Every person is different in the way they respond to God. For me it was easy after I read the book “Heaven Is So Real”. I knew I had to have the Lord as my number one love and interest in my life. It took awhile but that was the main goal. Of course this does not mean that when putting the love of God as most important in your life that you cannot extend great love to others. On the contrary we are urged to “Love our neighbor as ourselves”. Loving our spouse is very important to the Lord.
If you truly love Him, He will respond and help you overcome any obstacle there might be in becoming close to Him. We are told to cast Satan out of our lives in the name of Jesus Christ. I do this whenever I don’t feel close to the Lord. Satan and his angels or demons cannot attack anyone who is a Christian and casts Him out. But it is not just the presence of the devil that you need to be concerned with. You need to clean up your own life from practices or beliefs that have crept in over the years. Yes some or perhaps all were inspired by Satan, but even without the devil looking over our shoulder we will do things or think things that are against the wishes of the Lord.
Are you harboring any grudges? Grudges can be against someone who you believe has wronged you or you simply do not like for whatever reason. This includes politicians who speak against what you think is best. This was my problem and I held a grudge against a prominent national official. When I decided that harboring what bordered on hatred for her was only doing wrong in my life and I asked forgiveness, I felt clean of this. Even recently there is a person running for Congress in our state whom I just cannot stand. I was even railing against the commercials that were endorsed by this person slamming the opponent. Finally I said “enough” and decided that while I could never agree with this person, it was bad for me to hold a grudge. I forgave what I perceived was wrong with the viewpoint expressed and calmly told myself that perhaps I might feel the same if I were running for office. Forgiving this person cleared my mind and I don’t even talk against this person anymore, I just praise the opponent.
So holding any grudge is a sin and people will be excluded from Heaven if they die without forgiveness. Think of all grudges that you might hold and get them out of your mind right now. Forgive that person at least in your mind and ask God for forgiveness.
What else can keep you from feeling close to God? Putting the love of anything above the love of God will do it. Is there is anything that you own that you would not part with, and value it above your Godly love? Think about this. We know that everything we have is really not ours in the sense that we will always have it. We know that we cannot take it with us when we die. Everything is a gift from God for us to use while we are alive. To treasure something or perhaps all our possessions above love for God is a sin. The Bible tells us to sell everything and give it to the poor. This does not mean to become a pauper, but to at least be willing to sacrifice some of our “wealth” for others. And when we give, we are cautioned to “be a cheerful giver”, not begrudge what we finally give. Whether you go to church or not, you are commanded to tithe. In church you simply give ten percent of your gross earnings to the church. If for some reason you do not attend church, then give at least ten percent to some church. Then also think about helping those less fortunate who could be aided by what you would give.
Attending a good Bible study could be of great help to you. I find that sharing my problems or past problems with others encourages them to open up. Sharing ideas on how to come closer to God is a great benefit of Bible study. Even getting together with one or more friends and discussing your faith could be a real aid to knowing God. Do you know who is of true faith among your acquaintances? Before turning to the Lord, I knew only a few people that I could call Christians. After getting up enough nerve to ask someone about their faith, I found that they included hundreds of people that I knew. But I had not known that they were dedicated Christians. Only one of them ever asked me about my faith. Now I exchange information about faith with many people. I ask strangers if they are followers of Christ and seldom am rebuffed. Often it leads to a short discussion wherein I learn about what they do believe. I have faith material that I can give out to those expressing interest in learning more.
Most important is reading the Bible regularly. After I started to read it, I discovered that it was not boring but even exciting in many places. It also ‘convicted’ me of sins in certain passages. The print seemed to almost jump out at me and tell me that something I was doing or not doing was a deterrent to loving the Lord. I also feel closer to God each day as I read the Bible. I seldom read it for long periods at a time but read it every day. Sometimes my wife reads to me from the Bible instead of my reading it. We often sing a little song to the Lord most nights, and say one of the simple prayers that I found online, and end with the Lord’s Prayer. It took a number of years for us to come to this mutual worship, but now we both look forward to it.
Praying often is another must for knowing God. He does not want fancy prayers or long-winded discourses. He simply wants you to tell Him what is on your mind and He loves to hear from you. You can ask our Heavenly Father for anything you need in the name of Jesus Christ and it will be granted – provided it is what He believes is best for you. I don’t often ask for anything for myself anymore as He has helped me throughout my life without my asking. But when I do ask it is often granted on His timetable. I have been relieved or cured of many health problems after prayer. He developed a communication mechanism so that I know when He agrees with what I talk to Him about. Even before this phenomenon came to me, He still answered prayers.
And I know that the Holy Spirit lives in me as helps me daily, even with my writing. Whenever I am stuck with some problem, and it could be anything from a computer problem to something I need to do around the house or yard, I just ask for help. Usually within the same day help is received. Sometimes I sleep on it and have the answer pop into my mind the next morning. The Holy Spirit is available to all Christians and we only have to ask Him to help us. Be sure to thank Him for everything that He does for you. Of course you need to thank God daily for what He has done and is doing in your life. I thank Him each night and each morning, often reciting what has been received from Him. He loves to be thanked, and He loves to know that we love Him. I thank Our Father for being the great Father that He is, and for Jesus who gives us the bridge to Heaven by way of His Cross.
May the Lord bless you with understanding and help you become close to Him.