How Can I Connect With God?
“Successful, satisfying relationships involve two-way communication. Connecting with God is the same way. If you are willing to do your part, God will do His.
Kelly Sikkema/Unsplash
Connecting with God means communication that goes both ways, as in a conversation with another person.
Your Creator wants to connect with you. He wants to hear your honest questions. He wants to offer you understanding. He wants to hear your worries and provide comfort and hope.
But God can seem distant, remote and unconcerned with our daily troubles. What can we do to close the gap and connect to God?
Talk to God
Communication is essential. So, a great first step toward connecting with God is prayer. God appreciates the humility it takes to bend our knee and bow our head before Him. Humble prayer is an acknowledgment that answers are not deep within ourselves, answers only come from the Creator of life.
If you are not familiar with prayer, here are a few points to consider:
Approach God with respect, show honor for who and what He is. You can ask God even the hardest questions if you come before Him with the winning combination of humility and respect (Isaiah 66:2).
Expect answers (Hebrews 11:6). Follow up on matters you bring before God by reading your Bible.
Listen to God
A second important step toward connecting with God is to do what He says (James 1:25).
Connecting with God means communication that goes both ways, as in a conversation with another person. Prayer is you talking to God, reading your Bible is God talking back to you. However, If you only listen to what God says to you, but never act upon it, the conversation will die out. Communication and connection require active feedback!
Our Creator likes to begin by giving us simple things at first. He wants to see how we respond before moving on to more complex things. For example:
Responding positively toward God might begin with responding positively toward His commandments. The Ten Commandments are simple but life-changing. What makes the commandments complicated are the layers upon layers of human reasoning and manmade traditions we have built around them.
You might also find that reading God’s Word might show you attitudes and harmful ways of thinking that you need to change.
Try to be attuned to what the Bible is saying to you and respond!
Acknowledge your blessings
Your Creator also communicates with you through blessings and answered prayer. Some prayers seek big picture understanding, but many prayers seek God’s intervention and help with specific problems you are facing.
Try to be mindful of events in your life that are actually blessings and answers to your prayers. Notice the opportunities that come your way, troubles that unexpectedly resolve themselves or turn in your favor. These can be dismissed as coincidence or understood as answers to prayer (if you have indeed prayed).
If you have been blessed and helped in some way big or small, then go back to God and give Him thanks! Remember, in your ongoing conversation with God, prayers are you talking. So, just like you would offer thanks to other people in your life for the little things they do for you, offer your thanks to God. Thankfulness is a great way to build any relationship, including your relationship with God.
Successful, satisfying relationships involve two-way communication. Connecting with God is the same way. If you are willing to do your part, God will do His.”
Learn more about listening to God through reading your Bible with this free study aid: How to Understand the Bible.” From: https://www.ucg.org/bible-study-tools/bible-questions-and-answers/how-can-i-connect-with-god?
_______
“Therefore Do Not Worry”
“During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told His audience, “Do not worry.” That’s easier said than done. This Bible Study Starter will help you explore ways to worry less and trust God more.
Matthew 6:25-34
(New King James Version)
Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Therefore do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Questions:
- Jesus said that worrying can’t add a cubit (a unit of measure) to our height. If worrying doesn’t accomplish anything, why do you think it’s such an easy habit to fall into?
- What are three of your biggest worries right now?
- What practical, reasonable steps can you take to reduce the likelihood of those worries becoming a reality?
- Will any of those steps guarantee you protection from your worries?
- Jesus said that the Father provides food for the birds of the air and clothes the grass of the field—and then explained that God cares much more about you. How can remembering that truth make it easier not to worry about uncertainties in your own life?
- There’s a difference between “not worrying” and “not making an effort.” What steps can you take to maintain the balance between not panicking about problems and not doing your part?
- To fully let go of our worries, we must believe three things about God: i.
- That He is able to help us.
- That He is willing to help us.
- That if He chooses not to help us, it’s not because He is abandoning us, but because He can see the bigger picture and has something better in store for us.
Which of those truths is hardest for you to believe? Why?
- God promises that if we seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, He will provide the rest of our needs. What can you do to make the Kingdom of God a higher priority in your day-to-day life? What habits can you introduce into your daily routine? How do you think these habits will impact your worries?” From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/learning-center/bible-study-starters/therefore-do-not-worry/?
_______
Godliness With Contentment
1 Timothy 6:6
Now godliness with contentment is great gain.
In 1 Timothy 6 Paul addresses our attitude and approach to money, possessions and wealth. In verse 5 he mentions some who saw religion as a way to gain wealth—a dangerous, greedy, selfish attitude that Paul warned Timothy to avoid.
Instead, Paul pointed to the truly important “gain”—becoming more like God and living contentedly with what we have. If we learn to be content with the necessities of life—food and clothing (verse 8)—we can avoid the sorrows and pain that can be caused by a burning desire to become rich.
For more about coveting wealth and the antidote of contentment, see our article on the “10th Commandment: You Shall Not Covet.””
From: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/bible/blog/godliness-with-contentment/?
_______
Update
Around here, we still have to wear muzzles when we go into stores, offices, or anywhere there are people, but at least the coronavirus doesn’t seem to be spreading like it is in other places.
My great grandson Stephen, the one who just graduated, was visiting his grandma, my daughter Wendy in College Station, so I donned my big sunglasses, pulled myself together, and got on the freeway on Tuesday. I really need to find out why the glare of the open road bothers my eyes so. The sun is so bright on these 95-100 degree days. I was early, so I stopped at Kroger’s in College Station and bought items that cannot be bought in Navasota. I had a cold bag with me.
The four of us, Wendy, her father-in-law, Tony, who lives with them, Stephen and I had a nice visit and we played a dominos game called chicken foot. Old Tony won, they think he has Alzheimer's, but he is still sharp.
After lunch, Wendy took Stephen, me and her two dogs to a park. It was very sunny and I wasn’t wearing walking shoes, so that wasn’t so enjoyable for me, especially when I tripped over a root. My hair blew into a mess and I looked a fright, see picture on FB.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3693931657288992&set=pcb.3693931897288968&type=3&theater
But it was worth it just to see Stephen who I hadn’t seen for years. He wants to be a Nuclear Engineer. To each his own.
Normal goings on during the week, trips to the local pantry, thrift shop and then to Tractor Supply, yes, we do have one of those nearby, to get some Wellness cat food. It is cheaper there than at the pet shops. My cat, Casper, is supposed to be coming home soon.
On Friday, Cherry, my church neighbor and I studied the church’s Bible study for this week, then we went to Dollar General. But because of new regulations about Sabbath gatherings, neither of us went to church today.
No comments:
Post a Comment