Do you know someone who doesn’t believe in Jesus? Maybe it’s someone you love very much. You may have prayed for this person for a long time. Maybe it’s your husband.
Someone I love very much calls himself an atheist. I want to share with you some of the letters I have written him in response to his explanations of why he doesn’t believe in God. I pray that they may help you in some way.
Dear J, You claim to be an atheist, but I don’t believe it. I think that deep down you know the truth. I’ve been through a time of doubt myself, and I think everyone has to go through doubt before faith becomes genuine.
I am so sorry that you are going through such a difficult time. Just like you, I have also had serious problems connected to work and making a living. The only way I have been able to make it through my tough times was (and is) through my relationship with Christ.
It is knowing that God loves me, even though I don’t deserve it, that I find comfort and strength to endure the difficult times. Whenever I turn to Him, He never fails to comfort and encourage me.
During one particular crisis, I happened upon a radio station, seemingly by accident. I began to listen every morning as this minister taught about the struggles of Joseph when his brothers sold him into slavery (Genesis 37). It was amazing how this pastor encouraged me through his lessons day after day! These lessons were exactly what I needed to face my arduous situation each day.
God didn’t answer my prayers the way I hoped (and thought) He would. No, He didn’t stop the injustice. In fact, my situation ended up worse than I even imagined! But He made His love and faithfulness known to me in an awesome way. I knew in my heart and soul that He was along side of me.
Since then, I am trusting God in a way I never have before. I’m going to write down a couple of Scriptures that have given me peace. (There are many more.) I hope they will encourage you, too. I love you and I will keep praying for you.
Love, C
Psalm 56:3 “When I am afraid, I will trust in you.”
Philippians 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
PS: My heart has been broken many times, but the Lord has always helped me through. That is the truth.
Letter 2:
Dear J, You said you would like to have the comfort of knowing what I know and believing what I believe. You can. It is a choice to believe in Jesus, not a feeling. Anyone can know the love of God. The Bible says, “If you seek Him, He will be found by you.” 1 Chronicles 28:9
Everyone who seeks God will find Him, but if we don’t keep in the Word of God, we won’t do very well in our walk. The Word of God is what strengthens us and it is how God encourages us. There have been many times when I prayed that God would help me believe and strengthen my faith…
I wish I could scoop you up out of your pain, but I can’t. Please start seeking God. You don’t have to be perfect. He loves you and me the way we are.
Maybe you think my life has been perfect. I can assure you it has not. God has not kept bad things from happening to me, but every time I turn to Him, I find Him. He is waiting for you to seek Him. This is what you must do.
I love you, C
Letter 3:
Dear J, I would like to have an intellectual discussion with you concerning your comment that the peace of God does not exist for you. You say you’re not an atheist by choice. Does that mean you didn’t choose to be an atheist? How is that possible? Have you made a decision that even if Christianity is truth, you don’t want any part of it? Or, have you sought God with all your heart but did not find Him? Or, did you make a decision that God does not exist based on your intellect? Or is there another reason?
I love you, C
Letter 4:
Dear J, So, my question for you is: Aren’t you curious as to why millions of people are Christians? Isn’t it at least possible they know something you don’t? You said, “I just don’t see any compelling evidence that God exists.”
You can’t determine if God exists based on the actions of “Christians”, the history of the church, the Roman Empire, Constantine, or any other historical facts and/or statistics. Knowing God is a matter of the heart. Do not be afraid to soften your heart toward God.
Love, C
Letter 5:
Dear J, I don’t know how anyone survives hard times without a relationship with Christ. (Don’t you dare stop reading this!) You keep telling me of all the misfortune and injustice in your life. I have had many experiences that were devastating at the time, but my relationship with God is what carried me through. You don’t even know about them and you don’t want to. Every time I was at one of these lowest points, God encouraged me in such a way that I knew, without a doubt, that God was there and I was not alone. Minute by minute, God knows every detail of what is going on in my life. It is God who holds my future.
It’s being able to see the blessings in my life, in spite of the negative circumstances, that enables me to endure the tough times. Later, I always realize that I have become a stronger woman because of them.
I chose to believe Him. I chose to take Him at His word. Following Jesus is not a feeling that comes over you, it is a choice. Once you make the decision to believe in Him and follow Him, then you will be able to see the compelling evidence you seek. Then you can have the comfort of knowing what I know and believing what I believe.
I love you and pray for you. C
I hope you will be encouraged to keep praying for the unbeliever you love.
With Love,
Cindy
This Is My Journey Unscripted.
Do you want to become a Christian? Click this link to learn more: Who Is Jesus?
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Real Christian Women 
Hi Cindy, I loved the letters you wrote. When we have an opportunity to actually speak from the heart to someone, someone who will honestly enter into dialogue with us and really listen to what we have to say, it comes across very differently from an argument where both sides are talking but no one is listening. This is especially true when the person you are speaking to knows that you love them. That reality changes the whole exchange. It may not necessarily result in a changed heart or mind but it resonates differently from how a normal conversation would. The seed is sown differently from how a normal seed is sown. These opportunities are sometimes rare but God’s Holy Spirit will let you know when to speak and when He does, we are being obedient, when we comply. It’s almost a situation when you just have to because everything in you tells you that you need to reach out with your heart. I’ve done the same thing a number of times. I personally don’t think you can go wrong doing this, when one is led to do so. The love that you have for this individual was self evident. God’s grace, peace and blessings to you and yours.
