How do I get closer to God?

Question

I begining to go to Church every Sunday and I even went to a retreat....I still feel distant from him though...I don't have that same feeling that I had before when I was close to him (that feeling of peace and stuff). Its that sometimes its so hard to trust him and I have doubts sometimes. Does anyone have any advice? Please no atheist telling me to stop believing in christ...

Answer 1

READ MY ANSWER - ITS A REAL ONE:
Congrats on making the step into a life long relationship with the King!
First read Philippians 1.6 - it says this "being confidant of this, that he that began a good work in you (God), will carry it through to perfection on the day of Jesus Christ".
Thats a personal favourite of mine - it very clearly says that God Himself will take personal attention in making sure that you get closer to Him - even to the point of perfecting it on the day of Jesus Christ (the day that we see Him face to face).
So heres the first tip - take the pressure off - its a journey man.
Heres the practical stuff:
1. Get stuck into the Word of God - Joshua 1.8 says, get into that thing all the time - Joshua puts it like this "day and night". In this verse it says to meditate on the scriptures - this isnt in the eastern style of emptying your mind - in fact its the opposite! FILL your mind with God's word and chew on it until you get something out of it!
2. Pray - lots. 1 Thess 5:17 says it like this - "Pray continually" .Not out of compulsion or duty but because you want to spend time with our great God. Open it up and get freestyle about it. Go for a walk in the morning and talk to God.
Now - prayer is a two way thing - keep in mind that God wants to talk to you more than you need to talk to Him! So when you are praying take the time to listen to what He has to say to you too - trust me - give Him the chance and you won't believe what He wants to talk to you about - great things, the stuff that is on His mind!
3. Fellowship - daggy word - great thing. This is simply hanging out with other christians. Hebrews 10:25 is Paul's recommendation to the Jewish church - he says - dont stop getting together. Get yourself into a church and surround yourself with good quality people who are now what you want to be like - you'll find yourself picking up the way they do things and catching their passion and the intimacy that they have with God will get into your life too! (Make sure its a church that is active in the community and grwoing on a weekly basis - this is an alive church that you can grow with and experience the nature and presence of God first hand)
4. Serve. Do something for Him - contribute to building the Kingdom. Get real deep into serving the leaders and ministry of your local church and see your life expolde with joy and passion for the things of God.

AND DON'T STOP - always just keep going. Thats my hottest tip - when it doesnt seem like anythings happening - don't stop - keep pushing, keep praying, keep reading. Remember a seed has to disapear into the ground before it can shoot up as a tree! there will be times where it doesnt seem like anything is happening - but keep 'watering the seed' and watch it grow.

God bless man - let me know how you go with this.

Answer 2

As a Christian we can feel close to God all the time, however, there are times that I have felt closer to Him then others. The reason that I have experienced is this. The more I CHOOSE to spend time with Him, the closer I become. His desire is to be extremely close to His children. I have a chronic pain disease that for awhile actually drew me away from Him. It was what I didn't do. The lack of closeness had nothing to do with what God did. When I realized that I could experience His grace and strength in the midst of my pain, not just when God decided to heal me, then I drew closer. Sometimes we may not always "feel" the presence of God, but that should never negate the fact that He is present.

Answer 3

I hope that you understand that getting closer to God is not all about going to church, or a retreat, or by doing good work...if you do you have a greater problem at hand. But if you at one point and time have accepted Christ as your Savior, and now have grown distant...go back to the beggining. How did you get saved and why...because you trusted the Lord at His word. Go to the Bible and trust that he will lead you with His guidance. Pray, remember that the devil puts doubt in your mind to keep you unproductive for the Lord.

