" that some churches tell us to listen for (Pr 3:5).  Trust God’s Word, and it will be a lamp to your feet (Ps 119:105).

     Any recommended Bible verses about believing in yourself and your ability to make the best and right decision? And trusting your inner self and goodness?

Sincerely,
Inner Compass

Dear Inner Compass,

Ironically, the Bible is full of verses on that topic, but they all say the opposite.  God tells us that we shouldn’t trust ourselves to direct our paths.  Jer 10:23 says that man will fail if he tries to run his life without God’s direction – we can’t trust our own wisdom.  Pr 21:2 says that we all think that we are doing the right thing, even the axe-murderer rationalizes his behavior… but obviously, just because we believe we are doing the right thing, that doesn’t mean we are.  We should have no confidence in our flesh (Php 3:3); all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23).

So, if we shouldn’t believe in our own abilities, and we shouldn’t trust ourselves – what should we do?  Pr 1:7 says that all wisdom begins with fearing God.  When we humble ourselves before God and accept His Bible – we can confidently live by faith.  When we throw away our confidence in the old man and latch onto the teachings of the Lord, we put on a new man that finds confidence in God (Col 3:5-10).

    If God is love, and God is a jealous God, but love can never be jealous, then what is God???

Sincerely,
Doing The Math

Dear Doing The Math,

When the Bible talks about God being a jealous God (Ex 34:14), it is saying that God is jealous in the sense that He does not accept us worshipping false gods.  This is very similar to the type of jealousy a wife might show for her husband.  A loving wife is jealous for her husband – she won't accept him having affections for any other woman.

However, when the Bible says that "love is not jealous" (1 Cor 13:4), it is dealing with envy and coveting.  A loving person doesn't get upset when good things happen to others; they rejoice with them (Rom 12:15).  In this sense, God is not jealous.  God never gets upset when good things happen to His children.  In fact, He is the source of all blessings (Jas 1:17).

     I am currently a Deist, not tying myself to any one religion or belief; however, I do believe that there is a Supreme Being, One who orchestrated the birth of the universe.  However, I also believe in the findings of our scientists, such as the Big Bang theory and the scientific theory of evolution.  Because I believe in a god, but not a Christian god, where does that leave me on that Great Day (according to Christianity)?  I just figure that if Christianity WAS the correct path after all, would that "kind and just" God send me to an eternity of damnation, or would He understand my doubts because He created me in His own image?

Sincerely,
Deist

Dear Deist,

It is understandable with all of the opinions that are thrown around as science for you to feel torn between belief in God and the belief in evolution, but it isn’t enough to believe in a generic god – we must place our faith in the God.  After all, even the demons admit belief in deity… but that won’t save them on the Day of Judgment (Jas 2:19).  Jesus is a very exclusive Savior.  He very boldly claims, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no comes to the Father, but by Me.” (Jhn 14:6).  If you don’t have a life of faith built upon following Christ, you won’t be saved.  That may sound harsh, but let’s talk about the evidence that God provides to make it possible for a deist to turn into a christian.

First of all, all faith is built upon some sort of evidence.  That evidence may be historical data (like when you trust traffic lights to work properly because they have statistically done so in the past), it may be personal experience (i.e. when you trust a friend because they have shown good judgment and loyalty in the past), or circumstantial evidence (like when a jury convicts a murderer based upon the evidence presented to them – even when there weren’t eyewitnesses at the scene of the crime).

Your belief that there is some sort of Supreme Being is probably based upon some sort of basic evidence from the world that you see around you.  Rom 1:20 says that God has provided evidence of His existence in the creation around us.  From galaxies to atoms, this world shows the signs of design.  A design requires a Designer.  God’s handiwork is seen in the finely-tuned craftsmanship of the human eye, just like Nikon’s handiwork is shown in the craftsmanship of their cameras.  You’ve done well to acknowledge His existence in a general way… but we would beg you to keep digging deeper.

Don’t be dissuaded by the scientists that say we evolved from goo.  First of all, not all scientists are evolutionists – no matter what the media tells you.  Thousands of biologists, geologists, doctors, paleontologists, etc. believe in the Creator of the Bible, and they are intellectually honest in doing so.  The scientific evidence has led them to the Bible, not away from it.  Second of all, things like evolution and the Big Bang are a way of interpreting the scientific data, not a concrete finding from the data.  One scientist sees a bed of fossils, and because he doesn’t believe in God, he interprets that the fossils were created over millions of years.  Another scientist sees the same fossil bed, and because he does believe in God, he interprets that a catastrophic event (like Noah’s Flood) is what caused such a sudden build up of fossils and silt.  They see same evidence, but come to vastly different conclusions.  Read “Atheism-Colored Glasses” for further details on the subject of scientific bias.

Next, after looking at the general evidence of God’s existence, it is time to look at the specific evidence of the Bible’s supernatural origins.  The Bible is a unique book; it is a book that no human could ever write.  We would encourage you to read “Who Wrote The Bible?” for a comprehensive list of reasons why the Bible is a book that only God could have written.  Once we begin to see the evidence for the Bible’s divine origins, we have no choice but to ask ourselves, “Will I follow God’s Word?”.

God expects us to follow Jesus because He has given us plenty of evidence that Jesus is the one and only true Son of God.  We would encourage you to follow the evidence – it will lead you straight to Jesus the Christ.

Does prayer really work???  I pray for situations to change in my life, and they don't.  I do the best I can to try to get ahead, but it seems like more frustrating things end up in my path.  Furthermore, it seems as a slap in the face to my faith.  I watch those around me who barely believe in God live fulfilling lives.  What does God want me to do?

Sincerely,
Up In Arms

Dear Up In Arms,

Prayers do work, but God still has veto power.  We are told to pray that “if the Lord wills, we will do this or that” (Jas 4:15).  Jesus taught His disciples to pray for the Lord’s will to be done (Matt 6:10).  Part of prayer is that we need to learn to trust that God knows what He is doing.  We are entreating the Creator of the Universe with our problems, and just like any loving father, our Heavenly Father sometimes says, “No” to our requests.  As every parent knows, children sometimes ask for things that aren’t in their best interest, or they ask things unaware of the bigger picture.  God wants to give us good gifts (Matt 7:11)… sometimes that means that He answers our prayers by giving us something different than what we expected.

Now, let’s talk about those prosperous unbelievers that you are seeing.  Your frustration is valid, and David had the same frustration.  In Psalm 73, David talked about his animosity toward the success of the ungodly… he said it made him so mad that he almost fell away from God (Ps 73:2).  However, David finally concluded that the ungodly were not blessed because their entire existence was slippery and dependent upon their physical prosperity (Ps 73:18).  Only God’s people have an eternal hope that gives us comfort regardless of how life goes here (Ps 73:27-28).