Learn how to get closer to God through prayer, Christian community, time management, Bible study, and fellowship with God.
Psalm 42:1 - As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
I have quoted this scripture so many times. I've quoted it when I wanted more of God and when I needed more of God.
The truth is that I was only just saying the words because I never did anything about getting closer to God, the One I said my soul was longing for. I never changed anything about my life or my interests, but I wanted my awareness of and sensitivity to God's voice to change.
I remember after going several weeks without reading my Bible, I took it off the shelf one day and opened it to where I'd left my pen. A spider had crawled into it and died right next to the pen.
How serious could I have been about getting closer to God?
It wasn't until I started running into some really rough spots in life that I realized I needed to do something different.
I Had to Learn How to Get Closer to God
I needed answers, peace, and Jesus! I turned to God, and He responded just as His Word promised.
Psalm 34:6
This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
God is ALWAYS faithful to His Word.
I had not been faithful in my attention to Him, but now I wanted to do it differently. I started trying to read my Bible every day. I knew that if I was going to come out on top, I had to get closer to God.
But how? I asked God to help me and He led me to Psalm 25.
Psalm 25:4-5
[4] Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.
[5] Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.
Changes I Had to Make to Get Closer to God
I committed these verses to memory and prayed them often. I absolutely love how the Holy Spirit began to reveal truth to me. I didn't hear an audible voice, but I knew by the inward witness of the Holy Spirit that I needed to designate a time to spend with God.
I had to be interested enough in God to carve out special time for Him in my life.
I Had to Carve Out a Time for Prayer
For me, it had to be mornings before the demands of work and family set in. How did that work out? Not well at all, at first. But after many failed attempts—repeatedly hitting the snooze button or falling asleep while trying to pray—the Holy Spirit helped me.
One night, at about 11:00 p.m., I was sitting on the side of my bed, once again feeling defeated about failing in prayer that morning. The thought came to mind, "How much sleep do you need?"
I responded with a thought, "About seven hours."
Another thought came to mind: "Determine when you'd need to get up in the mornings to spend time with God and count backward seven hours. That would be the time you need to go to bed."
How simple was that?!! After that truth dawned on me, I realized that the Holy Spirit was helping me! The next night, I changed some things. Now, not only had I designated a time in the morning to spend with God, but I also designated a time at night to retire that would support my ability to honor my morning commitment.
Another takeaway in this encounter is that if we do not give up, even after failed attempts to get it right, the Holy Spirit WILL step in and help us move forward.
During that time, I heard a minister say that your time with the Lord can include reading your Bible, good Bible-based books, or listening to a Bible-based teaching that the Lord leads you to.
I was so glad to hear that because I had no clue what I would say while trying to pray for a whole hour. The Holy Spirit led me to some really good books that taught prayer, faith, surrender, and many topics specific to my needs.
Many, many times, as Bible truths were revealed to me, I found it easy to pray, praise, worship, and even repent. I can't tell you the number of times I said, "Wow! I didn't even know that was in the Bible!"
And I still make that statement often as God continues to reveal Himself through His Word. I discovered that the more I learned, the more I realized how much I didn't know. At the same time, my soul yearned to know more.
I learned that the Holy Spirit was there with me every day, even if it felt that I was alone. I learned, too, that prayer is not something you do only during your designated time of devotion, but it's also something you do all day long.
I Had to Maintain Church Attendance
Church attendance has always been important to me. Early in life, I learned that being a part of a sound, Bible-believing church is fundamental to my Christian walk. The Lord confirmed this truth for me and helped me realize the foundational role church attendance had played in my life.
I also note that church attendance is fundamental to our Christian walk because we should surround ourselves with like-minded believers who share the same values and with whom we can share a sense of Christian community.
However, even with this in place, I was now coming to realize that growing in the ability to combat enemy strategies against me required more.
I continued to pray, "Lord, teach me truth." And He did.
I Had to Manage My Time?
