How To Start A Relationship With God
Have you ever wondered how to connect with the man up stairs? If you’re reading this then you probably have. Don’t worry though! You’re not alone. I have been there to. Having questions is actually great. It means you want to know.
A lot of believers have formed their view of God by learning information about Him from their parents, family members, friends and the media. While these are not necessarily a bad way to learn, sometimes we can form a depiction of God in our minds that isn’t true when we don’t know Him for ourselves. That’s why it’s so important to have a personal relationship with God and not get caught up in religion. The good news here is, He wants to know you to! Revelation 3:20 says “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” I believe the Lord is knocking at your door and it’s time for you to open it!
What is a relationship with God?
A relationship with God is a gift. It’s not pressured, forced or one sided. It’s simply given, you just have to want it.
We have all been given free will. God wants you to love Him and he wants to talk to you. But He won’t push you into it. If He did that it wouldn’t be love. Just like any human relationship you have to put in the work. It takes a conscious decision from yourself saying that you’re ready to take your next step with God. You have to invest time and effort for it to work. Your heart must be in it and you have to care.
5 Steps To Help You Start Your Relationship with God.
Step 1: Repent and believe the truth
Every relationship worth having is built off of honesty and trust. Without it you have nothing. The same thing is true with God. Proverbs 1:7 says “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” To fear God means to respect Him and His will for your life. God wants us to live a certain way. That’s why he gave us His word so we would know. As humans in our flesh we have all sinned. This means we have turned away from God’s standards and turned to our own. We have broken our relationship with God and the only way to fix it is to repent of our sins.
Sin is anything against God‘s perfect standard of holiness. This can be internally or externally. Your thoughts, actions and behavior are all looked at by God. That’s why we are given examples in the Bible such as Matthew 5:28 “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” When we sin we reject God and instead put ourselves in His place.
God isn’t trying to take the fun out of your life. Sinful behavior will eventually hurt you, others and most importantly our relationship with God. He is protecting you. When we live in the parameters given to us in His word, we can live in harmony with God. Then we can hear Him more clearly.
No one is perfect and we have all turned away from God at some point ( Romans 3:10-12). But repenting of your sins and believing in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the best place to start your relationship with God. Not only are you coming as you are to Him. But your coming ready to be renewed by His grace and turn from the ways of this world! Remember He wants you! You’re not too far gone. You don’t have to fix yourself before you come to Him. God wants all of you. He can turn your mess into a message.
Repentance alone won’t save you, but repentance that changes your mindset and leads to you truly turning from sin results in true salvation in Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man be in Christ,he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
Step 2: Read Your Bible
Read, Read, Read your bible! I can’t stress this enough. To have a true one and one relationship with your Heavenly Father you have to spend time with Him. One way to start this is by knowing His word. It’s literally the greatest love letter ever written. The Bible says in John: 1-1 “ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” So the only way to truly know God is to read His word and learn who He truly is yourself.
To start off you can download a The Bible app to get daily scriptures to your phone. This is a great way to start your day off. I suggest also downloading a bible reading plan to help you start reading your bible intentionally. You can find these online in multiple different forms. I also do daily devotionals Monday - Friday on my Instagram stories for you guys to stay in the word with me.
A study Bible is a great investment. I personally have the King James Version and the commentary helps me to understand the word much better. So check out your local bookstore or Amazon and find the right bible for you. There are so many versions out there to help you better understand scripture.
Whatever you choose to start with just start! Time in God’s word is never waisted time. You’re growing and becoming the person you were always destined to be.
Step 3: Talk To God & Listen to Him
Talking to God doesn’t have to be hard. Sometimes we think we have to come to God in some kind of deep thought out and extreme prayer. But you don’t! God just wants the real you. We are His kids. As a mother personally, I want Kaysen to come to me being himself not what I think he should come to me as, or a version he thinks he should be. God already knows what your going through and thinking. But He still wants to hear it from you, His child.
When you have down time take some time to just tell God how you‘re feeling. When you’re done allow yourself to go to a place where you can meditate and wait to hear from God. You can meditate on scripture, a devotional, or maybe even a sermon you listened to. This is the perfect time to pray and strengthen your relationship with God on another level.
