I know it's a wee bit late to get into this, but after reading the first three pages of discussion (and the last page), I cannot BELIEVE the level of maturity on all sides. I have NEVER seen a religious debate last more than 20 posts or so before starting to dissolve into taunts of "You're going to hell", "I hear their invisible man can beat up your invisible man" and general crap. I am very happy to see how open minded and polite (yet still direct) everyone seems to be in this topic.
I was raised Catholic, was confirmed... When I became 18 and moved away for college, I did not go to church once and God was an afterthought. I have quite a severe history of depression, I dropped out of college at 19 due to a combination of a lack of maturity and general inability to handle the pressure. Not once did I turn to God. I moved back in with my parents, went to school for a summer semester and did fantastic (straight As), but then general depression and anxiety set in again and I flunked out again. By this time I had "gotten together" with my girlfriend of now 3 years through the internet (I had known her for about a year and a half prior to that), and she was not at all pleased with my general lack of progress in life. Things got really bad between us and with my life in general, I screwed up my chances at a couple jobs, then I think I finally got to my last straw... I begged, prayed, cried for another chance. I was about ready to give up, when I got a call from a place I had applied to a couple months earlier, where I still work three years later. This brought me three hours closer (yet still 3 hours away) from my girlfriend, and that blessing of a job (however crappy it can sometimes be) brought me the opportunity to work from home, and I now live within 15 minutes of the woman I plan to propose to within a few months.
The point of all this and how it relates to the subject at hand? I'm not going to outright say that I turned to Jesus, begged for forgiveness, and all my problems were solved. It's not that simple. I was born with talents and gifts that I believe God gave me. Setting aside biochemical issues that I had only partial control over, I completely squandered those gifts through laziness and general apathy. I had to hit rock bottom to realize that I was still Christian but just didn't choose to live that way. My problems didn't all go away, but I've worked much harder since and made much better use of what God gave me, and I believe that "luck" has repaid me for my hard work and for living a better life in general.
Sorry for getting a bit off track here, I thought this might provide a new perspective for someone, even if they don't believe as I do.