Help! Having Doubts, Lacking Assurance
Q: So idk if I'm a Christian anymore. Like I think there's a God, but I'm really not sure. I pray, I read my Bible, I try not to sin, I listen to worship music, I try to be a good role model for Christ but still. I feel nothing anymore. I've had people pray for but it's just doesnt seem to be working? What do I do? I'm starting to feel like having a religion is just giving false hope for something that isn't true. I feel like I'm a bad person because of this, even though in reality I know it's totally healthy and normal im just really ready to give everything up. Tips?? Have you guys ever gone through this?? How'd you get past it??
A: This will be a tremendous help to you if you go through all of it.
*How to know God exists: >Everything is intricately designed, only an amazing Creator could make it.
Acts 17:28: "For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are also his offspring.'"
Colossians 1:17: "He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."
Hebrews 1:3: "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.
-- just a brief browse of these things clearly shows this:
Part 1
Part 2
>> God has put His moral Law on our hearts and gave us a conscience which accuses us when we do wrong. It is a universal law because it is based on His perfect nature and character. Perfectly Holy & righteous, but also is just, loving, merciful, gracious, forgiving, etc. Attributes of God.
Because of sin/disobedience in Eden caused the Fall of mankind, and all who are born thru Adam Have the sin nature.
You even noted and pointed out your awareness of being a sinner, doing wrong etc which reflects the above.
*Our "feelings" have nothing to do with "Truth" or our faith. Objective and actual truth listed above reveals it but also God has been clear in Scripture that if we belong to Him [thru faith in Jesus] that it is permanent:
John 10:28-29: "I give them eternal life, and they will never perish forever, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand."
Romans 8:38-39: "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
For those who are saved, who obeyed the actual biblical Gospel of Christ [and not a false modern gospel] they are saved and have the indwelling Holy Spirit. Which means also that they have a new righteous nature and are able to do what is right by the power of the Holy Spirit, and thru sanctification process we battle the old nature and conquer sins. We also are capable of truly loving God and others because God [the Trinity] is in us and works thru us.
*www.NeedGod.com 👈takes you through the biblical Gospel so you can make sure you came to Jesus for the right reasons & are saved.
*Gaining Assurance in your salvation and Examining Yourself [as Scripture says to], can be found in the *final* resource below. Really helpful 😀.
*Sometimes new and newish growing believers wrestle with some things because of course they do not know all of Scripture well, it is a lifetime of studying and applying what we learn. A well known preacher preached for 60 years and learned a lot along the way while preparing sermons for the congregation God entrusted him with. Believers always learn and go deeper into Scriptural truths than the skimming of the surface when we only read it.
After you study the essentials and foundational truths of Scripture more of the Bible will come alive [by the Holy Spirit teaching you; you are not alone in this process]. You can go deeper in the Scriptures and utilize historical helps to solidify your faith.
Here are some resources:
A. Essentials of Christian faith:
*Know the basic Christian Essentials (brief)
*Fundamentals of the Faith (short study)
comes w free audios
B. Removing Doubts based on evidence:
*Quick Start (Free videos. But also fantastic books that you *need* to get on kindle and start reading today) 🌟
*investigate Christianity (deeper)
While the quote is true "Sin will keep you from reading the Bible, but reading the Bible will keep you from sinning"...
Scripture, remember, is a Special Revelation from God to humankind. He created us to be a special creation whom He fellowships with eternally. He wants us to know whats in The Word of God; the 66 books. It is how God communicates with us. Prayer is how we communicate with him. The Bible is also a light to our path and helps us walk daily, prepares us to battle sin and helps us steer clear of deceptions of Satan and deceptive false teaching that is everywhere in the world. And it helps us love God and Christ more and more, and helps us become more righteous day by day as we follow Jesus and obey & apply what we learn.
* If you go thru the above materials you will find out if you were a false convert... but are now a true convert, or are a believer who is growing. And once you have clarity as a believer that there reveals a true hope - because it trusts in evidenciary truth and facts, not some generic hope that is wish based. Real Hope and faith are a about truth and trust. And it is based on the trustworthiness and reliability of "the One" making the promises. In this case it is The Creator God. There is no one above Him nor like Him. He created it all and is Perfect so his promises are true and trustworthy.
* Go through all of the above every day, over the next few months, along with your daily reading of Scripture. It looks like no one discipled and guided you when you became a believer, so you feel a bit lost on the Christian path, but all of these resources will def help.
Songs to encourage 😊🫂✨️✝️
The below is packed full of great helps. Skim thru all of the pages, then go back to the beginning & start from there.
God bless. 🤗
Bookmark this page and save the page link in your phone notepad... and set a daily alarm to go through it all.
