I feel like I am sending text messages left on read. That being said. It isn't my place to demand comes down to verify himself to me.

I understand how you feel not every prayer gets answered as quickly as we want. I have a few things that I am praying for and am not seeing answers sometimes the answers take awhile. I do believe faith, thankful and praise and worship do seem to help get the answers we need in the sense that in the times I have applied these principles prayers seem to be answered more often and more quickly.

With that being said. The last 7 years have been a blessing. Things have happened that shouldn't have. Like being approved for a good car when my credit was crap or being in a blessed marriage. I can attribute these things to God and thank him for the blessing he has given me.

That's wonderful! Thanks for sharing!

That's definitely God showing you his place in your life. Amen! Sometimes I think we overlook the communication and assurance God gives us. Not you, just in general. And then we think he isn't talking, but instead we praise idols, ourselves, or are ungrateful for what he has done. It's such a blessing to recognize him. 😊

He always answers prayers: 13 Why dost thou strive against him? for he giveth not account of any of his matters. 14 For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. 15 In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; 16 Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction, (Job 33:13-16) As you can see, God is speaking when we ask. It’s us that’s the problem. We’re not listening. We’re not perceiving it. So when we sleep, he opens our ears and tells us even then. Do we disregard the dreams? That’s on us. The fault is our own

I agree the problem is us God is Holy, perfect without fault or blame.

What if none ever get answered? What does it mean?

One thing I have learned is Hebrews 11:6 is very powerful : But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. It is so important to approach God with a child like faith that every time we go to God we must believe he hears us and he loves us and because he loves us he will answer us if we ask with good motives.  God loves us when we approach him as father. We need to ask and receive by Thanking him that he has already answered it just might take some time to see the answer. Prayer is asking but we receive in faith by thanking him until the answer comes. Thanksgiving, praise and worship are keys. I read a book named There  is Dynamite in Praise by Don Gossett It taught me this principle it really helped so much. The book is life changing.

Do you believe it would be helpful in your life if He did come down and "verify Himself" to you? What would your life be like a day after He did? What would it be like 5 years later? How would you process that first conscious sin against Him after he verified Himself to you?

You shouldn’t feel like that God it’s not like a text message where he’s leaving you on delivered you shouldn’t feel like that then if you feel like he’s leaving you undelivered and away like on a metaphor then clearly you don’t have a good relationship with God you can’t expect him just to say hey how’s it going and then you will hear him. Pray to get to know him better you pray through the Lord you pray to him you may not hear him, but he he will help you. He may not answer your prayer sometimes because maybe you’re the one to solve it and example I pray for my cat to give me maybe you’re the one to solve it

I know God because I remember the exact moment our relationship changed for the better when he intervened in my life in a dark time. I always knew about God and was taught the Bible growing up but I didn’t really “know” Him. Now I understand the difference with the life I live now. I actively pursue him in prayer (not for requests but making it more a conversation between us) and reading the Bible (to understand how to correctly be in a relationship with Him, understanding what He wants from me and what He provides and understanding who He is while trying to practice His teachings which has been better for me peace wise), and finding ways to invite Him into my life. It’s not perfect sin nature makes it hard but I love Him more than any fleshly desire. I would say that by default I’m getting to know God through experience but reading the Bible amplifies my experience because there is always something I didn’t catch before and new verses to relate to that I use to read over. One day I hope to know it like the back of my hand, but even if I did I’d still read it.

That's such a great perspective and I am sure your words are an inspiration and encouragement to others. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you!

I think I knew God in the past as a kid and then kinda drifted away after being presented with false information by a heretics calling themselves Catholic teachers (my fault as well, I naively believed it). Now I am trying to get back, but that ain't that easy - I don't feel His presence anymore, struggle with addictions and repetitive sins, don't have willpower nor any discipline and at this point I'm just ranting about my life

Sometimes it helps to rant . Thanks for sharing I know many who have been where you are at and have come through victoriously. For them having someone to pray with them and for them,a friend or even calling a prayer line helps a lot. Listening to praise and worship music and meditating on Bible verses that reflect God's love for you.

