Written by How do I know that God exists if I can’t see him?
Some people say knowing God exists is like knowing the wind
exists. You can’t actually see the wind but you know it’s there because you can
feel the wind, you can hear the wind and you can see the wind move the grass or
the trees. That’s how we can see God – through the things that He does.
The whole world shows that God exists because it was created very carefully so
that everything works just right. So far we don’t know of any other planet in
the whole universe that has exactly the right air, earth, and water that we
need to live on a planet.
There are some people who don’t believe that God exists, but many more people
do believe in God.
Can God see what I am doing?
We use the word omniscient to describe God. That means he can see everything and know everything. So I guess that means God can see everything you do. In the Bible it says “For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.” 1 John 3:10 or “Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; his understanding is infinite.” Psalm 147:5 (Infinite means it never ends).
How do I talk to God?
You can talk to God just by talking to Him out loud or in
your head. We can also talk to God more formally by praying. Praying is when we
ask God for help and forgiveness and ask for blessings on ourselves and people
we love.
Many people pray to God through out the Bible but Jesus gave us a special
prayer that we still pray today. We call it the Lord’s Prayer and you can find
it in Matthew 6: 9-13. Try and find other people who prayed in the Bible and
see what they said to God.
If God knows everything why do I need to pray?
We should prayer because it is how we communicate with God.
You would never ignor your family just because they are in the same house as
you and they know what you are doing because they see you or talk to your
co-workers, teachers or friends. You need to talk to your family to have a
relationship with them.
It’s the same with God. God wants us to talk with him and to have a
relationship with you. Prayer is an important part of your relationship with
God. So is reading the Bible. Remember, even Jesus prayed to God.
What should I say to God?
You can say anything you want to God but here are some good
things to remember:
You can praise God for all the good things he has done and his
beautiful creation.
You can tell God how sorry you are for hurting people, lying,
disobeying your parents or other things you did wrong.
You can thank God for your food, clothes, shelter, family,
friends, or anything else you are thankful for.
You can ask God, please, for things you need or want.
Does God listen to my prayers?
You bet He does. If you pray to God and you really mean it and believe in God, he will hear you. It tells us so in the Bible: “If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” 1 John 5:14
Does God answer my prayers?
Yes. He answers all our prayers that we truly pray from our
heart. It says in the Bible. “And if we know that he hears us – whatever we ask
– we know that we have whatever we asked of him.” 1 John 5:15
But that doesn’t mean God’s answer will always be “yes.” Just like parents love
their children and they give them a lot of things, parents don’t give children
everything they want. It’s not good for us to get everything we want. Sometimes
God says “yes,” but sometimes he says ‘no” or “you have to wait.” He does what
is best for us, and sometimes that can be hard.
God even said no to Paul in the Bible. “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to
take it away from me. But he said to me my grace is sufficient for you, for my
power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 God helped Paul but
not in the way that Paul asked God to.
What is God like?
We learn about what God is like through the Bible. Think
about all the stories you have read in the Bible. What do they tell you about
God?
God can get angry. When the people ignored God he sent a great
flood and destroyed them all, except for Noah and his family (Genesis 6). Jesus
was angry when he found people selling things in the temple and he turned over
the tables (John 2).
God doesn’t like it when we worship other gods. When Moses came
down from the mountain with the 10 commandments, the Israelites had made a
golden calf and were worshipping it. God was angry (Exodus 32).
God punishes people who do things wrong. The Israelites didn’t
trust God to take care of them in the desert after they escaped Egypt and they
wanted to go back. God did take care of them and took them to Canaan, the
Promised Land but only after they had wandered in the desert for 40 years
(Numbers 14).
God forgives people who are sorry. God forgave the people of
Nineveh even though they had disobeyed God because they pray and were sorry.
God sent Jonah to talk to the people in Nineveh but it is Jonah who doesn’t
think that the people of Nineveh should not be forgiven (Jonah 1-4).
God can control the earth. God parted the Red Sea to let the
Israelite run away from the Egyptians (Exodus 14). Jesus turned water into wine
(John 2).
God makes promises. He promised to many people in the Old Testament
that he would send a Savior to save the people from their sin.
And God keeps promises. In the New Testament, God sent Jesus to
earth to be our Messiah or Savior. Jesus took all our sins onto himself and he
took God’s punishment.
God can heal people. Jesus healed many people when he came to earth
like the daughter of the government official (Luke 8).
God has power over death. Jesus raised his friend Lazarus from the
dead (John 11). God used his prophet Elisha to raise a young boy from the dead
(2 Kings 4).
We can learn so many other things about God from the Bible. Can you think of
more?
What does God want me to do?
God gives us instructions on how to live in the Bible. The
most important is to believe in God and accept his gift of Jesus. Jesus died
for our sins on the cross, so that we can all go to heaven.
God also wants us to live a good life being kind to others. He gives us some
specific rules like the 10 commandments in Exodus 20 and Jesus gave us this
command: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your souls and all
your mind…Love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:37-39
What is the Trinity?
Trinity means a group of three. The Bible describes three aspects of God. God the father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. These three people make up the Trinity of God.
How can God be three people?
We call God triune which means three in one. It’s hard to imagine that it’s possible but there is one God but three aspects (parts) of God. Think of a three-leaf clover. It’s one plant but has three separate leaves. Or think of water. Water can be liquid (what we drink), frozen (ice that we skate on) or gas (steam from a boiling kettle), but it is always still water.