Allowing this gives God a chance to speak to you without distractions. It also gives you a chance to learn God’s voice and to lean into Him more.
I personally love to journal during my quite time. I like to write down what I believe God is saying your me and my thoughts. You will be amazed when you look back one day and see how much God has transformed you from the inside out.
The time you spend with God is vital to your relationship. If you don’t spend time with someone then the relationship will begin to diminish. Your relationship with God is the most important relationship you can have. So take it seriously and set aside time daily, even if it’s 10 minutes that you sit in His presence.
Step 4: Worship: Find ways to connect with God in worship.
To know God is to love Him. We love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). If you love Him then you want to worship and please God. That’s why we worship Him. Because Jesus didn’t have to die on the cross for our sins. It’s because of His grace that we have the opportunity to get our lives right with Him.
When we worship we show our love and unquestionable devotion to God. To truly worship you have to surrender your life. Romans 12:1 says “I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God this is your true and proper worship.” We have to give our whole being to God.
Worship is putting our focus on God and nothing else. We have to have the desire in our hearts to honor God. We have to lay down our priorities and be soley focused on God. You have to get out of the way and let Him move in you.
Release your worries, questions, doubts, pain and fear and let yourself fully experience Jesus. You have a relationship with Him, you hear from Him, now trust Him to do what He promised He would. When you worship you‘re praising God for who He is, what He has done for you and is going to do in your life. It’s a celebration.
So how do you worship? You can do this in many ways. You can listen to Christian music and sing along, give praise and thanksgiving, doing your very best in everything you do, putting God first in all you do, being thankful, saying it, doing what you were called to do, and staying in the moment. This is just a start! The list goes on!
So don’t let your worshiping stop! It’s connecting you to God in a deeper way. The Bible says true worship is done in spirit and truth (John 4:24). God bestows His provision, grace, sovereignty, and power on those who do. This is His will! If you aren‘t worshiping God then check your heart. Your probably worshiping something else. Whatever it is will fail you at some point unlike God. Ask God to search you today and show you what the problem is If you‘re dealing with this.
Step 5: Fellowship- Find Godly friends or a small group at your local church to help you grow
The last step to creating your relationship with God, in a way that sets you up for success is fellowship. We were never created to do this life alone.That’s why God gave us each other, the church, pastors, youth pastors, family and friends. You were created for relationships. Proverbs 18:24 says “One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”
It’s so important that you keep a good group a friends and mentors around you to help when you get stuck. Everyday won’t be easy. You need people to help you be accountable so you don’t slip back into the ways of this world. Romans 12:2 says “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is his, good pleasing and perfect will.”
Ask God for the godly friends you need in your life. A good way to find them is to get connected at your local church. Join a small group or a serve team. I personally have met so many amazing friends and mentors that I can pray with and get godly advice from this way. I also talk to my parents and family members I know will guide me to Jesus.
A lot of people have been hurt and judged by people in the church. That may be you today. I want to remind you that no one is perfect but if you pray and let God lead you to the church and people you need to be around I can guarantee you He won’t let you down. When you run into tough personalities pray for those people. You never know why someone acts the way they do.
Conclusion:
If you ever need someone to talk to check out my contact page on my website or DM me on Instagram. I love hearing from you guys. I am willing to pray with you and listen if you just want to vent.
I pray you have learned some valuable tools to help you start your relationship with God. If you made the choice to live for God today let me know in the contact section. I want to congratulate you personally on this journey and help you along the way. We were not promised that everything would be perfect but God promised us He wouldn’t leave us. The relationship you are creating with God will change your life for the better. A year from today you won’t be the same. You will be stronger, wiser, more fearless and bolder in God and for God. Today is the beginning of a beautiful journey for you.
Make sure you share this with friends, family and anyone you can think of who may benefit from it.
Keep Smiling 😊
Keep Growing 🌱
Keep Knowing 💡
Smile through it, Grow from it and Know the God you serve. Paige’s Proverbs
