4 Ways to Grow Deeper In Your Relationship With God
Do you feel stuck in your relationship with God? Are you wanting to experience more but unsure where to start? Then this is for you.
There is always more to experience with God. Words can’t describe how complex and multifaceted He is. He is holy and funny. He is all-knowing, all-powerful, and ever-present, but He’s also personal and cares about the smallest details of your life. Only through an ever-growing relationship will get to know the depth of His personality and character.
Now I have to preface this post by saying the Holy Spirit is your best resource when it comes to learning what’s next. This list isn’t a formula. it’s a testimony of how God has led me to know him on a deeper level in four very different ways. My prayer is that my experience will help you seek God and go to new depths in your relationship with Christ.
1. Learn to Rest In God’s Sovereignty
You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Psalm 16:11
“LORD, remind how to rest in who you are.” That is often my prayer. Before knowing Christ, my identity was rooted in my work and achievements. Sometimes I carry that into my faith, thinking what I do for God carries more weight than just being His child. I’ve learned that I am fully loved just as I am. I don’t need to strive and always try to become something. Some days, all I need to do is just rest. When my old way of thinking tries to take over God reminds me to be still and rest in Him.
Striving tempts us to believe it depends on ourselves. If you’re not careful, you’ll get ahead of God and start trying to figure out things on your own. If you want to know God deeper learn to rest in Him. When you rest you’ll learn to stay in pace with God’s plan for your life. Not the pace your friends are keeping or that culture says you should have. Resting allows you to see God’s power and sovereignty. How he can open up doors you didn’t even knock on! It’s happened to me more than once. I remember asking God what to do about a job situation. I wanted to leave but wasn’t sure it was His will. He led me to Exodus 14:14. So I obeyed and stayed where I was. Not even six months later I was sought out and offered a job that was an answer to my prayer. God opened a door that I wasn’t even knocking on!
There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works just as God did from his.
Hebrews 4:9-10
Resting in God means not relying on your knowledge and ability to figure things out, being counter-cultural and trusting God when it doesn’t make sense, and being able to let go, of a to-do list or a 10-year plan and find contentment in God’s plan and timing for your life.
Resting in God isn’t passive, it’s intentional. One of the best ways to put this into practice is to take a sabbath. Let go of the hustle mentality that’s embedded in American culture and remember that you serve a God who handles it all, so you don’t have to. Rest from your work just as God did. He created the Heavens and Earth in six days, and He can teach you how to manage your life in the same.
Related Post: How to Rest In God: The Truth About the Sabbath
2. Seek God’s Agenda For Your Devotional Time
How do you structure your one-on-one time with God? Do you lead with your agenda or do you allow Him to lead with His? For the majority of my Christian life, I created an agenda without seeking God. To be honest, for many years I was more focused on completing my checklist (worship to music, follow my reading plan, pray for specific things) than letting the Holy Spirit lead me.
In the time since I’ve learned that I’m not the only one with an agenda. Just as I have things I want to discuss with God, He has things he wants to discuss with me. Even more, sometimes THEY’RE DIFFERENT! Nowadays I sit down, close my eyes, and ask God what He wants to say to me, and then I wait and listen. Sometimes He leads me to read the same passage of scripture for three weeks. Other times He’ll remind me of a previous prayer request, or situation I was in and give me insight about it. Then there are times when He simply reminds me that he loves me. It’s not always the same, but it’s always what I need.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t have a prayer list or a routine, because it’s fine to have those things. You don’t have to throw away your devotional structure (unless God tells you to). Just don’t be rigid or rushed. Give God space to change the agenda. Bring your prayers to Him but ask Him if there is anything else you should pray for before rushing to say “Amen”. If you start your time by listening to worship music, ask God which song(s) you should play. Your bible plan may call for you to read the next chapter in the book of Romans, but God may want you to read a story in the Book of Acts because it’s going to apply to something (he knows) you’ll experience the next day.
Related Post: 5 Things to Consider For a Deeper Prayer Life
3. Get to Know the Different Sides of God
Last year, I found myself in a new city with almost no friends. I was praying for friendships and putting myself out there but I wasn’t meeting anyone I connected with. In that season, God challenged me to know Him as a friend. I’d known God as Lord, Savior, Father, and Provider, but not as a friend. It was a bit difficult for me at first.
Foremost, God is God. He is Holy and Sovereign. Jesus is the Way, Truth and Life, King of Kings, and the Creator of the heavens and earth. But He’s also more than that. He is a teacher, counselor, comforter, and friend. He desires that we that get to know Him for all of that He is. In my case, to feel just as comfortable going to him with a prayer request as I do for an opinion about an outfit. You may think that sounds silly or insignificant but it’s not. There isn’t an area of your life God doesn’t care about. He didn’t send His only son to die on a cross so that you could simply obey His commands and occasionally ask Him for things. Jesus died so that we could be reconciled back to God and have a personal relationship with Him.
You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants,[a] for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
John 15:14-15
4. Learn How to Study the Bible
Without knowing the Word of God, how can you know God’s voice and character? Moreover, how will you be able to discern if I or any other person is sharing the Truth or lies? Going deeper with God means knowing Him through His word. When you know his word, you’ll learn to recognize his voice, become equipped to fight spiritual battles, and grow in understanding of how you are called to live and love.
If you desire to grow in your faith then you have to learn to study the Bible. Studying can be defined as the application of the mind to the acquisition of knowledge, as by reading, investigation, or reflection. I love that definition because it shows that studying isn’t merely reading but also investigating (researching, analyzing), and reflecting (meditating on what you’ve learned).
So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
John 8:31-32
There are many resources available to help you learn to study the Word. One of my favorites is Women of the Word by Jen Wilkins. However, no one has taught me more about the Bible than the Holy Spirit. He is the greatest teacher.
Find a translation you can understand and take it at your own pace. Don’t feel pressured to read an entire chapter in one sitting. Read, ask God questions, and use resources such as a study bible to fill in any gaps in understanding. I like to journal my takeaways from each reading along with how I can apply it to my life.
Knowing scriptures for the sake of knowing isn’t the goal. Knowing them so that you can truly know your God and live them out is.
Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.
Pslam 1:1-3
What have you done to deepen your relationship with God so far? Leave a comment below and share how it helped you. I’d love to read and I know it will help others in our online community too!
