Strengthen Your Relationship with God

I often find that when women are really struggling, they come to realize that at the core of their struggle is their relationship with God.  They have temporarily forgotten who they are and whose they are.  They forget from time to time that they are a daughter of God and he loves them. 

I invite you to consider that the four tips I offer up in this article have the potential to help you not only grow closer to God but can also improve the relationship you have with yourself and in knowing your next step is the right step.

Tip #1 Understanding Where You Are

Let’s begin with you understanding where you currently are in your relationship with God.  Just like in any area you want to improve; you will want to know where you are.  If you want to lose weight, you begin by stepping on a scale to see how much you currently weigh.  If you want to create a wardrobe you love, you begin with a closet audit to see what you have.  If you want to run a 10-minute mile, you time your current pace and begin from there improving with each run.

Same thing, when it comes to your relationship with God and really any relationship.  It makes sense to being with an understanding of where you currently are.  The best way to do that is to ask yourself three specific questions.  I highly encourage you to grab a pen and paper to write down these three questions and then set aside some quiet time to answer them in writing.  If you are serious about improving your relationship with God this step and this method cannot be skipped.

Question #1 – What do you think about God?

Question #2 – What do you think God thinks about you?

Question #3 – What do you think about yourself in relationship with God?

These questions are so powerful.  One reason is because they cause you to intentionally think about what you think about when it comes to God and your relationship with him.  I also know that whatever it is that you are thinking about God, he can take it!  He knows your heart even when you are in pain and angry with him.  He will not turn away and sulk, or give you the cold shoulder, he will remain right there loving you. 

Tip #2 Believe Him

Have you ever thought about the difference between believing in Jesus and believing him?  I want you to consider that believing in Jesus is different than believing him.  You believe in Christ.  And you believe Him.

You believe in Jesus Christ.  You believe that he is the Son of God who came to earth to atone for your sins.  He is the one who makes it possible for you to return to the presences of God.  He is your advocate with the Father.  And there is so much more that you believe when it comes to Jesus.  The bottom line is…you believe in Jesus Christ.  It’s one thing to believe in Christ and another to believe that it is personal.  He is personal to you. 

Are God, the Father and Jesus Christ personal to you? When you read scripture do you believe them?  When you read:

·       “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.  This is love; not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.  Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”  1 John 4:9-11

Do you believe them?  Do you believe that you are the “we”? 

·       And this one, “…I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.”  1 Nephi 11:17. 

Do you believe them even when that is the only knowing you can hold on to? 

Are you willing to sit with that concept and search you own heart.  You believe in God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.  You do.  Do you also believe them? 

When you have had those moments when God’s love sweeps into your heart, do you accept that love and believe that it is for you?  You know you can ask God to help you feel of his love for you?  It is interesting that often we pray that someone else we are worried about will feel of His love, but we tend not to pray the same for ourselves.  I encourage you to do just that.  Pray to know. 

Tip #3 – Believe

Believe that you are a beloved daughter of heavenly parents, with a divine nature and eternal destiny. Believe, not only in them, but believe them. 

One of the things that you know about the magnificent brain that God gifted you with is how powerful it is.  You know this.  Your brain takes in information from the outside world and then tries to make sense of it.  It begins to generate stories about what is going on outside of you.  Those stories are simply a collection of thoughts that you think.  And what you think on the regular becomes a belief. 

Here is the really cool and interesting part, those beliefs become your reality.  What you believe you see and create!  If you believe that God loves you.  Your brain, will go on the hunt looking for proof that God loves you.  And you WILL see it.  And because you see it you will live into that love and create even more love.  It is a beautiful thing. 

On the other hand, if you believe that God does not love you, that somehow you are beyond the reach of his love, your brain will seek out that evidence too and you WILL see it.  You will create it by further distancing yourself from him in an effort to prove you are beyond his reach.

What is so fascinating about the later is that even though your human brain seeks out and finds so called “evidence” that God does not love you…it is NOT true.  You are never beyond the reach of his love.  Never.  If you find yourself believing you are beyond their reach, I ask you to really take a hard look at your thoughts and heart.  Start looking for evidence of their love. 

Tip #4 – Patience

Be patient.  Patient with yourself and your expectations. Try to keep in mind that His ways are not your ways.  His timing is not you’re timing.  Remember that the first attribute of Charity – the way God loves us and how we are to love others AND ourselves - is patience.

Remind your brain that God is always working.  Even when you don’t see it.  He is working.  And you want to work right along side him.  I am not inclined to sit and wait.  I don’t think that is the patience he is talking about.  I think he is talking about active patience.  The patience that is fueled by faith.  Faith is a verb. 

It is in the space of active patience that you evolve and become the version of yourself that is prepared for the blessing you seek.  Think on that.

These tips are NOT a once and done thing.  You will need and want to continuously improve your relationship with God, growing ever closer to Him.  And you will want to continuously believe.  Believe in them and believe them.  And all along the way practice active patience.  This is not a check list.  This is a cycle of relationship every spiraling upward and outward ever closer to Them.