I'm an atheist, but I want prayers in case I'm wrong

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Hi y’all, I used to be Catholic but, after years of suffering from severe mental illness, and doubts and some study I had done, I decided that I no longer believe in Catholicism. I’ve been praying and deliberating and studying various world religions but I find none of them believable in toto. I want to believe in God, don’t get me wrong, but I’m sick and tired of “belief” in general, so eventually I settled into defaulting to the assumption that there is no God, barring sufficient evidence. The only thing I find convincing when it comes to theistic proofs is the argument from contingency: that there’s an Unconditional Reality. However, as far as I’m concerned, I see no reason to jump from that to a belief that said Reality is personal at all. It doesn’t seem to naturally follow. I should also mention that I do believe in “supernatural” happenings, seeing as I’ve experienced some things that are undeniably miraculous.

tl;dr I want to believe in God but I feel I’m not convinced, so I’m asking for prayers.
 
I’d be happy to pray for you as you struggle with a belief in God.
Blessings,

Mary.
 
O God, please bless this Your friend with the gift of Faith and have mercy on him/her. Amen.
 
Dude, you live in Cleveland, saw the Cavs win, and you can’t believe in God? 😉

Fear not; you’ll see His work soon enough. Remember that faith is called faith for a reason; it’s not “All Answers Revealed”. I mean, no person on earth can fully understand His Mysteries. 🙂
 
Download the free Kindle app onto your phone, tablet or laptop.

Make an Amazon.com login,

Download the ebook “Gloria Polo Struck by Lightning, before the Judgement,” from the kindlestore,
Also download from the kindlestore the ebook, “The Miracle Ship” by Brian O’ Hare

“Souls of Purgatory, Get us out of here,” by Niki Eltz

Watch youtube clips of Howard Shore (an aetheist who experienced hell when he clinically died at a hospital)
He has a book called My Descent into Death, but you can also Google his story.

Gloria Polo’s near death experience is also free to read online if you Google it, she was a lapsed Catholic who saw Heaven, Purgatory and Hell when.she was struck by lightning

Read the two online free ebooks on
www.larrycummins.ie

Another excellent book is, “Forty Dreams of St John Bosco,”

You want to have faith. But are missing it?

Did you know when you pray you speak to God, and when you read God speaks to you? (St Francis De La Salle wrote that).
You need to read a chapter of a brilliant catholic book each day, and pray for 10 to 30 mins each day,
Reading will help you learn why the Catholic faith is the 100% real truth. Praying is how you receive the spiritual gift of faith from God.
Daily catholic prayer and reading will change you life!!!’’

Very important:

Start reading the lives of the saints, Google catholic saints and pick one to Google and read about each day.
The saints experienced God, saw him in visions, God worked miracles through them, and they recorded much of their experiences in their writings.

Google and read about: St Padre Pio,
St Gemma Galgani,
St John Bosco
St John Vianney,
St Ignatius Of Loyola
 
WoundedIcon said:
Hi y’all, I used to be Catholic but, after years of suffering from severe mental illness, and doubts and some study I had done, I decided that I no longer believe in Catholicism. I’ve been praying and deliberating and studying various world religions but I find none of them believable in toto. I want to believe in God, don’t get me wrong, but I’m sick and tired of “belief” in general, so eventually I settled into defaulting to the assumption that there is no God, barring sufficient evidence. The only thing I find convincing when it comes to theistic proofs is the argument from contingency: that there’s an Unconditional Reality. However, as far as I’m concerned, I see no reason to jump from that to a belief that said Reality is personal at all. It doesn’t seem to naturally follow. I should also mention that I do believe in “supernatural” happenings, seeing as I’ve experienced some things that are undeniably miraculous.

tl;dr I want to believe in God but I feel I’m not convinced, so I’m asking for prayers.
Click to expand...
Actually, prayers don’t have to be petitions. A better way to look at them, in my opinion, is something that you learn and repeat to yourself over and over, and just thoroughly internalize. Over time, as you repeat the prayer and reflect on each word, and slowly consider the different meanings to you personally, you’ll subtly change. Through this process you’ll eventually be able to accomplish yourself whatever it is you’re asking God for. Not that you can’t petition and pray for miracles, but there’s a very practical side to prayer as well. The Lord’s Prayer encompasses all of Christianity in only a very few lines:

Our Father who art in Heaven,
Hallowed be thy name;
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
And forgive us our trespasses
As we forgive those who trespass against us;
And lead us not into temptation,
But deliver us from evil.
 
