How to strengthen your relationship with God

Hello Friends! Today I wanted to touch on how to strengthen your relationship with Christ. I’ve been a christian since I was about 6 years old, but the past year or two since I’ve been living on my own has tested my faith – In the sense that no one is going to wake me up for church or remind me to read my bible, that is my responsibility now. I have to choose each day who I am going to live for.

”And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23

• Use a prayer journal
  • It can be very helpful visually to get your prayers written down, I also write scripture that apply to my prayer and write the date, so I can look back on how faithful God is to answer prayers. Plus having a journal will remind you to continue praying for others.

• Reduce secular music
  • This is not easy, especially as someone who loves music (Taylor Swift!!), but I think it’s important to make an effort to listen to music that pleases God. I still listen to secular music about 50% of the time right now, but I encourage you to pray about whatever you listen to. This could also apply to TV shows and Movies.

• Take a social media break
  • I have been on social media since 2012, and it wasn’t until this year that I realized it wasn’t adding anything to my life. I deleted TikTok a few days ago, and I feel refreshed honestly, I have more time in the day to read and cultivate meaningful hobbies. I’m still using instagram and Facebook just with time limits. My advice is to see which app you spend the most (wasted) time on and act accordingly. I know some people simply use social media for a few minutes then go on with their day, but for me I spend WAY too much time scrolling.

• Be conscious of the media you consume
  • Be mindful of what podcasts you listen to, what songs you play, etc.. I believe you should be careful of what you let into your spirit. As Christians it’s important to watch and listen to things that are pleasing to God. I am not perfect at this, as a teenager I would watch anything that seemed entertaining to me, but now that I’m older and hopefully wiser- I see that those shows, books, and movies did nothing to help my relationship with Christ, and if anything, they have the potential to lead you astray.

• Read your bible!
  • God is so kind to provide a book that teaches us about him, how to love and how to die to self. The only way to know God is to read his holy word and learn of what He did long ago, and what He will do again. I suggest reading one of the books of the Bible you’ve been avoiding, to reread your favorite book, and start again!

• Ask God
  • Ask God to give you wisdom and a love for his word, Another great idea is to study your bible with a friend or ask someone to mentor you. James 4:8 says Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.
• Scripture memorization
  • I find this very helpful, you can start with a passage of scripture in the psalms for example psalms 100, psalms 23, or psalms 91. This way we can work on hiding Gods word in our heart and meditating it throughout the day when we feel overwhelmed or stressed out. My favorite way to memorize scripture is to put verses on notecards above my bed or wherever you will see them often.

• Intercessory prayer
  • Intercessory prayer is the act of praying to God on the behalf of others. Hope and I began to have Intercessory prayer calls during the week. The Bible tells us time and time again about the transformative power of prayer and faith, It also encourages us make prayers for all people.
• 1 Timothy 2:1-2 – First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.
• Matthew 5:44 – But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.