I believed in God, but it confounded me when people would talk about knowing God. I would think about real relationships that I had in life, and my "relationship" with God never seemed to match up. I knew who my family members were. I knew how they reacted to things, and I knew their preferences. But to say I knew God was a little difficult. I wasn't sure at all if I could even say I knew him.
I can recall prayers that I made as a young girl trying to pursue God in which I would ask things like, "What's your favorite color?" Or "What kind of weather do you like, God?" Each of these questions fell with a big flop. And to be honest, in the back of my mind, I wasn't sure that the creator of all of the colors even had a favorite. My attempts at growing a relationship with God always seemed to fall short, and I eventually just stopped trying to figure out how to make it all work. I trusted God, but I had no idea how to get to know him. I had no clue how to achieve the relationship that people in church claimed was so essential.
Finally, one day while worshiping in church, I decided I was done being unsure. I frequently felt God's presence while worshiping him on Sunday mornings, so I had no doubt that he was real and loved me. But I wanted more. I wanted to be able to say that I had a real relationship with my God. So I started out small. I started out just asking God to reveal himself to me. "I want to know you, Lord." And that was all that I said to begin with. But that small simple prayer slingshotted me into having a real relationship with God. God definitely heard me. In the months after that honest prayer, he started revealing things to me that I could do to enter in to an intensely relationship with him. Here are ways that God showed me to connect with him:
1) Be honest with God.
I put this at number one on my list because I think we often have a difficult time doing it. Many times, without thinking about it, we edit ourselves when we are praying to God. Instead of coming to our heavenly Father like we would when talking to a friend, we approach the Lord as if we were talking to our pastor or someone we want to impress. We leave out the imperfections we have, and try to act as if we have everything together. I mean, common! This is GOD we're talking about! I can't be the real me. God is all holy and stuff. I couldn't let him see all of that. I know that sounds silly, but for a while, that's what I did. I wasn't really me with God, because I felt like I had to put on airs. The tragedy there is that we can't even begin to go deep with God if we are being fake. If we don't show him the deepest parts, the most hurt and imperfect parts of ourselves, we can't make real progress. We have to let God in to have intimate real relationship with him.
I can't place the exact time or event, but at one point I felt God saying to me, "You know, you don't have to do that. You can be real with me." I hadn't realized up until then that I really was editing the person that I was when I tried to pray. I made a point right then to stop being fake, and be totally transparent with God. Eventually, my prayers started sounding different. They included everything I was going through. If I was feeling really tired when I was trying to do my daily devo with God, I would let him know. If I was angry with someone, I wouldn't keep it from him. When I found myself struggling with something, God would be the first one I told. And I started to notice something amazing. The things that I was honest with God about were changing for the better. Issues that had been a problem, I was now seeing breakthroughs in! When I stopped the show and devoted my time with God to not holding anything back, God was able to be in every part of my life.
2) Bring everything to God.
They always say on Sunday morning that we should bring all of our requests to God, and it sounds really nice. But how many of us take God up on his offer? How many of us give him the chance? Well, one day I was really struggling with anxiety. I was worked up about several things. I knew in my mind that I really had no control over any of these issues, but still I worried about them! I was fed up with knowing in my mind that it was useless to worry, but continuing to have the wretched physical response to my dread! And I felt God saying, "Just give it all to me. Whenever anything is bothering you, at any point in the day, let me know. Then you can go back to having peace."
So I started a list. On one side, it said "WORRIES" and on the other it said "GIVE IT TO GOD". Let me tell you, I filled that paper up with tallies very quickly. My goal was to keep it even. For every worry that popped into my head and got a tally, I marked another tally on the "GIVE IT TO GOD" side. I was done with feeling tense, and I was through with taking what should be in God's hands into mine.
I don't have that list any more. But I didn't even need to keep it up, because after banishing the chronic tense worry feeling that I use to live in, I was never going back again. Not to say that I don't get worries anymore. I certainly do. The difference now is that as quickly as I can, I talk with God about it. God cares about what we care about. So don't miss the opportunity to let him calm your fears by taking over something you have no control over anyway.
