Faith in God is a feeling that does not lend itself to material assessments. People who visit temples, read holy scriptures, perform religious rites, call themselves believers. However, true faith is not outside, but inside, in the heart. How to truly believe in God? First of all, one must know about Him and seek Him.
Seek God
A person is born into a certain national culture, which has its own religious traditions. There is an automatic equating of a resident of an Arab country with Muslims, a Slavic country with Christians, an Asian country with Buddhists, etc. Traditional religion does not always satisfy a person. He begins to look for something new, and these searches are regarded negatively by the environment. And a person just sincerely wants to believe in God for real. This cannot be regarded as a betrayal.
Different religious tradition carries a certain mood. Mood is a unique type of relationship with the Almighty. God is like a father, friend, master. Each soul has its own individual relationship with Him. Come to understand theserelationships is one of the tasks in the search for God. A person begins to study different religious traditions.
Scriptures about God
All sacred books give their idea of God. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ speaks of God as a loving Father in heaven. In the Koran, the Almighty appears as an all-merciful sovereign, who is worshiped in a mood of reverence and reverence. The Vedic treatise Mahabharata describes the Supreme Lord Krishna as a playful boy and an attractive youth.
The Lord has an infinite number of images and manifestations. He is the Absolute Truth that controls everything. To which Divine Image to devote oneself, everyone will decide for himself. The main thing here is to listen to the heart: where does the soul go, where does it feel good, what does it respond to. God is love, and love is bliss. All these are the right words, but how to believe in God if you do not believe? Saints who have not only deep faith but also transcendent experience can help here.
Saints
Saints are considered to be people living in this world, but not internally belonging to it. All their thoughts and hopes are connected with God and the spiritual world. Their main distinguishing feature is the taste for spiritual practice, the absence of fear of life and death, and the presence of Divine love in the heart. The scriptures say that faith is contracted like a disease from those who have it. It is a great fortune to meet such a person on the path of life. Even more lucky if there is an opportunity to live next to him, study and serve him.
Communication defines consciousness. Contact with a holy person purifies the mind of material desires and bestows a taste for spirituality. Divine energy passing through the hearts of these people helps to believe in God.
The problem is that there are very few of them, and they prefer to lead a solitary lifestyle. It is unlikely that you will be lucky enough to meet him. How to believe in God if there are no saints in the area? The soul in search of God turns to religion.
Religion and religiosity
Religion is an attempt to understand the spiritual world and the Almighty through matter. People compiled holy scriptures and invented rites of worship. Archpriest Alexander Men said that religion is an earthly, human phenomenon. The sacred treatises of all religious denominations describe how to believe in God. With the help of religion, a person acquires a worldview that leads him along the spiritual path.
Just as it is impossible to become a doctor by reading medical textbooks, so it is impossible to gain faith just by reading the scriptures. It requires a special mood of the soul and the desire to know the Absolute Truth. Without such an approach, religiosity turns into fanaticism.
Fanaticism and Faith
The inability to feel spiritual vibrations is replaced by outward worship. This in itself is not bad, but often there is a roll in strict observance of rules and regulations to the detriment of internal fullness. Instead of changing for the better, a person cultivates pride in himself. He considers himself better than others because he worships God, which means he is the chosen one. There is arrogance and a dismissive attitude towards people.
Fanatics are present in all religions. They believe that only their religious organization, their writings, their rites, etc., are the most correct. And only they know how to believe in God. The rest are unfaithful, fallen, because they have chosen the wrong path. An encounter with a fanatical person can kill a weak sprout of faith.
But any beginner can become a fanatic. By imposing his religion on others, he, first of all, proves to himself that he made the right choice. This is the initial stage of spiritual life, through which almost everyone passes. The main thing is not to get stuck on it, not to let pride prevail. It must be remembered that destroying someone else's faith, it is impossible to develop yourself.
What is faith
How to make believe in God? The answer is no. Faith is not a subject that can be transferred at will. One can only be a conductor of this Divine energy, acting through a person. Faith is not just a product of thinking, logical comparisons and proofs. It comes from spiritual reality, contrary to our reasoning. Only by having it in your own heart can you pass it on to others.
"Faith is the power of the heart"
Thinker Blaise Pascal
But if the heart is silent, how to believe in God? Orthodoxy defines faith as a person's trust in Divine truth, not on the basis of reason and evidence, but on the basis of sacred testimonies.writings. Faith is not just the recognition of God, it is unconditional devotion to Him.
Doubts
Initial faith is very fragile. Doubts can break it. Archpriest Alexander Lebedev identified four types of doubt.
- The doubt of the mind is born from superficial knowledge. It passes with time as more knowledge is gained.
