How To Grow Closer To God

Growing closer to God requires scheduling time to spend with God. This is how we grow closer to God and have a relationship with Jesus. When we draw near to Him and seek him with all our hearts. We become aware of how near He is to us. You will hear him and experience his love over you.

Here are 11 ways to help you grow closer to God.

1. Limit Distractions

We have to focus on God everyday. When we focus on our sin we tend to sin more and when we dwell on our failures we are filled with discouragement. The enemy wants to keep us from focusing on God by magnifying the distractions of this world such as social media and finances. The more we seek Him, the more we will hear Him. If we are obedient to his word, we will have a close relationship with God. Which is why prayer is so important. It keeps us from temptation and distractions.

1 Corinthians 7:35 I am saying this for your benefit, not to place restrictions on you. I want you to do whatever will help you serve the Lord best, with as few distractions as possible.

2. Prayer

Prayer is how we communicate with God. It fuels our relationship with our heavenly Father.

• We pray to thank God for daily blessings.
• We pray for God to keep us firm in righteousness when needing to resist temptation.
• Prayer gives us power over darkness and any evil that comes against the people around you.
• Praying protects our heart against pride.
• Prayer is how we intercede for one another.
• Prayer is how we worship and praise God giving him the credit for all that is good.
• In prayer we are able to feel his presence and know that we are loved.
• We pray and ask God to reveal any lies we are believing from the enemy and we declare God’s truth over us.

Confessing our sins everyday makes us clean with God. We don’t want to hold on to any sins that will keep us from being more like Jesus. When we confess immediately God forgives us. When we confess that God has separated us from our sin and washed us clean then we realize that sin is powerless over us. We are no longer slaves of sin and we can move forward without backsliding. We don’t have to wait. Doing this will help us remove any hindrances that is keeping us from hearing God and to grow in our relationship with Jesus. Clearing areas where the enemy might have had a hold to influence us, we are now set free.

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

4. Accept God’s Forgiveness

We don’t have to hold on to our past, God tells us he has already forgiven us. You just have to accept and believe that Jesus died to save you from your sins and it is done. His grace and love are greater than anything you might have done in your past and when you encounter Him you will also be able to forgive anyone who has wronged you. You no longer have to live with the pain of your past. Jesus died for us on the cross his blood washes all our sins away. I’m forever thankful for the love Jesus, our Savior, had for us while we were still sinners without redemption, without hope and he chose to redeem us. Satan will try to remind you of your past but we have to ALWAYS remember God had already forgiven us and not let his lies keep us from serving in God’s kingdom.

Romans 3:23-24 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴ and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

5. Study The Word

We read the bible because it reveals more of Christ and it speaks powerful truth into your life. We grow spiritually because of Gods word working inside us. We sin less because our love of God grows through reading His word through faith. We find wisdom, discernment and knowledge through his word. God speaks through every scripture in the bible and is full of revelation for us to find. Set aside time, take notes, reflect on what you read and apply it t0 your daily life. You can also listen to the bible through the bible app audible. Write scriptures on sticky notes to remember and memorize His word that is essential wisdom for your life and your situation. If you don’t know where to start reading the bible, Matthew and Proverbs good book to begin with.

Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. “

Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

6. Go To A Church

Being part of a church will help you grow in your relationship with God. If you haven’t found a church yet. Pray and ask God to lead you to the church where He sees fit for you to be planted. The church is a great place to fellowship with others and join a bible study. Being surrounded with people who love Jesus and are hungry for more of God will help you continue growing. At a church you can receive prayer from prayer team member where they will pray for the specific petitions of your heart. Listening to the pastor’s sermon will motivate you and help you continue to walk in Gods path. This is a place to serve and also grow in your spiritual gifts.

Hebrews 10:24-25 “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, ²⁵ not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Romans 12:6-8 “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

7. Take Notes At Church

Get a notebook specifically for church notes. Taking notes at church will help you stay focused and remember everything the pastor preached about and apply it in your daily walk. The sermons carry wisdom and encouragement that will help you be victorious over spiritual battles throughout the week. We allow God to transform our minds and lives with his word. You can also always look back on your notes.

Luke 8:15 “But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.”

8. Fellowship With Others Who Love God Outside The Church

When you fellowship with friends who encourage you, pray for you and give you Godly advice it will lead you to grow closer to God because these friends are pointing you to God. If you haven’t yet found friends who love God and His word, pray that you will have them. God wants to surround you with people who love him too. In the bible it tell us that he who walks with wise people will be wise himself.

Proverbs 12:26The righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray

9. Journal

Having a relationship with Jesus requires us setting time aside for just you and God. Then record what you feel God is showing you or saying to you in a Journal. Your alone time with God may look different from others. It can be at a coffee shop, during your walk or even in your living room. I’ve personally encountered God through writing. I love to journal what I hear God speaking over me and my situations whether it comes through dreams, hearing or in a vision from God. When one of God’s words comes to pass in my life, I write it down too. I also love to journal my experiences, prophetic words, dreams and my journey with God in a separate notebook. I can always go back and never forget what He has done over my life. I love to set time aside to talk to God. I know God is listening and He is always with me. This is also true for you.

Habakkuk 2:2 “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets so he may run who reads it.

Joel 2:28 “I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions.”

10. Worship

Worship is a time where we get to show our love for God. When my heart is in this position of love, I encounter God, even right in my living room. I pour my love out for him in praises and my intimacy with God grows. I thank Jesus for what he did on the cross. When you worship God you are able to feel God’s presence and this is another way we can hear from Him. We are created to worship our God.

Psalm 105:2 “Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts.”

11. Fast

Fasting and prayer is a great way to help us grow closer to God. We can fast for spiritual growth, faith, hearing His voice, guidance, discernment, deliverance, breakthrough, healing and spiritual strength. Jesus fasted. We draw closer to God by fasting and putting aside our fleshly desires and making our relationship with God first priority. Last time I fasted was because I had a desperate desire to hear from God over a certain situation I was going through in that season. During my fast I heard God speak to me over that situation that seemed impossible and hopeless to me at the moment, and He encouraged me and strengthened my faith. Pray, read bible scriptures often and draw near to God in the midst of your fast. There are different kinds of fasts. Start small, by going without just one of your meals. Many people give up bread, sugars and coffee. Others have only vegetables and some just have water with no solid food. Decide for yourself how you are going to fast. Ask God to show you what kind of fast you are to fast. Know beforehand why you are fasting? Decide how long you want to fast. Ask the Holy Spirit for guidance.

Isaiah 58:6 “So we fasted and petitioned our God about this, and he answered our prayer.”

 

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