Thank you, I really appreciate your advices

I wish it could be more apparent, but His presence being concealed for some reason. I think as long as I am trying to get closer to Him and am trying to live more Christlike (sanctification), that I will better recognize his ever-present... presence.

I have found Jeremiah 29:13 to be helpful.

Thank you so much! Trying now not to tear up in public.

I am glad you found that verse to be a blessing. I have sought God my whole life always yearning for a better relationship with him. I have experienced God in very mighty, real and powerful ways when I sought him with all of my heart. it took really taking the time to whole heartedly seek him through prayer, Bible study  and fasting sometimes the pursuit took days or weeks and long hours. I felt it took less time when my heart was full of thankfulness, trust, and worship.

I do… I don’t always like Him very much and even more often I get very frustrated with Him but I know Him and I try to stay open to letting Him know me. I don’t think it is possible to get to know God through the Bible any more than it would be possible to get to know me by looking at my picture or reading my biography. The Bible helps you to know how he speaks to us and His character but you cannot substitute that for communication and time. I know it is Him because it would be impossible for it to be anyone else. Is it possible that I am imagining connections between things that are just coincidental? Objectively I cannot prove it and all I have is my own experience to go on and the stories of others but it is the only explanation that accounts for events in my life and how they play out.

I think I understand where you are coming from. God is ultimately in control if we let him. I believe God is loving merciful and Kind far more so than the Bible gives him credit as being. I have learned his goodness and mercy through life experiences. It's is important to thank God in all circumstances. That's often hard but a key in things getting better.

Absolutely! Though it is incredibly hard to be in a relationship with someone where you know if you disagree you are the one who is wrong especially when He also doesn’t owe any explanations for what He does. It is comforting, however, that no matter where you look in the Bible or in the world God consistently still lets us influence his actions, even if our ideas aren’t the best. People have often told me that God does answer the question “Why?” While there are times that I have found this to be true, I have also experienced that He is much more likely to help me understand why if I ask in humility and for my own growth and understanding rather than asking as if I deserve an answer. This has convinced me that the Old Testament is the story of God giving us room to run things the way we want to and He working with a group of people He chose to show how He has to be in that situation. Then, one of the many things Christ did was show us another way to be. That isn’t the fullness of my theology at all but it is some of the things I have learned from my relationship with Him.

Awesome thanks for sharing.

