Are you ready for a more intimate relationship with God? Sometimes we act as if we’ve forgotten that we’re to draw near to God. Yet, to experience intimacy with God you’ve got to move. You’ve got to draw near.
It is true that Jesus Christ has already come and opened the way for us to go to God directly. However, this is not a recipe for us to sit in our rocking chairs and be complacent. It is an invitation for us to press on to know God in increasing measure.
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy into dejection. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you (James 4:7–10).
Here are three important things to do, therefore, to draw near to God.
Work on Your Heart to Draw near to God
Let’s start with the heart. In How to Pray: Living Wholly Through Honest, Surrendered, Heart Praying, I describe the heart as “the deepest place from which our will and emotions spring which influence[s] our thinking, speaking, and acting” (Smith 2015, 49). It’s no wonder, therefore, that the Scripture tells you to purify your heart. This starts with seeking God’s forgiveness and asking God to change your heart. It continues with you determining that your heart will be wholly for God. You then feed it with that which will make you more open to God—prayer, Scriptures, wholesome interactions with others.
Humble Yourself to Draw near to God
It’s important to understand who you are and who God is. God is the great “I am who I am.” God is eternal and above all. Thus, you can’t compete or “one-up” God. Instead, accept who you are before God and be humble. When you go to God, go on the basis of what God has done and not what you have done. Don’t try to impress God with your good works and piety. Instead, go to God confessing your need of God, God relying on Christ’s finished work and God’s grace.
Submit Yourself to Draw near to God
It always comes down to surrender. That’s what submitting to God is all about. It’s knowing that Creator God knows more about you than you will ever know. It’s realizing that God loves you more than you could ever love yourself. It’s believing that’s God’s way is best. Thus, you give yourself up to God to gain the life that God has for you, making only plans that come from God. It’s obeying God even when you want to go in the opposite direction from which God is sending you.
It’s time to draw near to God. Align your heart, humble yourself, and submit to God and you will be closer to God.
What else do you do to draw near to God?
Bio: Claire Annelise Smith, PhD is an experienced spiritual mentor and prayer coach at SurrenderInPrayer. She is the author of How to Pray: Living Wholly Through Honest, Surrendered, Heart Praying and Heart Cries: 100 Prayers of Faith, Hope, and Love. Get your free daily prayers at http://surrenderinprayer.com/soul-satisfied
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