

Dedicated to my

Dad

Raymond Shaw

Does God Answer?  
Copyright: Kevin Raymond Shaw  
Published: 30th January 2015

The right of Kevin Raymond Shaw to be identified as author of this Work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, copied in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise transmitted without written permission from the publisher. You must not circulate this book in any format. Thank you for respecting authors rights.

All Bible quotations from the World English Bible (www.ebible.org/web)

Note: The World English Bible uses the proper Hebrew name for God, which is 'Yahweh'

Introduction

When I first began to think about God in my mid-twenties I didn't know what to believe, but what I did know was that I needed to be sure God existed if I was to become a believer. That may sound like a contradiction in terms, being 'sure God existed' and being a 'believer', but I have always thought that blind faith is an unreasonable expectation. You have to believe for a reason, and then faith (trust) is how the relationship progresses. So, I began 'seeking' on the premise of this question; is God discoverable?

When it comes to seeking information today, the internet has made us all expert researchers because the hard work will have been done by somebody else and made available online. However, the astonishing amount of information available about things sometimes only adds to our confusion! This is why price comparison websites are so popular, although it is hard to imagine a service that would find you the best religious deal ('eternal life cover please, and not too much praying or giving money'). So, because there were so many opinions out there, in my seeking I wanted more than just information, and came to wonder if God might be able to prove his own case. I felt that if he were real then he ought to be 'contactable', because if God would actually respond to my seeking, then my faith would not be blind.

As I began to read the Scriptures, I was surprised to discover that my approach was not new, and that the Bible seemed to be saying that God will respond to us personally when we seek him. Jesus himself said this,

Ask and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you (Matthew 7:7)

Perhaps an immediate thought would be that this was a promise made by Jesus to those present with him two thousand years ago. It is important to remember that the Bible claims that the same Jesus is alive and well today! So, if we knock, Jesus still ought to answer shouldn't he?

Seriously?

The idea that God might actually answer our seeking or prayers is rarely suggested in the modern world, but you don't have to read far in the Bible to discover God responding to someone. This would lead many to the conclusion that the Bible must be fabricated, but whilst we can't objectively verify these Bible stories, we can ask if God still communicates. Will God answer us, today? In short, I've written this book because I believe he does. I believe this from my understanding of what is promised in the Bible and my own personal experience of seeking him according to those promises. I've come to believe that God intervenes in ordinary people's lives, and whilst that idea needs careful exploration and clear understanding, I cannot believe anything else. Let me give a personal example that demonstrates why I am so convinced that God answers personally today.

Some years ago, whilst minister of a church, I was in the office looking for the Church address stamp for some leaflets. I couldn't find it so telephoned the church secretary from the office phone, but her mobile phone went to voicemail. Later on, I returned to the church to find a message on the office answer machine, from a man wanting to know why we had called him. I checked the number he left and it was one digit different to the church secretary, meaning I had mis-dialed her number and got this gentleman by mistake.

Before I had chance to call, the man rang again and was pretty upset, wanting to know what was going on (he was a hundred and fifty miles away in London). As he calmed down and we began to talk, he explained that the year before, his wife had left him, which had led to a terrible period in his life. However, a couple of months prior to our conversation, he had met somebody new and it was really working out, until the night before our conversation when he had discovered she was seeing somebody else. He had a terrible night, and that morning decided to kill himself. He rigged a rope in the attic and sat in the hatch with the rope around his neck, getting ready to jump. He had never really thought about God before, but found himself wondering what happens after death, and he began apologizing to God for what he was about to do. Unsettled by this thought, he postponed his suicide and came down into his bedroom, where he saw a missed call on his mobile phone. Returning the call, he heard our answer machine saying 'there's nobody at church at the moment, but leave your number and we'll get back to you as soon as possible'. Whilst he was sitting with a rope around his neck, thinking about God for the first time in his life, I was 'accidentally' calling him from a Church. After several conversations, it seems my 'mis-dial' saved his life, and it had to leave him in no doubt that God answers our questions and meets our needs.

This book explores what the Bible says about how God communicates, whilst also sharing many stories of what I've experienced personally.
Chapter one - God: Dead or Alive?

Is anybody there?

When I first started going to Church and thinking about spiritual things, I didn't have doubts about the goodness of God, or his love for me, or if he was willing to forgive my sins. My doubt was much more fundamental, because I sat in services unable to muster any faith that God existed. I suspected that ideas like heaven and hell were human inventions to get the masses to behave, and so I had absolutely nothing within me that said God was real. I shared my doubt with a few of the Christian people I'd come to know and they presented good, intelligent and interesting arguments in the case for God, but nothing really addressed my fundamental doubts. I found a Christian bookshop and I began to look for books on the subject of doubt, but there was nothing that dealt with the kind of doubt I had. It seemed that most authors addressing the subject assumed God existed and dealt only with questions like 'is God good?' or 'can I trust him?' These were not my questions, and I couldn't see how I could consider God's character before I knew he was actually there. The 'seeing the light' conversion cliché was something I was a long way from, and although I discovered many appealing and meaningful things about God and the Christian faith, my faith had far less substance than my doubt.

One thing that was real to me however was the faith that I saw in the people at the Church I had started attending. I didn't believe in God, but I certainly believed that they believed. The congregation was made up of people of varied backgrounds and vocations, but they found common ground in their passion for God, and it seemed much more than a naive hope. These were intelligent people, and yet they worshipped an invisible God. I could see that God was real to them but I didn't know if they were brainwashed or had actually found God somehow.

One principle that came up time and again in sermons, and in the personal stories the congregation would share, was that we ought to 'know God for ourselves' or that we should 'know Jesus as our personal Saviour'. This idea of 'knowing' God resonated with me, because I felt that in order to proceed to becoming a believer I had to 'know' something and not just 'believe' something. I would need to know within myself that God was real, and the people at the Church seemed to think such knowledge was possible.

Having the right expectation

I realized that if I was going to seek God, then I would need to see some actual responses to my seeking in order to continue. I didn't want responses that were reasonable answers to my questions, discovered from things like seeking out books on a subject, but I wanted answers from unexpected sources. I felt that if God was real, then I ought to be able to ask, and find that an answer would appear from somewhere unspecified by me. I didn't want answers I had sought, but rather I wanted answers that were 'sent'. I know this is challenging ground because personal experience can be so subjective and open to interpretation. However, I suspect that the Christians who say we should just believe the Bible and not expect 'religious experience' have never done anything but believe, or have forgotten what it's like not to. Finding God in my own personal experience was the only thing that was going to convince me to live the life of a believer.

Where to begin?

The people at the Church were really quite nice and welcoming, and they did attract me to Christianity and stir some 'God questions' in me. However, my lifestyle and deep seated double-mindedness wasn't going to be overcome by smiles (nice as they were), handshakes (genuine as they were) and cakes (tasty as they were). It would take a lot to undo the doubt of one who had grown up in a family and wider culture where God did not figure in any significant way. There was a side of me that warmed towards the idea of believing in God, and the feeling that life had meaning and purpose, but there was another side that thought it laughable and the path of the desperate. So, I couldn't settle for anything less than 'real', so had to work out how to approach discovering if there was anything in this God business.

I'm not sure exactly how it came into my thoughts, but I realized something that gave me a starting point and way to think about my searching. It is simply this:

Either God is dead, or God is alive.

There are no other options around this statement. My thoughts and beliefs have evolved about a lot of things during the twenty two years I've been thinking about God, but I've never been able to think of a way to develop this statement. God is either completely non-existent (dead), or he's real (alive). This realization brought clarity to my search because it generated a subsequent thought:

If God is alive, then communication may be possible.

For me, that has to be the first principle of thinking about God, and a reasonable place to begin. If he's non-existent, then no amount of seeking will get a response and I'm not sure it is wise or honest to give your whole life over to something that you have only blind faith in. If however he is actually living, then maybe we can know that he is.

An important factor in getting to grips with thinking about God is understanding what we do or don't believe already. We all believe something about God, and that belief (or unbelief) will have reasons behind it. In order to develop objectivity and clear thinking, we need to know where we are at right now.

Ways of Thinking about God

There are numerous religious and spiritual ways to think about God, but what every one of us believes can be put into one of four broad categories. In short, we are all either:

An Atheist

An Agnostic

A Deist

A Theist

In trying to outline these positions, I realize there are more complex and nuanced elements to them, but I'm aiming to capture the essence of their meaning. You might want to do your own research to learn more about one or all of these positions, especially in relation to where you feel you fit. So, what does each position say about God and how we think about him?

Atheism

Atheism says that God does not exist. It says that God is the creation of human thinking, culture and tradition. I have mentioned the idea that 'God is dead', which echoes a famous quote by philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. It does not suggest that God was alive and has been killed, but rather that our age of understanding has shown the truth that God never existed. Some people are Atheist and never give God a thought, and some are Atheist and like to engage in debate about their position.

Agnosticism

Agnosticism says that it is impossible to say that God does or does not exist. It is a term coined by Thomas Huxley in the nineteenth century who was a strong advocate of the then new theory of evolution, and he is famous for his debates with religious opponents of Darwin's ideas. Agnosticism then believes that objectivity or the inability to know is the only reasonable position concerning the existence of God.

Deism

Deism suggests that the universe has a divine designer, but that designer does not intervene in its operation. Deism has a breadth of ideas about God and his role, but fundamentally it is a position that believes that the order and complexity found within nature points to an intelligently created universe. An often quoted picture of Deism is that if you were walking across a field and found a watch, then it would be reasonable to assume it had a maker. However, that maker has nothing to do with the watch and its current operation. In Deism, God made the world but hasn't had anything to do with it since.

Theism

Theism believes that God designed and made everything, that only through him is everything sustained, and that he continually intervenes in human history and affairs. Theism is perhaps the oldest position as almost every ancient religion believed that deities intervened in human activity, evidenced by sacrifices made to influence their decisions. The best way to discover if a believing person is a Theist today is to ask if they would pray about a situation they wanted to change. If they would, then they are a almost certainly Theist.

Which am I?

I think that most of us would immediately know where we fit within those four options. I for example now consider myself a Theist, but I think I probably started out as an Agnostic, although I didn't have that as an active 'belief'. I may even have thought myself an Atheist, but if someone had ever taken time to press me on the existence of God I think I'd have reasonably concluded that you couldn't really know either way.

So, it is worth asking yourself 'which am I?' This is helpful because it offers some insight into what you already think and will possibly even reveal some opinions and biases that will influence your exploration of faith in God. Our beliefs are sometimes not that well thought through, but are held because of things like our upbringing, friends or type of education. Most of us have a moment in life where we feel we are turning into our parents!

My hope in writing this book is that you are able to explore the question of God's existence as objectively as possible. Persuasive arguments for and against God are part of the journey, but demonstration is the best argument, meaning the real question is; will God answer you?

Differing Christian Perspectives

Christians from different types of Churches have different ideas about if or how God speaks to individuals. Some think it is enough that we have the Bible, whilst others think that Church teachings are the definitive voice of God, and yet others feel God speaks to them through the Holy Spirit all the time. Whatever priority a Church gives to these ways God might speak (Bible, Church, Spirit), all would admit that a face value reading of the Bible says that God spoke to individuals 'back then'. It is reasonable to have concerns about blindly having faith in the reliability of the Bible or the Church because that requires us to have confidence in people we cannot vouch for or know (the authors and ancient leaders of the Church). Similarly, only looking for God to speak to us personally has issues of subjectivity, and can lack regulation and balance. I don't think anyone seeking faith in God should settle for answers that include 'because the Bible says so', or 'because the Church says so', or 'because the Holy Spirit told me'. In my journey I've sought to find a balanced way of considering and experiencing all of these elements. I believe that extremes of any kind are at best unhelpful, and at worst, dangerous, because it closes our minds to possible sources of information and direction. Openness and objectivity are important on any journey of discovery.

Being Objective

Seeking God requires that we are able to be objective, because our existing biases can distort the things we find out. 'You can't prove God exists' is a statement I've heard many times, but I've also found it is rarely said by somebody who has invested in a genuine search for God. Our biases distort our conclusions, and people from all sides of the argument are susceptible to argue from the point of view of an opinion rather than the evidence.

Every week the news is full of people, organizations and movements who have manipulated facts to protect or promote their particular view. In the Church, there have been numerous 'cover-ups' of the criminal behaviour of paedophile priests, financial corruption, and ill treatment of people. Similarly, the Scientific community has had its less glorious moments, from faking of fossils to retain funding (look up the Piltdown Man) to things like climate change experts burying their own evidence where it contradicted their 'beliefs'. It is a shame that these things happen, because it taints other good work and clouds the truth.

So, objective thinking and integrity are key in the process of exploration and discovery. We have to be as unbiased as possible when thinking about the existence of God. The idea that truth is a matter of perception is reasonable in some contexts (such as what is considered 'a lot of money'), but in the matter of whether God exist, it is immaterial what the atheist or the believer thinks because God either exists in reality or he doesn't. Either the Atheist is wrong or the Theist is wrong, and it would be absurd to say that they are both equally right because it is 'their truth'. God exists or he doesn't.

One way to remain objective is not to be clouded or confused by the wrong arguments. For example, to think that science and faith must be in conflict is not helpful because it is a false argument. Science and Atheism have become synonymous in today's Western culture, but a scientist only believes in what they can prove, and as they can't prove God doesn't exist, Agnosticism is the only 'scientific' position! Also, Science is about 'how', whilst faith is about 'why', so to set up an either/or position about the two is unhelpful and pointless.

Greater expectations

So here we are, ready to go; unbiased, balanced, genuinely wanting to know if there is any reality to God, but what kind of response can we expect from God? There's an old joke about a man sitting in a church service and he begins to feel that God is compelling him to put £200 in the offering, and not his usual £5.00. He prays quietly and says, 'Ok God, I'll put it in but I need a sign that you are speaking to me. If a 6'2" woman in a black and gold dress, wearing a blue hat, comes into church, playing a trumpet, then I'll put the money in.' This expectation is perhaps a little unreasonable! If God does speak, that might be in any number of ways we hadn't thought of, so it is wise not to be too prescriptive, leaving the details of how God might speak up to him. This does not mean we should expect nothing, because one thing that is helpful in seeking God is for us to have a greater expectation of him.

