The God problem

When it comes to religion I am like most Americans. Born into a family where we prayed each night before bed. In the recesses of my mind however, there was always doubt. At least once I reached the age of 7 or 8. Now, it seems to pray to God is about as pointless as to praying to a peanut butter and jam sandwich. I find it very hard to believe a creator would watch from above or afar and become angry or jealous if we didn't pray to him. In fact it's practically absurd. Having said that, there does seem to be something believing in God does for us. Just as I previuously mentioned in the concept of nothingness and the freedom we find once we realise it, Religion seems to offer a similar freedom. We feel we are not alone, or that there is a supreme being or an ultimate design to all we know. That there is hope and that this life isn't all there is. Also, when times get tough, we can turn our worries over to God, or "Let go, let God". We are like children in that moment and our burdens are relieved from our shoulders. I've experienced that feeling, but I've never been able to sustain it. The ultimate concept of God I just find so hard to fathom. I used to be afraid to doubt God that he would punish me, but that too is absurd. I would hope God would want us to ponder Him and this life of ours. Perhaps God is merely a scientist in a lab who's created "life" that sits in a far corner of his laboratory and every couple of weeks (billions of years in our terms) he comes to check on us and chuckles.