At one point in my life, I used to envy how ‘spiritual’ other people looked in church. By spiritual I mean how passionate their prayers seemed, the speaking in tongues, the salty tears streaming down their faces. I too longed to be like that. I wanted to be in a certain state too during praise and worship/prayer, for fear of thinking that I just wasn’t praying in the ‘right’ way.
And then…with time, I grew a little wiser, and with this newfound wisdom came some very valuable insight.
Here are 3 Ways to Strengthen Your Relationship With God…
1. Be Sincere –
I learned that I needed to check myself. What was my real reason for desiring this? Was it for God or for man?
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.” (Matthew 6:5)
With this, I realized that I only have one member in the audience, God. I realized that what I really longed for was a genuine close relationship with God. What I wanted was to delight in His presence, being drawn to my knees and feeling Him so close that it evoked tears within me at the thought of His everlasting goodness and mercy.
I learned that it was more than just ‘looking’ spiritual, but actually being and having that live connection with Him.
2. Run your own race –
We are all unique and have a purpose that is specific to each one of us. With that, we all have different paths and should never compare our path to that of our neighbors’. This applies to all areas in our life, be it career-wise, relationship, or in this case spiritual growth.
Only God knows the true heart of man, our intentions, and whether or not we are genuine in our prayers, praise, and worship, so I learned that all that I really needed to focus on was being sincere when I came before the Lord. Whether that meant I was crying and jumping up and down or standing absolutely still, all I needed was to be sincere in my prayers and run my own race without comparing my spiritual life to others.
3. Put in the work! –
Like any relationship, my relationship with God needed special attention! I learned that I had to be intentional about spending time with Him and getting to know Him through His Word.
“Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face continually.” (1 Chronicles 16:11)
The word ‘continually’ emphasizes that seeking Him is not just a once-off thing, but an every-day thing. Sunday shouldn’t be the only day that you pick up your Bible. Church shouldn’t be the only place you hear hymns or worship songs. God is literally everywhere we go, sometimes we just choose to ignore that and go on with our daily lives as if He isn’t.
It’s crazy how I’d have time to text all day or checking social media 24/7 but couldn’t spare a few moments of my time just to pick up His book and get to know Him a little more.
When you don’t water a plant it withers, when you take the time to water it…it thrives. I chose to let my spiritual life and relationship with God thrive and it has been growing in faith since ☺