The Holy Spirit dealt with me about how I was spending my free time and gave me two Bible verses, Romans 10:17 and Romans 8:6.
Romans 10:17
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
The only way faith comes is by hearing the Word of God. Some challenges I faced in life would require a greater measure of faith. The only way I would be increased in faith would be by my intentional attention given to studying and meditating on God's Word.
I had to study the second Bible verse the Holy Spirit led me to in order to get clarity.
Romans 8:6-7
[6]For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
[7] Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
I learned that being carnally minded simply means natural thinking. Natural thinking came about as a result of Adam's fall in the Garden, and it leads to death, which is separation from God.
As humans, we are three-part beings—spirit, soul, and body. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, Christ indwells our spirits making us new in Him.
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.
Our spirits are literally transformed.
However, our souls—the mind, will, and emotions—were not transformed at the new birth, so by default, we think naturally, which is contrary to God's way of thinking.
Being spiritually minded simply means spiritual thinking, which we achieve by renewing our minds in the Word.
John 6:63
the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
Now there's nothing natural about God! Nothing. That's why His thoughts are as far above our thoughts "as the heavens are higher than the earth" (Isaiah 55:9). I think 1 Corinthians 2:14 explains it perfectly.
1 Corinthians 2:14
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
So we possess two ways of thinking—one part thinks like God (the spirit of man), and the other part thinks naturally (the soulish of man). Both of these entities live in the body. Whichever of them is strongest—the spirit or the soul—will govern the body.
Therefore, in order for me to truly appreciate and live out what the Holy Spirit was teaching me, I had to make some changes relative to how I spent my time.
Was my time spent engaging in activities that contributed more to the natural way of thinking? Or did I engage in activities that contributed more to the spiritual way of thinking?
There are so many distractions in our society. I had to be willing to identify those areas that I was giving excessive attention to and bring balance or, if necessary, eliminate them from my life.
It all came down to what was most important. The Holy Spirit will help us break free from distractions that seem difficult to let go of—entertainment, social media, toxic friends, habits, and the like.
I had to learn that as God reveals things in my life that I need to turn from, I must be quick to obey. Obedience keeps the free flow of fellowship with God open to us. (I‘ll talk more about fellowship with God in the next section.)
We can't free ourselves from things we need to let go of, but when we confess these things to the Lord and earnestly turn to Christ, He will take away our desire for them.
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
And when we submit to the hand of the Holy Spirit in our lives, He will work His will in us.
Philippians 2:13
For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
With the help of the Holy Spirit, we can walk in victory! It is God's pleasure to set us free!
Growing Closer to God through Fellowship
I've always talked about and heard others talk about "relationship with God." I had always longed to have a relationship with the Lord. As I earnestly pursued Him, He began to reveal to me that I lacked one very critical aspect of relationship—I lacked fellowship.
I have learned that fellowship is an extension of relationship.
What is Relationship?
Relationship denotes a connection. When we accept Christ as Savior, we enter into a relationship with Him. The truth is, however, that before I made space in my life to spend with the Lord daily, I could go for weeks and not feel His presence.
I would feel His presence from time to time, but I had no real daily fellowship.
What is Fellowship?
Fellowship denotes intimacy.
Have you ever been in a church service, conference, or revival and been overshadowed by God's presence? Or maybe you were at home or driving in your car when His presence overshadowed you—it could happen anywhere.
People respond differently to these precious moments spent with God. I just cry—I mean the ugly cry! I'm just so grateful that God thinks enough of me to touch, bless, and overshadow me with His presence.
During these interactions, different phrases bubble up from within me. Sometimes, I repeatedly say, "Yes, Lord." At other times, I'll say, "Thank You, Jesus," or "I love You, Lord." And still, at other times, my prayer language just flows.
I never want these moments to end. It's my favorite place to be in the whole wide world! This is fellowship.
When the Spirit lifts, I feel ready to do everything God wants me to do. My love for people has increased. I feel empowered to live and walk this Christian walk. I am more conscious of God, more aware of His existence.