Seeking God

Whilst the empirical method of science does not lend itself entirely to the process of spiritual seeking, there is something I believe we can borrow from scientific method in our spiritual quest. The process of a scientist is to have a theory (an educated guess about how something works), and then test it with an experiment. If a good experiment does not prove the theory, then the theory is wrong, and so the scientist goes back to work on the theory. So, the Bible, (the Christian theory), says that God can be personally discovered, as promised in these two verses, the second being words spoken by Jesus,

You shall seek me, and find me, when you search for me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13)

Ask and it will be given you. Seek and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you. (Matthew 7:7)

If you take these passages at face value, but after genuinely praying and reading the Bible, going to Church, and seeking God 'with all your heart', you find he has not responded in any way, then the theory (the Bible) must be wrong. Let me say it more plainly; if God promises to show up when you seek him according to the principles of the Bible, but doesn't when you try it, then the whole thing is a fable or a deception.

In the next chapter I want to look more fully at what the Bible says about how God speaks. I also want to share some of my own experiences of how I feel I've seen him speaking today .
Chapter Two: God Answering in the Bible

Becoming a Bible 'expert'

A guy I used to work with once told me that he'd have nothing to do with the Bible because it contained the contradictory proverbs of 'too many cooks spoil the broth' and 'many hands make light work'. His point sounds logical, but actually many hands do make light work when you are shifting a pile of rocks, and it is equally true that too many cooks adding ingredients to a broth will indeed spoil it. Both then are true, but more importantly neither of these proverbs are from the Bible!

The Bible is often quoted, but many times without proper understanding and with wrong interpretation. For example, I've often heard people say that 'money is the root of all evil' (1 Timothy 6:10), but the actual verse says that 'the love of money is the root of all evil', which carries a very different in meaning. Even myself, before ever reading the Bible I had opinions about it, and I recall a conversation where I argued that the Bible was a 'very dangerous book' (and one I'd never opened!). I think what I'm saying is that we need to know what the Bible actually says in order to have an intelligent opinion.

Some religious organizations (and individuals) do not encourage 'unguided study', claiming themselves sole interpreter's of God's business, but I think that anyone has the right to read the Bible without an 'expert' present. The church has done a lot over the centuries to make us think that without 'expert' priests, pastors, and spiritual leaders to interpret for us, we can never understand the Bible. This is reinforced by the 'expert' culture we live in, where we all rely on the voice of the 'expert', whether in law, medicine, science, or the lecture room. People with greater knowledge are important, but the danger of leaving conclusions to the 'experts' means we are also subject to their biases as well as our own.

I've met a lot of people who were totally under the spell of a TV evangelist or sainted person, hanging on their every word as though they were God himself. I went to a large church service once where a famous American preacher was speaking, and as he entered the auditorium many of the congregation began shaking, screaming and dropping to the ground! 'Experts' are important, and we need scientists, doctors, judges and even those who have God as their specialty, so long as our own minds and experiences are not lost or undermined.

How does God answer?

In this chapter I want to explore some of the different ways in which the Bible teaches and demonstrates God speaking. I am not outlining formulas to be followed, but rather considering some of the broad ways in which God communicates in the Old and New Testament. The Bible is clear that God responds personally to those who have sought him in a relationship through Christ, so we should remember therefore that Christianity is essentially a personal relationship with God and not a religious formula. In any relationship there are usual ways of communicating, such as talking, writing, and unspoken gestures such as smiling, and we will all employ these things differently. This means that whilst the following study represents the main ways that God communicates in the Bible, he may use these things differently with each of us (and some of them not at all). I also want to share some of my own personal experiences, where they suggest that God speaks today. The Biblical models I want to look at are (not in any order of priority), God answering:

Through Direction

Through Others

Through Written Communication

Through Dreams, Visions, and Voices

Through Provision

Through Inward Convictions

Through Supernatural Intervention

God Answering Through Direction

Perhaps one of the most common ways that people 'use' God is to seek his direction. Most of us are interested in a better future, which is why so many consult the stars, read tea leaves, visit mediums, and employ all manner of other future predicting methods. Christians are no different in hoping that God will direct their future to something good, and the idea that God is directing, protecting, and providing for us is very appealing. First let me urge caution and say that this hope can easily lead to unsound means to seek God's direction, which is why many religious people have been conned by preachers who promise a better future for a £100 'love offering' (you might have seen it on TV).

At a less extreme level, we can personally adopt means which are not Biblically sound to find out what the future holds. One superstitious classic is for Christians to ask God a question, open the Bible at random, close their eyes, and drop their finger on the page to find a 'word from God'. It would be dangerous to rely on this as an indicator of God's will, knowing Bible contains passages like 'and he went away and hanged himself' (Matthew 27:5). I can't see how this would be the best way to ask God what you should do next! So, seeking God's direction should be a process, in relationship with God, and is demonstrated in the many Biblical examples of people finding God's direction.

The Bible and Seeking God's Direction

The Old Testament promises that by acknowledging God, he will point you in the right direction, as found in Proverbs 3:5,6 (the name 'Yahweh' is the Hebrew name for 'God'),

Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and don't lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

The New Testament also has instances of God directing, as found in Acts 16:6,7 where some of the disciples are clearly directed by God not to go to a particular region,

... _they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia..[and]...they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit didn't allow them._

There are many examples in the Bible of God responding to prayers by offering direction for people's lives. This is rarely in the form of 'turn left' or 'choose that', but often silently through the orchestration of events or the creation of apparently chance meetings between people.

A detailed picture of God at work in this way is found in the book of Genesis where we find Abraham sending his servant to his old country to find a wife for his son. The servant needs to find Abraham's tribe, but has sketchy details, so he travels to his master's old city, and here we pick up the story from the Bible:

He said, "Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, please give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham"...[and]...before he had finished speaking, behold, Rebekah came out, who was born to Bethuel the son of Milcah, the wife of Nahor, Abraham's brother...[and]...the man bowed his head, and worshiped Yahweh. He said, "blessed be Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his loving kindness and his truth towards my master. As for me, Yahweh has led me on the way to the house of my master's relatives." (Genesis 24:12,15a, 26,27)

This story is both ordinary and miraculous. Ordinary in that it is just a meeting of people, but miraculous in that it is a meeting of the right people. The Bible is full of these kinds of happenings, where God directs people to the right place at the right time.

So, the Bible teaches and demonstrates that God directs in many ways, from dramatic means (such as visions, which are dealt with later) to more subtle means such as impressions or ideas. These incidents are also usually concerned with important decisions such as marriage or vocation. It is ok to pray about the small things in life, but it would be odd if God were as interested in finding you a parking space as he is about finding you a life partner!

What about in 'Real Life'?

God directing people in Bible stories is one thing, but can it really happen in 'real life' today? I didn't always think so, but have changed my mind because of personal experiences that I feel have revealed God at work.

Several years ago I found myself deeply frustrated in the job I was doing, and so went for another job which appeared better than what I was doing. I went home after the interview and decided to have a nap as I waited for the phone call with the good or bad news. About an hour later I woke up with a start, and flashing in my mind was 'Ezekiel 17', a passage from the Bible. I had no idea what it contained so I looked it up, and it is a parable about the people of Israel who were so desperate for their situation to change that they asked for help from their former captors, the Egyptians. The essence of the story is that God wants them to wait for him to rescue them, and I instantly I realized that I was trying to 'rescue' myself with this new job. I was offered the job, but was so convinced that God had directed me, I turned it down. The incident also made it clear to me by common sense alone how wrong the job would have been for me. I know that this is a strange story, and there are other explanations for the Ezekiel 17 thought, such as it being lodged in my subconscious from a long forgotten sermon. There is however a second part to the story that takes it to a place beyond subjective interpretation for me.

About seven years after this experience, I was in another job that I had become frustrated with (there's a theme developing here...), and so went for another job again. I didn't get it and after receiving the news I was so angry that I went out for a walk in my lunch break to complain to God. Coming back into work I cut through a workshop (I worked in a motor car garage) and one of the technicians shouted, 'hey, Kev, what does Ezekiel 17 say?' I stood staring at him as if struck by lightning, and after some stuttering I told him about Israel trying to rescue themselves from a situation, not that he was really interested. I asked why he wanted to know, and he had heard it mentioned in a film the night before. As it turns out, the film was Pulp Fiction, and he had misheard the scene where Samuel L. Jackson actually quotes Ezekiel 25:17. I'm not sure what you think about all of that, but I don't know if it is possible for such a chain of events to occur randomly (including a misquote by the technician that turned the films actual Biblical reference into the one that I needed to hear). Incidentally, after the jobs I didn't get, better opportunities came along shortly after.

God behind the Scenes

The Bible shows that behind the scenes God can be massaging our circumstances to have us arrive at the right place at the right time, using 'open doors' such as travelling, training and relationships, or even closed doors such as failed applications and denied opportunities.

One of the most amazing Bible stories of God working behind the scenes is in the life Joseph (as in Joseph and the coat of many colours), found in Genesis chapters 37-50. Joseph has a dream that he will be a greater man than anyone in his family. He is then beaten and sold into Egyptian slavery by his jealous brothers, where he is accused of rape, goes to prison, is forgotten by everyone, and then is released and given the job of prime minister of Egypt! Many years later his wisdom and actions save both Egypt and the countries around it from famine. During the famine, Joseph's brothers come to buy grain and discover their wronged brother is now a powerful leader, so they fall on their faces before him, thinking he is going to have them killed. Instead, Joseph says this:

"Don't be afraid, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is today, to save many people alive." (Genesis 50:19,20).

It's a dramatic story, which is why it has been reproduced in book,on stage and in film a numerous times. What Joseph's story offers is the knowledge and reassurance that God still has a plan for our lives even when things appear to be going wrong. The Bible says that 'we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose' (Romans 8:28). That's quite a thought when thinking about how we interpret our experiences, and means even difficult times can have God's direction in them.

In all of the examples and experiences of direction I've used, there are other people involved in the process, so next I'd like to look more specifically at God speaking through the words and actions of others.

God Answering through Others

In the Bible, there are a lot of stories where somebody passes on a message from God to another person. This is done through children, prophets, women, men, priests, beggars, Kings and even non-believers. Sometimes it is an amazing word of revelation at just the right moment, and at others it is just a seemingly ordinary conversation that becomes the catalyst for change. Hindsight shows that God had orchestrated those conversations.

There is a great example of God sending a corrective message to the then King of Israel, David, after he does something absolutely terrible. In short, David has an affair with one of his soldier's wives and she becomes pregnant. He then brings the soldier (named Uriah) back from war so he can sleep with his wife and think the baby is his, but the soldier refuses to go into the comfort of his house when his friends are on the battlefield. To 'tidy up' the situation, David sends Uriah back to the battle with a letter to the general instructing him to send Uriah into the worst fighting so he'll be killed. This is exactly what happens and David takes the pregnant woman as one of his wives (yes he had others!).

The prophet Nathan then comes to David with a made up story, telling him that he has heard about a wealthy man with many sheep who has stolen the only sheep of a poor man. The Bible says,

David's anger burned hot against the man, and he said to Nathan, "As Yahweh Lives, the man who has done this deserves to die...Nathan said to David, "You are the man. This is what Yahweh, the God of Israel says...why have you despised Yahweh's word, to do that which is evil in his sight?" (2 Samuel 12:5,7a,9a)

That was certainly a wake-up call if ever there was one. The consequences were bad for David if you read the whole story, but God also made it possible for him to repent and find some mercy.

Another Bible story that illustrates the process of divine communication through others, is the following from the New Testament:

But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, "Arise, and go toward the south to the way that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is desert." He arose and went; and behold, there was a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasure, who had come to Jerusalem to worship. He was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. The Spirit said to Philip, "go near, and join yourself to this chariot." Philip ran to him, and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, "do you understand what you are reading?"...Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture, preached to him about Jesus. (Acts 8:26-30, 35)

The Ethiopian was pleased that somebody 'coincidentally' turned up in the middle of nowhere to explain the things that were puzzling him from the Bible. The beginning of the passage makes it clear that this was no coincidence, but God had sent Philip with a message. However, note the Ethiopian was already studying Scripture for himself and the message was in tune with the things he was already thinking about before. The message from Phillip was only part of the way things came together in the Eunuch's mind, thus completing a jigsaw he was already working on.

' **Messages from God' Today?**

Personal messages from God are not something you would expect to encounter in everyday life, but a degree of caution is advisable as there are a surprising number people who will claim to be God's oracle. There used to be a lady where I lived who would go around the city centre accosting shoppers and saying things like, 'your husband's name will be Tom!' This was very entertaining, especially if that person was already married to Jim! Another 'prophet' who used to visit our church would be furious if you didn't let him stand up in the service with his 'word from the Lord'. He once told me that a particular church was godless because they had escorted him from the building after he jumped up in the middle of a service to deliver 'God's word'. During our conversation it came out that it had been the wedding of two people he did not know! Not good.

This said, I do believe that God will use circumstances and people to give us what we need to hear at the right time. I once had to travel to Canada for a family funeral, and as I was checking in to my economy flight, I was surprised when the completely unfriendly steward said he had upgraded me. Arriving at my new seat, I was pretty pleased as it was leather, fully reclining, had a personal TV, and all of my drinks were free. The only downside was the unfriendly guy sat next to me who grunted under his breath as I sat down and said hello. Just before taking off, a man came and said to my grumpy neighbour that he was in the wrong seat. The unfriendly man told him to go away, so he did, and came back with a flight attendant. My gruff companion was moved and replaced with an extremely friendly chap. As it turned out, my new friend was the son of a Christian pastor, but seemed to have departed the faith himself. We talked for five hours about life, God, family, work, and stayed in touch via e-mail for over a year after. This sounds a bit grandiose, but given the circumstances and content of our conversation, it seems that God used me to communicate a message of encouragement from God to this man.

