How can I grow closer to God?

Question

I have trusted Jesus Christ as personal savior, but sometimes God seems distant in my life.

If your a believer, what do you do to strengthen your relationship and grow closer to the Lord?

Answer 1

To get closer...

Read the Bible. However, it's very unlikely you'll just read the Bible in a few days or weeks of dedicated reading, lol. Try a 'Bible Track,' they either group up some chapters of the Bible to read for a few weeks, or offer a plan to read the Bible in a year usually. Doing this helps you get closer to God.

Prayer is another big one. One thing to help with this is not just to sit there and pray to God for everything you want as though he's a genie sitting up in Heaven to grant your wishes. ^_^ Think of prayer as having a conversation with Him. Tell him about your day, your worries, your accomplishments... feel free to ask him for help in whatever you need help with, to grow closer to Him, and praise Him also. Ask him to forgive you for anything bad you might have done, and realize that He'll always forgive you and love you unconditionally.

Going to church is always good, and spend time with fellow believers.

All of those should help you out, just remember you most likely won't instantly feel closer to him though. It'll take some time, but you will feel closer... most likely when you look back after a while, and then realize it. Good luck!

Answer 2

I will tell you my experience getting to know God. I was 16 when I gave my heart to Jesus but I did not trust Him fully. It wasn't till I was almost 30 that I found out that the more time you spend with Him the better you will know Him and trust Him. By that I mean reading the Bible whether you understand or not, praying as often as possible and serving Him in a ministry of some sort no matter how small you think it is. Now I am 51 and I have the most unbelievable peace and freedom. It is true when they say it is a peace beyond understanding. Alot of things don't make since at first and I didn't understand the Bible, but now, it is so much clearer cause I was patient and I let Him reveal Himself to me. Oh, it is so worth it!

Answer 3

I find that the best way to strengthen my faith in Christ is to make it a point to feed my spiritual side as much as my physical. That means prayer, Bible study and reading other books written by good Christian writers. I guess I can sum it up by saying that the more we know about God is the more we will love Him for what he has done, is doing and will do for us...if we will only let Him. Hope this helps.

Answer 4

Read the Bible. The Word is Jesus. When you read the Bible everyday, you will get to know Him more and more.

To know Him is to love Him.

Talk to Jesus in your prayer. Tell Him about everything in your mind. Discuss your life with Jesus. Ask His wisdom to make wise decission.

Go to church and talk to other people there. Built a healthy relationship with people in the church. You are part of the body of Christ there. Get into a Bible Study group or a ministry, then talk to the group about your life. Share your feeling whether it be good or bad. Ask for advise from other believer, especially from the church leaders and your pastor.

Pray to God for your church, and your church friends.

I could go on and on. For now, just these things.

Let me know if this helping you.

God bless your heart !

Answer 5

Hi Bill,
YOu have lots of good advice here already [ personally I woudl stay away from Yoga - it kept me away from Christ when I was into that.]
Bible reading is good - if you are a real 'mouse potato' then you can download esword and they will provide a reading track for you.

Make time for God, it takes time to build a strong relationship. What makes a strong friendship is going through hard times together. As you follow the Lord in faith there is bound to be times of testing, but keep pressing on and you will be the stronger.

Answer 6

Walking close to God is always a challenge, it's the ups and downs in my walk that make me a stronger Christian. yes, even my times where I feel seperated from God, I start moving back and often feel closer to Him.

I would suggest spending daily time in prayer, reading your bible, doing devotionals (something that is fun and keeps your interest), if you're reading the Bible and it's boring you (which sometimes it does, it happens), you're not going to stay motivated to stay in the word.

Find a local church where you can plug in with a small group of christian's your age. A group where you can encourage and share with each other.

Those are things that have made a tremendous change in my walk with Christ!

www.leftorright.org
www.myspace.com/leftorright

Answer 7

You have probably heard many times prayer changes things. Well then that's the clue for you.
Prayer does change things and I found that as in your situation, I had to pray seriously. Leave out the I want stuff.
be sincere. Pray and talk to God of your desire to have him in your life. Dont use pre-written prayers, use your own words and let God know just h ow you feel..
dont be surprised that if on here you get a smart answers.
Be sure to let
God know that you love him and deisre to follow his son Jesus.
once you try you will find your own words and feelings rather than any of these I have written to you. It will work, go for it and good luck.

Answer 8

Hello friend,
If you don't have a readable version of His Word, get one you can enjoy reading and meet Him there regularly.

The best way to learn about Him is to read His Letter to you. You might also get in a Bible study where you can interact and ask specific questions you may have.

The Good Book says that iron sharpens iron. Which simply means you you grow when you're challenged and can challenge
in a comfortable setting with gentleness and respect.

Hope this helps.
Blessings,
2 Tim. 2:7

Answer 9

For me it is prayer and making sure there is no sin in my life by constantly checking myself and repenting when I find it. I also feel closer to God when I am helping someone or sharing my beliefs with people that actually want to learn. Also reading the Bible and learning something new makes God seem like he is right there. :)

Answer 10

Mankind's salvation will result from the worship of God as "One" without equals or partners

God is One. There is no Trinity. Jesus is a prophet of God, and like all his fellow prophets, he is a human being. We love him, and believe in him, and affirm all of his miracles, bestowed upon him as a favour from his Lord. He called for the worship of God alone and for righteousness - as every prophet of God has done. However, his pure monotheistic message was gradually changed by 'Christians' into a polytheistic one, by transforming Jesus(the servant of God, into a mythological God-incarnate figure to be worshipped alongside God All-Mighty.

Jesus was in a mother's womb. He needed nutrition; he was born and grew up to be a man.A man who needs to eat, walk, sleep, rest, etc.. cannot have Divine Attributes because he is in need and God is Self-Sufficient