Religious Belief

The part of the brain that activates when someone thinks of God, is the part of the brain that involves lying. Without proof of God's existence, you need to lie to yourself that God exists. To “walk” with God, while having doubt, some people need to first pretend that God is real.

Mike Mchargue (a believer in the New Testament) suggested this to try to get someone to believe: ‘imagine God through mental imagery (Colt: God isn’t supposed to have a knowable form) and then pray to this imaginary God. It will seem silly at first but it becomes natural with repetition. People consistently report feeling closer to God after as little as two weeks of prayer–even if they don't believe in God at all at the outset.’ So imagining a god with mental imagery can help someone believe in a god, and it doesn't take long to 'feel closer' to "God".

Belief in God/Christianity can seem silly and childish for a reason.

The more someone tells others a particular lie, the easier it can be for others to believe it. So if you lie to yourself more/pretend more about God, it can seem more real (like an imaginary friend). I’m almost certain that I recall an occasion in a show where someone convinced themself of something foolish by continually telling themself something.

If you believe something is true, then it is true in your imagination.

If a person wants a friend/relationship, that could make it easier for them to believe that Jesus is real - like how a kid can want to imagine a friend/relationship with an imaginary friend.

The more you think of God, the more realistic he can seem. So if someone reads about God in a Bible (you’re supposed to meditate on it daily: Joshua 1:8, etc), or if someone prays to God (which you’re supposed to do often: Ephesians 6:18), it can make him seem more real. Some Christians go to Bible studies/prayer meetings during the week which can reinforce belief. Reading the Bible can make you want to praise God for his love, helping God to seem more real.

I heard some Muslims like to read scripture in the morning. Thinking about God first thing in the day can help you believe more strongly, earlier in the day.

I read: practicing your faith in a spiritual community can help with doubt. God can “seem” more real to someone that sees others that believe as they do.

So the more believers you see at a church, the stronger your belief can be. If a person at a Christian gathering mentions the word ‘God’, that can make Him seem more real.

Rituals can help a person believe in a religion.

I read that some religious people sometimes see and hear things that are not part of physical reality. The anthropologist Tanya Luhrmann called those events sensory overrides, and hypothesized that people have varying predispositions to those experiences that can be enhanced through religious rituals. So that could explain how people “receive” a vision or voice from God.

I saw on a website: a Catholic posted a certain type of music that you can listen to if you want to try to hear from God (you had to also say something like: "I believe that I am in your presence. Please speak. Your servant is listening”. If you repeat stuff like that to yourself, with a certain type of music, it could help you imagine that God exists and that God could speak to you). If a thought pops up, then some people might believe that it is from God, when it might not be.

This is from my own experience: If you ask God ‘is there anything you’d like to communicate with me?’ and listen to sounds, it can make it easier to “hear from God”.

If someone really wants to hear from God (especially if someone is in a desperate situation) then that could make belief easier.

You could be helping someone to believe fiction. (Could you be judged by a god for that?) You could believe multiple fictions. i.e. if you believe in God, believe you’re pleasing God, (i.e. by singing praises) and believe something was a miracle. Someone can believe that the good feeling that they get from singing praises to God is from the Holy Spirit.

If a non-believer gets to the point that they start believing a little/feeling good when they thank God, that might help them believe more, either due to them thinking that it is, or might be God's fruitful design/natural mechanism, or due to them presuming that it is the Holy Spirit in action.

If a person asks God what they should do, their subconscious can tell them the moral/right thing to do, and hence a person can believe that God told them something. If you don't want to do 1 thing, that you're asking God if you should do, the thought can pop up in your head. It's like the idea of "try not to think of a pink elephant". (some compulsive people at least, couldn't help but think of a pink elephant) As seen by the anthropologist quote, some people could have an easier time "hearing" from God. A compulsive person could "hear" from God easier. So people can't know if a thought is from God. That is a reason to not believe in a religion.