How To Get Closer To God: 5 Effective Ways To Grow in Your Relationship with Him

Here are 5 things that have grown and transformed my relationship with God!

Hi, I’m Tyler. 

Thank you for checking out my blog! I’m praying this post will edify you and strengthen your faith along your journey with God!!

I’m writing this post because It wasn’t long ago that I was a baby Christian, desiring to know how to get closer to God and truly grow in my relationship with Him.

I remember I would go on social media and listen to people’s testimonies and be blown away by how God was moving in their lives. Or I would listen to a pastor’s sermon and be amazed that he could gain such insight from one single Bible verse. I even used to feel a little jealous that other Christians were able to walk so confidently in their purpose and know exactly what the Holy Spirit wanted them to do.

So I say all that to say…I know how it feels to desire to be closer to God and feel frustrated not knowing how to get there.  

And as someone who has come out the other side and feels closer than ever to God now (thank you, Jesus!!)  I’m going to tell you 5 things I started doing (and continue to do) that have moved the needle in my own spiritual life and have drastically changed and deepened my relationship with God!

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5 Ways To Grow In Your Relationship With God

1. Read your Bible

The Bible is an incredible gift given to us by our Father. And diligently searching it is a foundational part of building our faith so we can grow/maintain a healthy relationship with God. 

When I was a baby Christian, I remember feeling sooo confused by what I was reading at first. But as I continued to persevere and seek God’s wisdom, something amazing started to happen… The Holy Spirit began to teach me how to interpret the word of God and how to apply it to my life. 

And even now four years later, I am still amazed by the depth of God’s word, God’s love, God’s wisdom, and how willing He is to lead us into all truth when our hearts sincerely want to know Jesus. 

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

2 Timothy 3:16-16

The Bible is how we start to understand the voice of God and how we learn to yield to the direction of the Holy Spirit. And when we have the word of God dwelling inside our hearts, He can do incredible things…  Whether it’s lovingly convicting us and prompting us to change, or randomly telling us to go pray with the old lady at the grocery store. Or when He softly reminds us of His promises when we are going through rough waters. 

And not only that, but reading the Bible allows us to learn about the incredible character of God, and how He has used (and desires to use us!) through acts of valiant faith. 

The Word is the living water that allows our seed of faith to grow! And it applies to literally everything we will ever face in our lives!

“The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.”

Isaiah 40:8

Here is a graph that depicts the incredible amount of scriptural cross-references made through the work of the Bible.

The Bible was written by 40 different authors, over 1500 years, in three continents (Europe, Asia, and Africa) in three different languages (Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic) and the whole book tells one united and epic story of our amazing Jesus. What makes the Bible even more astonishing is that it contains 63,779 connections and cross-references despite most of these Holy Spirit-inspired authors never coming into contact with one another. 

2. Be persistent in prayer

Prayer is another thing that took me quite some time to figure out. I always found it so interesting how people could talk to God multiple times a day and never run out of things to say.

It wasn’t until recently that I truly began to understand the power and necessity of prayer. And now that I do understand it… One of my absolute favorite things to do is go outside, lay in the hammock, and just talk to my Father, sometimes for hours…

“Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”

Romans 8:26

It’s important to note that the length of our prayers doesn’t matter to God, but our authenticity when we are praying to Him does. When I was younger I went to catholic church and always had the understanding that I had to pray to God in a particular way, or say the right things…

But now that I have an actual relationship with Jesus, I know that I can talk to my Father and present my most authentic self to Him… I give Him my heart and speak to Him like He is my Father or my best friend. I tell Him exactly what’s on my mind, what I’m grateful for, about the complexities of my fears and worries, my hopes and dreams, the people I’m concerned for, the things in the world I see needing His attention…Everything.

And I know that He listens and understands me because Jesus came down and experienced a human life (while being fully God). He understands the depths of our complicated emotions and situations. And wants us to cast everything on Him so He can help us through everything in life. 

Now I try to pray multiple times a day and even talk to Him throughout my day because He cares and wants to be with us (even through the seemingly mundane parts of life). 

“Pray without ceasing.”

1 Thessalonians 5:17

If you want to grow in your prayer life, here is a general prayer structure I follow sometimes that has helped me.

Praise: Start with praising the Lord. Tell God all of the things you are thankful for that day, what you love about Him, and take a moment to reflect upon the unmatchable love of Jesus for you.

Repent: Reflect upon your sins and shortcomings and ask for God’s forgiveness…And ask Him to help you do better moving forward.

Ask: God wants to know what our hearts desire and He wants us to lay it all at His feet. Ask God what you need help with, ask Him to help those you know need His help, ask Him for understanding about His word, etc, etc.