I have also been the recipient of messages that I believe pointed me in the direction God wanted me to go. Some years ago, when I first started going to church, I took a certificate course in theology, just to get to know the Bible better. I did quite well and thought that maybe I would go further, but didn't and a few years passed. One Saturday I was at a church in another city, where nobody knew anything about me, and the minister there (who I didn't really know) took me to one side and said, 'listen, it's time you got to studying theology'. It had been on my mind and I thought it odd that he should say that out of nowhere. That evening, I attended a concert in another city, and as I walked in I bumped into a student from my certificate course who I hadn't seen for about three years. 'What are you doing about studying?' She asked. I went back to studying soon after!

Fast forward a few years and having got my degree, I began to think about a Master's Degree. I didn't have the time or money, but by faith I expressed interest at a local theological centre. Some time passed and after my sermon one Sunday morning a church Deacon came to me and said, 'Get ready to study.' He had no idea what it meant, and didn't know about my MA thoughts. On the following Tuesday I got a letter from the university saying they would accept me onto their MA programme. I decided to go ahead and hope that we might somehow be able to afford it, and I told the church the week after that I was returning to study part time (but didn't mention the financial challenge). I got a call from a couple in the congregation a few days later who said that God had laid it on their hearts to pay for my MA. Not surprisingly perhaps, I do believe God speaks through others!

Finding God in the ordinary

I guess it is obvious that I'm in danger of only throwing my best stories at you, and I do want to continue to share those things which are quite amazing. However, a real faith should be able to hear God's voice in ordinary things, and especially in what goes on in church with things like the Bible study, sermons, teachings, and communication with other Christians. The principles of Christianity offer sound and practical principles to live by, even outside of believing them to be divinely inspired (imagine a world where everyone would 'do to others what you would like them to do to you' [Matthew 7:12]). In practical terms then, it would be wrong to think that there must be dramatic miracles at every corner. The Bible only records a small part of each individual's life mentioned, so for every incredible happening, would have been thousands of ordinary ones. There is a story in the Bible where Jesus takes three of his disciples up onto a mountain and they have a heavenly vision of Jesus in all his glory (Mark 9). One of them (Peter), wants to build some dwelling places so they can stay in this glorious state of affairs, but Jesus forbids it, taking them instead down into the valley where some people need help. Many Christians expect to constantly live in this glorious manner, inspiring the saying that someone is 'so heavenly minded, they are no earthly good'. We can reasonably expect God would speak through others, but that should include a range of sources, not just through the dramatic.

God Answering through Written Communication

The written word has recorded and preserved the faith traditions of many religions, including the Jewish and Christian faiths (the Old Testament and the New Testament). The Bible makes the extreme claim that it is God's written communication to the world, which is difficult to comprehend and raises many questions, some of which I will touch on.

Let me give a short outline of the Bible's composition, according to itself. The written tradition of the Jewish faith begins with the Ten Commandments given to Moses on Mount Sinai. The fact that they were written on stone tablets suggests something about their intended permanence, and considering their continued profile in the world over 3000 years later, it was a stroke of genius. The Jewish law then developed into the first five books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy), called the Torah. This collection contains a history of the beginning of the world, the formation and early history of the Jewish people, and the detailed system of religion (containing 613 commandments) that would apply to every area of life. Further Jewish writings were added later, containing more history, poetry, songs, and prophecy, making a total of thirty nine books in the Jewish Bible (what Christians call the Old Testament).

For Christians, added to the above is the New Testament, which is basically a continuation of the Old Testament (not all Jews accept this view). It contains stories of the life of Jesus (the Gospels, written by his followers), the beginning of the church (the book of Acts), Christian teachings (the Epistles & letters, written by his followers), and prophecy of things that would happen in the future (Revelation). The Old Testament and the New Testament make up the Christian Bible, containing sixty six books. Roman Catholics later accepted some further books into their canon, which gives them a total of 73 books in their Bible.

There has been and is a lot of scholarly study conducted around the Bible, some of which questions its claims and authenticity (questioning things like the traditional authors and dating for certain books). These discussions are important and offer interesting and important perspectives, and are points of debate between scholars. It would not be of any value to discuss all of that here because what I'm suggesting is to seek to know if God speaks through the means of the Bible in your own experience. However, I wouldn't discourage you from reading any books, whether sympathetic to the Christian view or not. We shouldn't be afraid of different opinions.

The Bible on the Bible

Only three verses into the Bible, we find the words 'God said...' (Genesis 1:3), which immediately indicates the purpose of the Bible; it is about what God wants to say to humanity. Any thinking person will soon ask the question of who wrote the Bible, and because I can only find one instance within it of a miraculous appearance of heavenly writing (Daniel 5), the answer is that people wrote the Bible. They were however conveying the things which they felt God had communicated to them, an example of this being where the Prophet Jeremiah instructs a scribe (a religious writer) to communicate his message,

Then Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah; and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah all Yahweh's words, which he had spoken to him, on a scroll of a book (Jeremiah 36:4)

So, the purpose of the 'written word' (the Bible) is to make sure the message is clear, rather than just relying only on oral tradition. Habbakuk 2:2 has God saying to one of the prophets,

Yahweh answered me, "write the vision, and make it plain on tablets, that he who runs may read it."

The Bible is also a very practical book, offering wisdom and instruction for ordinary living. One Bible writer says,

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path (Psalm 119:105)

This practicality makes it useful in the sense that it is a guide to living a good life. Another Bible writer says,

Every Scripture is God-breathed and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for instruction in righteousness, that each person who belongs to God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16)

The reasonable concern remains however of if this is the Word of God, or the words of people expressing their own ideas? Well, the Bible does not try to hide the fact that humans were writing it, but it also still claims itself to be the Word of God, for it states that whilst people wrote it down, God was the inspirer and editor,

Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of private interpretation. For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke, being moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20,21)

Does that really offer any assurances though? It is easy to say that it is the Word of God, but still, how can we trust that to be true? Also, who knows if the Bible has been edited and tampered with over the years, and doesn't logic suggest it must have been? There are good arguments for its overall reliability, such as the sheer volume of ancient New Testament Manuscripts and fragments, which is somewhere around 24,000, making the New Testament Number one in the league of ancient manuscripts and fragments in existence (second place is Homer's Ilyad, which only has 643). Whilst this kind of evidence is both interesting and important, I think another claim of the Bible itself might be helpful in regard to validation of its uniqueness. The Bible also claims to be something more than just a book, and therefore more than just another ancient manuscript. This may be the key factor in the Bible's potential to validate itself as the word of God, in that it claims to be 'alive' in its ability to communicate with us. It says,

For the Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, both joints and marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12)

Elsewhere, it says that simply by reading it, there is an innate power at work, having the ability to generate faith within the person reading it. It says,

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17)

The real question is, does it work? Is there a 'power' innate in the Bible or are any effects upon us just our personal responses to the information contained within it?

The Bible does say that we can experience it as the 'living word', so that is either true or false. What does that mean though, and does the Bible deliver what it promises?

The Living Word?

My experience tells me that the Bible is living because God still uses it to communicate today. He is the living part of it. Some years ago, whilst a trainee minister at a church, I had been feeling unsettled and was complaining to God that I wanted to move on to my own congregation (if you've not picked it up yet, I sometimes have a tendency to complain about not moving on). One Sunday, I was asked by my Pastor to preach the sermon the following week, and I was pretty pleased to have put it all together by the Wednesday before. My message was taken from 1 Samuel 16 where young David was just sitting in the field watching sheep, when a messenger is sent to offer him a musician's job in the King's palace. The passage outlines that David had developed numerous skills as a musician, soldier, philosopher, and man of God, which is why he was summoned into the Kings service. My sermon point was that whilst waiting for promotion in life we can avoid frustration by focusing on getting ourselves ready for the right opportunity when it comes. I called the message 'Get Ready for the Call' and it's fairly obvious that it was reflective of how I was feeling. I felt comforted and strengthened by the way the text spoke to me, even before I shared it with the congregation. The next morning however, I was called by the National Bishop of our Church organization to offer me my own church! My message was called 'Get ready for the call', so anyone who doesn't think God has a sense of humour should think again. I thought that I had come to that particular text, but it seems that God had brought that text to me, in order to prepare me for what he was about to do in my life.

Again, it is important to remember that the Bible is also God's word in its practicality. The message of the Bible is meant to be read, understood and worked into a relationship with God. It is a living book in that way too, whereby it speaks as we just have it as part of our lives. The morality, ethics, relational advice, and instructions about daily living are part of the power of the Bible as it speaks to our hearts and minds. Many have said that it is outdated as it is of a different time and place, but whilst our civilization, technologies and cultures change, our essential beings, heart, soul, mind, stay the same. Our external world is always changing, but our internal world is not very different to those ordinary people who were the audience of the Bible two to three thousand years ago.

A word in season

The common humanity we share with those of the Bible times means that their experiences can communicate lessons for our own lives. This can be found just by reading about somebody like Samson, who wrecked his life by his immorality (Judges 13), or Esther whose courage rescued her family and nation (see the Book of Esther). These are lessons that can be applied to real situations and issues in our own lives. This said, I think God can also communicate a specific message to us, directly addressing something in our lives. I have often found myself reading about a person or situation in the Bible that mirrors closely what I'm facing, and it usually leads to a resolution or at the very least, a level of comfort. The right word in the right season of your life can change everything.

God Answering through Dreams, Vision, & Voices

This area of God speaking may be both the most interesting and the most difficult. As a naturally curios species, we love stories of the weird and wonderful, a fact attested to by the multitude of magazines, books, TV shows, films, and online material about the paranormal and the downright odd. In the religious arena, there are also many unsettling stories about people 'hearing from God', from the ridiculous ('I'm Jesus') to the most terrifying ('God told me to kill'). The area of spiritual dreams, visions and voices is a minefield to say the least.

The Bible has no shortage of happenings and tales that are beyond the ordinary and this is perhaps one of the main reasons why people find it difficult to believe. However, today there is still no shortage of 'ordinary' people who claim to have had dreams and visions from God. We can write people off as deranged or liars, but of all the people I've met who claim to have heard God's voice, not all obviously fit these categories. Most are just ordinary people living ordinary lives.

Day dream believer

The Bible records numerous occurrences of God communicating in these mystical ways. One such experience was when God wanted to send Moses' back to Egypt and save the Hebrews,

Now Moses was keeping the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the back of the wilderness, and came to God's mountain, to Horeb. Yahweh's angel appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the middle of a bush. He looked and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. Moses said, "I will go now, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burned." When Yahweh saw that he came over to see, God called to him out of the middle of the bush, and said, "Moses! Moses!" He said, "Here I am." (Exodus 3:1-4)

Another strange vision is that of Ezekiel, given to him after he and his people had been taken hostage in Babylon,

_Now in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth of the month, as I was among the captives by the river Chebar, the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God (Ezekiel 1:1)_

Such dreams and visions are also found in the New Testament, an example being that in the Christmas story, after Joseph decided to divorce Mary because she was found to be pregnant, he experiences a strange communication,

But when he thought about these things, behold, and angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, don't be afraid to take to yourself Mary, your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She shall give birth to a son. You shall call his name Jesus, for it is he who shall save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:20,21)

Such divine appearances happen with some regularity in the Bible, and many suggest they are just fables to give a supernatural edge, whilst others conclude that the people involved were having psychotic experiences. I'm not sure that these great happenings in the Bible are necessarily the 'norm' of the day, because the shock and wonder of those experiencing such things tells us that they were extraordinary events then also. Saying these things simply didn't happen is probably the safest interpretation of these texts, but of course that doesn't mean they didn't happen, but only that we can't believe they did.

Another famous divine appearance is the Apostle Paul's 'Damascus Road experience', which has become a saying for anyone having woken up to something important. The story goes like this,

As he traveled, he got close to Damascus, and suddenly a light from the sky shone around him. He fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" He said, "Who are you, Lord?" The Lord said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise up, and enter into the city, and you will be told what you must do." (Acts 9:3-6)

In modern times there are testimonies of people who have been taken to heaven and come back, taken for a tour of hell, seen angels, demons, and all manner of celestial activity. Objectively, it is completely impossible to say to somebody who makes such a claim is or isn't telling the truth. We can say that we don't understand it or that we don't believe it, but to say that something absolutely didn't happen is an unsubstantiated belief too.

' **My' Truth**

I have worked as a mental health Chaplain for some years, and have realized that for somebody who has seen 'supernatural' things in a psychotic episode, it is absolutely real to them. They may believe they were abducted by aliens or that the KGB are after them, and in my experience it is difficult trying to refute such experiences. I have personal experience of friends (not in my day job) who are convinced their experiences during psychosis are real, and indeed they are able to say it is true for them, regardless of anyone else's doubts.

Similar challenges exist for people who say they have had a vision from God. They may not be mentally ill (ok, that's a discussion point...), but it is impossible to imagine a heavenly vision when have not experienced it personally. Although I have never had the 'rapture' like experience, I have had a couple of 'vision' like dreams, where there was a vivid and profound message with them. I also know people personally who have had spiritual experiences that are startling, and I find it hard not to believe them because I know them and they are not given to exaggeration in any way. I may not be able to conceive what has occurred, but I know that they are not telling lies.

One day several years ago, I visited a couple who are friends of mine one lunchtime, and I found them inside their house, curtains drawn, just sitting and staring at one another.

The night before, this couple (a businessman and school teacher both in their 50s) came home from church, where the husband had preached a message about the instances in the Bible where God appears in fire somehow (as in Moses and the burning bush). After going to bed, they were awoken in the early hours by a crackling sound, and looking out of the bedroom window, my friend saw that his car was on fire on the drive. He dialled 999 for the fire engine and went back to the window where his wife was now standing. The flames from the car were leaping higher than the house and so he ran downstairs and went out onto the front garden (probably not wise!). The car was standing on the drive; not on fire, but perfectly intact; no fire. His shock turned to dread, because he could now hear the sirens of the fire engine and police approaching. Jumping out of their vehicles, they all stood around and looked at him suspiciously, wondering if he was a drunk. His wife confirmed the fire, but it didn't help much. Then, a police car sped around the corner and an officer leapt out looking more puzzled than the rest. He had been across the valley from them when the call went out but he had already seen the flames leaping above the houses (this saved my friend from any Police action for time wasting). Everyone went home a little bit disturbed that night, wondering what had happened. The next day, two of my friends neighbours said they had been woken by the sound of a fire. I don't know what happened, but I do know these people well, and something did happen. They are not cranks, or drinkers, or drug takers, attention seekers, or mentally ill. They are ordinary people with respectable lives and jobs.