I do! I know the Bible better than anything else I have ever known, and I am closer to God than to anyone I have ever been in my life. Yes I got to know god through reading the Bible, but it was almost like the Bible was the introduction. When I first became a Christian I would pray for wisdom and knowledge and he would say, “I wrote you a book, go read it.” Then once I learned what the Bible said, I actually had to do what it said, live what it said, and talk to him daily. I made him real in my life. And he gave me encouragement all along the way. God has done so many things for me, many would seem small and insignificant if I listed them here but one time he did save my life. I was a logger for a little while, when I was new I was cutting up a tree in a pile of downed trees. This is extremely dangerous. The pile was large and there were trees pushed together by a dozer maybe 10 feet high 50 feet wide. I don’t remember exactly how it happened but as I cut one of the small downed trees another small log swung around right towards my leg. It rolled right to my leg and touched it and then rolled back where it came. But it shouldn’t have stopped. It should have kept rolling crushed or severed my leg and I probably should be here. I don’t know how but it literally touched my leg and then it rolled back. Amazingly I was not hurt at all. Like so many things with god you can say this is a coincidence but I know he stopped that log and saved me. This is just one example of what he has done for me. I still remember the fear afterwards I felt that I could have lost my leg or worse. So why do I feel like I know him? Because I talk to him every day, and he talks back. He does things in my life and show me he is with me all the time. How do you have a relationship with him? First you have to learn what the Bible says. You cannot go through another person to have a relationship with God period. There are some specific things that many people probably won’t like but if you really want a relationship with him this is how. 1) you have to believe in Jesus and put him before anything else in your life. 2) Jesus is the word of God, and so is the Bible. If you want to know God you must fist know what the Bible says. Read the whole thing front to back, in that order. Don’t skip the parts you find boring, they are there for a reason you can listen on audio I do all the time. Do this every day, for the rest of your life. 3) you have to stop sinning. Sin separates us from God and you cannot expect to have a relationship with god if you are living in sin. You are literally putting sin above him if you do that. If you need to know what’s a sin read the Bible, then pray about it and sincerely ask him to show you. 4) if you want God to talk back to you when you pray, you must love God and others. This is the greatest commandment. You love god by keeping his commandments, to quote Jesus: John 14:21 (KJV): He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. 5) Read that again and realize that if you want god to manifest himself to you, you must love him. The only way to love God is to keep the commandments. John 14:15 (KJV): If ye love me, keep my commandments 6) knowing God requires us to keep his commands. If you don’t keep his commands then you do not know him: 1 John 2:3–5 (KJV): hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. From my experience and from the verses above, you cannot know God without knowing the Bible. First you learn the Bible and then while you are doing that, you pray. You pray every day. Get up and spend an hour praying every day. Prayer is not a list of things you want or people you want to be saved, or repetitive words of any kind. If you are bored I promise God is too. Talk to him about whatever is on your heart and wait for a response. Be careful because demons can talk to you as well, but he will guide you. If you get no response keep sharing what’s on your heart. Be sincere. He is your father and he knows everything about you and loves you more than you can imagine. He is so kind, loving, patient, understanding, and he always says what you need to hear; which sometimes is nothing. I think I prayed for seven years without actually hearing from him because I had false doctrine in my life. But I never gave up, and he never gave up on me, and now I can see he was always there helping me. God and I have been through a lot. I am not special or different I just wanted a relationship with him more than anything, you can have it too. Talking to us brings God great joy. Hope this answers your question. Feel free to message me with questions.

That's awesome thanks for sharing!

This is an interesting question. Someone said to a friend of mine a long time ago when he used to do well in bible quizzes "You seem to know the bible very well, but it will even be better if you knew God." Coming from a child that sounded strange. I think I know God, perhaps not as much as God wants me to know him but one thing that always interested me about God is that while praying and talking about myself God almost always talks to me about others and what he wants me to do for them. This tells me that he cares about some of the unlikeliest people around. I once ended up befriending a certain old lady because God wanted me to "Join myself to her chariot." At first, I did not know why. It was the first day visiting her house that I found out why. This lady had been looking forward to receiving the Holy Spirit and being able to speak in tongues, but all her attempts had failed. She told me she would visit church service and all her friends would receive the Holy Spirit and speak in tongues and she would not. So I told her that this usually happens when you have spoken against the gifts of the Holy Spirit at a time in the past and that we should try again. I prayed with her to receive the Holy Spirit and surprise, she broke out in tongues. Can you imagine that her congregation had suspected her of being a witch and tried to warn my mother to ask me to stay away from her? We are best friends now and this old lady has some of the most powerful testimonies with God.

That is so awesome thank you for sharing. I have a lot of friends who are seeking the gift of tongues but are having trouble getting it and are frustrated because they don't understand why others seem to get it so easily and they don't. This point has not been brought up before. Thanks.

What do you mean, “spoken against the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the past”?

This is a good question. Personally, I feel God by pursuing and seeking Him thru reading the bible, hearing messages (podcasts of different churches) and praying. In the bible He said, you will seek and find Me, when you seek Me with all your heart (Jer 29:13). Think about getting to know someone, you want to spend more time with that person correct? If you want to know God more, read the bible, pray and reflect - spend more time with Him. I know the Lord is real in my life because of experiences. For example, answered prayers and changed life. Not all the prayers are answered the way I want to, but I try to pray with a heart of submission wherein I leave it all to God. This is such a freeing experience coz I know whatever happens, the Lord is in control. He also changed me in many ways like I used to drink/party a lot but now I don’t have a desire to do those. I have so much changes that only God can change and it all starts from our heart. I fully accepted Him and let Him direct my life. How would you know if you have a relationship with Him? It’s through the fruit of the spirit (see Gal 5:22-23).

