Becoming closer to God requires prayer – time communicating with Him.
Knowing someone can only really come by being around them. There is no substitute for spending time with God. If we believe He is alive and loves us, we can be in His presence. Take the time to get to know the person who died for You.
Think of the person you talk to on the phone the most. Lets name this person Alex for the sake of discussion. When Alex calls, does Alex have to tell you who they are? No, you recognize their voice on the phone. Did that happen the first time you spoke to Alex? If I called you, assuming we aren’t close friends, would you recognize my voice? No. You know someone’s voice on the phone because you have spent time on the phone with them. Give God some time on the phone. Do you want Him to be surprised when He does hear your voice on the phone? How will you know when He is calling you, moving in your heart and soul, if you never, or seldom, spend time on the phone with Him?
Spending time with someone helps you know what they think and what they would do in particular situations. If I asked you, “Would Alex enjoy going to a Bengals football game?”, you would know the answer because you know Alex. Now think about all the other questions I could ask you about Alex.
- Does Alex like poetry?
- Does Alex like to go to church?
- Does Alex think murder is wrong?
- Does Alex think abortion is wrong?
- Does Alex think capital punishment is wrong?
- Does Alex think a child dying from hunger in a world full of food is murder?
- Could Alex ever let a child he loved die of hunger?
- Could Alex ever kill his own son on a cross?
Did you notice how the questions progressed in complexity and significance? The more time you spend with Alex, the more likely you will know what Alex thinks about more complicated questions. Our relationship with God is like that. If we want to know what God thinks about things, we need to be around Him a lot. And if we know God well, won’t it be easier to understand the book He wrote?
Why do you think God both wants us to read about him and communicate with him?
Is reading the Bible just reading about God, or is it interacting with him?
Have you ever use the Bible to lead your prayer and how did that work for you?
Beginner’s Online Bible Study *obbs*
I think this is the first time I have ever been on a blog so I really don’t know how all this works, but I am at a time when my personal bible reading has basicly stopped and this coming along and a few other things in my life I think that it is probable that it is God asking me to get back into it. Writing which this blog is, is my least favorite way to comunicate so we will see how this goes, but it might be Gods way to get me started at something else I have been trying to not do, that I think he wants me to, that involves a lot of writing. Thanks for starting this.
Could you elaborate on how you let the Bible lead your prayer? How do you go about this?
I find this to be a huge blessing in my life. I was once told to read try reading every word in the Bible as if it were written to me personally, like letter to from God. Then respond with letters back to God. When I put it into practice I found I could often only go a verse or two before I wanted to respond to God. It turned out to me much more like a conversation than a letter exchange.
Computers helped immensely with this. I copied the text of a chapter into a word processor, then typed my prayers between the text in a different color.
I actually have been using this website as my public “scriptural prayer journal” for over a year now, so you can see some examples by clicking the “Scriptural Prayer” menu above. You’ll quickly notice that I have been at a place in my life where everything in the Bible is calling me to change. I am obviously a very slow learner!
This is so true, just as in courting your spouse you want to know all about that person, before you spend your lives together, so it just makes sense that if you want to spend eternity in heaven that you should have that best friend relationship that you have with your spouse with your father in heaven. Time spent learning, knowing and growing closer to God is exciting, and also really helps you know who you are.
Your marriage analogy is great because God does want to “marry” us. Jesus clearly expresses God’s desire to be one with us in the 15th chapter of John’s gospel. I think of how a child is genetically the complete oneness of two other people and I see that as the depth of unity God wants us to have with him and with each other. That will be heaven! Please pardon the expression, but I think it is so true: “That will be better than sex!” Just think about it a little. I mean the great intimacy between life-long married partners. The unity in heaven will be better than even that!
Did I just digress! Sorry. But yes, we need to “court” God and be courted by him. Wow. Thanks so much for your comments.
We went to Mass this morning and the homily was a very similar message. The Holy Spirit at work! It must be something we really need to heed at this time.