As a strange 'coincidence', the headquarters of their Church burned to the ground on the very same night.

What's the point of dreams & visions?

In some ways, there is nothing you can actually say in regard to these kinds of spiritual occurrences, as without first hand experience we can only speculate. We either take them at face value, dismiss them, or we might look for some kind of meaning in them. By this, I suggest that their purpose may be more important than the happening or the 'science' of it. If we look carefully at the examples I have given, then they all have some purpose. Moses was being sent to help his people, Ezekiel went on to bring a message of correction, encouragement and hope, Joseph stayed with Mary, and after Paul's experience he went on to write about two thirds of the New Testament. My friends both became ordained ministers with their own church and in difficult times I'm sure their experience is a great reminder that God is present, even in fire!

In my estimation, the intended meaning is the only thing I can see value in with such mysterious happenings, because I can't see how God would speak to somebody through a vision if it didn't mean anything. When my wife was about five months pregnant with our first child, she was approached by a friend one Sunday morning who said she had 'had a dream' about our baby the night before. She said that there was something wrong with the pregnancy and in the dream the baby was 'coming out of the side' of my wife's stomach. The lady then said that God had not told her to pray for my wife, and she walked away. My wife was pretty upset, as was I, and you've got to ask was there any point in saying anything? I might add that our baby was born perfectly healthy. So, if a vision does not have an obvious purpose or instruction, then I'm not sure what it can be about.

God Answering through Provision

I think it fair to say that most people who walk into a church want something. Maybe it's friendship, a spiritual blessing, a handout, advice, a wedding or a Christening. We all have needs and sometimes people feel God or the church can meet them. In the Bible God does promise to make provision for all kinds of needs, as the following passages outline:

My God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19)

Whilst, Jesus said,

"Whatever you will ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you will ask anything in my name, I will do it." (John 14:13)

On days when I'm going to prayer services I've often asked work colleagues if they would like me to pray about anything, and it is usually that they will win a large amount of money! Not an unreasonable request, but if things just fell out of the sky then everybody would want a relationship with God for the wrong reasons. To balance the above Bible passages on God's provision, it also says,

You ask, and don't receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures (James 4:3)

In any relationship, the motives and objectives have to be right in order to get the best out of each other. Nobody wants to feel cheated or used. God promises to take care of our needs, but that isn't as a handout, but is the side product of a good relationship.

Modern miracles?

Sometimes I have experienced provision that I've been convinced were miracles, mainly because of their timing and appropriateness. For example, as a young single man, with my first flat, I often found that I had more month than money. One Friday I had no money, no fuel to get to work, and nothing for lunch. I set out early and walked, thinking I'll just get through the day with cups of tea, which was difficult because I had a manual job. About five minutes before lunchtime, my manager asked me if I wanted a free dinner! He had brought in a full roast dinner but was now eating out at lunch. He had never made such an offer before that day and didn't ever after. Another time, my wife complained that we needed a dishwasher (as I certainly wasn't one!), and so I said we'd have to look into it. The next day a friend of mine who I hadn't spoken to in six months telephoned to ask me if I wanted a dishwasher! He'd been into an electrical store and upon entering had been given a raffle ticket, and he won a brand new dishwasher. As he already had one, I came to his mind as somebody who might need one.

I really understand when people think such things are total chance, but when does a commitment to coincidence become unreasonable doubt? One miracle in the Bible I have always struggled with is from Matthew 17:24-27 where Peter asks Jesus about paying their taxes. Jesus said they ought to do so and sends him to catch a fish from the lake, and upon doing so Peter finds the money needed in the mouth of the fish! What are the chances? Well, I was invited to a wedding once and we just didn't have any cash available. We got to the reception and I had no idea how we might even buy drinks for our kids. We drove around the big car park in the dark and rain, not enjoying the prospect of going in. There were no spaces so I decided to drive out and find a space on the road, but as I did so a car pulled out and drove off. I reversed into the space and got out. One of my kids was quite young at the time so I told him to stand at the back of the car whilst I sorted the others out. I heard him say, 'Dad, I see cash!' I came out and in the spot where we had ended up on that rainy dark night, were two ten pound notes blowing around on the floor! Now, if that was an honesty test, then I failed it, and several people have suggested this might have been the case. However, my experience of God has shown me that he does not play these sorts of games with us. I have found handbags and purses at supermarkets and churches on occasion and always handed them in. This time, the circumstances convinced me that God had provided, that I might in turn provide for my kids, as Peter used the coin to provide for his taxes.

One note of caution I would add here is that it is a dangerous thing to think that God will always work in a 'hand out' way to solve our problems and meet our needs. More than once I have seen good Christian people lose houses, businesses and families because they refused to get up and do something, always expecting God to bail them out. God's provision can also be in giving us the abilities and opportunities to find solutions and support.

God Answering through Inward Experience

Any relationship that depended entirely on external proof would be quite superficial. I know that my wife would not be secure in our relationship if the only evidence of my love came from outward things like gifts, flowers, pulling my weight with housework and taking her out for meals. These kinds of things are essential for a good relationship, but there has to be a degree of inward conviction and connection in any relationship. This intangible dimension to love is no less important, and there is always a point in any developing relationship where it becomes less about outward evidence of love, and more about trust. It is no different in the faith journey and the New Testament is clear that the inward reality of a relationship with God is perhaps more important than witnessing things he might do 'outwardly' in our needs and circumstances. When our relationship with God moves from seeking signs of his existence and care, this is called faith, and ultimately it is something God has revealed to us. The Bible says that what the eye, ear and mind (natural senses) can't grasp about God's provision for us, he gives us conviction of inwardly by his Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:9-12).

This tells us something about the work of the Holy Spirit within matters of belief. Jesus said that when we love him, then he and the Father will make their home with us (John 14:23), and so by his Spirit he indwells us and makes himself known within us. It may appear that inward experience is entirely subjective, but what I can say is that there are times when my own experience has led me to be certain of God's presence within my life, even when outwardly he appears to be nowhere.

When the inside contradicts the outside

In 1998 I had ten months of what you might call Hell. My Granddad died, my Uncle died, my Dad died, I had surgery for a ruptured stomach, and at the end of it all, my employer made me redundant (having told me of the prospect of it the day before my Dad's funeral). During this period, no amount of prayer seemed to make any difference to the outward circumstances for me or my family. What I do have to admit however, is that my inward experience did not match the outward experience. I did grieve, I was angry, I was upset and wounded, but some things happened to stop those feelings from fermenting into bitterness. Firstly, in the months leading up to all of this starting, I could not get away from Psalm 23, which famously begins 'The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want'. It seemed like every sermon I heard, teaching I went to, and song that was playing was telling me that God is a Shepherd who would lead me. I remember starting to develop a slightly anxious anticipation, just sensing that things were about to change. The sense that the Shepherd was greater than any situation was however firmly lodged within me. Throughout the turmoil that ensued I knew that God was leading me safely through 'the valley of the shadow of death'. When my Dad died though, that was the biggest hit of all. It had happened on a Sunday morning and after spending the day letting people know, I felt totally spent. At this point, the most crushing guilt came over me. The fear that I hadn't prayed enough, or had enough faith, and hadn't been there or done what I should have for my Dad. Most of all, the finality and lost opportunity to do anything more fell like a hammer. The feeling was total powerlessness, and even hopelessness.

I decided to escape the phone and visitors with a hot bath. As it was running, I saw a card drop through the letter box; the first of what I knew was going to be a deluge. Picking it up, I opened and read the front, which said, 'God, grant me to accept what I cannot change'. The thought struck me that the depth of guilt I was feeling was going to take years to work out, if it ever could be. Back upstairs however, I felt God speak within me (don't ask me how, it wasn't audible or dramatic), saying that I could wrestle with years of guilt and anguish if I wanted to or, if I would let him, he would do something in my heart and mind right then. I went in the bath and quietly prayed that I wanted that help. I began to cry, not loudly or dramatically, but for about an hour I wept from the inmost core of my being. I cannot adequately describe it, but something was washed out of me, whether it was spiritually, or emotionally, or psychologically I do not know, but all I know is that something happened. I got out of the bath a different person. The acceptance and peace I felt was completely unnatural. It wasn't denial or distraction, but something had actually happened. I'm completely pro-counselling and talking therapies, but I know that a hundred years of any of it could not achieve whatever it was that happened that night. That state and peace never faded or wavered.

The Bible promises that in times of great weakness, our inward state can contradict our outward situation in this way;

But we have this treasure in clay vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves. We are pressed on every side, yet not crushed; perplexed, yet not to despair; pursued, yet not forsaken; struck down, yet not destroyed (2 Corinthians 4:7-9)

I believe in the resilience of the human spirit, and that every person has certain potential and resources within them naturally, but there are times when none of this is enough. God promises to communicate something beyond the intellect, saying,

In nothing be anxious, but in everything, by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts sand your thoughts in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6,7)

I'm an advocate of intelligent faith, but sometimes we need something more than that. Maybe his ability to give us an inner peace that completely contradicts overwhelming circumstances is part of what makes God, God.

God Answering through Supernatural Intervention

Ok, here we go again with the weird stuff! Let me define 'supernatural intervention' as things that happen that have no reasonable natural explanation.

There are some things in the Bible that just take a lot of believing, and rationally are completely impossible. For example, how could the Red Sea have parted or Jesus have walked on the water? It's not unreasonable at all to think that these things are the products of some excited imaginations, desperately trying to elevate God's reputation. Whatever you believe or don't about such things, the Bible is not in any doubt that God supernaturally intervenes in the lives of people that believe in him (and sometimes in the lives of those that don't!). God consistently pulls things out of the air, changes the laws of physics, defies biological facts, and generally tampers with the principles of nature. Such happenings are never pointless magic tricks, but always have the purpose of helping someone. There are no greater examples of this than in the healing ministry of Jesus in the Gospels, where all manner of disease and sickness is cured by his touch or presence. He also intervenes in the social order and is constantly helping those he shouldn't (the poor) whilst also criticizing those he shouldn't (the religious). In fact, when questioned by John the Baptist, who doubts that Jesus is the Messiah, he offers the evidence of God supernaturally intervening in human affairs:

Jesus replied, "Go back to John. Report to him what you hear and see. Blind people receive sight. Disabled people walk. Those who have skin diseases are healed. Deaf people hear. Those who are dead are raised to life. And the good news is preached to those who are poor. (Matthew 11:5,6)

So the Bible is clear that God's way is to intervene in human affairs, both individually and corporately, in ways spiritual, physical and social. However, when it comes to the miracle stuff, you've got to ask if any this ever happened? Well, it is impossible to say objectively, but the question I always return to is this; does anything like this happen today?

God at Work?

In the introduction to this book I told the story of the chap who had been planning to commit suicide but was deterred by my 'mis-dialled' call to his mobile phone. That's an astonishing story, but not the only such miracle I've experienced. On many occasions I've felt that God was at work in 'Biblical' ways in my life, including things like healing and knowledge that I couldn't otherwise have.

I once had a 'Biblical' type healing experience after I had completed a sponsored walk and an old sporting injury flared under my foot. I could barely walk and was not able to work properly. I hobbled into a quiet room (ok it was the toilet) and asked God if he would kindly 'fix' my foot. Within thirty seconds of leaving the room I felt my foot change somehow, like a tingling sensation, and within a matter of an hour or so the pain completely vanished. In previous times it had taken several weeks to subside. That event was about fourteen years ago, but I had exactly the same experience recently when the injury came up again (this time just before a 75 mile sponsored walk I was doing!). I was hobbling around with the same injury, but remembered what had happened before. I prayed and again it changed within minutes. Some might think it to be cramp, but I know what that feels like, and I've never heard of cramp that usually lasts for several weeks! At other times I have prayed with the same faith and need for healing, but have not been healed so instantly. I do not know why this is.

God speaks?

One happening that I can't attribute to anything but divine intervention will stay with me as long as I live. I was employed in the workshop of a fancy motor car dealership and a colleague approached me one lunchtime to say that his brother had been diagnosed with cancer, and he asked me to pray because I was the only person he knew who believed in God (not much pressure then!). I went away and prayed, and his brother went through a serious operation, and it all went well. This was a while before Christmas, and I received a card from my colleague, saying his brother was doing well and thank you for the prayers. Obviously I was happy for them, but I wondered how any of us could know if it was God who intervened? Maybe his Cancer was not as bad as the doctor thought, or possibly it was a highly skilled surgeon that made the difference. How could that chap and his brother know that God was involved in this?

A number of weeks later I asked how the brother was doing, and was told he had gone back into hospital with a serious infection and they couldn't get rid of it. Later that morning, I looked at the guy who had asked me to pray and this thought burst into my mind; 'tell him that his brother is fine, he is coming out of hospital today, and he will get the all clear in April'. I thought it absolutely ridiculous that I should do such a thing and risk making Christian people sound like fools. However, I cannot describe the weight of conviction that this came with and after agonizing for a while, I just walked up to him and blurted it out. He looked at me like I was having a turn of some kind (rightly so), and made an excuse to escape. That was a Friday and I was dreading coming to work after the weekend. However, on Monday morning he rushed to meet me in the workshop. When he had got home on the Friday his phone was ringing as he walked through the door, and it was his brother calling from his home. He had been discharged because the infection just cleared up suddenly. Later, in the April, he did get the all clear. Coincidence? You'd need some faith to believe it was coincidence.

When God is silent

The belief in a good and loving God does however make it all the more difficult to understand why he is sometimes silent in the worst times of our lives. I've given lots of stories about God answering, but sometimes he just doesn't. There are a lot of possible explanations that I've heard Christians give, but they are usually little comfort to somebody asking 'why' during suffering, injustice, or loss of some kind. I can't always see why God doesn't answer when we need him to but one thing is clear from the Bible, and that is that God takes our suffering seriously.

