lak55 said:
I don't feel a NEED to believe in God, I just wish I could find a way to and find comfort through religion. I came to this site because I wanted to try to believe in God, as well as to get an understanding of Christianity.
lak55, the truth is that God is everywhere. He is not in a book, in a man, in a church, or in a Christian forum.
The Kingdom of God is inside you and all around you. Lift a rock and you will find, split a piece of wood, and I am there.
First, I have to say that you will not find comfort in religion, unless you change your actions. Socrates' said, "Happiness is a life well-lived", and in classic Greek philosophy, they believed that it is virtue which leads to happiness. Many Christian denominations agree with this idea, that God will reward you, for generally being a good person.
So, it isn't religion that can solve your problems. If you're upset over anything related to high school, wait a few years, and it'll just be a faint memory. (You'll probably even miss it.)
However, if religion is what you're looking for, I can probably help...
Judaism teaches that God is all things everywhere, all the time. I don't believe in any religion current, although I have believed in many. But despite that, for me, God's existence is and always have been undeniable. One the great myths, is that people need to believe in a religion to be religious, or that people need a book to tell them what God is, in order to believe in him. It simply isn't true.
In Hinduism, they say that the statues they make of Gods are not truly Gods. It's like an arrow pointing at heaven (just as the Bible says we can only see God but as a reflection). So, it's understandable why you wouldn't believe in God, without seeing that reflection. On one hand, the only reason you don't see is because you aren't looking. But guilt never led to anything good, and you aren't to blame, because it is God who has brought you here.
So, I would recommend a few things:
#1. Attend any religious service, of any religion. If that's too awkward, then ask your parents about Judaism. I'm not a Jew, but I've learned a lot about it, and it's a very wonderful practice. I'm not sure if your parents would be financially able (or willing) to send you to a Synagogue, though, so this might not be an option.
#2. Read religious scripture. There's multiple translations of the Bible on crosswalk.com and there's various religious scriptures on sacred-texts.com. I'd particularly recommend the Gospel of Buddha (Buddhism), the book of Job (Judaism\Christianity), the Tao Te Ching (Taoism), and of course, the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (Christianity).
#3. Pray or meditate. Praying is easy, and requires no explanation. Just be comfortable and ask God to show himself to you, because you want to believe, and need him. According to Orthodox Judaism, you have to speak aloud and in Hebrew, but that's not totally necessary. What is important, though, I think, is that you speak to God in a way that's comfortable for you. A lot of people think that they need to speak to God in a formal way. Fortunately, God will understand you even if you don't speak in Hebrew or with the "thee's, thy's and thou's." If that's how you're comfortable praying, go ahead. But for me, it always feels best to talk to him as if he were a friend, standing right next to me. Because God is not just a ruler, a commander of the universe, but also a companion, a comforter.
Anyway, you could also meditate, to ask yourself if there is a God. I've found that there really is no question that can't be answered by meditation. Meditation is a bit more complicated than prayer and might even require practice, but it can give you a more obvious, definite and inspirational answer than prayer (as during meditation, you may actually hear or see the answer to your question). You could look online for tips or I could explain in more detail how to meditate, if you're interested. As a side-note, although meditation is mostly practiced by eastern religions, it's also practiced by Jewish Kabbalists (real ones-not Madonna) and Christian Mysticists, although I admit meditation is an extremely rare practice among Christians and some of them might even consider it Satanic.