Gloria Polo’s nde testimony is free to Google online,
She was a lapsed catholic who was struck by lightning and saw Heaven, Purgatory and Hell.
 
Are you sure you’re an atheist? If you are willing to ask for prayers and consider the possibility of the existence of God, I think that makes you more of an agnostic.
 
ClearWater said:
Are you sure you’re an atheist? If you are willing to ask for prayers and consider the possibility of the existence of God, I think that makes you more of an agnostic.
Click to expand...
I guess you could consider me an “agnostic atheist” (as opposed to an "agnostic theist). I believe there probably isn’t a God, but claim no knowledge either way. Honestly I’m at a crossroads right now because I’ve experienced things that are probably best explained by belief in God (although I’m not really sure what kind of God – not pantheism)]) But my analytical side is more inclined to disbelieve because so many factors going in to this decision don’t really line up with that belief.

I guess the main problem holding me back is the absence, IMO, of a satisfactory theodicy. I’ve suffered GREATLY and felt like God just went silent on me: I felt like Purgatory would’ve been more bearable as there’s the guarantee it will end and you’ll go to Heaven. This illness has made theodical matters very personal to me, and I just can’t square the belief in an omnibenevolent God with my experiences, the suffering I see in the world, and that evolution is freaking brutal. Even if I go back to my former theism, I still wouldn’t necessarily subscribe to any religion. I’d have a more philosophical God, than a God of revelation. I don’t believe the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, or the Quran are inspired. Or the Vedas for that matter. I would probably believe in a God very close to the Hindu Brahman (not Brahma), which would be classified as Panentheism, technically.
 
**:angel1:

St. Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our defence against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou,
O Prince of the heavenly hosts,
by the power of God,
thrust into hell Satan,
and all the evil spirits,
who prowl about the world
seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

:angel1:**
 
I pray that our Lord Jesus Christ reveals Himself to you. Seek, and you will find.

Mother of Good Counsel…Pray for us!
 
*O God, the everlasting Creator of all things,
remember that the souls of unbelievers were made by Thee
and formed in Thine own image and likeness.
Remember that Jesus, Thy Son, endured a most bitter death for their salvation.

Permit not, I beseech Thee, O Lord,
that Thy Son should be any longer despised by unbelievers,
but do Thou graciously accept the prayers of holy men
and of the Church, the Spouse of Thy most holy Son, and be mindful of Thy mercy.

Forgive their idolatry and unbelief, at their genuine request
and grant that they too may some day know Him whom Thou hast sent,
even the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our Salvation, our Life and Resurrection,
by whom we have been saved and delivered, to whom be glory for endless ages.
I pray these gentle souls find your path and journey home with us.
Amen.*
 
Faith,
Code: 
Either you got it or you don't ,,
Simple as that,
Obviously you Got it otherwise you wouldn’t be wasting your time reading this would you ?
Obviously you have a small candle of light burning in the darkness of your inner self,
That in itself is enough proof to me, but for you,you want something that you can touch with your fingers,something that you can smell with your senses before your completely convinced , sadly it’s not something you can touch or smell with your humanly senses,
But, with your soul ,your inner spirit ,it’s something that envelopes you ,
I’d like to give a little example, I was truly Blessed with the experience of visiting ,
Saint Pauls outside the wall in Rome , I walk down steps to his alter & tomb ,
I said a couple short prayers,then walked up the steps, for about a full second or two,
Something hit me emotionally ,I wanted to burst in tears ,I stood still and didn’t know what to think, something took me in and enveloped me,see, it’s not something that you can learn from books but rather something you inner self must discover ,
My advise to you , is open your mind & heart to the possibility… Go to a church,or in an open field , and openly give your life to Jesus , try it,you have nothing to loose,
Then get back to us,
Peace
 
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