How to Have A Deep Life Changing Relationship With God

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Have you ever felt frustrated at the lack of depth in your relationship with God? Have you ever wondered if this is all there is?  Have you read the stories of people like Bonhoeffer, Lewis, and Mother Theresa and wondered how did they get there?

We read our Bibles, we pray, we journal, we attend church, small groups and prayer meetings. We run from workshop, to retreat, to conferences hoping for something (a blinding light and a voice from heaven would work) transformative that would allow us to have a depth of relationship with God instantaneously.  Why? Because we know we were created for a deep relationship with Jesus. We just have no idea how to build it.  

Have you ever met those people who glow? Who through one conversation you can almost see the love of Jesus just pouring off them? I have met and read about a couple of those people throughout the years and I yearned for what they had. How did they get to where they are? 

Here is what I found out, after many conversations and studying great men and women of faith, a deep life-changing relationship with God:

1. It’s an Investment 

Your relationship with God is an investment both in time and energy. We sometimes tend to think that if we spend ten minutes here or there we are suddenly going to have this super deep relationship with Jesus. 

Brian Regan, in his famous sketch, demonstrates this concept: “You can microwave a Pop Tart. That just blew me away that you could microwave a Pop Tart. How long does it take to toast a Pop-Tart? A minute and a half if you want it dark? People don’t have that kind of time? Listen, if you need to zap-fry your Pop Tarts before you head out the door, you might want to loosen up your schedule.”

 We are trying to zap fry our relationship with God before heading out the door, and let me be honest, it just doesn’t work that way, in any relationship, human or divine.

If you want a deeply intimate, life-changing relationship with God you are going to have to invest time in the relationship. You need to know the sound of His voice, experience His overwhelming love for you, and discover how to find your identity rooted and grounded in God. To find out more check out this article How To Pray When You Are Out Of Words.

2. It’s a Priority

The relationship of Billy Graham, Susanna Wesley, Corrie Ten Boom, among others, didn’t just appear overnight, they made their relationship with God their number one priority. They still had jobs, families, and commitments, but they invested their time wisely and poured into their relationship with Jesus.

I have a 3×5 card on my bathroom mirror that serves as a daily reminder of my priorities. My time with God trumps everything else, my relationship with my spouse, kids, personal goals or to do’s. When I can start to get wrapped up in other things I just mentally think of my card, and I make sure that whatever else gets done, I spend time with Jesus. 

Dallas Willard, author of Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God captures the need with this quote,

“Few people arise in the morning as hungry for God as they are

                                for cornflakes or toast and eggs.”

Like anything worth doing, you are going to have to say no to some things so you can yes to a deeper relationship with Jesus.   That might look like getting up earlier, or spending your lunch break or kids nap time with Jesus.

The sacrifices are worth it because you get to experience a life-altering relationship with God. Let us become people who wake up hungry for God.

 3. It’s about the Journey

Investing in a relationship with God takes patience and the understanding that you are on a journey. Even on the days when you feel like you are taking one step forward and two steps back you need to step back and remind yourself that its not about your speed, it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey. 

We can get so focused on getting to heaven that we lose sight of the fact that we are on a voyage with Jesus. We were not designed to grit our teeth and hold out for heaven, but to fully embrace what God has for us today, a love relationship with Jesus. 

God is using literally everything in your life, the joy, the pain, and the mundane to draw you to himself.  As you walk through everything that life throws at you, you have a choice, will you surrender and allow God to do his good work in you; or will you resist and stubbornly try to go your own way? Our time on earth is our metamorphosis, a time where we learn how to turn from our selfish desires, surrender our will and say yes to Jesus.  The relationship, the transformation, the journey makes the end result (heaven) so much richer.  

Surrender is the key to the journey. 

4. It’s Life Changing

The time, energy, and sacrifices pale in significance to encountering a deep relationship with God. It’s like a whole new world opens up to you, and you are shouting (at least I was) “where has this been my whole life?”

As you grow closer and deeper in your relationship with God, you begin to experience, not just know, the love of the Father, and your life is truly transformed.

Paul writing to the Ephesians says,“And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.”Eph. 3: 17-19

When you invest, make God your priority and understand that you are on a life-long journey you come to discover and experience the breadths, lengths, depths, and heights, to God’s love. Your life will never be the same.

Are you hungry and ready to experience a deeper life with God? Join our community of moms who are hungry for more Jesus in their lives and in the lives of their families.  

Grab your free Deeper Life Beginners Guide (get it below) to help YOU get started on your journey to a thicker life with Jesus today!  

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