Faith
One Cannot approach God meaningfully if one cannot muster faith. This is because God is unseen and cannot at this time reveal Himself openly to sinful mankind. He did however; send His Son who was seen by all. He is most likely to bestow meaningful hints about His reality on those who, in faith, are at least willing to believe He exists. But what is faith? The Apostle Paul, who believed in God but persecuted Christians, received a life-changing experience with Christ, which greatly broadened his understanding of God. Paul gave us this definition: "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Heb. 11:1). However, the seeker must look patiently to perceive these assurances and must be diligently perceptive to "see" these sometimes-subtle evidences. There is an old story of an ancient philosopher who, when asked how he knew God, answered, "How do I know whether a man or a camel has passed my tent in the night? By [examining] their footprints". When properly recognized, God's footprints are all over our created world and universe. Faith in God can best be sought by prayerful meditation over the meaning of one's own life-experiences, and after a careful observation of God's creations in the world around us. These are His detectable footprints in our life and present environment. Faith is often least obtained by asking others for their opinion, because this Western World's population is now increasingly of little faith in a living God. To be safely guided, we should form our own judgment of these footprints and their meanings, using the Holy Spirit as our guide, and not depend on the possibly faithless or self-serving judgments of others.