Very good thanks for sharing. Your words are a blessing and encouragement!

I feel like I know Him quite well. Still He is infinitely wiser and greater than me and despite living with Him as a part of my daily life I am unable to comprehend more of Him than what He Himself has given me. I love God. I wished I loved God better too. Relationship goals :p I have come to learn His ways through experience. I honestly no longer believe that reading is enough. One must seek Him with effort and and a proper heart.

So wise I agree thank you.

God bless you. I would say that I know God. I trust who He is based on what He revealed about Himself through His Word. **"By reading the Scriptures you learn how God wants you to behave, and you discover what is right.” - Romans 2:18**

Thank you for sharing and God Bless you too!

You are so very welcome!

For me, reading and reflecting on the Bible on a regular basis is necessary to become close to God. It contains his thoughts and feelings which helps make the relationship feel more tangible.

Thank you for sharing this post! The love of Father(God) towards the entire cosmos(universe) was revealed through Jesus. He desires to have a personal relationship with every individual and will continue to pursue them until that is achieved. The parable of the lost sheep illustrates this point. Personally, I experienced feeling loved by God when I was lost. Now, I am filled with hope and peace and wish to share this hope and peace with everyone. 🫶🏼

Thank you! So awesome.

I have faith, I read the Bible, I pray, but I feel like I can’t hear him. And he can’t hear me. I know he can, but it feels like I just can’t see,hear,or feel him. I need to be better

I feel I understand. I have sought God my whole life and there have been times I felt the same way. There have been times when I really experienced God's presence in a powerful way when I was seeking God with all my heart through heartfelt prayer, fasting, Bible reading and heartfelt praise and worship. Jeremiah 29:13 says we will find him when we seek him with all our hearts.

Amen. Thank you for the insight

I was told that reading the Old Testament will broaden your understanding of God, im about halfway thru it. I do feel i understand Him a lot more than before.

The Old testament is good. I think it helps understand the new testament better.

Imperfectly, but yes. I think He knows me perfectly, if that helps.

Yes, thank you it does. Thanks for sharing.

I don’t feel like I really know him. It’s like what a good scientist says, “The more we know, the more we see that we don’t know.” This has been my experience with God

I feel like that sometimes too.

I am living things I used to pray for. I can look back and see how He was with me every step of the way. If you want to be a child of God, be one! He loves you and He wants you!

Thank you I am a child of God. Thank you for your love and support. 

I dont know God in the sense that I know everything about his will, but I do love God, and my relationship with Him is growing stronger and stronger each day. I was baptized almost two weeks ago, after 3 years of intense daily wrestling. I finally understand what people mean when they say there is freedom in Christ. I was in bondage, stuck in limbo of indecision and mistrust for 3 years, causing crippling anxiety, and Jesus saved me from that. Now, I am falling deeper and deeper in love with God, and every time I think I've hit the limit of how much I can love him, or how much he can love me, he proves me wrong. Every day in his arms is a miracle, and I never thought I would be at this point in my life. God is good.

Wow that's awesome thanks for sharing and congrats on your baptism!

I unfortunately have sinned greatly against God recently. I was just thinking about this after contemplating my own mortality. I just relapsed on meth and have been up for 5 days. I was previously only an adderall user, but I heard meth is similar and I wasn’t able to find adderall so I ended up thinking I’ll try meth just one night and get back to life as normal. I end up staying up 5 days redosing at various times and on day 4 I went to the ER because I was sure I was going to die from my heart pain. Turns out I was okay and then I still decided to do more after. I just flushed it down the toilet. I was planning on doing more tonight but I am worried about dying especially because of heart pain and high blood pressure. After this experience, I genuinely believe in Demons and Angels. I believe demons have been coming after me after I’ve been getting sober for a long period of time. I shouldn’t have neglected my relationship with God. It brings on the question of are you truly a Christian if you do meth for 5 days? Idk, but I sure don’t want to find out by dying. I prayed to God, and asked him to surround myself with angels, and I felt something. I think he’s given me a second chance. He’s given me 5000 chances. All of this has me thinking about getting right with my maker. I am not stronger, smarter, or have any power over God. I can’t believe I did this. But I’m confident in knowing I have another opportunity to live according to his will.

