Is God real? If so, is there a personal God?

I know this is a very broad and controversial question. And the definition of God is very ambiguous. But I'm just looking for some sort of reasoning for people's different beliefs. I'm not against any certain belief, not trying to argue any point. Just curious. Actually desperately curious. Over the course of my life I've been from atheist to christian to who knows what. I'm a very doubting person to begin with, so it's always been difficult for me to have complete faith in anything as much as I may want to. To be honest, I do believe there is a God. And I believe what the bible says is true (read "Case for Christ" very convincing book) but I'm having a hard time accepting that God personally knows, loves, cares for, guides, and has a plan for every human being on the planet anywhere from the past 2000 years to now. I understand that this idea can be supported by the fact that if God was able to create the universe, he must be able to love each of us individually, since he is omnipotent and our boundaries do not apply to him. But still, how do we know this is true? Could it just be wishful thinking?