Eh. That's not right. There's a difference in believing in yourself and believing in the Holy Spirit.
The primary one being that you exist, so that makes it easier. Well, you probably exist, anyway.
Isn't it more likely that the thought that someone more powerful, wiser, better than yourself causes the feeling of serenity? Isn't that more likely than some sort of being in the universe sending you, personally, good vibes? What about the times you don't receive a "motivational boost" Did you fuck up? When things go wrong was God just not helping you? Honestly, I have the same things happen to me, feelings of serenity, feelings of motivation, everyone does. I also have feelings of hopelessness, and sadness, sometimes, like everyone else. What you experience is the same as everyone else, but instead of attributing it to yourself or the people around you, you chalk it up to a super natural being.
I mean, prayer is basically giving yourself a motivational speech, even if you don't realize you're giving it to yourself, but isn't it infinitely more likely that you saying, "I've got God on my side, so I'll be ok." makes you feel better, and then you do better? It's kind of sad, you're not even really taking credit for motivating and controlling yourself.
It's 2015, we know that the God of the Bible isn't real, the only people who don't, do so because believing makes them feel good. It made me feel good! Someone always had my back, I'd see all my friends/family when I died, so I don't have to worry about death, I could pray and magically send a telepathic message to an all-powerful being, ina situation where I was otherwise helpful. All those things made me feel good...for awhile.
Then I realized it was hollow, I'm living my life fearful of facing the reality that smacks everyone who's ever read the Bible cover to cover right in the face: It's a collection of stories to help glorified cavemen understand an unexplainable world.
Faith is so strange to me, it's literally the ONLY situation where the "good" advice is, don't listen to your brain, don't listen to your eyes, or your ears, put all the gifts of logic and problem-solving aside that this god supposedly granted you, and just believe
I try not to belittle others beliefs, but at a certain point, religious people just need to accept that if you want to believe things that can't be proven then you can join the rest of us in the adult conversation. If we want to solve REAL WORLD problems, then the super-natural world is of no use to anybody. You see it all the time, even our elected officials in the U.S. don't worry about real issues like Global Warming because Jesus is coming back, why would you worry about the future of a planet who's destiny and fate has already been decided by God thousands of years ago? You've either got to leave your faith at the door, or expect to get your feelings hurt, because I can't have a real conversation about solving a problem with someone who essentialy believes in magic, and telepathy with super natural beings. I can't solve problems with someone who thinks the voices in their head come from anywhere else but inside their head. I can't solve the really big problems with people who would rather believe something that makes them feel good, than the obvious fact that the God of the Bible is clearly a myth, a collection of stories, many pagan in origin to help ancient people make sense of the world.