The oldest book in the Bible is Job (Genesis might be about the oldest events, but Job appears to be the first one written down). Job, who is the most righteous man on the earth, finds himself in a situation where God allows a series of personal disasters that destroy his family, his wealth, and his health. Job is left sitting in the dust, and everyone who comes to 'encourage' him only makes him feel worse with their opinions and suggestions (they all think he must have committed some terrible sin because of what has happened). In Chapter 13, Job points out that his friends are 'worthless physicians' and says that the only answer he will accept is from God himself. Yet God is silent. Eventually God does speak to Job, and the poor man finds a different perspective on his troubles. The message of Job then, as the first contribution to the Bible, appears to be that the perplexity of human suffering is something God takes seriously. Ultimately Job's hope was fulfilled, and God spoke, and it's easy to say that with hindsight, but in the midst of the silence, Job wondered why he had been abandoned.

God in Human Experience

Christians sometimes adopt a defensive position when God is questioned, saying 'God knows what he is doing', even when all of the evidence suggests otherwise. When my Dad died, a lady from my Church telephoned us and told my Mum to just accept that God wanted him, so she couldn't have him. It's enough to say that this was an ill-timed and ill-thought out piece of 'encouragement'.

Personally, I don't think it is a slight on God to say that the way he works in our lives is sometimes confusing or even disappointing. Many people feel that this inconsistency is evidence that there is no God. Although it may be difficult to accept at times, the Bible says that God is always present within our experience, even when we don't feel that. This is where faith comes in, just as it does in any relationship of love and trust, because whilst we don't always understand a person's actions, we can know their intentions towards us. This said, I think it is ok ask God for understanding in difficult times, and even the briefest look into the Psalms will show you that people can simultaneously praise God and have a moan!

An unfolding relationship

In this chapter I've looked at the different ways that God speaks in the Bible, and how I've seen what I believe to be similar things happening today. What I'm mindful of is that I run the risk of suggesting that God can be tested like a jack-in-a-box, which is an approach that might leave you disappointed and faithless. As in the last section, which looked at the times when God isn't speaking, it is a dangerous thing to have the expectation that somebody we are in a relationship with will always do what we think they should. God speaking and acting in our lives has to be worked out in an unfolding relationship that moves through all the stages that any intimate relationship does, hopefully arriving at trust and faithfulness on our part.

In the next chapter I want to discuss some of the ways that we 'work out' our unfolding relationship with God.
Chapter Three: Seeking God

What now?

When I first started to feel that seeking God was something I wanted to do, I approached it in a very basic way. I simply wanted to know if there was any truth in what I was hearing and feeling at Church, and whilst I didn't have the 'something missing' feeling, I did have a desire to take a closer look.

My basic approach to seeking God can be summarized as three things:

Reading the Bible

Praying

Going to Church

I have to say that my personal approach to faith is still based around these three things. The only other significant addition is what might be called 'ministry', which is simply doing something to help other people.

So _,_ what follows is what I consider to be some important issues in these three basic principles.

Reading the Bible

This section might be better termed 'using the Bible' as there are a lot of ways to employ the Bible other than just reading it like a novel.

Which version?

In English translation there are numerous versions of the Bible, but why are there so many? Firstly let me point out that they all essentially say the same thing, but in different ways, whether using ancient English, or informal contemporary or paraphrased English. There are books and online resources that will tell you the full history, but I'll give a few thoughts about how the Bible in its original form and translations came to be.

In short, the Old Testament in its original form was written in Hebrew, being the language of the Jewish people, and the New Testament was written in Greek, it being the broadly accepted language of early Christians, geographically speaking. Translation into other languages didn't take off as widely or early as you might imagine, simply because most people in the early centuries of the Church spoke Greek, and even the Old Testament was produced in a Greek version because of the broad use of the language across the Mediterranean, Middle East, and North Africa.

The Latin translation came about 400 years later and was the Bible of the Roman Catholic Church, who were basically the only Church across the world for a thousand years. Some English translation work began in the 7th Century, but the first full translation in English was only done in the 14th Century, and fairly soon others followed, with the most famous being the 'Shakespearian' King James Version of 1611 (I say Shakespearian to describe the era and writing style). Coming up to date, there was an absolute flurry of English translations in the twentieth century, with purpose of each new translation usually being keeping up with contemporary language and scholarship. Some try to translate word-for-word from the original manuscripts, but whilst that might be accurate in one way, it doesn't always read very well because of the way in which English differs to Hebrew or Greek. Therefore, some translations use a thought-for-thought method where they try to capture the thought that the writer is conveying, thus making room for more flow to the text. You will find praise and criticisms for both methods. If you look at the way different Bibles read (there are comparison sites online), you will notice that they will essentially say the same thing, and very rarely will they disagree completely about a passage. That said, some of the versions which paraphrase do in my view take more artistic license with meaning.

If you look these issues up online you will find that some people are entirely academic about translation and which original manuscripts are best, whilst others will tell you that the Devil is behind certain translations! Check out the discussion for yourself.

Which version should you read?

I think the best way for me to answer the question of which version you might want to read is to say what I use and why. Just for reading and enjoying the narrative parts of the Bible, I use the New Living Translation because of its simple and uncluttered language. For sermons in Churches, I use the New King James, because it is a great translation and the Bible that many of the congregations I work with use. For study, I use the New Revised Standard (NRSV) and the Holman Christian Standard Bible, because they are modern and well translated (with the NRSV being the standard choice for academic work). If I am going to speak or teach on a single verse or word from the Bible (e.g. 'love'), I use the original Hebrew and Greek texts, with dictionaries and lexionaries to grasp original meaning. In any online writing, I use the World English Bible (WEB) because I find it a good translation and it is free to use. I'm sure you can see the logic in why I use different versions for different purposes.

There are of course translations in almost every single language in the world, so my emphasis on English isn't suggesting everyone should read in English! It's just that the most translations exist in English. In conclusion, I say look at different translations in your own language, and then do some research to work out which one you like the sound of. Again, remember there are places online that compare them and offer texts to try out.

Special focus Bibles

There is a popular market today for special focus Bibles, usually put together either by publishing houses or well known Christian leaders. These Bibles have notes within them, alongside the Bible text, emphasizing whatever special focus they have chosen, which might be something relating to kids, teenagers, women, men, leaders, teachers, and a whole host of topics such as worship, preaching, and the Holy Spirit. These kinds of Bibles can be very useful if you want to understand an issue or subject within the Bible. There are two things to watch out for though; firstly, it is important to remember that the notes are not the Bible, but somebody's comment upon it (which is easy to forget when they are on the same page). Secondly, it is possible to get a slightly distorted view of the emphasis of the Bible when somebody is constantly drawing your attention to a single issue or perspective. Again, these Bibles can be really helpful though, so don't be put off from getting something that catches your interest. General study Bibles are also a good source of digging deeper as they can have helpful introductory and explanatory notes, as well as maps and pictures to give you a better understanding of the original setting and meaning of a text.

Reading the Bible

It's perhaps an obvious statement, but the Bible is designed for reading! Unfortunately, in its history the church has often been against 'ordinary' people reading the Bible, instead thinking it the domain of the 'experts', usually meaning the clergy. However, the Bible was written in the basic language of its day and was meant for everyone, and indeed one of the purposes of the Jewish Bar-mitzvah is to say that a young man has the right to read the scriptures for himself. In Church history, some of the greatest social and spiritual movements have occurred when ordinary people read the Bible (examples would be the Reformation of 500 years ago and the South American liberation movements of the 1960s). The Bible is designed for reading and as such does not need a handbook to operate it! Someone also once said that it is the only book in the world where the author promises to be present every time you read it!.

Personally, I did find simply reading the Bible difficult at first, because it was such a closed book to me in a lot of ways. Below I'd like to share a handful of random points that make reading easier, but took me a while to realize. Forgive me if they are too basic for where you are at. They are:

You don't have to start at the beginning of the Bible! That can work if you have a lot of determination, but if for example you are interested in finding out about Jesus, this method means you begin about 800 pages from him appearing!

Reference the point above; For the Christian message, look at the New Testament first. Understanding the Old Testament gives vital insight into the New Testament (NT) because it contains the Jewish history and religion of Jesus and the people he was speaking too. It is a good idea to start reading the NT with Matthew, Mark, or Luke (they all basically contain the same story of Jesus' life), and then John (again, about Jesus, but more about what he said).

Reading the book of Acts will tell you about the start of the Church (it's about the 'acts' that Jesus' disciples did after he had physically left them)

When you read the rest of the New Testament, it is mainly teaching and discussion about what it means to be a Christian. Remember that in their original form these were not text books with chapters and verses, but letters from one person to another, or to a group of people.

If you read the book of Revelation, then remember it's in picture language. Some say that it was written like this to stop the authorities (the Romans) from understanding its message and destroying it. It's a complex book and there are a lot of different ideas about what it means. It's interesting and important stuff, but perhaps not the main thing to think about initially when seeking a relationship with God.

When you read the Old Testament, the books are not in historical order, so it won't make sense chronologically like reading a novel. It is however helpful to know where each book fits into the historical time frame and an internet search will offer a number of sites showing this. The appendix to this book has a short outline of the narrative story of the Bible which is also helpful to know in order to grasp the 'big picture' of what it is about.

Do I need a reading plan?

When I first picked up the Bible, aged about twenty four, I didn't have a reading plan but just started at the beginning like you would with any book. I then realized that I also needed to flip around and look at different passages and subjects that caught my eye. I can remember one weekday when I'd been going to church for a few months, and I'd become really frustrated at my inability to understand or believe. I felt really torn between the world I had lived in for so many years and the world of God and religion that I had now become aware of. I had a moan at God and just picked up the Bible and began to read, and immediately came across the book of James, which explains that if we are double-minded about God, then we will be like a wave of the sea, tossed about by the wind (chapter 1). That was exactly how I felt and it was my first experience of feeling that God had answered me personally from the Bible. This is where the Bible gets interesting I think, in the claim that it is a 'living' text that can speak to your personal situation. As I've said previously, you have to be careful about thinking everything is a message or instruction, but there are times when it is not unreasonable to see a word from God in what we happen to be reading.

So, as to a reading plan, you can read randomly, and you can approach reading systematically, but you have to work out what is best for you. I think combining the approaches is the best method. In that way, you are working systematically through the different sections of the Bible and seeing the patterns that are in its stories and teachings, whilst by seeking out particular passages and verses you can discover things appropriate to where you are at. At some point, most Christians decide to take on the 'read the Bible in a year' challenge, and there are special Bibles and programmes you can get to do this kind of systemized reading. There are phone apps and printable reading plans that can get you through the Bible in anything from a few months through to five years, depending on how much you want to read each day. A friend of mine decided that having become a Christian she needed to check to see if there was anything in the Bible that she absolutely could not accept, so she read the whole thing in a week! They say it takes about 80 hours of reading to make it from cover to cover so that is some going!

Caution!

As I've already pointed out, we ought to show caution with things like just picking out verses and thinking literally about them, or dwelling morbidly on apocalyptic books and passages. A tip about ensuring we read in context is that if you find a difficult verse, read from at least a chapter or two back and approach the verse or passage with some background. This should give you the broader context. You can also get commentaries which discuss what something might mean. As for apocalyptic literature like Daniel and Revelation, then it is interesting to read but some people really do get hung up on them, looking for signs about the end of the world or who the anti-Christ might be. Very cheerful stuff! It is just my opinion, but balanced, consistent, and diverse reading is the best way to learn for most.

Bible Study

Bible Study and Bible reading are similar, but it's just that with Bible Study it is more careful and considered. It is the difference between walking through an art gallery and enjoying the paintings (Bible reading), and then taking time in front of each work with a brochure and studying its artist, its colours and textures, and the fuller meaning of the pieces (Bible study). In order to study, you will however need some supplementary resources to give you insights and understanding that you might not discover otherwise. For example, if you read a book explaining Jewish Biblical customs, then the Old Testament will make much more sense. That said, Bible also does a good job of interpreting itself. For example, reading the Old Testament book of Leviticus makes the New Testament book of Hebrews much richer because they are both explaining something about sacrifices. You do have to get that kind of information from somewhere though and my main advice would always be to look at different sources when you are researching something. There are some Bible scholars who will tell you that God authored the Bible, and other Bible scholars who will tell you that God does not even exist! That is why it is good to avoid becoming an avid 'follower' of particular teachers or authors, to the exclusion of all others. I'd encourage you to arrive at opinions that are well considered and not borrowed from somebody else without thought. In the book of Acts it tells of how early Bible teachers such as the Apostle Paul went from place to place sharing what they had learned, The following passage gives a good pointer to the attitude we ought to take when hearing somebody teaching what we should believe:

The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the Jewish Synagogue. Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, examining the Scripture daily to see whether these things were so. (Acts 17:10,11)

So, like the Bereans, anything we are asked to believe needs to be studied and questioned, examined and pondered over. To accept such important ideas at face value isn't faith, unless you think blind faith is a good thing.

So, in summary, I personally think that the Bible is the most important resource for the Christian. I'd encourage you to read it, study it, talk about it with others, and discover it for yourself. If you are ever going to understand or believe it, you have got to know it.

The next important thing I'd like to discuss is prayer, which has been called the oxygen of the Christian life.

Prayer

One of the most common things people who are new to faith say is that they don't know how to pray. The truth is that if you can think, you can pray. Prayer is just communicating, whether in your mind, or by speaking or writing, and there's even an argument that our feelings can be a type of prayer that God hears (there's an old Gospel song that has the line 'tears are a language that God understands'). Prayer then is just communication with God and requires no special gift or language. It's just talking.

However, I do not want to dismiss the anxieties anyone might have about prayer, so let us look at some issues around it.