Fellowship with God is like an opening into the Spirit world. Because our spirits were changed when we accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, we now, through Christ, can stand in His presence and interact with Him on a personal level.
It's an interaction with pure love because God IS love!
Will we always feel His presence so dramatically during our fellowship with Him? Fellowship with God may vary in intensity, but we will always be somehow changed in our thinking, outlook, or understanding as He leads us to truth through His Word.
You cannot fellowship with the creator of the universe and remain the same. God loves us and longs to spend time with us; He enjoys our company.
We're His children, and He wants us to succeed. He has provided everything we need and left instructions for victoriously living in His Word.
God paid a high price to redeem us back to Himself through the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. He made fellowship possible through Jesus and desires to have fellowship with us every day.
How the Absence of Fellowship Prevents Being Closer to God
Before I sought the Lord for change in my life, my fellowship with Him was sparse. Because I could go for weeks and not feel or sense His presence, I was governed by my natural mind.
When we are more naturally-minded than spiritually-minded, the awareness of God’s constant presence with us is dull or nonexistent. Why? Because God's flow is not in the realm of the natural.
We’re still saved. We'll still go to Heaven when we leave this earth, but we miss out on critical benefits available to every born-again Christian.
On the other hand, the enemy can work against us only in the flow of what is natural. When we engage more often in what is natural, we provide more opportunities for the enemy to create windows and doors of access to our souls—our minds, wills, and emotions.
For example, we all experience disappointment. The devil likes to compound disappointment and the negative experiences we encounter in life and use them to beat us up.
The devil will crowd our minds and weigh down our souls doing all he can to push us to anxiety, fear, and depression. He will beat us up every day if we let him.
But when we have fellowship with God, the Lord fortifies us for daily living. Our minds are renewed in the Word and the devil cannot win against us!
The devil is a defeated foe! And the Holy Spirit will enlighten the eyes of our understanding through the Word of God to know and boldly declare, "I will not be defeated by a defeated foe!"
Not having fellowship with God deprives us of the fortification from God that is available to all of us. That’s why we sometimes find ourselves in strife in our marriages or easily take offense in relationships with each other.
Fellowship with God teaches us how to walk in peace. It is the absolute best thing in existence—not a new car, not a new house, not any material thing, not any person. Nothing can satisfy like our fellowship with God.
The best thing that could ever happen to any of us is fellowship with God.
As we get closer to God, our time with Him will increase, whether in our designated time of devotion or in our awareness of His presence with us. We will also begin to feel a greater desire to give of our time and resources to serve others.
The Holy Spirit taught me that it's ALWAYS MY TURN! God was just waiting for me to draw closer to Him so He could show me through His Word how He has already given me everything I need!
Ephesians 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.
I encourage you to delve into the Bible and allow the Holy Spirit to show you how to get closer to God through prayer, Christian community, time management, Bible study, and fellowship with God.
2 Timothy 2:15
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
If you desire to get closer to God but have never accepted Him as Lord and Savior of your life, please know that God loves you so much that He gave His Son, Jesus, that whoever believes in Him shall have eternal life (John 3:16).
To receive Christ as Lord of your life, simply pray this prayer from your heart:
Heavenly Father, I admit that I am a sinner. I choose now to turn away from sin and ask You to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. I believe that Your Son, Jesus, died on the cross to take away my sins and that He rose again from the dead so that I might be forgiven.
I confess that Jesus Christ is Lord of my life and that I am a child of God, free from sin. I ask that you fill me with the power of Your Holy Spirit. I am saved in Jesus' name. AMEN!
If you meant this prayer, the angels in Heaven are rejoicing that you are now a family member of God's household! I encourage you to dive into the Word of God and let the Holy Spirit lead you to a good Bible-based church.
We are family members together in Christ!
Find a treasure trove of biblical wisdom with God’s Medicine Scriptures—a beautifully designed gold tin of need-specific Bible verses that offer guidance, comfort, and strength for any situation you might face.
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