3) Let God know about things even though he technically already knows.
This is one of my favorite parts of having a real relationship with God. I love to let him know about things in my life, even though he is God and knows everything. And I know he isn't bored by it, either. God created the universe and everything in it, and he still delights in his children. I think he enjoys it immensely when we come to him excited about something, because its a way to build our relationship. And it's not necessarily that you're informing God of something he doesn't know, but you're actively sharing your life with God intentionally. By being intentionally personal with God, you're taking him out of the box of omnipotent uncaring God and allowing yourself to interact with him on a personal level.
4) Sing to God when you are singing praise and worship.
This one is a personal favorite of mine. I know that it isn't necessarily for everyone, but when we are singing songs in church, I feel like I enter into Gods presence easier if I act like he is right there. Singing songs to God is just how I do that. Let me explain this a little more. When we sing a song like Our God, I won't sing "Our God is greater", I will sing "God you are greater". I stop singing to an audience and start singing as if God is the only one there. I make praise and worship time about personally sending God an offering of praise. When I act like God is there, which he is, then it's almost like he responds back saying "yes, I AM here!" God longs to be in direct relationship with us. When we come before him expectantly, he welcomes us in with open arms.
5) Ask God to help you know him.
It's hard to wrap our minds around the idea of God. An omnipotent being that knows all but still came to earth as a human man? That isn't easy to get a grasp on! So when I open the Bible, I just ask God to show me who he is. "God, I really want to know who you are, reveal yourself to me through the scriptures. Help me know you better." And he honors those requests. When I start out my readings or my day asking God to reveal himself to me, he hears and helps me see how merciful or holy he is. Things that I have read many times before now illuminate the character of God. "Knock, and the door will be opened" is a great verse to stand on if you are baffled by the idea of a relationship with God. Test the waters, because God's word can't come back void.
6) Set aside time.
It's just like any other relationship. If you want to know someone better, you spend time with them that is devoted to them alone. It does't have to be a long extended amount of time. If spending 45 minutes praying and reading the Bible freaks you out, then start smaller. Just get started. Bring what you can to the table, and God will multiply it.
My hang up on this one is that I feel guilty when I don't spend time with God. I would feel ashamed, and then I would not want to spend time with god because of my shame. It was a Adam and Even hiding in the bushes scenario. Very pointless, and a huge waste of time, because God isn't in opposition with us; he is for us! When the prodigal son started his journey back to his father, the father ran to meet his son when he was still off in the distance! God is eagerly waiting for us, and all he has prepared for us is love. Realize when lies come in that try to tell you you aren't worthy, because the truth is that God is for you. Today. Right now. He is running while you are still off in the distance.
7) Get Quiet.
Most of the time, when I hear God and get a glimpse into his heart, it is after I have quieted my own thoughts. Personally, when I pray, I tend to go on and not stop for a while. God is always very polite during my ramblings. But when we sit still and know that God has got us, and we don't have to struggle, we will find that God is actually able to get in a word edgewise! We are able to hear from God when we quiet our thoughts and expectantly wait on him.
That is also a personal struggle for me. I had to quiet myself just this morning when I was thinking about my hair. Very holy, I know. But I just told God what was going on. "Hey, God, honestly I just spent a good couple minutes worrying about my split ends. I'm sorry about that. But I am going to trust you with my hair and let that go. Back to you, now"
If writing what is on your mind down helps, then do that! But God is still concerned about the little mind wanderings. He isn't insulted when we think about other things. So we don't have to feel guilt when that happens. Staying on the subject helps, but God desires intimate relationship with us. And sometimes when spending time with those we are in relationship with, we will stray into the mundane parts of life. I just tend to think that God is fine with that.