- Doubt of the heart. With the mind, a person understands and accepts everything, but the heart does not feel the presence of God and the spiritual world. Books won't help here. Information can satisfy the mind, but the heart feeds on feelings. Sincere prayer to God helps to get rid of such doubt, because the Lord always answers the call of the heart.
- Doubt arises as a result of the conflict of mind and heart. It feels that the Lord exists, but it is difficult for the mind to believe in God. Why does he allow people to suffer? Prayers and books will help here.
- Doubts of life. Man accepts the existence of God, but modern life is not conducive to keeping the commandments. Archpriest Alexander Lebedev recommends taking a decisive step and forcing yourself to follow the Divine laws. Over time, this will become a habit and will not cause difficulties.
The cause of doubt is a large number of persistent material desires.
Causes of material desires
The desire for selfish pleasures gives rise to an infinite number of material desires. It is impossible to satisfy them, because spiritual emptiness cannot be filled with dead things. A person is thrown from one extreme to another. At first he can enjoy himself to the point of satiety, andthen abruptly renounce everything, like Aramis from "The Three Musketeers …" by A. Dumas. He sometimes met with married ladies, then dressed in the clothes of a priest and lived in a monastery.
Such wanderings do not lead to anything good. Man must stop and think about himself and his nature, about God and his relationship with Him. Find answers in scriptures.
To muffle the itch of material desires will help to refuse to communicate with materially minded people who live under the slogan: "Take everything from life!". These tips help a person who has at least some faith. How can an atheist believe in God?
There are no atheists in the trenches
Dictionaries define atheism as disbelief and denial of the Divine principle. The Soviet Union was considered an atheistic state, and Soviet citizens were considered atheists. But things were different. A person many times in his life unconsciously says phrases dedicated to God: “Thank God”, “Well, God help you”, “God will forgive”, “God help you”, etc.
There is no such person who, in difficult times, would not turn to higher powers. Desperation sometimes makes you believe in the most impossible. It is known that during the Second World War, everyone prayed before the battle: both believers and party atheists.
History knows many cases about how difficult situations helped to believe in God. This confirms the story of one pilot. The plane was hit by enemy anti-aircraft guns. I had to fall from a great height. All this time, he desperately prayed: “Lord, if you exist, save me, and I will consecrate youlife . The agreement was fulfilled: the pilot miraculously escaped and became a believer. Making deals with God is the beginning level of faith.
How Faith Develops
A person, coming into this world, is conditioned by his body, which makes him seek certain pleasures. There are people who easily give up the pleasures associated with food, sex, etc. But for some, this is the meaning of life. These categories of people are interested in the search for Truth in different ways. The former sincerely turn to God, while the latter remember the Lord either in difficult times or out of a desire to gain more material we alth. The former are more successful in gaining faith, the latter are in constant doubt.
Faith develops from a selfish relationship with God: "You - to me, I - to you", to complete selfless service to Him and others.
Developing faith helps you truly believe in God. Orthodoxy, like other religious denominations, defines several levels of faith. Priest Valery Dukhanin talks about three types:
- Faith as certainty. Man accepts truths at the level of the mind. He is convinced that something exists: there is the planet Venus, the USSR won the war, God exists. Such faith does not change anything inside. The Absolute Truth is on a par with matter.
- Faith is like trust. At this level, one not only accepts the existence of God at the level of the mind, but it already lives in the heart. With such faith, a person turns to the Lord with prayers, relies on Him in difficult times, lives according to the commandments.
- Faith as fidelity. A person not only recognizes God with his mind, trusts Him in his heart, but is also ready to follow Him with his will. Such faith is distinguished by the purity of love based on fidelity. It involves sacrifice, when life is built according to God's will. To reach this level, inner work on oneself and one's passions is necessary. It is this kind of faith that saves.
How to truly believe in God
The cause of any dissatisfaction is the lack of love and happiness. The reason for dissatisfaction with weak faith is the striving of the soul for Divine Love. First, a person is satisfied with external attributes: religious rites, visits to temples and holy places. If all actions were mechanical, then a spiritual crisis sets in.
The path to God is the path to love, long and full of suffering. They arise through the fault of the person himself, because the level of consciousness is low. More often, instead of love, anger and envy, hatred and aggression, greed and indifference, etc. are manifested. If a person needs real, and not formal faith, he must be honest with himself. It is necessary to remove all psychological masks and protections, and see yourself as you are - imperfect. Recognizing your negative qualities, you need to accept them. This step reduces pride, arrogance and slander.
Sincere prayers help overcome suffering and follow the path of Love. The Vedic scriptures state that a person cannot do anything, not even control his body. The only thing available to him is desire. Lordfulfills all our real aspirations. A strong desire to reach God and have real faith will also be satisfied by the Almighty.
