We All Need More Of God
How To Get Closer to God
By Grace K. Bianco
What will you do today that will affect the rest of your eternity?
If you follow me, you know how random my posts are. One second, I am telling you my struggle with being lactose intolerant on Thanksgiving, and the next second, I am telling you about my faith. The range of topics are endless. So if you don’t follow me, I don’t see how that doesn’t sell you.
I call myself a Christian lifestyle blogger; therefore, it’s only right to have a few serious blogs thrown in the mix. I’ll keep it lighthearted, but this is an important topic to me.
Let me first start off by saying there are MANY ways to become closer with God. I will only be focusing on personal ways (not really diving into church and community) in this blog.
Quiet Bible Time
“The primary focus of reading the Bible is not to know the Bible but to know God.” — James Merritt
I cannot stress this enough. If you want to be close with God, you have to know about Him. You have to understand what you believe to actually believe in Him. You should be reading until your Bible is falling apart. Sadly, most Christians’ bibles are collecting dust rather than wearing down from being opened too much.
I am reading through the entire Bible for the second time. It took me 2 1/2 years the first time. As great as it was to finish the whole Bible, I wasn’t thrilled with the amount of time it took me. Now that I am reading through it again, I am really trying to keep myself consistent and more engaged.
The first time I was reading through, I wasn’t fully grasping everything I was reading. I was more focused on getting through my reading than actually taking in what I was reading. I wouldn’t say it was a waste. I definitely learned a lot, but I believed that there was definitely way more to learn.
The Bible gets wordy, and it’s easy to use your subconscious to read. The secret to staying focused and eager to read depends on each person, but I will still share what works for me. I love highlighting / underlining. I have a cute little journal that my grandmother bought me a couple of years ago. I take notes on verses that stand out to me. I write down questions. I write down how it relates to my life. I write down things I hadn't realized before. I write it all.
I am still human, and have days that I get too busy. I have days where I don’t feel like reading. On days I am just being lazy, I really force myself to read. I believe we need the Bible most on those days.
God gave us the Bible as a tool, and I really believe that having a better understanding of God strengthens our relationship with Him.
Read Scripture Verses
- “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness…” — 2 Timothy 3:16
- “ I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I have set my heart on your laws.” — Psalm 119:30
- “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” — Isaiah 40:8
Prayer
How can we be close to God if we don’t talk to Him? I have written a blog before about my struggle with prayer (“I Don’t Really Pray… : A Christian’s Thoughts on Prayer”). I do believe that I have gotten better at since then.
I really try to stay conscious of the fact that God sees everything. When something good happens, I try to remember to thank or talk to God about it. When something bad happens, I explain my feelings to God, and ask for help and the wisdom I need to handle whatever is.
Even though, I spend a lot more time in prayer these days. It doesn't make me perfect. I still lose my patience. I still struggle with harsh anxiety. I still am just as human as you all. The only difference is I feel more at peace. The more time I spend in prayer the closer I feel to God.
I have a busy mind. As someone who struggles with really bad anxiety, I have more than one voice in my head at all times. I can’t even begin to truly describe what all is going on up there. Since I am already so full of thoughts, I try to direct majority of them to God.
Whether you struggle with your mental health or not, prayer is extremely vital. In this day and age, we lack a lot of wisdom. There are so many materialistic things to obtain and so much entertainment. We are constantly being stimulated and working for the things WE want. I believe that forcing ourselves to pray instead of the constant need for entertainment goes a long way. We need to stop this phone and material addiction cycle, and focus on what God is trying to tell us.
Whether you feel alone or have a million friends, God is always there to talk, and help guide you through this life. The best of friends can only do so much anyways.
Prayer Verses
- “And if we know that He hears us — whatever we ask — we know that we have what we asked of Him.” — 1 John 5:15
- “ …if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” — 2 Chronicles 7:14
- “Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.” — James 5:13
One Last Thing
Those are the two main ways that have really helped me become closer with God. Everyone knows prayer and reading your Bible will help strengthen your relationship with him, but some of us need a little more on how to do it. Everyone is different. Taking notes may not help you understand your reading more, but maybe talking about it to someone else will help you retain it and understand better yourself. You may have to keep trying until you feel like you really are absorbing the word.
There are other little things to do as well. I believe just listening to uplifting Christian music, whether it be old hymns or contemporary Christian music, also guides us to God. You can listen to other music without being a bad Christian, but I believe God made music to worship Him. So, throw some good music in there sometimes or even all of the time.
Worship Verses :
- “Sing to God, sing in praise of his name, extol him who rides on the clouds;
rejoice before him — his name is the Lord. A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.” — Psalm 68:4–5 - “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” — Acts 16:25
God blessed us with many ways to be close to Him. From fellowship at church to being able to talk directly to Him, it’s up to us become close with Him.
What will you do today that will affect the rest of your eternity?
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