How To Practice Following God

Yes, I say practice, because you just don’t wake up one day and decide. “This is going to a cake walk,

That being said I and another person are having a “Bible Word Study” for some new believers at church. Last Wednesday I was asked by one to give them some tips on how to start following God.

I thought I would write the things I’ve been studying to share with the group next week here as well.

It’s it simple form, God made the world and created humanity. Man was in a relationship with God for the glory of God, to experience His love. Loving God was at the core of all things was a relationship with God.

However, all that changed when man used the free will that God graciously provided to disobey God. That moment of disobedience, is where sin came into the world. Sin broke man’s perfect relationship with God and brought evil, disease, and death into the world. Which separated us from the perfect God,

Our sin in the problem that corrupts the world and everything in it and we are powerless to overcome our sin apart from God. Our attempts to control the world have increased the chaos around us and within us.

We need healing, healing that can only come from God’s grace, through faith alone, in God alone. This is the ‘Good News‘ believers have been trying to share for many, many, years. But to me, all those people were lacking on thing, love, compassion, and empathy. People don’t need to be preached to. No wonder why people run the other way, when they see believers in Jesus come their way.

God came to forgive us of our sins, and only His spirit can teach us how to live. And we don’t need the ‘rules’ of religion to do that, we do need to dress a certain way or wear special underwear that says we’re going to heaven. To do that,

If I had to wear a dress every time I went to church, I would stop going really fast. And I definitely would not give up my morning coffee to follow a ‘religion.’

God sees us as perfect and holy even after we mess up. Thank God for that.

Whew, after 9 paragraphs, I will start my study on how to practice following God.

Spend time in the Bible everyday, and pray that God will help you understand. Pray and read His Word consistently. This is the most important way to grow a relationship with Him. God will never force Himself on anyone to spend time with Him. You have to want it.

Talk to him daily. This May seems a little weird at first. The Bible says, “pray continually” this does not mean you have to sit and pray all day every day. this means you should always have a mindset of prayer and God should always be first in your heart. If you come to problem during your day, stop and ask Him for help, if good happens stop and say thank you. God is a personal God, He isn’t far away from you.

Develop a relationship with others. Having a relationship with other’s help us develop our relationship with God. Proverbs 27:17, says “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpen another.” We need each other because learning and growing together with God, brings us grow closer to God. Believers help other believers get closer to Him.

Listen to God’s voice and practice obedience to His Word. A relationship is a two-way street. Right? So when we start talking to God, listen for what He is saying. God is always speaking to us, we don’t hear Him because we pray and ask for help, then we get busy with the busyness of life. Pray-Listen-Obey. We can talk until we are blue in the face. But if we don’t listen and obey what Worth is it.

Be willing to Trust Him with your heart. It’s a tough situation to be in if someone doesn’t have trust in the other. I get it we all can get skeptical and doubt. But, when your trusting in the Lord, believing in Him is key. You can tell him anything when you’re angry, when you’re afraid, when you’re frustrated, and everything else. Sometimes I think that God is my best friend He keeps secret really well, He doesn’t judge, and He is always help in times of trouble.

Don’t compare your relationship with God to that of others. We have to have a huge problem of comparison in the world today. But if you want to have a strong personal relationship with God, you have to overcome comparison. The grass is not always greener on the other side. Your relationship with God will be nothing like the other person. I used to compare myself with others because they had their prayer perfectly put together, I was like it just slipped off their tongues, and here I was I couldn’t seem to get a single sentence out without stumbling over my words. I thought ‘I wish I could pray like them. But, the fact is God doesn’t care He just wants us to pray. As time went by things improved with my praying- it’s all practice. Once we do things over and over things seem to run smoothly.

Learn how to depend on God, If you want to develop a personal relationship with God, you should learn how to depend on Him. We are so used to doing thing ourselves. But we have to learn to depend on God for everything. This looks like praying, asking Him for guidance before making a decision, asking Him to be with you throughout they day. Asking Him to get us wisdom in day to day conversations. Depending on God is crucial for a personal relationship with Him.

I have come to learn not to stress over anything because I asked God to handle thing for me. A few years ago my wisdom teeth came in, I was 40 who ever heard of such a thing. Anyway I had to have a surgeon remove them. At the time I didn’t have dental insurance. The surgery was $700. I began praying for God to make away. A few days later I went to check the mail and there was a $600 check there from a insurance company that figured my bill wrong, that I’d payed the year before. The rest I made selling a few things I didn’t need anymore. That check came just at the right time. Some say it was just a coincidence. All I know is I asked God to make a way, and I depended on Him.