Simple tips on vastly improving your personal relationship with God.

2/5/2004 | jwh_Denver

[jwh_Denver]

James 4:8a Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.

I have learned something recently in my walk with God some real simple tips that will help you establish a more personal relationship with Him. Upon learning these tips and doing them God has done things for me that have gone way past my thinking or imagination. (Eph 3:20)

Invite God to go places with you, especially work.

Lose or misplace something? Ask God where it is. Sometimes I will ask Him “where are my keys Lord?” They may be right in front of me but I believe He shows me and always always thank Him. One time He answered my prayer 2 weeks later on something I had put in a place I would never have dreamed that that was where it was. Simply awesome.

The suburb of Denver I live in has some really confusing roads and apartment complexes and I ask Him “where is this place Lord?” And even though I have no clue sometimes I will get that notion to turn left/right/so straight/turn around and there the place is. “Now, Lord, how do I get out of here?” “Well thank you Lord God Almighty!”

God loves little “quickie” prayers as much as He does the long ones.

God so wants us to rely on Him for the answers we need. Pour out you heart to God for the good and bad things that happen in your life.

Ask God a million questions. He will answer them and blow your mind. When? That’s His business.

As you do these things life will take on a new thrill because God wants to have a fantastic relationship with you. He wants to get real close and personal to you so He can show just how awesome, wise, loving, caring, and powerful He is. He wants to spark your life with Him so that you are genuinely thrilled and flooded with enlightenment with Him and about Him. God will carry the entire log but you have to have at least a hand on it. Draw near unto God and He will draw near unto you is a promise. If you do these simple things I cannot promise you that He will do exactly the same in you as me because He works in us in different ways. But I am sure you will be blessed beyond you wildest dreams.

Remember that spiritual gravity is always downward. You must be faithful to keep doing these little things in your life. I haven’t always been faithful and have seen what happens when I don’t. Spiritual doldrums. I hope you are more faithful than I because once the momentum gets going upward it will exhilarate you beyond belief. Just keep your hand on the log and move and God will take you to higher and higher ground.

[jwh_Denver]

It is the deserts that we go through that we learn to worship Him and to draw close to Him. It is in these deserts that we set aside all of our theology, doctrines and religion and place out total dependency upon Him. This is where we learn His mercy, His grace and His total and complete love for us. It is when we allow "self" to end and Him to take over and consume us and our situation(s). It is when we learn to be still and know that He is God. I also believe that this is the place in our spiritual lives where we learn to pray and move upon the heart of God.

Just my .02 :o)

2 cents? Priceless!

[jwh_Denver]

Just a counter-point for folks to keep in mind...the converse can happen. A person can get depraved and sufficiently alienated from G-d that even
the Almighty will draw back and issue "walking papers".

VOA, I'm so glad you pointed this out because I know that God has issued me "walking papers". Would you expound on this? Thank you very much for using Scriptures to make your point.

[VOA]

VOA, I'm so glad you pointed this out because I know that God has issued me "walking papers".
Would you expound on this?

"Walking papers" was just a short-hand term I threw in, talking about C.S. Lewis'
view on the final meaning of "Thy will be done".
As in "Thy will be done" is something that the well-meaning Christian accepts
and trys to help into being on this plane of existence.

Conversely (with Lewis' masterful word play), the unrepentant sinner, when finally
before the throne of justice will be given what s/he apparently wanted...for his/her will
to be done...doing all sorts of evil or not doing good and leaving G-d in the dust.

To sum up:
The repentant sinner understands the term to be "God's Will be done".
The unrepentant sinner will find out that his/her "will" shall be done...
and G-d will let the separation be permanant. They get their walking papers and a final
trip across that gulf that was so well-described in the parable of The Rich Man
and the poor man, Lazarus.

[Texas2step]

Nice work! The additions of continual attitude of praise and worship and the searching and studying of His Word really round out these essay well.

[LurkedLongEnough]

So true. These kinds of little miracles will happen if you just ask God.

I took a taxi from a hotel to a church in the riot-torn part of Los Angeles (1995?). The taxi driver promised to be there to pick me up afterwards, but I had gotten the time wrong and he wasn't there. Hundreds of people were heading home, it was getting dark, and I was stuck, not knowing a soul and without a phone. I asked God for help. Immediately, a man approached me out of the crowd and asked if I was waiting for a taxi. He pointed to the street, and there was my taxi driver. In the back seat were two women who said "Where were you? we've been waiting for you!".

God is always waiting for you. It's up to you to ask him to walk with you.

[malakhi]

Joel Osteen/Easy Believism Alert

What is "easy believism"?

[Texas2step]

What is "easy believism"?

I cannot speak for this poster, but I believe he refers to those who believe in "faith without works", which is not something I believe Joel Osteen ascribes to, but apparently this poster does.

[MissAmericanPie]

Stop blaming God for everything. Stop assuming that if you are not getting special attention that you are not loved. "You" being relative not personal.

[AAABEST]

I like the intention of your post and you sound like a nice person, but I could never in my wildest dreams ask God to help me find my keys. Thanks for the laugh though.

Our main prayer should be that His will be done through us.

God bless you.

[jwh_Denver]

Our main prayer should be that His will be done through us.

Now what happens if God working in you says to go visit so and so and you can't find the keys to your car? You in trouble! LOL!

If God knows the number of hairs on your head, which mine are lessoning everyday: 4023 - 391 = 3632. Oops there goes another 2. And God is our Father wouldn't He care about the littlest detail in our life?

You make a great point in our prayers should be for Him to work in our lives so we do His will.

[BlessedBeGod]

...but I could never in my wildest dreams ask God to help me find my keys.

But what about your guardian angel? ;-)

[AAABEST]

Now what happens if God working in you says to go visit so and so and you can't find the keys to your car?

I don't usually like to try to figure God out, but to answer you question in a very flawed human and pastoral sense; If He wants something done, I doubt that He would require a prayer for the finding of keys to accomplish such.

Really though it's not for me to say, maybe He works this way with you or others. I just would never pray for such things as "keys". Thank you though for this very interesting and comical conversation.

God bless :)

[jwh_Denver]

Thank you though for this very interesting and comical conversation.

Yes it has been fun. Thanks and God Bless!