You've got to have faith!

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1

 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6

Believe: to accept or regard (something) as true

Hope: to want something to happen or be true and think that it could happen or be true

Faith: strong belief or trust in someone or something

The number one requirement of God according to the book of Hebrews chapter eleven is that you have faith in him. In the two verses cited above from the same chapter you will notice that there are three key words that work together to the Christian meaning of the word faith. I have taken the liberty of identifying and defining those words. In order to please God you must first believe that he exists and that he rewards those who believe in him. In other words you must simply believe in him. But this is not just any kind of belief. It is a belief based on zero evidence and basically taking him in this case at his word (the Bible).

Once you accept that the Bible is the word of God and that he exists then based on how you interpret those promises in the scriptures and relate them to your own desires you will experience hope. You have accepted that the God's word is true and hope that he will fulfill his promises to those who put their trust in him.

Upon hoping again without seeing or having any evidence to believe or hope you begin to cultivate faith. Your trust and beliefs in God's words and your desires breed faith in what you have chosen to accept and believe from the scriptures as they pertain to your life. For a Christian this is not a problem and it is often claimed to be a reasonable position to take. But in reality, it is far from reasonable to believe in something out of the ordinary (supernatural) without empirical and objective evidence.

The Bible has a contingency plan for all of the most common doubts that you may raise about this whole faith without evidence thing. First as demonstrated in the text on faith above, belief without evidence is a requirement. You have to make a personal investment in the form of committing your life to an invisible being whose existence is no more evident than that of Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny, Thor, etal. There is a well known quote amongst the faithful:"let go and let God."  In other words, stop trying to handle all of lifes problems on your own and trust in God to pull you through. When there doesn't seem to be a way He will make a way for you.

Upon further reflection though, this is not a situation that is unique to the Christian belief system. In fact, all religions that believe in some form of anthropomorphic god or gods have the same requirement! This is also true of hypnosis, astrologers, fortune tellers, etc. you must believe in order to receive. This makes belief in God not an objective truth but rather a subjective truth. In other words it's only true to those who choose to believe it. For the rest of us we are doing fine without belief in  superstitions, lore, and ancient myths.

Most people who claim to experience the "presence" of God in their lives don't realize that their experience is entirely psychosomatic due to suggestion. What you are experiencing does not come from God's holy spirit but rather from your own mind. Christians and other religionists tend to overlook the power of suggestion and the mind. Through both we can at times achieve incredible things. Why is it that in many religions they too claim to experience their gods, dead ancestors, etc? The answer is because it's all in your head. Once you've convinced yourself that God exists and you have accepted his so called guidance and protection for your life you will begin to feel as if he is there looking out for you. You will believe that he cares for you and is ever present to respond to your every need. This is not called a sensible belief it is referred to in psychiatry as a mental delusion.

psychosomatic :  of, relating to, involving, or concerned with bodily symptoms caused by mental or emotional disturbance 

delusion:  a persistent false psychotic belief regarding the self or persons or objects outside the self that is maintained despite indisputable evidence to the contrary 

The Holy Spirit/ comforter is said to be in you and will lead you to all truth. But the fact that there are so many Christian sects all claiming to have the truth while at the same time having such different theologies testifies against this claim. Either the Holy Spirit isn't doing his job or there is no Holy Spirit and believers are all equally deluded. 

The Bible teaches that in order for God to be able to work in your life you must first make an investment. That investment is having faith in what you neither see nor know to exist. Then you must accept it, submit to it, and surrender your entire being in the form of your will to it! Without you first meeting any of these requirements God is helpless. So much for omnipotence! 

4Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” 5He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6He was amazed at their lack of faith. Mark 6:4-6  

When you really think about it faith, hope, and belief are things we all have even without the belief in gods. I always believe that things will get better, I always hope for a better tomorrow, and I have faith that if I try hard enough things will always work out for the better. But I also believe that you are the only one who can make your dreams and wishes come true. Sometimes we make it and sometimes we don't but the one thing we don't do is ever stop trying. The idea of an invisible man (God) living in some nonexistent realm outside of time and space makes absolutely no sense. The very idea of him being able to hear literally the prayers of billions of people simultaneously is beyond absurd. 

If you want to test your beliefs try using the outsider test for faith. It is a concept that has been put together by former pastor John W. Loftus. It basically asks believers to judge their faith and beliefs with the same critical mind that you judge other belief systems and religions. You can read all about it here.  This link will take you to other links about the outsider test for faith and help you find the book he has written on the matter. 

Without faith it is impossible to please him simply because he doesn't exist. There is no God or gods that are watching over or working against man. There is just you and the human will to do good and progress in life. Because of the randomness of life events not all things work out to our benefit or how we plan them but once we realize this fact we learn to overcome and adapt to our situations accordingly. Stop relying on gods, luck, or any other silly superstition you may hold and trust in yourself. Find the strength within yourself to not let life's hardships hold you down. 

Note: All biblical citations are taken from the New International Version of the scriptures and all word definitions are from the online version of the Merriam Webster Dictionary.