So you want to experience God’s presence but aren’t even sure He exists?

You’ve heard people say that God still speaks and wonder what planet are they from…Jupiter, perhaps?

You’re a skeptic, a doubting Thomas. But you also wonder if you’re missing something.

God’s big enough to handle your doubts, but are you? Are you willing to jump into the deep end of the pool and find out if you can experience God’s presence for yourself?

Consider the following ideas if you are open to experiencing God’s presence for yourself.

Admit Your Disbelief

The first step towards healing requires admission of a problem.

This is true for any addict or anyone who wants to make a positive change.

In the case of God’s existence, you must admit you have difficulty believing He exists, if you desire to experience His presence.

Sounds simple enough but many people just claim He doesn’t exist rather than truly admitting their confusion or difficulty in believing.

Let’s say someone told you about a train derailment in Ohio, but you hadn’t heard about it personally. Would you immediately discount the reality of the derailment, or would you do some research? Would you internally manipulate the facts or would you further investigate.

Having no personal experience either results in intentional disbelief or further investigation. The question of God’s existence is no different.

Do you choose not to believe or are you willing to investigate?

Before I move on, I must confess that God is not equal to Christians. 

Sadly, Christians are not always the best representation of the God they serve or in some cases, claim to serve. Please forgive us (and we are all guilty) of not representing our God to the best of our ability.

But don’t let a few bad examples keep you from fully experiencing the God who wants to make Himself known to you.

Exercise Faith—Just a Little

When you sit in your chair to watch television, you don’t even think about whether it will support your weight. You are exercising faith that the chair will not fall apart and drop you to your bottom.

In order to experience God’s presence, you also need to exercise a little bit of faith that He exists.

One Bible passage states the following, “whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists…” (Hebrews 11:6)

But only a little bit of faith is required – no more than a mustard seed, the smallest known seed in agrarian societies, specifically mentioned by Jesus. (Note: the mustard seed may not be the smallest seed when compared with other plants.)

Are you willing to extend just a small amount of faith that God truly does exist?

If you aren’t even curious about whether God exists, be assured that He likely won’t reveal Himself to you in ways that are meaningful. Although, just the fact that you are reading this post right now proves He is drawing you and desires to reveal Himself to you.

Spend Time in Nature

When was the last time you really pondered the world around you?

The stars in the heavens, the crescent moon, the barking dog, the colors of sunset, even the intricacy of the spider’s web? Could these all be pointing to something more profound than evolution? Could they be pointing to a common Creator—one who wants to be known?

How might God want to reveal Himself to you through nature? Take the time to pause and ponder, to wander through a forest, to watch a sunset, to listen to the sound of silence.

Stormy Seas and a Calm Lake: my personal example

I have a picture in my home that depicts my emotions more often than I like to admit. It is a picture of stormy seas with a dark color palette. 

The dark sky illuminates the crashing of the waves onto the stony shore and I often feel these overwhelming feelings of dis-ease, lack of purpose, which is experienced as tiredness and even some sensations of depression, masquerading as “what’s the use.” 

I don’t think I’m alone in these feelings.

Thankfully in the backyard of our rental home, there is a small lake. 

Various birds visit the lake, some varieties of ducks paddle along the surface; and other heron-like birds come to fish. It is enjoyable to observe them slowly walk around the perimeter to view the fish and other critters in the lake that might make for a delectable treat. 

I sit on my screened patio and consider that these creatures don’t worry about their purpose or where their next meal will come from or how to make the rent payment. 

Their presence gives me a sense of peace. 

But, it is necessary for me to pause and ponder what is right in my backyard to gain that perspective.

I’m wondering how often I miss the opportunity to experience a sense of peace or something else necessary for the day because I am so often scurrying from one activity to another.

What about you?

Does God have a story or a new perspective He wants to reveal to you in nature?

Just pause and ponder His existence in creation and see how He rewards you. Maybe you will also experience a renewed sense of purpose or peace as you allow nature to speak to you.

Read God’s Word

You’ve already begun the journey by reading a little bit of God’s word, even if you didn’t recognize it.

The same Bible passage continues on with “whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6)

Hopefully, this causes you to pause and wonder at what you’ve just read. 

Truly consider what this brief section of God’s word is saying. If you have this small amount of faith that God exists, He promises to reward you if you will seek Him out.

This isn’t a ‘name it and claim it’ kind of promise. I don’t believe God will reward you with a million dollars if you say you believe in Him. 

I do believe God will reveal Himself to you in a way that is especially designed for you because He is a personal God.

Maybe you receive a phone call from someone who encourages you right at the moment of utter depression or dejection. Maybe you see an advertisement on your Kindle Paperwhite device that reminds you that you are not alone. 

These are just two examples I can quickly call to mind when I was experiencing a difficult season in my life.

Sure, say coincidence, but I prefer to use the term God-incident. I have had too many similar situations for coincidence to be an option.

Another way I’ve seen coincidence defined is “God’s way of staying anonymous.” Either way, that mustard seed of faith in God’s existence will be rewarded in some way…you too can experience God’s presence.

Be expectant and observant to His answer.

Journal

Write down your thoughts, questions and your ponderings.

Perhaps you can write down the scriptures which have been highlighted in this article and deconstruct them or study them more intently. Ask questions of the text and more importantly, ask questions of God, who wrote the text.

You could even bring your journal with you into your nature retreat. Maybe your backyard offers more than enough to reveal the presence of God.

Journal whatever is on your mind, your discoveries, your meandering musings and wild speculations. Consider that if God is Who He says He is, He can handle whatever you throw at Him.

Just be ready for odd thoughts and questions to be volleyed back to you.

Those will cause you to ponder more deeply your questions in the first place and even your motivation for knowing the answers.

This is how God operates.

He desires relationship, so be ready to converse with Him and to discover your underlying fears, concerns and motivations.

It’s a wild ride.

Make Room for Prayer

Prayer is nothing more than conversation with God.

This entire post is my conversation with God. I used good tools to put together a headline and an outline, but had no idea how to compose the article. And so I prayed, asking the Lord to help me compose something that would be intriguing and enlightening.

You can also have conversation with God.

When you go into nature (with your notebook and pen) don’t hesitate to ask a question.

The difficulty is that we expect Him to answer immediately. And sometimes He does. Sometimes He waits to see how serious we are about our question, and so He delays.

Often He chooses to work through other people.

So continue to ask questions and journal your thoughts. Maybe as you journal, some new thought will occur to you.

Don’t forget that God works not only in creation outside of you but also within your mind, both conscious and subconscious.

Open Your Mind to Possibility

My job is not to convince you to believe, but to open your mind to the possibility that God is bigger than your doubts.

Even with doubts, you can still experience God’s presence, for He also desires you to know Him.

But He won’t force you to believe.

Choose to have a mustard seed of faith that God exists, and believe He will reward your search for His presence.

Then expect Him to reveal Himself in ways beyond anything you can think or imagine.

Enjoy the journey.

Need more opportunities for Connecting with God? Request the free guide, Reflections for Your Soul.