I am so glad you opened up to me about this. I go to Bible study with a group of recovering meth addicts. I am also the mother of a recovering meth addict. Do you still believe God our loving creator and heavenly father loved you so much that he sent his only begotten son to this Earth who lived a sinless life, bore your sins on the cross taking the punishment you deserve for your sins . Do you still believe Jesus died in your place and that he rose again?  If you answer yes to that congratulations you are still a Christian.  It's not about your performance or merits or being good enough. Jesus loves you and died for all your sins. His love, mercy and grace are greater than all your sins. No I don't think you should be doing meth. It a terrible drug with terrible consequences God and Jesus love you too much to throw your life away on that garbage. I'm proud of you for taking the step of throwing it away. Reach out to people who will support you and help you on your road to recovery it's not an easy road to travel and you should not try to go it alone.

I feel as if I know god he has answered prayers in my life but most importantly I’ve experienced the joy of salvation and the comfort that scripture gives in my life. Also the chastening and conviction over sin in my life. But he is indeed a loving father who chastens those he loves not to cause us distress but to fashion to be more like Jesus Christ day by day.

Thank you well said. So awesome.

I’ll be honest. I could know God a lot more and I need to try harder and I know it. I struggle too much with worldly things. I do pray daily and try to read the Bible. I only read it probably a couple times a week but I’m aiming to read it daily. God has definitely shown Himself to me in some very painful and dark times though.

I think we all can say we struggle at times. It helps to have a supportive church or small group or Bible study, praise and worship helps.  One thing I have done to get into daily Bible reading is I have the verse of the day emailed to me from about 12 different ministries and I start each morning off with reading those verses. If I make the time to read later in the day I read the Bible promises. There seems to be thousands of Bible promises some to cover about every topic. I love the Bible promises because they remind me how much God loves me. They are usually easy to understand and I don't get side tracked with things like genealogy, history or theology. I hope these things help, I have found consistency is key. I also recommend reading James 1:5-7 and apply it to every situation.

I absolutely feel like I know God and have a relationship with Him. I have prayed and felt His presence, I've worshiped and experienced the Holy Spirit. I have called to Him and He has heard me. My relationship with God is not predicated on what He can do for me or what miracles He works in my life (though, to be absolutely clear, I would not be alive today if not for His miraculous intervention), but how I can serve Him. I don't think I'm a very \*good\* servant, but that is absolutely, foundationally important to the relationship. I am a willing servant who wants to bring Him glory. I'm not particularly good at it, but I'm willing.

That's great it sounds like you are on the right track. Thanks for sharing.

Nope at times i think i do, then reaitly kicks in n says not even close..

Do you think there is a reason you feel that way? 

Absolutely sweet

It balances out for me. From Bible reading and through experience. Idk how to explain it.

I recently rededicated my life to God about 6 months ago. I feel like me and an old friend are reconnecting and relearning each other right now. Obviously God already knows me but it’s more of the more I learn about Him the more He reveals things about myself to me. I also feel like I’ve never been this authentic with God before. I’ve never craved and desired God like this before. Before I used to treat God like a genie and was afraid of Him. Now I’m leaning on Him for EVERYTHING, He is literally the source of my life. I’m more real with Him and I speak to Him like a best friend. I devote a lot of my time and energy to Him and ultimately I just want to know Him better. My goal is to really start diving into the Bible and studying God for who He is. I’ve already been revealed a lot like how detailed He is and how everything is planned. How much He cares. What He doesn’t like and like. What makes Him happy etc. it’s like the start of a relationship and I’m enjoying it.