Answer 4

To start, it is good to believe in God and that he is seeing you and hearing you. better than an atheist who doesn't wanna admit that there is a God the creator the sustainer the guide.
ask God to guide you, to take you to the right path. but Know that if you ask somebody else beside God, you will never find this happiness, this freedom and the total surrender to the will of God.
Know that God will forgive any sin, anything we can do of bad deeds. but know that he will not forgive the biggest sin << to worship others than him>>
If you love really God and If you love really jesus look at the words of jesus himself. Did he ever said I am God worship me? Didn't he say my God and your God, your Lord and my lord. God is one.
If you believe in the trinity, don't you feel that something is not right. too much mysteries while God is not the author of confusion.
look at the words of jesus himself, from his lips only and you will find the truth, my friend know that jesus was just a prophet of God. if you think that he is more than that, know that you will never find peace of mind until you accept that God is only one, with no God the son, no son of God, no other things, just one being before him was nothing but He.he is the begining he is the first and last. how can he be the first and jesus was there also? was satan with them when he told jesus to bow down to him? wasn't satan created by God or he was also there? if there is one God how can you explain the presence of jesus with God in the begining and now also? was he in the flesh?
I know the christian answer>>> just have blind faith, just believe,
this is a mystery.can really God leave you die with mysteries that when it will be too late in the day of jugement to have the answer.
this your choice and may be now it is time to change, to know your God that nobody have seen yrt or hear his voice (beside moses).
In christianity, you have too many unanswered questions but how can you find the answers?
I urge to read the Quran and go to a mosque and ask about Islam , it is not a new religion, it is the religion of all the prophets why? because it's name means <> in arabic, and the message is simple: there is no deity that have the right to be worshiped but God alone. there is no mysteries, no confusions.
I am not trying to make it longuer but if you have a question I will try my best to answer you.
may God guide us all.

Answer 5

If you have truly believe and trusted that the Lord Jesus Christ died for you on the cross then you can learn what the will of God is for your live. God only speaks to us through His Word. The apostle Paul tells us to consider what he writes to the church and the Lord will give you understand in all things. 2 Timothy 2: 7 Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things. He also tells us how to be approved of 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. Remember that this verse says to rightly divide the Word of truth. All the Bible is true but all the Bible is not written to you. If you have believe then you are in the Body of Christ (the church) and the churches doctrine is found in the 13 books the apostle Paul write to the church.

Answer 6

OK I know you are going to disagree with me completely but I think you should stop concerning yourself about worshipping god, and worry about helping others and bringing peace to the world. Embrace peace. That's the only way to get close to whichever god you believe in. That feeling of happiness that you get when you help others, that's god thanking you for doing the only thing that matters in this world, spreading peace and love. That will give you the feeling of peace that you seek for. Many people worship worship worship but miss the point and the message

Answer 7

Getting closer to God is just like making a friend. You need to know all you can about Him. This means going to church and studying the word of God.
You need to spend time with Him in prayer seeking His face and not just asking for your needs to be met. Learn to hear God's voice so that you can carry on a conversation with Him at any moment. Have an attitude of thanksgivings, praise and worship of Him always. Believe He lives in you and His presence is with you all the time.

Answer 8

It sounds as if you are wanting something from him and not having the patience for it. Remember JAMES 1:4-perseverance must finish its work first so you will mature and be complete not lacking anything. The creator also tells us to remember ALL of his laws and commands us to do them. When you feel that the creator is so far away it is when he is closer.

Answer 9

Oh how close you are to so many christians, we all go through what you are saying, but as the years have went by I have learned, prayer, reading God's word, being with Gods people more, and keeping your mind on heavenly things will lift you up.
God didn't promise us a rose garden when we were saved by His precious blood, but he did promise he would always be there for us, Sometimes we don't even feel like praying but Gods word says our spirit crys out for us. so don't be dismayed, I sing gospel music and sometime I feel like I could fly with his spirit on me, stand up for Jesus, He stood with arms reached out for you.

Answer 10

Sweet Dandelion, Sometimes our prayers seem to go up as far as the ceiling, don't they? In times like that I am reminded that God never walked away from me but I got too distracted in this world and i must find my way back to Him. Pray, pray, Pray, and get back to the word of God. Never be too tired to thank Him and give Him praise. God likes to hear us appreciate Him. He inhabits the praises of His people. Start praising Him and you will feel Him.......God bless