Help required

[Graeme123]

Hi all,

This is my first post.

I am a struggling alcoholic. I am a member of AA but I need help finding God.

People have told me they found God and have had the compulsion to drink removed.

How can I find God?

I have never not believed in God. I just have not really carried on any religious beliefs since leaving school.

I am a Christian (not sure if it matters what religion I belong to).

Can anyone please help me? How can you find God if your thinking is so set
in its ways that your mind refuses to believe in the possibility?

I am not saying I dont believe in God, I searched out this forum, but how can I improve my own personal contact with God?

Many thanks
Graeme

 

[Clayman]

This reminds me of a childs song I learned in sunday school;

Read your bible, pray everyday, and you'll grow grow grow.

Something disturbs me though about your post, finding God is not a cure for your illness. It is an eternity long relationship that you are committing to. If what you want is a cure go to counseling if you want Christ then you are on the right track, find a good church in your area and talk to the pastor.

 

[Graeme123]

Thanks for replying.

Sorry if I did not go into great detail. I will elaborate......

I have always believed in God. I am excited (is that the right word?) by the way people who truly believe in God live their lives. I love the way people are not materialistic and have someone they feel is with them always, that they never feel alone, whether deviod of human contact or not.

Would it be silly to admit you feel as though, although you don't know why or how, that you have some message to carry?

I can't explain why, perhaps through desperation, that I felt the need to sought out a forum such as this?

I honestly believe that the path of God can lead me to a more fulfilling and free life than the one I constantly live.

I accept God gave me free will but I am also sure he did not intend me to live it in the destructive way I am living at the moment.

How do you find God? What is required?

Graeme.

 

[Clayman]

I am excited (is that the right word?) by the way people who truly believe in God live their lives. I love the way people are not materialistic and have someone they feel is with them always, that they never feel alone, whether deviod of human contact or not.

When people truly follow God it is exciting but not all people act the way that you mentioned above. Some, although "Christians", do go through bouts of depression and some have to fight the urge to be materialistic daily, everybody has something that they have to deal with.

If you have people around you that are the way you explained above I say that you are in a good group. Truly Godly people are very good to be around.

Would it be silly to admit you feel as though, although you don't know why or how, that you have some message to carry?

As a follower of Christ you do have a message, it is called the Good News and your job is to let everyone know.

I can't explain why, perhaps through desperation, that I felt the need to sought out a forum such as this?

I am new to these forums but they have helped me grow. It is nice to be able to lay out your issues and get honest feedback from people with similar beliefs.

I honestly believe that the path of God can lead me to a more fulfilling and free life than the one I constantly live. I accept God gave me free will but I am also sure he did not intend me to live it in the destructive way I am living at the moment.

God wants nothing but the best for you. Now you may have to go through some serious trials but in the end if you are faithful God WILL bless you (look at the story of Job.) I went through some trials in my life and got to a place God definately didn't want me to be, I repented (that means to completely do a 180 from where you are) and God blessed me with a wonderful wife and a job that I don't have to worry about.

How do you find God? What is required?

This is the easiest hard question in the world. Let's start with what is required, all God wants is you nothing more, nothing less. How do you find him, open your heart to him.

Pray and tell Him that you know you are a sinner want to be forgiven for the life that you have lead and that you know that Christ came down to earth and died to save you from your sins and then conquered death by rising on the third day and is waiting in heaven for us.

That is the basics, from then on you just have to nourish the relationship between you and Him. Pray and read the bible daily, I figure it this way. If I were to ignore my wife everyday how would she feel and then translate it over to my relationship with Christ.

 

[forgivenmuch]

i think its really good that you are in the aa. you my friend need to realize that God can take all those desires away. have faith in God and yourself. you have made the right move to do aa and see that you need God more in your life. that says alot about a person when they come to that point in thier life. God wants you as his child. i think praying and reading the bible will help you alot. you are already doing things on your part now let God do his. stay with the group and ask God to come into your life. repent of your sins. and start living for God. be a help to others that has or is struggling with the problem.. let them see they too can change. be a mentor to people. you have a testamony. you must believe that thier is a God. you must ask God to help you.. jesus died just for you. he loves you that much. we are all here for you when you need to talk. have faith and hope and believe on God. that is his will.

 

[Graeme123]

I have a question, I know this may be risky as I am new to these forums but it troubles me so I have to ask..

How could God, let his son, jesus, suffer so much without helping? Why did he not help when his son was suffering at the hands of such brutality?

 

[Clayman]

John 3:16-17 says it all "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."