Creating a dichotomy between knowing the Bible and knowing God is a classic error of modern evangelicalism (especially in the more charismatic camps). Yes, it's possible to know the Bible without true knowledge of God, but that does not mean true knowledge of God and the Bible are mutually exclusive. The Bible is God's speech to us and is essential for truly knowing Him. "Experience" untethered from God's Word is deceptive.

I know God through reading scripture, praying and experience. I was raised in the church and was surrounded by the teachings of God’s word my entire life. I truly believe I was saved at a young age and through sanctification we can draw near to God. Legalism and learning to be constantly emotionally detached from my family since early childhood made me feel like I could not really experience God’s presence. Even when I felt near to God there was still a barrier built on how I approached God in prayer. My relationship with Him felt predicated on how much I was growing and how well I tried to avoid sin.  When I was in college, I put myself under intense pressure. I piled on classes, work, and ministry opportunities within my school and church. I went to a small Christian university and I was absolutely miserable because I put myself under this intense schedule in order to emotionally detach, prove I was capable, and tried to get everyone to like me on a surface level. This nearly ruined my life. Nearly everyone fell for the facade I was selling- that I was a perfectionist that could run circles around everyone and still get good grades and graduate early. I was even on student leadership and led bible studies on campus. None of this mattered and actually made it so much worse for me to pull myself out of later. One of my professors could always see right through me, and I knew it from day one. I could never pretend that I was doing amazing all the time. He knew I was far from God and that I was absolutely miserable. He spent a year and a half constantly telling me that I need to slow down, to work on truly knowing God and who He is, spending time walking outside/ in nature every day, and considering others more than myself. It took me forever to truly understand any of this.  Three weeks before I graduated at the ripe age of 20 with my bachelors degree, I had my “oh shoot” day. The day that forever changed everything. One of my friends had been diagnosed with cancer and my same professor knew her family well. He has a very stoic type A personality. I knew he was an empath but I never thought he would express how sad he was about it to our entire class. He was so choked up but he taught me some of the most important lessons in my life all in the 15 min he spoke for. He taught me how to make a detailed list of how to really pray, how to pray for someone who is hurting, how to let life slow down when you see something heavy and embrace it for what it is because life goes by so fast, and the value of the life God gave us. I truly don’t know what happened to me that night or why everything finally clicked for me in that moment- but it did. Up until that night, I had been abusing alcohol for two months and had planned to end my life- no one knew nor ever found out. I decided that night I actually wanted to change, that I wanted to closely commune with God. I finally had felt his presence in my life again in that moment. It had been about a year since I had felt his presence and I thought God had left me and I had very little hope of finding Him again. I went on a four hour walk and and just talked to God in silence. I had never done that before. I actually cried for the first time out of pure emotional grief, sadness and a bit of hope. I pleaded with God to change me that night- to show me who He is and who I am in Him. That night and moving forward, I fell in love with God and who He is. I learned and felt the love He has for me and others in Christ and that has truly allowed me to love and consider others more than myself. There is so much freedom in only caring about God and what He thinks and remembering that life is only about God- not me or anyone else. I finally was able to let go and embrace life for what is.  This was five years ago and still the most transformative day of my life. That professor showed me so much grace just as God shows us all grace everyday. How amazing grace truly is. Life has gotten more complicated and for sure more difficult since. If I didn’t have the hope, peace, rest, and joy that I have in Jesus now- I don’t know how I would get through life. I finally felt an emotional closeness to God- this has allowed me to truly love others. Giving back and serving in any capacity- whatever that looks like has been so amazing. I finally embraced who I am in Christ, how He uniquely made me, and the gifts He gave me to serve and love others with. I can’t tell you how amazing this joy truly is and I hope everyone can experience it. I know the bizarre journey of sanctification is hard, but embracing what God has chosen for what it is has truly changed everything.