Want to deepen your relationship with God this year? How do you know if you have a good relationship with God? What happens when you get closer to God? Do you even know what to do I order to deepen your relationship with God this year?
Hey sis! These are all questions that I’ve asked myself and have even been asked by others. And now I’m here to give you all the answers you need. God has really been nudging at my heart and as He’s been nudging me, I’ve felt the desire to grow deeper in love with God.
If you have been wondering about the benefits of having a deeper relationship with God. If there is a part of you that wants to know why it is important to deepen your faith in God, you’re in the right place. In this blog post I’m going to give you 5 ways you can deepen your relationship with God this year. Let’s go!
5 Effective Ways You Can Deepen Your Relationship With God This Year
What does the Bible say about going deeper with God?
The Bible is very clear about going deeper with God. In His word, God desires for us to deepen our faith in Him because in doing so we will bear fruit.
Going deeper with God is not something that is automatic though. If you want deeper intimacy with God then you need you to be intentional. You need to make a decision and stick with it.
Here are a few Bible verses that tell us more about having a deep, intimate relationship with God:
Now all has been heard; here is the conclusionof the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments for this is the duty of all mankind.
My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding—indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.
He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.
Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.
Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity.[a] I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”
rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death,[a] and of faith in God,
How do I dive deeper into my faith?
How do you stay deeply rooted in faith? And how do you dive deeper into your faith, especially when you’re a “baby Christian”? These are great questions because there have been so many times throughout my walk with Christ that I have either struggled to grow my faith or lost my faith completely.
I wrote about a few of these experiences here:
Reminders For When You Feel Like a Failure Before God
Trusting God When You Don’t Understand: How To Fix Your Eyes On Faith
How To Cope When God’s Plan Is Different From Your Plan: God’s Will vs Our Plans
Admittedly I have been struggling lately with feeling like I’m far away from God. It’s like I haven’t been praying enough, fasting enough or being with Him enough and it’s frustrating. I’m sure you can relate to this.
Diving deeper into your faith isn’t just about having a good relationship with God or even a good enough relationship with God. It’s about drawing closer to Him than a brother, a friend, your lover. Being more intimate with your Heavenly Father is about falling deeper in love in an intentional way.
In the same way you chase after a boyfriend or a husband, you should be finding ways, creating ways to chase after God.
What are 5 ways you can deepen your relationship with God this year?
Deepen Your Relationship With God By Spending Time with God in Prayer
Spending time with God in prayer is such a great way to get closer to Him. Like any great relationship, the best way to connect more with your partner is to get to know them. In other words, communication, communication and, you guessed it, communication is the key.
When things are going wrong in my life, or I feel at a loss for words, I tend to shut down heavily. I used to think that not saying what’s on my heart, and keeping it bottled up was the best way to have a good relationship. After all, no conflict equal peace. Right?
I was wrong. The best way to strengthen and nurture relationship is through talking. And sometimes you’re going to have hard conversations that make you uncomfortable. But it’s oftentimes through discomfort that we grow.
Your relationship with God is no different. You need to talk to God and tell Him what’s going on in your life. Does He already know everything? Yes, He does. But it’s still great to have Him hear it from you.
Tell God about your worries, your cares and that letter of recommendation you’ve been waiting on for almost six weeks. You can tell God all about the wonderful things that have been happening in your life or that new pizza place you found last week. Honestly, you can even cry to God or hum the tune of a song when you just can’t find the right words to express how you feel.
Building intimacy with God through prayer is not about having the perfect words to say, it’s about making an effort to say something because it will matter to God. When we pray, God hears more than we say, answers more than we ask, gives mire than we can imagine, in His own way, in His own time.
Deepen Your Relationship With God By Reading the Bible Everyday
I’m sure you’ve heard a song that goes a little something like this: “Read your bible. Pray everyday, and you will grow, grow, grow.
If you don’t read your bible, and forget to pray, you will shrink, shrink, shrink.”
Although this song wasn’t speaking about our physical growth, it was talking about an even more important area of growth. Spiritual growth as a Christian is important. All of us begin our journey as “baby Christians” who feed on milk and the basics of the Christian walk.
We probably listen to podcasts and watch a few sermons on YouTube while bopping to a song by MercyMe. And that’s okay. It’s alright to start small and take on what you can handle. But like I said before, connecting more with God and, more importantly,connecting deeper with God this year is about doing things that are intentional. And that involves getting to know God.
Who is He?
What does He want for us?
What is our purpose in His overall plan?
How can we connect faster with God?
How can we know if God is calling us to go deeper?
Well, to answer these questions we have got to become more intimate with the word of God. Whether it’s reading a book, a chapter, or even a few verses a day, reading your Bible will help you to have a deeper, more intimate relationship with God.
If you’re struggling to read your bible, there are some great devotionals that will make the whole process much easier to do. In the future I want to create my own devotional series for Christian women who are serious about strengthening their walk with God. Until then, here are some great resources I have found:
- Jesus First for Women http://bible.com/r/8AR
- Praying Women By Sheila Walsh http://bible.com/r/4kW
- Women of Welcome: Bold + Brave http://bible.com/r/8cd
How much do you spend reading your Bible each day?