While these seven points are very true to what I have done, they aren't necessarily a recipe for gaining a relationship with God. So I hope this doesn't read as some sort of rigid seven steps to relationship with God. We are all different, and God made us to be different.What may be your favorite way to get close with God may be something that just doesn't click with someone else.
My hope is that these seven points will be tips that will encourage and help you in your personal journey and perusal of God. God is incredibly personal. He's not the big angry grandpa in the sky. The whole Bible is his story of how he made a way for us to be able to be together with him. The veil is torn, and we can always enter into God's presence. There will never be a moment when you have to take a break from God because of something that you have messed up on, because Jesus has already taken it all. All we have to do is make our way (however slow or sloppy it may be) back to God and watch him come running.
1) Be honest with God.
I put this at number one on my list because I think we often have a difficult time doing it. Many times, without thinking about it, we edit ourselves when we are praying to God. Instead of coming to our heavenly Father like we would when talking to a friend, we approach the Lord as if we were talking to our pastor or someone we want to impress. We leave out the imperfections we have, and try to act as if we have everything together. I mean, common! This is GOD we're talking about! I can't be the real me. God is all holy and stuff. I couldn't let him see all of that. I know that sounds silly, but for a while, that's what I did. I wasn't really me with God, because I felt like I had to put on airs. The tragedy there is that we can't even begin to go deep with God if we are being fake. If we don't show him the deepest parts, the most hurt and imperfect parts of ourselves, we can't make real progress. We have to let God in to have intimate real relationship with him.
I can't place the exact time or event, but at one point I felt God saying to me, "You know, you don't have to do that. You can be real with me." I hadn't realized up until then that I really was editing the person that I was when I tried to pray. I made a point right then to stop being fake, and be totally transparent with God. Eventually, my prayers started sounding different. They included everything I was going through. If I was feeling really tired when I was trying to do my daily devo with God, I would let him know. If I was angry with someone, I wouldn't keep it from him. When I found myself struggling with something, God would be the first one I told. And I started to notice something amazing. The things that I was honest with God about were changing for the better. Issues that had been a problem, I was now seeing breakthroughs in! When I stopped the show and devoted my time with God to not holding anything back, God was able to be in every part of my life.
2) Bring everything to God.
They always say on Sunday morning that we should bring all of our requests to God, and it sounds really nice. But how many of us take God up on his offer? How many of us give him the chance? Well, one day I was really struggling with anxiety. I was worked up about several things. I knew in my mind that I really had no control over any of these issues, but still I worried about them! I was fed up with knowing in my mind that it was useless to worry, but continuing to have the wretched physical response to my dread! And I felt God saying, "Just give it all to me. Whenever anything is bothering you, at any point in the day, let me know. Then you can go back to having peace."
So I started a list. On one side, it said "WORRIES" and on the other it said "GIVE IT TO GOD". Let me tell you, I filled that paper up with tallies very quickly. My goal was to keep it even. For every worry that popped into my head and got a tally, I marked another tally on the "GIVE IT TO GOD" side. I was done with feeling tense, and I was through with taking what should be in God's hands into mine.
I don't have that list any more. But I didn't even need to keep it up, because after banishing the chronic tense worry feeling that I use to live in, I was never going back again. Not to say that I don't get worries anymore. I certainly do. The difference now is that as quickly as I can, I talk with God about it. God cares about what we care about. So don't miss the opportunity to let him calm your fears by taking over something you have no control over anyway.
3) Let God know about things even though he technically already knows.
This is one of my favorite parts of having a real relationship with God. I love to let him know about things in my life, even though he is God and knows everything. And I know he isn't bored by it, either. God created the universe and everything in it, and he still delights in his children. I think he enjoys it immensely when we come to him excited about something, because its a way to build our relationship. And it's not necessarily that you're informing God of something he doesn't know, but you're actively sharing your life with God intentionally. By being intentionally personal with God, you're taking him out of the box of omnipotent uncaring God and allowing yourself to interact with him on a personal level.
