The reality of a relationship with God

You may hear in a lot of sermons how Christianity is about having a relationship with God, not religion. 

But that may lead people to think… What does that even mean? 

I know when I was beginning to believe in Jesus, I had no idea what that meant. 

What do you mean I should have a relationship with the God of the whole universe?

Well to answer that question for you, a relationship with God looks very similar to a relationship you would have with a close friend. You talk to them and spend time with them often and every time you spend time with them you likely learn something new about them. That’s what it's like with God.

One way you can spend time with Him is by reading your Bible. 

He speaks through His Word and each time you read it, you can learn something new about God and His character. Reading your Bible daily can be a hard habit to get into but it is so rewarding when you do! 

It’s not always easy because a lot of times the Bible can be really hard to understand and that can be really demotivating. 

But don’t worry, there are so many resources to help you understand some of the context. Some of my favorite resources are: Enduring Word Commentary (you can find it on Google) as well as The Bible Project and Spoken Gospel (you can find them both on YouTube). These are not meant to be a substitute for reading your Bible but simply a resource to go to if you don't understand or want to dig deeper. 

You can also spend time with the Lord by being in constant prayer with Him. 

Prayer can be intimidating and is definitely something you have to get used to. It may seem like a one-way conversation at first but you’d be shocked at the way God can make prayer so conversational. 

Sometimes I'll go into prayer feeling very anxious about some circumstance in my life and by the time I leave prayer, God has transformed that anxiety to such relief and peace.

Or other times I’ll go into prayer with a lot of questions and in the middle of a prayer God will put something on my heart that is just so clear of an answer to my question that I know it was from the Lord. 

But also along with that, and the reality of a relationship with the Lord, is sometimes you won’t get an answer to your questions, sometimes you won't feel immediate relief, God is not just some magic genie that will make all your problems on this earth go away. 

But that does not mean that He is not listening or that He loves you any less. 

Now this is also your reminder that this is an extremely hard habit to get 100% nailed down where you're doing this every day. 

You'll probably have seasons where you're on fire for God, reading your Bible and praying for an hour everyday, while there will also be seasons where you're gonna need accountability to even read your Bible once a week. 

You are not alone in that, I've had those seasons and I've known dozens of people who have also been in those seasons, so don't be too hard on yourself. 

The bottom line is that the reality of a relationship with the Lord is not always going to be perfect – you're not always going to be on fire for God. 

But it's still so important to sit at the Lord's feet and spend time with Him. He is always present even when you may not feel it. 

He is a perfect God, ready to help motivate you, you just have to make the choice. No matter what, He loves ya!