Deepen Your Relationship With God By Allowing God to Lead You
Have you ever played the game “follow the leader” or “Simon says”? If you have then you know that following the commands of others is not easy. If you are a follower of Christ then you’ll also know that letting God take control can be an incredibly difficult thing to do.
We all want to be in the driver’s seat when it comes to our lives, and we all want to take the wheel. But deepening your relationship with God this year is all about allowing God to lead.
But why should we allow God to lead us?
In short, because it’s worth it. When you allow God to lead you, you surrender your will to someone who knows your entire destiny and what’s best for you. As you allow God to lead you where He wants you to be, wonderful things begin to happen.
You begin to defend wholly on God and once you do, no matter what happens you will be okay. Imagine it. There is no greater way to deepen your faith and build intimacy with someone than to become e fully dependent on them for survival. They become you’re everything, your all in all, and you know in your heart of hearts that they will always have your back.
This is what God wants from you. He wants to walk hand in hand with you. God wants you to lean on His understanding and not your own. God wants you to align with His purpose for your life, and the only way this can happen is if you let God lead the way.
Loosen your grip. Trust your Master. Allow Him to lead.
Deepen Your Relationship with God By Serving others
Have you ever thought about enhancing your relationship with God through service? Neither did I. As a young Christian growing up, service seemed like a natural part of my walk with Christ. One thing I didn’t really think too much about was that serving others was a way to serve God. It is also a way of creating more intimacy with the Father.
How can we serve God by serving others?
It’s pretty simple actually, and I wish I hadn’t spent so much time over-complicating service because I thought you had to “go big or stay in the congregation”.
It turns out, to my surprise, that God is more concerned about the state of your heart while serving than the actual scale of the service.
Here are a few ways you can serve God by helping others:
- Share and give to those in need,
- Deliver a meal to someone who needs it,
- Pray for each other,
- Treat others with respect and kindness,
- Volunteer at a homeless shelter or food bank,
- Volunteer to babysit for busy parents; and
- Work with joy and enthusiasm in all you do at work or school.
But why does God call us to serve others?
Well, Jesus spent a lot of time during his earthly ministry stressing the importance of servitude. Jesus taught about loving and serving others, especially the poor and vulnerable. He also spoke about the fact that serving others is a form of worship of our God.
But how does serving others grow your faith? And why can’t we grow spiritually closer to God if we do not serve others?
Service to others brings us closer to God because it impacts our hearts and our divine nature. It is the greatest form of love that we can show. Many of us believe that our life’s purpose is to thrive and be happy.
But just as Jesus showed us through His life, we, as Christian women are here to be useful to God’s Kingdom, to be compassionate and to give back to God for all He has given unto us.
To serve God faithfully requires obedience and dependence on Him because we are naturally selfish creatures. The more we are of service to others, the more we get to know God and the word of God. Our focus turns from the things of the world to the things of God.
No one has ever become poor by giving. And no one has grown farther away from God by serving Him.
Deepen Your Relationship With God By Doing a Spiritual Fast
The Bible has many examples of men a d women who fasted to draw closer to God. In fact, fasting involves surrendering your heart, your soul and your mind completely to God in a selfless act of sacrifice. When you fast you put your spiritual needs above your physical needs.
I’m currently on a two-week fast which lasts from 6AM to 6PM each day. If you know anything about me then you should know that your girl loves food. I might be a picky eater but I’m still an eater. Fasting has always been a difficult thing for me to do because it involves giving up things that I love.
Since giving my life to Christ as a preteen I have done food fasts, TV and music fasts, and social media fasts. Each time the experience has been difficult but very rewarding.
When we fast we are showing God that we desire Him and His word more than we desire the things of the flesh. You put God first and your flesh in second place. Fasting requires us to rely on God for sustenance and this is when God’s grace comes in.
Like I said earlier, relying on someone, God, for your strength creates a relationship like no other. You are forced to seek God and seek Him fervently. When you fast you are completely focused on God so hearing His voice and what He desires from you becomes easier. In this way God’s presence in your life will grow beyond what you could ever imagine.
In the midst of our fast routine, fasting reminds us that it is not about us.
How do you stay deeply rooted in faith?
Staying deeply rooted in your faith requires you to dive further into your relationship with Christ and truly explore what it means. To deepen your faith you have to be intentional about moving forward in your Christian walk. You need to have constant fellowship with God.
Is it always the easiest thing to do? No. And is it always fun? Not really. Most things we desire in life come through work and dedication. The same thing applies to your walk with Christ. If you want to deepen your relationship with Christ starting today then you have to make time.
I’d love to hear from you.
What do you think?
How will you deepen your faith in God?
Which of my tips are you applying right now?
What other topics would you for me to talk about?
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All my love,
I loved “5 Effective Ways You Can Deepen Your Relationship With God This Year”
You have a tender way of speaking and using your own life as an example that gently brings truth, reminders, and even correction into mine. Thank you
Author
You’re welcome. God bless you!