Praying and doubting

The original title for this book was 'Forgive me God, but do you exist?' which gives you some idea of my own double mindedness when I began praying to God. I have spent a lot of my Christian life swinging (in varying degrees) between faith and doubt. My struggle with doubt was debilitating at times, not least because I often came across passages that made me feel pretty inadequate. They included:

But the righteous will live by faith. If he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him (Hebrews 10:38)

And,

Without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to him, for he who comes to God must believe that he exists, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him (Hebrews 11:6)

I read these kinds of things and felt crushed, which made it hard to pray or ask questions without feeling condemned by my doubt. Then, one day I came across a story that gave me some hope. Jesus once found his disciples praying unsuccessfully for a sick boy, and so he approached them to see what was happening. The story then goes like this,

[Jesus] asked [the boy's] father, "how long has it been since this has come to him?" He said, "From childhood. Often it has cast him both into the fire and into the water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us, and help us." Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." Immediately the father of the child cried out with tears, "I believer. Help my unbelief!" (Mark 9:21-24)

The moment I read that I realized there were other doubters like me, even in the Bible! When the man said, 'I believe! Help me overcome my unbelief', I felt like it was my own voice crying out. I assumed that Jesus was going to tell him he was a miserable unbelieving wretch (like me) and to come back when he had made up his mind about believing. Instead, without judgment, Jesus turns to the boy and heals him. I think the lesson is that faith is a journey and we can all struggle with internal conflicts, but God understands this and will help us.

I have to be honest and say that for me faith has also been a road that I have driven down and reversed back up a few times. I know I am making progress, but I also slip back on issues and questions I thought I'd resolved, although these days I know it doesn't mean my journey has ended. We all have doubts, and seasons of doubt that might be in response to things like bereavement, but that is very different from hardened unbelief. To have unbelief is to have been provided with evidence for faith, but then to choose not to believe. I think these are two very different positions, and I don't think the doubts of a genuine seeker could stop answers from God, even if our initial prayers begin, 'I'm struggling to believe you are there God, but if you are, can I ask you a question?'

We all have to start somewhere and a little honesty goes a long way.

What is the point of praying?

There are certainly a whole range of possible answers to this question! They include that we pray to communicate, to seek direction, understanding, peace, or often prayer is made for others or situations we are not connected to in any way (earthquakes, famines etc). Personally, I think that the first purpose of prayer is to establish and maintain a relationship with God. To my understanding, Christianity is not primarily a religious system, but a means of relationship with God. That's why the language of the New Testament is so often that of Father, son, child, and the parables often use the language of family (as in the Prodigal son in Luke 15). So, my opinion is that the point of prayer is relationship rather than just a means of presenting a 'things to do' list.

Prayer can be a strange thing to do, especially when we first do it because we are making the shift from talking 'about' God, to talking 'to' God. At first, praying wasn't something that I really understood or wanted to talk to anyone about, maybe in part because I'm from a family where God wasn't on the agenda. I remember when my Granddad was in his 80s and had been quite ill, I thought I would like to pray for him, but the idea of talking to him about it filled me with terror! We'd only ever talked about cars, motorbikes and gardens! However, when I went to visit him one time, and we'd finished talking about cars, motorbikes, and gardens, I plucked up courage to tell him that I did pray for him (I was helped somewhat by a tot of rum he'd given me, he being an ex-Navy man). Expecting a blank expression or laugh, I was amazed when he thanked me and said he thought it did help! That night we prayed together and he reeled off prayers and scriptures that he had learned 75 years earlier whilst at Sunday School! In this instance prayer brought me and my Granddad into an unexpected spiritual closeness in our relationship. The purpose of prayer is the same in our relationship with God. It's not primarily about what we get, but rather how it connects us.

Who am I praying to?

This is a technical point, and I'm sorry to create an issue if the thought had not occurred to you before, but at some point most Christians look at the relationship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and ask, 'which one am I praying to?!'

As with many other Biblical and theological debates, there are different answers! I'll try to give you a balanced picture of what the Bible says and some different Christian ideas about it.

In teaching us to pray in what we call the 'Lord's Prayer', Jesus says we should begin by saying,

Our Father... (Matthew 6 & Luke 11)

This makes a lot of sense, because we are going to the Father in prayer (Jesus also suggests this in John 16:23). Others point out that Jesus also said,

Whatever you will ask in my name, I will do it, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you will ask anything in my name, I will do it. (John 14:13,14)

This passage makes a point that it is only through Jesus intermediary role that we can approach God the Father. So, we have access to God's ear through Jesus, but many Charismatic or Pentecostal Christians (which is my own church background) also stress the importance of the Holy Spirit in opening our minds and delivering answers to prayer (as taught in passages in John chapters 14 and 16). This relationship between Father, Son and Holy Spirit is deeply interwoven within these passages, especially in John. Some denominations believe everything should be directed at Jesus, but generally most Christians will address Jesus and the Father interchangeably, and I think you'd struggle to find a clear Biblical theology that condemns such an approach. Personally, I tend to begin prayer using 'Father' and conclude by saying something like 'in the name of Jesus' or 'through Jesus my Lord'. However, even as a Pentecostal, I don't think there's Biblical support for praying to the Holy Spirit, but I recognize some think differently.

I can't imagine that God is sitting in heaven saying he won't listen because we've not fully understood the Trinity, because if he were, then the teaching about it in the Bible would be crystal clear. I do think that the Bible is clear about us as individuals approaching God personally and directly. We can have people pray for us, but to think that our route to God is through any other person than Jesus is not found in the Bible. It states that there is only one mediator between us and God, and that is Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5).

How to pray...

I have to hesitate when I hear anyone talking about 'how to pray' because, as the above discussion suggests, technicalities can lead us down all kinds of anxiety inspiring paths. At one church I was at there was a lovely lady who felt that the prayer meeting wasn't really 'getting through' to God and was far too unspiritual. Foolishly perhaps, the minster decided to allow her to lead a prayer meeting and show us how it should be done (ok, I confess I was that minister). What the 'superior' prayer session consisted of was this lady berating the unspiritual attendees for 80% of the time, followed by a rushed time of actually praying (her criticism afterwards being that people were uncommitted because we had to finish at a certain time and there wasn't time to pray!). I rather naughtily wondered if God liked the sound of her voice as much as she did. Different Churches, people, and traditions, simply have different approaches.

I think our attitude to prayer is as important as our understanding of it. Jesus tells a story of two men going up to the temple in Jerusalem to pray, one being a devout Jew and the other a sinner. The Jew begins his prayer by boldly offering God his qualifications, thanking him that he wasn't a wretch like the sinner standing behind him. The sinner however won't even lift his eyes up to God, but beats his chest and asks for God's mercy. Jesus says that the sinner went away more justified before God than the self-righteous man (Luke 18:9-14). This tells you a lot about the spirit of prayer being more important than the technicalities of it.

Another thing to consider is that models of prayer are often a matter of culture and personal preference. At the first church I attended, the prayer meeting was quite formal, although very passionate in its expression. Everyone knelt at chairs and prayed out-loud together, and people were not afraid to pray loudly and vigorously, and it really was quite a spectacle. With as many as forty people praying at high volume together, at times it sounded like a fight had broken out! Being a new Christian, I found it very difficult to pray in this environment, but I kept going back because I obviously needed to learn how to do this thing. In the meantime, I would go out for walks in the forest and talk to God, usually in my mind, about the things I was trying to work out, including my inability to pray. I didn't tell anyone about this because it wasn't really praying, but just walking and talking to God. Then I read somewhere that John Bunyan, the author of the best selling Christian book ever written, The Pilgrim's Progress, did much of his praying whilst walking in the fields around Bedfordshire where he lived. I then noticed that in the Old Testament God usually called people out for a walk in the desert in order to speak to them (Abraham, Moses, Jeremiah), and in the New Testament Jesus often goes into the hills or a garden to pray. The truth is, I still can't offer concentrated prayer for long in large gatherings where everyone is praying loudly together. It's just not the environment where my brain or spirituality functions best. People who do pray loudly like this are not in the wrong, but I am not in the wrong either. We all have ways of doing things that suit our culture, personal sensibilities, intellect or whatever it is that appeals to us. Forcing yourself to pray in a way that does not connect at your end will never connect at God's end!

With that thought in mind, I would like to offer some models of prayer. There may be other ways, and again, it's not a prescription, but I do want you to get some idea about the variety of prayer types because I was torturing myself in that prayer meeting for about five years before I heard of John Bunyan!

Some Prayer models

By models I mean frameworks or patterns that help you to actually 'do' prayer. In fact, the Lord 's Prayer is a Biblical example of a working model for prayer. If you consider each aspect of that prayer, it really does offer a well rounded selection of 'headings' in terms of the subjects it covers. So, as well as praying it straight through, we can use the Lord's Prayer as a structure of 'headings' to remind us of the important things to pray about. It goes as follows (comments in brackets are mine),

Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy (offering worship)

Let your kingdom come. Let your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth (showing a desire for God's will)

Give us today our daily bread (asking for help)

Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors (seeking and extending forgiveness)

Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one (a desire for avoiding wrong, and to live a holy life)

For yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever (recognition of God's authority, ability, and worthiness)

So, from this a way of praying emerges, giving important headings and emphases that will help us to pray in a good way, for the right things.

Another prayer aid memoire is the 'ACTS' acronym. This simply offers four line cluster of headings to bring order to our prayer, and goes like this:

A – Adoration (worship of God)

C – Confession (admitting faults, clearing the air)

T – Thanksgiving (showing appreciation)

S – Supplication (requests and questions)

Again, this offers a good outline for praying with purpose and direction.

It is important to remember that models of prayer are not a magic formula, but just a means of finding some direction and order. Such formulas are good for heading off the distracting thoughts that can come into our minds whilst we are praying (my prayers sometimes go, 'Father I praise you [I need to clean the car this afternoon] and thank you for your love').

Other methods, particularly in certain traditions, use physical things like a 'holding cross'. These are designed to concentrate the attention of the person praying. Some Christians insist that these things are vital, and some Christians insist that they are wrong for one reason or another. Whatever the opinion, focus on God and not the model or object should be the outcome.

Prayer Resources

Prayer might be the most written about and discussed subject in resources that aid spiritual growth. If you visit a Christian bookshop, whether online or in the high street, you will be bewildered by the range of prayer resources available. They include, books, daily reading devotionals, recordings, meditations, DVD teachings, workbooks, mobile phone apps and a host of things I probably can't imagine. If you are the sort of person that likes to work with something as an aid to thinking or concentration, then check out some of these things for yourself.

Written prayers

I once borrowed a Bible from an old lady at church, just to look something up, and noticed that the edges of the pages in the centre of it were dramatically more grubby than the outer pages. I opened in the middle of these well thumbed pages and found the Psalms. This made me curious so I began to ask all the older people if I could have a look at their Bibles and noticed that almost every one of them had visible evidence that the Psalms were often accessed. I think the simple reason for this is that they reflect the experience of being human, and of being a person who wants to know God. Their subjects and moods sweep from glorious praise of God and marveling at his wonders, to sighing weariness and the bitter depths of darkness and depression, sometimes in the same passage. The authors of Psalms poured out their hearts and souls through the written word and this can be done by any one of us who wish to, by writing down our prayers. A song writing friend of mine once said to me that all of his praying was done on paper. He said that one of the great things about this was that he had been able to retrace his spiritual journey and look at the things he had struggled with, and the things that he had overcome. You don't have to be a songwriter or poet to find meaning and value in writing out your prayers, because it is a good means of expressing your heart and soul in a tangible way. I have often written out my thoughts towards God and the things that are going on in my life, and it can be very satisfying to have a product of your prayer.

Using the Bible to Pray

Sometimes it is difficult to express ourselves, which is why we buy greetings cards, or like a particular poet or songwriter, because they help us to say what we are feeling. We can also use the Bible in this way, as a means to pray and express ourselves to God. As I've already said, the Psalms are excellent in this regard as they convey the full range of human emotion, being full of honesty and humanity. Some great examples are Psalms 25 and 51 for when we feel we have failed, or 37 and 139 when needing to know that God is with us. Psalms 19 and 104 are inspiring for praising God in the context of nature, whilst Psalms 46 and 69 are comforting for anyone feeling overwhelmed by their situation.

Another way to pray with the Bible is to look at the promises God makes, and then express confidence in him fulfilling them in your life. It's not that we should demand something saying 'Hey God, you said here that you would do this', but it is reasonable to ask God to protect, or provide, or guide according to the promises of his word. In any relationship, we can sometimes become frustrated if we feel that the other party is not doing the things we hope they would, and this is a perfectly acceptable discussion to have with God as we seek to understand our situation. As mentioned previously, a biblical example would be the book of Job, which is basically about a good man, faithful to God, but who loses everything dear to him. Job rants and complains about his situation as he works towards understanding what is going on, and eventually God answers him. I have definitely ranted at God on a number of occasions and he's never struck me with lightening yet (!), and a story like that of Job helps us to think and pray through our issues, knowing others have struggled in similar ways before.

The New Testament also has examples of people praying that we can use as inspiration. We can also look at the words of Jesus in the Gospels, and especially John chapters 10-17, using them as springboards for inviting God to speak and work in our lives.

Prayer in groups

Some people are the opposite of me and struggle to pray alone, finding more inspiration when praying with others. There are a number of ways to do this. Firstly, most church services will have opportunities for group prayer, sometimes led by a person at the front and sometimes when the congregation prays together. Dedicated prayer meetings can also be inspiring, and not all will be like the ones I have described so far (although if that style suits you, then great). There are also house groups at many churches which are more intimate and offer more opportunities to ask questions and share in greater confidence. Another great way to pray is to find a 'prayer partner' to meet with. This can be done in person, on the phone, or even via e-mail or social networking. I had a friend I met with every Tuesday morning before work for over five years. We would just talk and pray about anything and everything and it was great for both motivation and support.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I would say that praying ought to be as natural as breathing if we would allow ourselves to understand it that way. One passage in the New Testament says that we should 'pray continually' (1 Thessalonians 5:17), which would be very difficult if our perception of prayer was only that of kneeling with eyes closed and hands clasped! I wouldn't want to be a passenger with that driver! To pray continually means to employ different approaches at different times; always remaining conscious of God. Finally, let us always remember that prayer is not about a formula, but rather a way of developing and expressing our relationship with God.

In the final section I want to look at what might the most problematic aspect of Christian life. Going to Church!

