nl said:
God cannot be expected to meet with us on our terms. He sets the terms and conditions. We can't obligate God to act but He will act according to His promises in His timing.
His timing was too late to save my faith. Forty plus years have passed and I still haven't heard from him.
nl said:
God calls people to humility and repentance. God wants people to seek His glory and not their own.
God goes in search of his lost sheep. At least that is the claim, but it seems not to be true. Also, the that all one need do is knock and the door will open also seems in error. I tried to believe. I truly did.
These are all excuses for why God does not show himself. I am not the first person to become an atheist because God did not show himself. This sort of thing happens time after time. There are too many excuses for why God will not show himself to nonbelievers. The difficult part of it is that most of us nonbelievers sought God openly back when we still believed, but still he wouldn't show himself!
Have you heard of Dan Barker? He is a former evangelical preacher who became an atheist. The transition period from conservative Christian to atheist took years with him. Barker also prayed to God to restore his faith. His prayers, like mine, went unanswered. Read his book
Godless. You will see that God does not always answer prayers, to the detriment of Christian belief.