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Bruce, Thanks for your encouraging words. We plant the seed. Someone else will water it. God will make it grow. Blessings, my friend!
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True, Bruce: The written word carries power that spoken words do not. Also, they remain, a visible reminder of what was said. A person can go back to words and review them again and again.
Cindy, I pray your friend does just that, and that God’s Word reaches an unbelieving heart.
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Thank you, Kathy. Blessings!
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Thank you for sharing these letters. I hope that ‘J’ will give his heart to God.
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Amen! Thanks for commenting. Blessings, Perth!
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J is blessed to have a friend like you. I hope (s)he comes around.
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Thank you. Blessings, Annie!
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Your letters are full of both love and reason. Pointing J to scripture is the best! Doing so with love is vital, and you’ve done just that. Thank you for sharing these thoughts and these letters with us, Cindy, and I pray that J comes to know Christ.
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Thank you for your encouraging words. Blessings, Patty!
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I’m happy to hear, J has such a wonderful person in his life. I hope J is doing well. Thank you so much for sharing Cindy… Blessings.
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Thanks for the encouragement. Blessings, Paula!
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“Dear J, You claim to be an atheist, but I don’t believe it. I think that deep down you know the truth. I’ve been through a time of doubt myself, and I think everyone has to go through doubt before faith becomes genuine. ”
As an atheist, and former Christian, your condescension is insulting. No, atheists don’t agree with you “deep down”. That is a Christian who has to make believe that everyone “really” agrees with her because she needs the external validation.
“So, my question for you is: Aren’t you curious as to why millions of people are Christians? Isn’t it at least possible they know something you don’t? ”
This is called an argument from popularity fallacy. When Islam becomes more popular than Christianity, will you agree that they know something you don’t or will you abandon this false claim? We also have the problem that Christians don’t agree on the very basics of their religion, with Catholics and Protestants claiming each other are wrong, with Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses being claims not Christians at all, with Orthodox Christians and Catholics never agreeing? There isn’t one kind of Christianity but hundreds to millions different kinds.
“Knowing God is a matter of the heart. Do not be afraid to soften your heart toward God.”
No, this is not the case. IF this were so, then people would have been Chrisitans without the bible. That never happens. As for softening one’s heart, your bible states that this god picks and chooses who can accept it and who cannot, damning those who cannot for an action not their own (Romans 9)
“I don’t know how anyone survives hard times without a relationship with Christ.”
Now you do. I have had no problem surviving hard times without any religion at all, from dealing with my husband’s mental illness, to being dirt poor, to being sick myself. It’s with family and friends. No god needed at all.
“I chose to believe Him. I chose to take Him at His word.”
Again, not true per your bible. You chose one of many different contradicting versions of Christianity.
Plenty of Christians claimed to be praying for me to agree with them. It’s been decades and nothing has ever happened. One has to ask why prayers fail: does it mean your god loves me as I am? Your god doesn’t like your prayer or you? Or that your god simply doesn’t exist?
I’d much rather have you pray for a dying child or parent and heal like Christians are supposed to be able to do rather than bother your god about me.
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I get the impression that you have anger toward Christianity. Perhaps someone in the Church has hurt you. If that is the case, I am very sorry. But being a Christian is more than joining an organization. It is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Being a Christian means you believe Christ died for your sins and rose from the dead, and you make a decision to follow Him.
The Church is made up of a lot of imperfect people. Jesus accepts you as you are. There is only one Christianity. It is what I just described. Do people disagree about what the Bible means? Of course! And some are more off than others. But it boils down to this: Have you believed in Him and agreed to follow Him? If the answer is yes, then you’re a Christian.
God does not pick and choose who will be saved.
1 John 5:1 says “EVERYONE who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.”
John 1:12 says, Yet to ALL who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
God doesn’t harden your heart. You harden your heart yourself. You can’t blame God. One hardens their heart when they build up a case against Him. They soften their heart when they decide to seek Truth. Jeremiah 29:13 says, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” That’s a promise to everyone who will seek Truth.
Prayers fail because no matter how hard we pray for an unbeliever to know Christ, that unbeliever decides for himself what he will believe.
I encourage you to read the Bible for yourself. It is a fascinating book. If you read it and in your heart want to know if God is real, you will find Him.
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I honestly don’t know how I can help you. You have your mind made up and you have a ready answer for everything I say. I am sorry that you don’t know the God of Creation, Jesus Christ, my Lord. God loves you more than you can know or understand. He sacrificed His Son so that you can live with Him forever in Heaven. What a glorious gift you are turning from! I will leave you with a this prayer.
“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:15-20 NIV
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I honestly don’t know how I can help you. You have your mind made up and you have a ready answer for everything I say. I am sorry that you don’t know the God of Creation, Jesus Christ, my Lord. God loves you more than you can know or understand. He sacrificed His Son so that you can live with Him forever in Heaven. What a glorious gift you are turning from! I will leave you with a this prayer.
“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:15-20 NIV
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