My desire this year has been to grow in my understanding of who God is. Not just based on what others have said, what I am taught, but more about deeping my personal relationship with Him. I want to understand God as it is described in the scriptures. When I read about how God moved in the lives of those He chooses, there is always this power or level of boldness that they walk in. Don’t believe me?
Recall the story of Esther in the Bible. She only had her uncle as her family and following his instructions she became queen. When she was instructed to go against the set rules of the kingdom to speak to her husband the king to save her people, the Jews, she was scared. She was reminded who she was by her uncle and entered a three day fast for God’s direction. Coming out of that fast she my have continued to feel fear but she move forward with speaking to the king knowing that it was God who determined her fate not man. Ultimately, her faith that God is God of all allowed her to assist in saving the Jews. Wow! That takes a different level of trust in God that I want to experience in my life.
So that comes to where I am today, learning how to build my personal relationship with God. As I study the Bible, there are three thing that I noticed are required to deeper relationship with God. First, believe that God is real and prayer is a means of communication with Him. Second, trust that God wants the best for His children. Third, actively walk in the things that God has made clear to you. It sounds simple, yet it honestly requires consistent practice and dedication to renewing your mindset. Romans 12:2, specifically warns us (those who follow Christ) that we must constantly renew our minds as we will be tested often. Test can come in the form of someone asking if you understood the word correctly. Or did God really say that? (Check out Genesis 3 for an example of this). They can even come in doubting yourself and your ability to do what it is that God has instructed you to do. Renewing our minds comes as a deeper relationship with God is build. Your thoughts will become His thoughts, removing old ways of thinking…renewing your mind.
Back to the three requirements for a deeper relationship with God. What follows is my personal understanding, my prayer is that you do the work to develop your own relationship with God using the information shared here.
Starting with Hebrews 11:6, the writer instructs those who follow Christ that one must first believe through faith that God is God. Meaning there is no one greater than, more powerful than, and more deserving of praise than Him. He must first be recognized as more that just a thought or far off God, but a God who created us to serve His purpose and not our own. He must be the authority in every aspect of life. You can’t build a relationship with a God you do not believe in. Belief in God renews the way we interact with Him. Our prayers become bigger because we take the human limits off who He is. You realize that if you are in relationship with the creator of all things, and He calls you to do a thing, there is nothing that can stop you. What is standing in your way is man made having limited strength, time, and authority over you completing the task that God has placed before you. God must be recognized as God.
So believing that God is who He says He is in the word removes the uncertainty that He hears us. Which changes the way we communicate with Him. How? Because if God is always present, aware of what we are going through, and is able to change the hearts of man to favor us, then our prayers must reflect His power. Not our limitations, so we have to come to Him with a different frame of mind. As we continue to allow Him to build our faith by praying according to Him, we continue to renew our minds even more. Jude 1:20, instructs us to pray in this manner to do just that. Don’t get hung up on the Holy Spirit portion of this scripture. The Holy Spirit is God’s spirit working through your thoughts and actions. As you pray believing that God is God your prayers will begin to reflect the heart of God, His spirit which is Holy will cause you to want what He wants building up your relationship with Him.
Let’s move over to Psalm 118:8, honestly the entire chapter is a testament to how David reverence God more than man. I’m focusing on verse 8 because it is required to deepen our relationship with God. It is quite simple, trust God over man believing He wants what is best for you. Let’s break that down a bit because God can use man to elevate, provide direction, and assist us as believes in our walk. This scripture says to me that I should take everything spoken by man to God for confirmation. God must be the final say in how I move because the enemy uses man to do his work as well. Think about it, how many times have you been in prayer, and you know for a fact God has called you to do something. You share it with someone who provides feedback that plants a seed of doubt or an alternate option to what God has told you to do. Do you trust what the person has said or what God has said to you? Often, we are prone to follow the feedback provided by man (this includes women too) without going to God for confirmation. Many times we delay what it is God is trying to show us, remove from us, or improve within us. Don’t misunderstand me confirmation of what God has spoken to you can come from man and most times it does. But your relationship with God will help you to decern which situation is true. The deeper your relationship with God the more you are able to recognize the spirit behind those who do bring a word of confirmation to you. Then it is your job to commune with God for the next steps.
The most important step in growing in your personal relationship with God is learning who He is for yourself. Prayer is one way and reading His word is the other. The word of God is a written reminder of His love, instructions, and expectations of us. It is where we can explore how ended up in a state separated from God, how others viewed Him, and ultimately how He has reconciled us to Him through Jesus Christ. God gives us the privilege of walking through the pages of the written word to see ourselves in relationship to Him. Really, how many times have you read about Jonah, shake your head, and said yup that would be me. Oh, only me! Yes, I would have run away from evil people, gotten mad that God saved the, and pouted about it. As you read the entire story you learn that God wasn’t just interested in saving the people of Nineveh, but also repairing the heart of Jonah. God loved Jonah so much that he allowed Him to feel how he felt while teaching Him he needed saving too.
As you spend time in the word God can speak directly to what it is He is doing in you. It opens your understanding of God providing clarity where there is confusion. Colossians 2:8, stresses our responsibility, as followers of Christ, to study the word for ourselves so we will not be deceived by man’s interpretation of the word. Pause, before you start thinking this means church is unnecessary, just like children we must first be taught how to view the word. Once we become mature enough to study the word on our own, we should do so. Staying connected to a church holds us accountable to focusing on God’s truth and not our own. So, stay in church! While there as your relationship grows in Christ your position in the church should change. No longer will you only sit to be filled by God’s word, but you will use your gifts to help other grow. Actively use the gifts that God has given you trusting that He has prepared you and is with you.
We have covered a lot in this short time together. I pray that me sharing how I am working to build my relationship with God inspires you to do the same. It doesn’t take much to get started, just believe that God is God, He wants the best for you, and actively walk in what God calls you to do. As you do I know for a fact you will change and those around you will do. Walk in the truth provided in Philippians 1:6, that the good work He has began in you as you grow in relationship with Him will be done in your life. So as we walk into 2024, chase after who God has called you to be and be ready to change your whole life.