By Jin Qiu
Building a relationship with God is the most important lesson to be learned. Only when we have a proper relationship with God can we be moved in prayer, gain illumination when reading God’s words, and obtain God’s enlightenment and guidance in all things. Clearly, it’s critical for us to establish a normal relationship with God. Here are 3 ways to keep a normal relationship with God.
First, practice quieting our heart before God.
The Lord Jesus said: “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24). From this verse, we know that if we want to establish a normal relationship with God, we should pray to God with a sincere heart, speaking from the heart. When we honestly tell God about our actual circumstances and practical difficulties, and do some self-reflection before Him, we will be moved by the Holy Spirit and will experience genuine remorse. This way, we can quiet down before God. For example, you pray, “God! I see many brothers and sisters sincerely expending themselves for You. But my stature is too small. I have so much baggage—my job, family, and future—that I cannot expend myself for You. I don’t know how to let go of my baggage. May You enlighten me and enable me to understand Your will and requirements. May You give me faith and strength so that I can obey Your orchestrations and arrangements.” When you pray in this way, you are quiet before God. When God sees you pray honestly, the Holy Spirit will work in you, and then you will establish a normal relationship with God. But if we don’t open our hearts to God when kneeling in prayer, but just say a few words carelessly and perfunctorily, even if we seem quite reverent from the outside this is not being quiet before God and such prayer won’t be accepted by Him. Besides, if we are irrational, if we bring our demands or a desire to do deals into our prayers, then such prayers are not offered with a quiet heart before God and won’t be accepted by God.
Apart from quieting our hearts before God when praying, we also need to be quiet before God and touch the Spirit of God with our hearts when we read the Bible and contemplate God’s words. When we have true communion with God and live before God, we are touched by the Holy Spirit and gain the work of the Holy Spirit. Regardless of what we are doing, whether we are praying, or working, or taking a walk, we should practice being quiet before God at any moment. As long as we constantly practice this, we can maintain a normal relationship with God.
Second, give our hearts to God, allow God to control everything, and obey God’s sovereignty and arrangements.
Giving our hearts to God means to entrust our jobs, families, and lives to God. No matter what happens to us, we should seek and pray to God, and then act according to His will and requirements. In addition, we should immerse ourselves in God’s work and expend ourselves for Him, acting according to His words in everything and obeying His orchestrations and arrangements without choosing. This is what is meant by giving one’s heart to God. Suppose we have to deal with the matter of the marriage of one of our children. We pray, “Dear Lord! My child was given to me by You. Now, he has reached the age of marriage. Rather than rely on myself to make plans for his marriage, I’m willing to entrust this matter to you and obey Your orchestration and arrangement. I believe what You arrange will be best for him.” After such a prayer, we should obey God’s orchestration instead of acting according to our own desires. If we say that we’re willing to submit to God’s orchestrations and arrangements, but are full of complaints and even deny, judge, and blaspheme God when trials befall us, this isn’t giving our hearts to God. As the Lord Jesus said: “This people draws near to me with their mouth, and honors me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:8-9). From the Lord’s words, we can see that God doesn’t like us to honor Him with lip service but wants us to give our hearts entirely to Him and give Him sovereignty in everything. Let’s take the three friends of Daniel as an example. When facing the danger of being thrown into a blazing furnace, they were willing to die rather than worship idols. They made no choices of their own but made God their sovereign and satisfied God wholeheartedly; this is truly giving the heart to God.
Third, learn to seek and practice the truth in all things.
No matter who has said something, even if the person is someone of low status or someone we look down on the most, as long as what he or she says accords with the truth we should submit and accept it. But if what they say doesn’t conform to the truth, we shouldn’t accept it no matter how high their position is or how great their influence is. When we find out that our co-workers engage in jealous disputes with each other, steal offerings, or do something harmful to the interests of the church, we shouldn’t turn a blind eye to these things, or act like it has nothing to do with ourselves, nor should we be inhibited by the status and power of other people. Instead, we should stand resolutely on God’s side and safeguard the interests of the church. Only when we act like this can we become those who are truly obedient to the truth. Nowadays in the church, there are many people worshiping knowledge and status, blindly listening to and obeying whatever the pastors and elders say. Their behaviors just remind me of the Israelites. During the time of the Lord Jesus, the Israelites blindly adored the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees; deceived by them, they followed them in resisting the Lord Jesus, and nailed the Lord Jesus to the cross, suffering God’s punishment and curse. In contrast, people like Peter, John, Matthew and Philip saw that the work and word of the Lord Jesus were full of authority and power and came from God, and thus followed Him without being bound by the Pharisees; they were those who truly obeyed God and gained God’s salvation. Just as the Bible says, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).
I believe as long as you practice according to these four ways, you can establish a normal relationship with God. Have you grasped these principles and started putting them into practice?
