Now,to the second question: Why are we here?

We've obviously answered a good deal of that but there's more. If this is the practical lab for us to engage in mortal experimentation then why do so many seem to have lost the ability to sense the existance of God? Why doesn't He make it easier for us to find Him?

Those are very good questions for victims. And victims we've become in our world. We rely on government and employers so much of the time for so much of our support that we've lost the attitude of self-reliance spoken about so clearly by Emerson and many others from the beginnings of our country.

Knock, Seek, Ask

We ought not wait for God to knock us over as He did with Saul. Few experience such intervention. More often it is up to us to knock, to ask, to ponder, and pray for answers.

Modern String Theory proposes the possibility of faster-than-light travel and communication. As rudementry as our science is compared to what God knows, what we can only imagine must be as child's-play for God.

Hence the issue of prayer and how God can hear massive numbers of prayers simultaneously across unfathomable distances seems unknowable to us. To God such communication may be no more complicated than stretching a string between two cans is to us.

The mechanics of how we communicate with God is fairly unimportant. He has made it clear that we are to initiate communication with Him. So why do we hesitate? We would chuckle at an aborigine who was fearful of the voice emanating from our iPhone. Are we any more than that compared to God? Some reminders may be helpful.

No Stones For Sons Who Ask Sincerely

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?" Matt 7:7-9

Here is an example of Jesus explaining why God wants us to communicate with Him. Simple and direct. No misunderstanding here. Fathers give sustenance to sons (and daughters, of course) and do not deny them that ask for it. Beware, the words "seek" and "seeketh" are loaded with significant meaning which is not frivolous.

Those who ask cynically, expecting no answer, will be succesful. When they declare that their asking was unsuccesful and, therefore, proof of there being no God, those who have been successful only sigh with regret at their purposfully missed opportunity. The "asking" must be accompanied by belief and a positive expectation. (We'll have a discussion of faith later.)

For now, suffice it to say, that if you cynically believe that God does not exist, He will not interfere with your choice to believe that. Freedom of choice is so fundamental to His Plan of Happiness that He will not interfere even with your choice to ignore the very being that has made it possible for you to have a mortal life and body.

Was That Indigestion Or Wishful Thinking?

If, however, you ask sincerely and with the tiniest grain of belief that God might exist, and the with the absolute promise that if He makes Himself known to you that you will magnify what you learn from that communication by incorporating that new knowledge into your life and growing with it, I can guarantee that you will be successful.

You will experience something that you can positively say was not wishful thinking or indigestion. It might happen then or later but it will happen—sometimes God makes us wait for answers. Another aspect of sincerety is our willingness to abide by His timetable, not ours.

Asking to know God but with the intent that you will do nothing with that knowledge will guarantee failure.

"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." Revelation 3:20

Here the Lord knocks but will only enter if invited.

Suffice it to say that God is not going to force Himself on us so when we complain with statements like: "I don't know why you believe in God, He's never shown Himself to me." Or perhaps, "If God wants me to know about Him then He's going to have to give me some kind of sign that He exists. If God did exist He wouldn't hide like this." He's not hiding. He's just waiting. For you.