Going to church

My first experiences of going to church felt more like I was entering a hospital for surgery or a police station for questioning! My hands were clammy and my heart was racing, and whilst walking the few feet from the car to the front door I almost turned back about six times. Walking through that door I felt as though every person had turned around and thought in unison, 'what is he doing here?' Part of my anxiety was because it was a Black Church and I was the only White person there. Large damp patches extended from my armpits and I could feel the beginnings of a patch in the middle of my back. I tried to judge the end of the service and disappeared to the toilet in order to wash my sweaty palms and fan my armpits. Unfortunately, I did not know that two hours and fifteen minutes was an average length of a Black Church service, and so washed my hands at fifty-five minutes (and again at one-and-a-half hours and two hours). When the service did finish, many people hugged me, thus feeling the damp patch that had now formed on my back. I didn't plan to go back as I was afraid I might die of dehydration in one of these services! I have no recollection of what songs we (they) sang that night, or what was said, or what the sermon was about. I do remember that I was sweaty, the band was amazing, and that people were really nice, and so I did go back.

Out of this world

Most 'normal' people find the experience of God, religion and Church a bit uncomfortable, and perhaps even odd or slightly disturbing. I did genuinely find the church folks friendly when I first went, but felt they were a bit 'other' somehow, and not very easy to relate to, perhaps even appearing a little too nice. Years later, as a church minister myself, I've always enjoyed this interplay between 'church people' and 'non-church people' at events that brought them together. I remember my first Christening service where I tried to soften the experience for the non-churchgoing attendees by telling them not to worry about their kids making noise, and that they should just relax. I delivered an informal service with all of my best jokes and the place roared with laughter and afterwards the air rang with my praises from the non-church folks. I was pretty pleased with myself until the Church leaders meeting the following week. All felt the service had been irreverent, overly jovial, and chaotic with the kids running around, whilst also misplaced in focus (on the Christening party and not on God). It seems my attempts to make everyone feel comfortable were in the eyes of the Church leaders a failure. I was stunned because I thought that I had succeeded in making the Christening party feel at ease. I had hoped to make the experience a 'normal' one so that people would want to come again, but not many of them did so I guess it really was a failure.

I think my eagerness to make people feel at home in church was (is) because I hate stories of spiky Vicars that tell the bridal party that 'no, they can't have a particular song playing whilst she walks in' and that there is a £75 'furnishings' cost (even when they have stone floors) and another £75 if they want to film the service. It seems to me that the church is often the main stumbling block for people who are beginning to think about God. I heard a Christmas sermon once which said that people seeking faith don't get to see Jesus clearly because they have to look at him through the dirty window that is the church.

My experience, having been on both sides of the fence, is that the Church often struggles to know how to present something meaningful and relevant to ordinary people who are just visiting or looking. It's either cold formality and wordy liturgies that are mainly enjoyed by the clergy and those 'in the know' or, at the other end of the scale, a bunch of folks that jump and shout whilst being a little too 'in your face' with God. I once took a non-Christian friend (often encouragingly called an 'unsaved' person in Church circles) to a gospel concert. We had been having conversations about faith and I thought it was the perfect place to introduce him to the Church in a positive manner. However, a rather excitable chap who was a member of my church got so worked up during the event that he ran across and grabbed my friend by the shoulders and demanded he repent and 'get saved'. My friend ran out of the service and had to calm down over a cigarette for half an hour before coming back in. He didn't come back again.

I admit that there is a reasonable argument that says people are 'freaked out' by church because as a society and culture we have moved so far away from spiritual things. However, I'd still have to say that much of the strangeness I have witnessed in Christians and in Church during the last twenty years are not always reasonable manifestations of Biblical teachings, principles or ministries. It's just odd people doing odd things.

I have of course been hard on the church here and admit that for many first-time visitors, perhaps most, the experience of church is a positive one. The main thing is that whilst visiting or joining a church can have its issues, it is an essential part of being a Christian. A pastor I knew used to say, 'if you find a perfect church, then don't go there; you'll spoil it!'

Finding a Church

If you have never been to church before, then reading what I have written above might fill you with trepidation, but as I've also said it is an important part of the ongoing journey and you will find a lot of great people in most churches. I've often heard people say, 'I'm a believer, but I don't feel the need to go to church', and whilst this is a position I respect, I'm not sure it is a biblical one. Going to church doesn't necessarily make you a Christian, but if you are a Christian then going to church ought to be natural. It's a place where you can learn so much about God and how life relates to him. Finding somewhere that you feel happy with can however be a challenge, but it is not an impossible one. Let me highlight a few things that you might want to consider when looking for a place to feel at home in.

The first challenge is understanding what 'denominations' are. A denomination is an organization of Christians that identify themselves with a particular way of interpreting the Bible and being a Christian. Some emphasize the importance of social justice, others holiness of life, whilst others the day of the week on which you attend church, and still others the way you are baptized. That is why some have some of their main emphases included in the name of the church (e.g. Baptists and Wesleyan Holiness). It is reported that there are several thousand different Christian denominations in the world today, which is absolutely staggering and completely unhelpful if you are looking for the 'right' church! Most denominations have a 'statement of faith' or 'creed' that you can have a look at, either online or by request. I'd be cautious about any who say 'we just believe the Bible' as this usually suggests they have their own odd way of believing it! What I am basically saying is that the core beliefs of any church you associate yourself with does have a bearing on the teaching you will receive.

Differing Christian Perspectives

My first church was Pentecostal and after about four months of attending services and Bible studies I signed up for an ecumenical (all churches) theology course at the local University. My first few classes were a massive wakeup call! With Baptists, Catholics, Pentecostals, Holiness traditions, Church of England, and Seventh Day Christians all in the same room I soon realized that not every Christian Church believes the Bible in the same way! It was both confusing and liberating because whilst I suddenly began to wonder what and who was right, it also made me determined to be an independent student of my faith, rather than towing the 'denominational line'. Consequently I have never been afraid to look at different perspectives because in that way I am more confident and humble about that the things I do believe. As I have mentioned earlier, I have great anxieties about religious movements that have a single source for publishing all of their literature, whilst discouraging you to look at other perspectives. In my view such groups are seeking to control your thinking.

The Benefits

As I've shared already, the church can be an odd, painful and even disturbing place, but I have stuck with it for over twenty years for two reasons; Firstly, because I have found God to be real, and being part of a church is central to expressing that relationship, and secondly, because I have found so much support, encouragement, opportunity and love in the church. I told you about that prayer meeting I struggled with for five years, but what I perhaps didn't convey is that they were the most loving bunch of people you could imagine. Some of the older ladies would bring me cake, or fried chicken, and would warn me to be careful about how I was living my life, and how to get the best out of it. The old boys would talk to me about the Christian journey and how to deal with issues that arise at work. I couldn't pray in the way they did, but I certainly got something out of going. The Sunday services were great opportunities to meet people too, and to take part in worship, and listen to a sermon that would give me something to think about. I developed a whole network of new friends who were positive and good people, and that is not something you can find just anywhere in life. As for those people who were a bit odd or troublesome to me, they were very easily avoidable. They also offered me good practice for the new 'love your neighbour' principle I was trying to work out! It is also true that some people I once found difficult have become my friends. It also occurs to me that maybe I was odd to them too.

The church can be a great place, and somewhere that connects us with resources, education and learning, and not just in faith matters. Many of the churches I have been involved in have had connections with the community and given me the opportunity to get involved with all kinds of helping and charity work. As well as being helpful to others, this experience has also pushed me to grow personally and being able to put some of that work on my CV has even helped me to get better jobs. Church can be messy, but church is good too.

Conclusion

These three things of the Bible, Prayer, and the Church are fundamental to Christian life, being the key places where your journey with God can find information and answers. I would simply encourage you to employ and enjoy them all.

The Final Word...

If you have made it this far in reading this book, then I can only assume that you have a genuine desire to discover what there is to know about God. My instinct is to perhaps try and clinch the deal here, and begin to appeal to your heart about believing in and accepting Jesus as part of your life, but that isn't really the approach I want to take. Persuasion is not what this book is about, so instead I'll just say thank you for reading, and that I hope you discover the reality of God in Jesus, as so many others have. From here, it has to be a continuation of your own journey of discovery, which will require action on your part. I'd like to encourage you to read the Bible, to pray, to find Christians and a Church to visit (of course, I realize that you might already be doing these things). You may have some decisions and choices to make about where you go from here. What you decide is important, but why you decide is equally important.

I'm often asked why I believe in God. Why am I willing to give my whole life to something that is not really fashionable, and perhaps even a bit odd? It is not because of what I 'feel', because on my way to church some Sunday mornings I look at the closed bedroom curtains of my neighbours and 'feel' I'd like to be back in bed too! The truth is I'm a Christian because I cannot deny within myself what I have experienced. I have seen my life change internally and externally, taking me from somebody who does not believe, to somebody who spends their life believing and doing God things. The only response I can give to the question Does God Answer? is that in my experience and life, He has. My prayer is that you will seek and find Him for yourself, and let me encourage you that whatever people tell you about God, let Him have the final word.

Appendix: The story of the Bible

It is important to realize that the Bible does have an unfolding story as winding and dramatic as any novel or romantic adventure. Once you grasp this narrative it helps you to make much more sense of the Bible's individual stories, happenings and teachings. The following chapter is my own paraphrased outline of the main thread of the Bible, particularly from the perspective of God's unfolding plan to bring humanity forgiveness, peace, and restored relationship with him. I've tried to say it just as it is, without adding much in the way of explanation or my own emphasis. Please remember that reading this outline is not like reading the Bible, any more than a trailer for a film is the actual film!

The Old Testament

In the Beginning...

In the beginning God made everything, including stars, planets, the earth, and all living things, including humans. The humans had a great relationship with God and they spent time talking and just being together every day. There was only one rule in the relationship, which was that they were commanded not to eat fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Having been deceived into thinking this forbidden knowledge was a good thing, the first humans decided they would eat the fruit, regardless of God's instructions. The result of choosing their own way instead of God's was that the relationship between humans was damaged and their relationship with God was also broken. Leaving the garden where they had walked with God, they headed off to live in a world without God.

A Hostile World

The decision of those first people affected all of the generations that followed them. Brother's killed brothers, and the world was now a dangerous, hostile place to live. As a consequence, the struggle to survive made people selfish and wicked, so rather dramatically, God decided to start again. He destroyed the world with a flood, saving just the family of one righteous man, Noah, to start again. Unfortunately, as righteous as this family was, they were not perfect and even after the fresh start, their descendents were just as bad as any before the flood.

A New Family

God now took a different approach, and promising not to destroy the world with a flood again, he chose just one man to be the beginning of a new family that would be an example to the others on earth. The man's name was Abram. Abram didn't have any children when God called him, but in time his wife became pregnant and the family began. Abram's son was called Isaac, and his grandson was called Jacob. God changed Jacob's name to Israel, and he had twelve sons, who then became the twelve tribes of Israel.

One of Israel's sons, Joseph, was hated by his brothers because he was his father's favourite and because God had told Joseph that he would be greater than all of his family, including his parents. To get rid of him, Joseph's brothers sold him to slave traders heading for Egypt, telling their father that he had been killed by a wild animal.

Amazingly, Joseph did well in Egypt and won the favour of his master, but a false accusation from his master's wife saw Joseph arrested and put in prison. After some difficult years Joseph was called upon to interpret a dream for the Pharaoh and his ability and wisdom led him to become Egypt's top official. Joseph's skills meant he saved the whole nation from a famine, and it was during this famine that his brothers came to Egypt to buy food, not realizing the great Egyptian they were buying from was their brother. Joseph hid his identity for a while, but after a time the family was reunited (the brothers thought Joseph was going to kill them, but he was merciful instead, recognizing God's plan to save them). The whole of Joseph's family, about seventy of them, came to live in Egypt.

Slaves in Egypt

Long after Joseph was dead, his family became a huge community and a new Pharaoh, who knew nothing of Joseph, made them into slaves, fearing they would take over the country. He even had their babies killed to try and stop them multiplying, but one child escaped through a series of miracles and ended up in a top position in Pharaoh's family, just as Joseph had. His name was Moses, and when he grew up he discovered who he was and so wanted to help the Hebrew people. After killed an Egyptian to free a Hebrew, he had to flee the country and settle in a foreign land where he found a job as a shepherd.

Decades later, Moses was looking after his sheep one day when he saw a bush on fire, so he went over to look at it. Shockingly, God spoke out of the flames and told Moses He was sending him back to Egypt to rescue all of Israel's descendents. Although not happy about it, Moses went to Pharaoh and demanded he let the Hebrews go free. Obviously, Pharaoh resisted but after God had struck the whole land with plagues and terrible losses, the Hebrews were freed. Many years previously, God had promised Abram that his descendents would inherit a land north of Egypt, called Canaan, and they would live there in great peace and provision. Moses' job was to lead them there to see the promise fulfilled.

The Ten Commandments

Before heading off to possess the land of Canaan, God led the Israelites to a mountain called Sinai, where he said He would teach the people what his expectations were. Moses went up on the mountain and God gave him the Ten Commandments that would bring life and prosperity to the people. The commandments were (my paraphrase):

Love God first

Do not make pictures or statues of other gods

Do not use God's name as a swear word

Keep one day per week (the Sabbath) as a day of rest

Have respect for your parents

Don't kill anyone

Don't commit adultery

Don't steal

Don't tell lies about anyone

Don't want what your neighbour has

Unfortunately, Moses found that even after God's commandments had been made clear, the Hebrews were a difficult bunch to lead and what should have been a few weeks journey into the Promised Land (Canaan), turned into a grueling forty year hike in the desert. The Ten Commandments were the core of the law that Moses recorded, but he also recorded further detail about how people should love God, love each other, make sacrifices, prepare food, and generally live a life that would be happy and pleasing to God. Moses died just as they were about to cross over into the Promised Land, but before he did he told the nation that they should be careful to do everything that God wanted, or the consequences would be their own fault.

In the Promised Land

Moses had trained up an assistant called Joshua who became the people's leader after the death of Moses. They crossed into the Promised Land but had to fight a lot of battles to win the land from the people that had settled there. This took many years to do until eventually, when the land was theirs, Joshua died, but also warned the people to remember God and follow the commandments. Unfortunately, it seems that the people completely forgot God and the things he had done to bring them so far.