God created us to have a relationship with him (Adam & Eve), man screwed that up. God gave us another chance to have a personal relationship with him the only way possible and that was Christ being the perfect sacrifice for our sins.

 

[Blessed2003]

I have a question, I know this may be risky as I am new to these forums but it troubles me so I have to ask..

How could God, let his son, jesus, suffer so much without helping? Why did he not help when his son was suffering at the hands of such brutality?

Hey Graeme123, Don't be afraid to ask questions, I can almost sense the honesty and sincerety in your words as you wrote them. I gave you a reputation point to tell you what I feel is the answer to your question, I hope you can figure out how to use the system to find what i said.
God Loves you, that sums it all up, Don't get discouraged, (some times, well, in my experience) you can not let people represent who God is to you, I just want you to expect that people do the best we can, ALL of us, so if someone is mean, or not understanding of you, it's ok, that's not God. I believe that you should also seek these answers from God, speak to Him as though He is sitting right in front of you. Never give up, He gives us promises in His Word, the Bible, you need to know what they are so when times get hard you can STAND on them, and just always know that HE loves you, that's what all of this is about.
God Bless you,
B (praying)

 

[Graeme123]

I so do believe in God. More than anything in the world. As I said, I do not know why I found this forum but I truly believe his way of life could relieve so much suffering, my own included.

How can I carry God's message to others though? Non-believers? How can you show them the way of love and understanding is the key?

I have read various posts in this forum that show the way forward, as well as learning yourself, is to carry the message. How can tou carry God's message without receiving scorn?

I am not here because I was told God's way is the only way. But because I absolutely believe, without question, that it is. I have seen the way true christians live their life and it does nothing short of amaze me.

I also believe, as said in a previous post, that I have a right to carry His message. I cannot explain how or why but when I think of God I am filled with such warmth.

 

[Clayman]

How can I carry God's message to others though? Non-believers? How can you show them the way of love and understanding is the key?
I have read various posts in this forum that show the way forward, as well as learning yourself, is to carry the message. How can tou carry God's message without receiving scorn?

Well I started by going to Mexico with my youth group, pretty common for churches around here. I would help with the people in the area building stuff. Somehow God has opened all that to the point where I am today. I am part of CMA (Christian Motorcyclists Association) so I witness to bikers and that opened the door to my new ministry, I am volunteer clergy at a local prison.

The way it went for me was starting with what I was comfortable doing and then slowly stepping out in faith from there. If someone had told me in Mexico that in a few years I would be preaching to prisoners I would have said that they were full of it. God has a way of working like that. It all starts with that first step.

 

[Clayman]

Oh and you will recieve scorn. When I do I just pray really hard that God would break their hard heart and bring another person into their life to tell them about Christ.

 

[TheMainException]

By listening, here are two prayers to try:

The Jesus Prayer:
Say this on your breath in: "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God."
Say this on your breath out: "Have mercy on me, a sinner."
Say this for as many times as you want, I recommend at least 50, but monks do this sometimes all day long (I know, a little crazy, but it really draws them close to God)

The Centering Prayer:
Say this word on each breath in and out: It can be any word that calms you and brings you to a point of thinking about God, or the "NOW" as my friend Brennan Manning says. He uses the word "now" to keep him focused on the here and now. Some sample words are: "love", "joy", "peace", "hope", "grace", "mercy", "abba" (daddy)
Some sample sentences are: "Abba, I belong to you," or "I am the beloved"
These are just samples, you can choose these or one of your own. I recommend saying this at least 100 times...don't count though, for either of them...maybe just go for about 10 or 20 minutes. After each prayer, sit in silence for a while. When thoughts come, gently return to your word.

Try to do this every day and get into the habit of doing this for about 20 minutes. Also, try and find a good devotional book to read every morning.

 

[silentpoet]

Seek God and you will find Him. It is that simple, but it may not be easy. You will have growing pains and times of doubt. Just read your bible and put your faith in God.

 

[Untamed Fire]

It is hardest when the scorn you receive is from people in the church who ought to be supporting you and encouraging your growing faith in, and relationship with, Jesus Christ. Too many of them have made an idol of their personal prejudices, biases, opinion, viewpoint, politics, and the brainwashing from their socio-political "gurus". They don't listen to Christ, and when you lovingly oppose what they think is "truth" by stating real Truth as it is in Christ, they will scorn you and tear you down like ravening wolves. NEVER make the mistake of thinking this will only come from OUTSIDE the church, or you'll be in for a world of hurt. Cling to God and search out other people who know this, know what I'm talking about here, who can support you when you have it hard.