Yield: Slow down and listen. Take a moment to be still in the presence of the Father and allow Him to speak to you. Sometimes He may softly remind you of a scripture that applies to whatever situation you’re going through, prompt you to do something, or sometimes He just wants you to sit and enjoy being in the moment with Him.

3. Turn away from sin and the world

As I grew closer with God and began to understand His character, heart, and expectations more…I realized there were certain things I was holding onto that were inhibiting me from going to new levels with Him.

If you’ve endured the challenging process of conviction & refinement for any length of time you know that it is not fun, but also an essential part of the Christian walk. 

Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Galatians 5:19-21

Without it, we would never know the difference between living for Christ and living for the world. We would never have a proper vision of the magnitude of love and sacrifice Christ endured for us on the cross. 

As we grow in understanding of Jesus’ profound love for us…We should desire more and more to live and serve God with everything we have.

Yes, there is a cost to following Christ. But when we truly seek to know Him, He will empower us through His Holy Spirit to let go of our old ways and become a new creation. He will change our desires to be more in line with His, and He will show us how truly freeing it is to live our lives with Him.

During the first few years of my walk with God, He let me know that there were things I was doing and attributes of my character that did not line up with His will for me.

To name a few of the things I had to give up…

• Smoking marijuana
• Fornication 
• Remaining in an unequally yoked relationship
• Listening to worldly music that was dishonoring to God
• Being prideful/self-absorbed on social media
• Watching TV/movies that were dishonoring to God
• Busyness (being to busy to prioritize my relationship with God)

I couldn’t fornicate without feeling God’s eyes on me…I couldn’t light a blunt without knowing I was going against His will for me to be sober-minded…It began to bother me so much that I couldn’t be open and transparent with my partner about my faith.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

1 John 1:9

I wrestled for years to let go of some of these things. 

But over time, the Spirit of God helped me to conquer all of these vices and gave me a spiritual understanding of why He was asking me to let these things go. It was all out of His abundant love for me because God has rules for us for a reason. God knows how destructive sin is to us, and He wants us to be free through Christ!

It doesn’t change the fact that even as disciples we will struggle against our flesh. But when we have the Holy Spirit working inside of us, all He wants to do is guide us to the truth so we can become more like Jesus.

4. Be around people who love God

For a long time, I struggled with the idea of being a part of a church. I had my doubts because of how many different denominations exist out there, and It made me hesitant that there were so many interpretations of the truth. 

I was nervous about being “misled” which, yes, is a reasonable concern with how many apostate churches exist nowadays…However being absent from the body of Christ was hurting me in ways I didn’t understand until I started attending. 

We are called to be part of the body of Christ for a reason, and when Satan has us separated from the flock, he can cause a lot of havoc in our lives. 

And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Hebrews 10:24-25

I have learned so much from being a part of the church body and I can’t even begin to describe how being a part of a church has positively impacted my life. 

Having friends who love Jesus as much as I do is so beautiful, and I feel so joyful to see them every week. 

It’s beautiful to be around brothers and sisters made in the image of God who are doing their best to honor Him with their lives too. 

I think it’s important to bear in mind that no church will ever be perfect because the body is made up of imperfect people and we all need Christ. But the more you study your Bible, the more you get to know God for yourself, and the more discerning of false doctrines you become. 

From whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Ephesians 4:16

5. Trust Him with all your heart

Trusting God is something we will be practicing our entire lives as believers…But it’s also one of the defining attributes of what makes us Christians.

Over and over again the Bible tells us to trust God because “Without faith, it’s impossible to please God”. If we want to experience the amazing plans God has for us, He requires our faith to work!

“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

Hebrews 11:6

Think about it…the Bible is composed of story after story of people who walk in courageous faith, trusting God’s word even when it looks impossible or crazy to others.

Noah spent hundreds of days building the arc when God told him there was going to be a flood, but it was Noah’s trust in God that allowed him to operate in faith.

Gideon was up against the Midianite army of 132,000 with only 300 men standing with him. And God promised Gideon that he would defeat the Midianite army for them..Gideon had to believe that God would come through for him and his men regardless of how it looked (and I’m sure 132,000 vs 300 men felt pretty intimidating!).

Doesn’t God ask us to do the same thing in our own lives?  He wants us to trust Him with everything because He cares for us in every single way possible.

He wants us to bring every care, concern, and thought to Him because He wants to be the one to lead us in the way we should go. And no one knows better than the One who knit us together Himself.

It’s those of us who operate off pure faith and obedience to God who get to experience the wildest manifestations of God’s power and glory.

5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6

In conclusion…

God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him…When we seek God with all our hearts and desire to obey Him with our lives, He will respond in unbelievably beautiful ways!

I hope this blog post was helpful to you and has left you thinking about some things you could add/change/improve to get closer to God!

What are some things you do to grow your relationship with Jesus?

Leave a comment below and thank you so much for reading!

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