New Leaders for Israel

A new system of leadership was set up in Israel, where Judges were appointed to lead and make decisions for the people. This was a difficult job as the people were still unruly and many issues arose for the Judges to deal with. God continually appointed prophets from among the people to remind them of the importance of keeping the commandments and putting their trust in God. After some time, the people noticed that the nations around them all had Kings, so they went to the most senior prophet, Samuel, and demanded that they too should have a King. God told Samuel this was a rejection of him (God), because only he should have been King, but after they pressed him, a man named Saul was crowned as King. Samuel prophesied that demanding a king was going to be a mistake and sure enough, Saul did become an evil King and led the nation into a worse state than it was before. He was eventually killed in battle.

God's Choice of King

Before Saul was killed, God had already chosen a new King in the person of a young man named David. He was an honourable man and had many gifts, including being a great warrior, a gifted poet, and most importantly, someone with a deep love for God. David led Israel in what would be the 'Golden Era' of their history, with prosperity and success on every side. However, David did have his faults and also brought problems to Israel with his impulsive ways. In the latter part of his life, God spoke to David about the establishment of a permanent Temple in Jerusalem, and gave instructions that David's son Solomon would be the one to see it through. After David's death, this work was completed and the temple established.

One of the characteristics David and his son Solomon shared was the ability to speak both wisely and poetically. Along with others they wrote songs (psalms), philosophy and poetry for the people of God to use in worship.

The Time of the Kings

The following generations of Kings brought very difficult times for the nation of Israel, not least because Solomon's sons caused a split that divided it into two kingdoms, Israel and Judah. The successive Kings who ruled varied in their devotion to God and ability to lead, often bringing the land into idolatrous practices that attracted God's judgment. One of the Kings, Hezekiah brought them back to religious devotion, but foolishly let some Babylonian ambassadors see the wealth of the temple and their land. Despite warnings from prophets like Jeremiah, some years later the Babylonians attacked and took away both the wealth and the people back to Babylon. They also destroyed the temple built by Solomon.

Although some, like Daniel, prospered in Babylon, the event was by enlarge a disaster for the Israelites and their exile lasted 70 years.

The Return from Babylon

Eventually the Babylonians were overthrown by the Persians, and the new King was much more sympathetic towards the Israelites. Two Jewish men, Nehemiah and Ezra were significant in the great return to Jerusalem because they led the physical and spiritual rebuilding of the city and its people. However, many of the elderly, who had left 70 years earlier as young people, wept on returning because the new temple was only a shadow of what it had been. Nehemiah rebuilt the walls around Jerusalem whilst the Priest Ezra re-established the Law of Moses and Temple Worship. These things brought a degree of normality in Jerusalem as the people returned to a life of living in the land God had given them and worshipping Him at the Second Temple.

From the days of Moses and through all the writings and history of Israel, they were continually promised that God would one day send a Saviour; a Messiah who would once and for all save them from both their sins and their oppressors. At the end of the Old Testament, they were still waiting for their Messiah to come.

A note about the time in between the Old and New Testaments

There is a period of four hundred years in between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Perhaps the most significant development of this time is the invasion of Israel and Judah by the Greeks and then the Romans. The Roman captivity was not like the Babylonian invasion where the people were taken into exile, but the Israelites were ruled in their own land. By the time of The New Testament the Romans governed Judah, but they did allow such things as Temple Worship, religious government and local commerce to continue.

The New Testament (based on the chronology found in the Gospel of Luke)

In the days when Herod was king in Judea, a young woman called Mary had an unusual spiritual visitation. An angel told her she was going to find herself pregnant, and that it would be a miracle orchestrated by God. This unfolded as prophesied and eventually Mary gave birth to Jesus in a stable in Bethlehem. After a dramatic start to his life, which included an angelic announcement of it to shepherds, visits from Eastern wise men, an attempted assassination by King Herod and an escape to Egypt, Jesus and his family eventually returned to settle in Nazareth.

After a relatively ordinary upbringing and early adult life, Jesus started his public mission at the age of about 30. He was baptized by his cousin, John the Baptist, before being tempted in the wilderness by the Devil. Upon returning he began to preach, saying, 'Repent! For the Kingdom of God has come near!' He returned to Nazareth and went to the Synagogue and declared himself to be the Messiah. The people were shocked and angry that somebody they knew as an ordinary member of their community was now claiming to be God's chosen messenger, so they tried to kill him.

One of the unusual things about what Jesus was doing was that as well as speaking God's word, he was also healing people of spiritual and physical ailments. This began to attract large crowds, and so Jesus chose twelve men, both to assist him and learn from him. People were being healed of all manner of ailments, but what proved most disturbing to the religious authorities (the Pharisees and Sadducees) was that he was declaring people's sin's to be forgiven (something only God could do). He also upset 'righteous' people by spending time with sinners, even going into their houses for dinner.

Jesus' Teaching

To test out what his ideas were on matters like how to fast and how to keep the Sabbath, the Pharisees continually attempted to trick Jesus into contradicting the Law of Moses. Jesus preached and taught about the essence of faith and how to believe and live it. He spoke about loving enemies, about not judging others, and that a person's actions are produced by what is in their heart. He said that anyone who builds their lives on his words is like somebody who builds a house on a rock foundation, whilst any other belief is like building the house on sand, meaning it will eventually fall down.

Another surprising aspect of Jesus' work was his willingness to help those most others perceived as enemies. After being approached by a Roman Centurion, asking for his servant to be healed, Jesus said that he had not seen anyone with greater faith, even among God's people Israel! Part of Jesus message was that God's people had gone astray and lost the willingness to respond to God's love and call, which was why other peoples were coming to faith. This was a difficult message to hear, and Jesus further demonstrated it by helping anyone who was willing to come to him, even prostitutes and criminals. His message always sought to lead them to change their ways.

A Right Heart

Jesus described people as being like the soil that seeds are planted in. He said that if the seed is the Word of God, then our hearts are like the soil. The seed is always good, but our hearts are sometimes full of things that stop it growing, like stones or weeds, or we allow the seed to be stolen as they are by birds in an unprotected field. Good soil however produces a good crop.

Jesus passed on his authority and teaching to his twelve disciples and he sent them out in two's, doing the same things he had been doing. Whilst the disciples were successful, they often struggled to follow Jesus' example and power. They also began to debate about who was the greatest among them, to which Jesus responded by having a little child stand among them and declaring him to be the greatest, and that they should become like him. The disciples even wanted to use their new found power to destroy enemies, but Jesus stopped them. He also said that in following him they had better be prepared for a life that was harder, not easier. As time went on, their ministry grew and the disciples became more effective in what they were doing

Love your Neighbour.

One of the most difficult aspects of Jesus' teaching was his instruction to love even those who we ought to hate. In a discussion with religious experts they agreed that the two most important commandments which sum up the whole Law of Moses are 'Love God' and 'Love your neighbour'. They asked Jesus which neighbours they had to love, and so Jesus told them a story about a man who as robbed, beaten and left for dead. Jesus said that two religious people (like them) passed the man by, but then somebody stopped and helped (he was a Samaritan, a group hated by those listening). They had to agree that the Samaritan became a neighbour to the wounded man.

Jesus also taught his disciples how to pray, telling them to say:

Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us day by day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, as we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

Jesus emphasized that forgiving others was one of the keys to receiving forgiveness from God. He encouraged people to keep seeking God, promising that he would respond. Some thought Jesus was evil and said that he was in league with the Devil, but he pointed out that if this were true, in driving out evil from people he would be working against himself. Jesus said that some people think they have light, but in fact it is darkness, with the result that they become hypocrites who keep some religious laws but are not really inwardly converted. He warned that they should respect God, and recognize that he (Jesus) is the Messiah.

He said that their self righteousness was like a man who felt secure because his barns were full of grain. The man died the same night. Jesus advice was to have no confidence in material things, and not to worry about what you don't have. He said to seek God's Kingdom as a priority, and everything you need for life will follow.

After this Jesus began to teach them about the importance of turning to God, and recognizing that the world would not always continue as it was or is. Judgment will come one day.

Repentance and Thanksgiving

Jesus told a story of a young man who demanded his inheritance early, and then went far away and wasted it all. Now being impoverished, he set off home to see if his father would employ him as a servant, but the father saw him and ran and embraced him. He restored the son fully, although his older brother thought he should not be allowed back into the family. The father pointed out that his return was a cause for celebration, because he had been lost, but was now found. Jesus told many parables about something or someone being lost and then found.

One day Jesus was approached by ten people seeking to be healed from leprosy. He prayed for them and they went on their way, and whilst walking their leprosy began to disappear. One of them was so grateful that he came back to give thanks to God, but Jesus wondered why the other nine had not done the same. Jesus said that the end of time would be like the days of Noah where some respond and are saved, and others will be lost.

The Last Supper

Because of Jesus' success, and his criticism of the religious leaders in Jerusalem, they were looking for a way to kill him and recruited one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, to trap him. This all happened during the Passover celebration, and as Jesus sat eating the Passover meal with his disciples, he took the bread and the wine and changed their significance. He likened the bread to his body and the wine to his blood which was about to be sacrificed through his crucifixion. These symbols were to serve as a reminder of what he was going to do at the Cross. After the meal, they went out to a garden called Gethsemane to pray, and it was here that Judas led the authorities to arrest Jesus.

The Crucifixion

A religious trial was held by the religious authorities, but not being able to find much they took him to Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor, to see if they could have him executed. Pilate could not find anything of substance to condemn him either, so he sent him to King Herod, who also could not find anything to judge him over. However, because the crowds shouted louder and demanded the death of Jesus, Pilate eventually gave in and had him flogged and then taken out of the city to be crucified. Jesus was nailed to a cross in between two convicted thieves, and he died the same day.

The Burial and Resurrection

One of the Jewish council who had not wanted Jesus killed was a man called Joseph of Arimathea. He asked for the body of Jesus and buried him in a tomb he had prepared for himself. It was now the Sabbath rest day and they could not prepare Jesus' body properly for burial, so early on the day after the Sabbath, some women took spices to carry out Jesus' burial rituals. When they got there, the tomb was empty and two strange looking men were sitting outside. They told the women Jesus had risen from the dead and was alive again! Some thought his body had been stolen, but the Romans had posted guards at the tomb to make sure this didn't happen. The women ran back and told the disciples, who all ran to see what had happened at the tomb.

Over the next few days Jesus appeared to all of the disciples and they were astonished to see him alive, knowing it was him because he had the crucifixion wounds in his hands, feet and side. He spent about forty days with them, teaching them about the next phase of things, where they would go out and preach the good news that he had defeated death and because of this, so could anyone else who wanted to. He told them to wait however in Jerusalem, until the power of God came upon them by the Holy Spirit.

The Establishment of the Church (This section is from the book of Acts)

Jesus led the disciples up onto the Mount of Olives, and from there left he the world. His disciples came back into Jerusalem and found a disciple to replace Judas (who had hanged himself after realizing what he had done in betraying Jesus). After some time, the disciples were all in a large room praying when something like wind and fire swept through the room. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to worship and pray, but the people in the city who were from different countries heard them all speaking in their own languages. One of the disciples, Peter, preached to the crowd about the good news that Jesus had died for their sins, and that day about three thousand people became disciples. The Church had begun and there was great unity among the believers, with everyone taking care of each other.

The religious authorities were however quite disturbed by what was happening and the number of people following the movement, which was being called 'The Way'. They began arresting and persecuting the new Church and even conducted a public stoning of a prominent disciple called Stephen. One of the chief persecutors was a Jewish scholar called Saul, who was present at the stoning before heading off to Damascus with authority to arrest and imprison Christians there. On the way, a bright light caused him to fall from his horse, and Jesus spoke to him, asking why he was persecuting him (through attacking his followers). Saul was blinded and had to be led the rest of the way to Damascus. Once there, a disciple named Ananias visited Saul and prayed for him, restoring his sight and helping him to make sense of what was happening. Saul accepted Jesus as Messiah and immediately began to preach this to others. Nobody quite believed it was a genuine conversion, and so Christians avoided Saul, whilst the religious authorities he had once worked for tried to kill him. God told Saul that he was to be his spokesperson to the Christians who were not Jews, and so he retreated to his home town to ponder these things. In the writings he contributed to the New Testament, Saul is better known as Paul.

Non-Jewish Converts

The first disciples were all of Jewish origin, and by enlarge maintained the commandments and customs of Moses. One day God spoke to the Apostle Peter and said that the food that had previously been declared as 'unclean' was now acceptable to eat. Peter found this very hard to accept, but whilst he was questioning this, he was invited to go to a Roman Centurion's home (also forbidden). Whilst Peter was at the Centurion's house, God confirmed that His salvation was now for all because as these Gentiles (non-Jews) believed in Jesus, they were filled with the Holy Spirit. The Good news of Jesus then spread from Jerusalem in all directions, both down into Africa and over into Greece and even as far as Rome. The disciples went everywhere telling everyone that Jesus had died for their sins and through him they could have eternal life.

Paul's Mission and Writings

After some years of preparation, Paul went out and became a Christian missionary to the Greek nations. He made great journeys throughout the Greek islands and mainland, bringing the message of Jesus to the non-Jewish world. Churches were established in places such as Corinth and Ephesus and over many years Paul built them up through his letters, visits, and co-workers. Eventually however, religious and Roman authorities became concerned about him and he was arrested and taken to Rome for trial. It was here during his imprisonment that he wrote the many letters and teachings that circulated around the churches and became the main teachings of the Christian faith, as found in the New Testament.

Other disciples also wrote letters and exhortations that became part of the recognized teachings of the faith. In addition to the four Gospel writers, the letters by Paul, James, Peter, John and Jude are what the New Testament is made up of Today.

The final book to be written is called 'Revelation', because it speaks of the things that will be revealed in the future when God ends the world as we know it and introduces a new world, finally restoring the peace that existed at the beginning of Genesis.

A Note of Thanks

I just wanted to say thank you for reading this far, and also that I hope this book has been helpful to you in some way. My only aim has been to introduce the idea that God is communicable, according to the Bible and my own experience. Beyond this, my hope is that faith is something you will pursue and, more importantly, discover for yourself.

If you would like to comment on or discuss anything about this book with me, please visit my website at www.intwominds.net

God bless you.

Kevin.

