Different Ways to Interact with God

What I’ve learned over the years of building my relationship with God, I realized there’s so many ways to connect with Him.

Beginning your relationship with God is definitely challenging because you never know what you want to say, how to say it, and why you’re saying it.  Spending time in God’s presence, opens your mind to Him.  He lets you know that you don’t have to come to Him as though you have it all figured out, He just wants you.  

I want to share with you different ways to connect with God and how it can benefit you in moving forward in building your relationship with Him.

Create a War Room

1. War Room.  You can watch it on HBOMax where you will receive a FREE 7-day trial.  No this message isn’t sponsored but that’s probably the only way you’ll be able to watch it for FREE.  I highly recommend you watch the movie.  This is the first time I was able to speak to God.  This film taught me so much in a way to speak to God, how to be patient, faithful, trusting in Him, and more.  I initially didn’t know how to speak to God.  I didn’t know how to form a sentence I thought was perfect enough to come out of my mouth for Him to hear.  

After writing down notes and prayers in a journal, I wasn’t nervous.  I felt like I could be myself on that piece of paper.  It calmed me down in knowing that anything that I write was going to be between me and God and it was, it has.

Create a war room simply by choosing a designated area in your house that is free from distractions.  The only voices you should hear are yours and God’s.  This is the time for silence and allow your thoughts to intermingle with God’s.  It’s time for you to shut up and listen. Yep I said it.  Sorry not sorry.

If you’re the type of person that loves to talk...well God is listening.  I’ve learned that about myself lately.  I guess it’s a hidden talent (shrugs) lol.  Just open your mouth and allow words to come out.  It doesn’t have to be perfect.  They can be run-on sentences.  They can be sentences that are all over the place where you are talking about one subject and then another.  God is listening to it all and He understands where you’re coming from.  But you have to just start.

Write to God

     1. Watching War Room, I noticed the wife in the movie, played my Priscilla Shirer, went into her closet and began praying and writing out scriptures pertaining to her issues.  I thought to myself, “This is a good idea.”  Even though at the time, I didn’t know how to clearly speak to God, I decided an alternative method that would suffice and that was writing.  I love to write and this was the opportunity to not be politically or grammatically correct but to pour my heart out to God.  I wanted Him to know what was going on in my entire life, from the time I woke up, during my day, and once I got home.  I wanted Him and myself to be aware of how my actions and others were affecting me.  

*Fact: Did you know that when you begin writing things down about your personal life, you can’t hide the truth?  When you’re writing, you begin to spill everything and not know it until you’re done.  It’s a stress reliever.  You’re welcome :)

Put Your Action Where Your Mouth Is

1. Okay, so you’ve prayed and you’ve journaled til your heart’s content, now you have to put some action behind this.  Oh you thought that was it? Ha!  Where do you think you go next to build on your relationship with God?  If you answered His Word, you’re right.  You can never leave out His Word.  It is the most essential portion of this process to let God know you’re here and you’re serious.  You won’t stop at nothing to be in His company. 

For this portion of the process, I highly recommend you doing your research on which Bible works best for you.  I’ve gone through a few versions and my list continues to grow.  

Now, for me...for a while, when I first began reading God’s Word, it was challenging.  So much so that I wasn’t ready to read His Word and guess what, God was okay with that.  He knew it was only temporary but He was with me throughout the entire process.  

When I finally got the courage to begin reading...literally instead of just pulling out specific scriptures for my specific issues, I wanted to make sure I was getting a Bible that best fit my needs and help me to better understand what I was reading because the KJV (King’s James Version) wasn’t cutting it.  

Before buying my Bible, I of course did my research to make sure I understood everything and that it didn’t have Thees and Thous in the text.  FYI, I did my research on the Bible app as they have thousands of versions to choose from and that helped me go to the store and choose the best Bible for me at that time.  That was the ESV (English Standard Version).  

With this Bible, I highlighted so many scriptures that helped me with my issues at the time.  Now I had a system.  I had the three amigos...aside from the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  I’m talking about prayer, journaling, and the Holy Bible.  I was so ready to learn more about God’s Word.  I was so invested in knowing more about Him and what He had for my life, what I was supposed to do, who did He want me to help, what kind of friends I was supposed to have.  I wanted to step into the unlimited access that was provided to me so I could be more like Him.

*FYI: Set aside time for you and God.  If you need to, schedule it, which I feel is much more helpful.  Therefore you won’t put something in place of God.  This is your time to spend time if not more with your Father. 

Mix it Up

1. They now have Bibles with colorful journaling sections within the text, if you’re interested in that definitely check it out.  I personally can’t do it.  I know I’ll get distracted.
2. What I sometimes do is listen to Christian or Gospel music to get me into the mood before praying.  Nothing is wrong with this.  As you spend more time with God and your life changes in ways you’ve never seen coming, sometimes there’s going to be a dip in the relationship.  Trust me. You can’t allow that little dip to affect your relationship with God. 

There are going to be times when you want to give up on God because what you’ve asked for is taking longer than anticipated...in your mind, and you want to give up.  Let me tell you, DON’T!

Jesus Christ has gone through Hell...literally and still came back to stand by your side regardless of how rocky you made the situation.  Oh you didn’t think I would go there?  Yeah, we place ourselves in a bind and want God to come and rescue us as soon as we place ourselves there.  Sometimes that doesn’t work.  

When it doesn’t you have to learn how to be patient.  Continue holding onto the grace and mercy He has given you, the life He has given you.  You’re not far off than you thought you were in your life.  Yes your life probably took a wrong turn but you’re not the only one who has/is going through it.  

Listen

1.  Please listen and obey what God is telling you.  He knows and understands that you are frustrated but He wants you to keep holding on to Him and His promise.  That is, He will never leave you nor forsake you.

God is always right.  He is that little voice that is subtle and whispers to you and heck, He sometimes sounds just like you but if you’re thinking about something that is out of your ordinary way of thinking, it’s probably God.  He wants you to always do right.  He wants to change your heart, mind, and soul and He wants you to not be conformed by this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  He wants you to truly be that image of Himself in the way He originally designed us to be. 

Listen to what He is trying to tell you.  Listen to where He’s trying to lead you.  He speaks through your prayers, your thoughts and most importantly His Word. 

So open up today and allow Him in. 

I hope this was beneficial to your life and helped you to better understand that there’s no right or wrong way to really approach God, just as long as you do.  I hope you dive into building your relationship with Him and watch Him do great things in and through you. 

Love,

Janelle