4) Sing to God when you are singing praise and worship.
This one is a personal favorite of mine. I know that it isn't necessarily for everyone, but when we are singing songs in church, I feel like I enter into Gods presence easier if I act like he is right there. Singing songs to God is just how I do that. Let me explain this a little more. When we sing a song like Our God, I won't sing "Our God is greater", I will sing "God you are greater". I stop singing to an audience and start singing as if God is the only one there. I make praise and worship time about personally sending God an offering of praise. When I act like God is there, which he is, then it's almost like he responds back saying "yes, I AM here!" God longs to be in direct relationship with us. When we come before him expectantly, he welcomes us in with open arms.
5) Ask God to help you know him.
It's hard to wrap our minds around the idea of God. An omnipotent being that knows all but still came to earth as a human man? That isn't easy to get a grasp on! So when I open the Bible, I just ask God to show me who he is. "God, I really want to know who you are, reveal yourself to me through the scriptures. Help me know you better." And he honors those requests. When I start out my readings or my day asking God to reveal himself to me, he hears and helps me see how merciful or holy he is. Things that I have read many times before now illuminate the character of God. "Knock, and the door will be opened" is a great verse to stand on if you are baffled by the idea of a relationship with God. Test the waters, because God's word can't come back void.
6) Set aside time.
It's just like any other relationship. If you want to know someone better, you spend time with them that is devoted to them alone. It does't have to be a long extended amount of time. If spending 45 minutes praying and reading the Bible freaks you out, then start smaller. Just get started. Bring what you can to the table, and God will multiply it.
My hang up on this one is that I feel guilty when I don't spend time with God. I would feel ashamed, and then I would not want to spend time with god because of my shame. It was a Adam and Even hiding in the bushes scenario. Very pointless, and a huge waste of time, because God isn't in opposition with us; he is for us! When the prodigal son started his journey back to his father, the father ran to meet his son when he was still off in the distance! God is eagerly waiting for us, and all he has prepared for us is love. Realize when lies come in that try to tell you you aren't worthy, because the truth is that God is for you. Today. Right now. He is running while you are still off in the distance.
7) Get Quiet.
Most of the time, when I hear God and get a glimpse into his heart, it is after I have quieted my own thoughts. Personally, when I pray, I tend to go on and not stop for a while. God is always very polite during my ramblings. But when we sit still and know that God has got us, and we don't have to struggle, we will find that God is actually able to get in a word edgewise! We are able to hear from God when we quiet our thoughts and expectantly wait on him.
That is also a personal struggle for me. I had to quiet myself just this morning when I was thinking about my hair. Very holy, I know. But I just told God what was going on. "Hey, God, honestly I just spent a good couple minutes worrying about my split ends. I'm sorry about that. But I am going to trust you with my hair and let that go. Back to you, now"
If writing what is on your mind down helps, then do that! But God is still concerned about the little mind wanderings. He isn't insulted when we think about other things. So we don't have to feel guilt when that happens. Staying on the subject helps, but God desires intimate relationship with us. And sometimes when spending time with those we are in relationship with, we will stray into the mundane parts of life. I just tend to think that God is fine with that.
While these seven points are very true to what I have done, they aren't necessarily a recipe for gaining a relationship with God. So I hope this doesn't read as some sort of rigid seven steps to relationship with God. We are all different, and God made us to be different.What may be your favorite way to get close with God may be something that just doesn't click with someone else.
My hope is that these seven points will be tips that will encourage and help you in your personal journey and perusal of God. God is incredibly personal. He's not the big angry grandpa in the sky. The whole Bible is his story of how he made a way for us to be able to be together with him. The veil is torn, and we can always enter into God's presence. There will never be a moment when you have to take a break from God because of something that you have messed up on, because Jesus has already taken it all. All we have to do is make our way (however slow or sloppy it may be) back to God and watch him come running.
~
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Above all, know that you are loved.
Above all, know that you are loved.
Happy Tuesday!
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