HOW TO BUILD A TRUE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE LORD:

Building a true relationship with the Lord is very important because it helps you to have intimacy with God. In order for us to truly know God and to live for him, we need to have a relationship with him. We need to stop setting God aside and take some time out of our day to spend time with him. So, how do we do that?

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First you need to ask yourself what does it mean to have a relationship with someone. It’s like having a best friend, or a significant other. You spend time with them because you love them and want to keep your relationship going. You communicate with them by facetime/calling, texting, hanging out with each other, etc. This is exactly what we need to do with God to have a relationship with him. We need to read his word and obey it, pray, worship, and talk to him. We should want to do these things because we love God and want to get closer with him. So now that we know what it means to spend time with God/ have a relationship with him, I’ll take you through the steps.

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1. READ THE WORD OF GOD

To truly know God and build a relationship with him, you need to read his word. The bible is like our guide to life. Reading God’s word helps you to grow spiritually, to know more about Jesus and why he died for us, to gain spiritual knowledge, to learn how to love one another, and more. Think about this: You have a lot of exciting news to tell your friend, but they don’t want to listen, which makes you upset because they don’t care about what you have to say. This is just like how God has so many exciting things to tell us and to help us that are in his word, but some don’t want to listen; so think about how God feels. Read your bible because you truly love God and want to get to know more about him. Read it to understand it as best as you can. Before you start reading, make sure you pray for understanding and for God to help you to focus. When reading, I usually highlight things that stand out to me and write notes in my bible and sometimes in my bible journal (so there’s a suggestion!) For starters, I suggest you start reading the 4 gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) or you can start at the beginning (Genesis). Also, make sure when you read God’s word, you don’t just read it for reading, but to obey it. We are humans, we can never be perfect but we should try as best as we can to obey God’s word and follow it. If you love God, you would want to follow his word. He knows our heart and true intentions.

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2. PRAYER

Praying is so powerful. Prayer is being intimate with God. Prayer helps you to share a bond with Christ. God loves us so much and even though he knows what’s on your mind, he wants to hear you say it or pray about it. He wants to help you because he cares about you. Whatever you’re struggling with, cast your fears onto God and pray. Whatever you’re worried about pray. (Philippians 4:6 ♡) Thank God for waking you up, thank him for having a roof over your head, Thank him for his amazing works & love. Pray before you eat, pray before your sleep. Prayer is a weapon against the enemy and as a Christian life isn’t going to be easy, so we need to pray everyday to keep in contact with God. You can also talk to God too, he wants to talk to you!! He wants to know what made you sad, happy, frustrated, or excited. God understands and knows what we think about or what’s bothering us, so there is nothing to hide. He knows everything about us! (Jeremiah 1:5 ♡ ) He will be there to give you comfort always.

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3. WORSHIP

Worship and praise the Lord for all the amazing things he has done in your life, He is so worthy to be praised! Worshipping is another beautiful thing and it helps you to feel God’s presence. Pour out your heart to the Lord!! You can listen to some worship songs to praise God or you can pray while worshipping to God. Some songs I suggest are: Promises By Maverick City, Refiner by Maverick City, Great I am by Philips Craig and Dean, or How Great is Our God by Chris Tomlin. & there are so many more songs out there, the more you listen to, the more you’ll find :)) Also, worship doesn’t have to be just songs, it is your heart posture! How you live your life honoring the Lord is worship to Him!

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4. LET GO AND LET GOD

Lastly when truly following God and building a relationship with him, you’re going to have to let things go. I really struggle with this one, so this one is for me too haha. When we surrender ourselves to Christ, we are of the Spirit and no longer of the flesh. Therefore, we do not desire the things of the flesh (Galatians 5:16 ♡ & Romans 8:5 ♡). We are now made new and are new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17-19 ♡). In order for us to keep building our bond with God, we have to let go of the things that are leading us away from him. (I know, trust me easier said than done) And that can honestly be anything that is leading you away like the things you listen to or watch, or the people you surround yourself around. We need to surround ourselves around people and things that will help pull us towards Christ and not away from him. This was very hard for me to do once I truly started following God, but I knew I had to do it for God. So, it took time and prayer and then I eventually let go of people and things that were leading me away from him (trust me, it’s worth it and relieving!) Just remember God is above all else, he is the most important. This world is temporary but God is forever! Amen (Matthew 7:13-14 ♡ & Matthew 18:8-9 ♡)

I hope this helps!! Getting closer to Christ is so amazing. Ever since I’ve followed God, I’ve never wanted to go back. I love you guys ♡

Love Bea ♡