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God, the Creator of the Universe, wants to be in relationship with you.
Yes, he is different than you in substance and essence. But He is still able to relate personally and practically each day with you.
Some Things To Remember
- He is Spirit and communicates through your spirit. It’s different than speaking to another created being. But it is just as real.
- You can learn how to speak His dialect. The more sensitive you are to your own spirit and able to recognize and identify your own thoughts, feelings, and emotions the better you’ll be able to communicate with God.
- Your relationship with your family, and primarily your father, sets the “tone” of what your relationship with God looks like. If your father was distant and dismissive, then there’s a good chance you view God with similar characteristics.
Things That Get In The Way
There are beliefs, experiences, and perceptions that can hinder a healthy relationship with God.
- Having “other gods” in your life—“Everyone gets their identity, their sense of being distinct and valuable, from somewhere or something .” If you find your value in what you do, what you look like, what you have, etc… then you’ve created a relationship that you depend on that isn’t God. “Our need for worth is so powerful that whatever we base our identity and value on we essentially “deify.” We will look to it with all the passion and intensity of worship and devotion, even if we think of ourselves as highly irreligious.”
- Hating Grace—Do you do good works to prove that you are good, or do you do good works because you’ve been made good by God. Trying to earn a relationship with God puts the focus on you and not on Him. It’s not always easy to accept unconditional love, but it is very importnat.
- Wounded Assumptions—If you assume that God is mad at you, wants nothing to do with you, can’t understand you, doesn’t care about you, or is tired of you then it’s going to be difficult to have an open and trusting relationship with Him.
A Few Practical Things
The following things will help you establish a growing relationship with God.
- Love the things He loves—including yourself.
- Adopt a soft, receptive attitude.
- Learn how to be still, both physically as well as emotionally.