What if looking back at 2020 we not only remembered all the uncertainty and crisis but also remembered this year as one of the sweetest times we had with Jesus in our lives. The time when Jesus truly captured our heart for the first time or once again. The time when we became more intentional about pursuing the Lord and His will for our lives.
While some of the choices of restaurants, entertainment, and vacation destinations have become limited lately, we can still choose to pursue the Lord. That’s the choice no one can take away from us. Here are 5 tips on how to become closer to God:
1. Anchor yourself in God’s Word
A lot of people started watching more TV or pursued other forms of entertainment during the pandemic. While it’s understandable that as people work from home and have more free time they may choose to watch Netflix more and take a much-needed break, we as Christians should also not forget that with more secular input from TV, we have to lean more into God’s Word to truly stay anchored in the Lord and have a filter for all the entertainment we consume. And we should also choose the content that we consume wisely and set a healthy limit on how much we watch per day.
The Bible says:
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (NIV, Romans 12:2)
We renew our mind when we spend time in God’s Word. The more time we spend reading and studying the Bible, the more anchored we will be in our faith, and we will be able to discern God’s truth from lies as we watch TV and go through our lives. If you want to know God’s will for your life, then read His Word and don’t let what you see on TV become your theology.
2. Keep Scripture Close to Your Heart
During this uncertain time, it’s easy to feel anxious. I find that it’s usually when my mind has nothing to do is when the worry starts to creep in. Like when I’d doing a mundane task or when I’m trying to fall asleep. So I found that having at least a few Bible verses memorized helps me to be able to refocus my mind on Scripture instead.
I just choose a Bible verse from my memory and start meditating on it. I repeat it over and over, thinking deeply about the meaning of the verse. Before I know it, the anxiety is gone!
So I would encourage you to memorize some Bible verses that speak to you in this season and maybe even make little 3×5 Scripture cards and carry them with you to review when you need them until you’ve got them memorized. This verse is one of my favorites for this season:
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (NKJV, 2 Timothy 1:7)
And the cool thing is that as you memorize Bible verses, the Holy Spirit will bring to your mind the exact verse you need for the situation you are facing!
3. Cultivate a Habit of Continuous Prayer
When I became a Christian at the age of 18, I discovered that instead of worrying about things I should pray about them instead. The Bible says:
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (NIV, Philippians 4:6)
While I haven’t been perfect about always praying instead of worrying, I did cultivate a habit of praying my worries to God. So in this season of uncertainty and also having moved to the US only a few months ago, I had a lot of things to pray about! And I feel like it made me closer to God communicating with Him that often.
So as you take a break from work, or as you transition between tasks, or when you do mundane work, just talk to God in your mind and let Him know how you feel or thank Him for something good in your life.
4. Be still in God’s presence & let Him speak to you
When you have your time with the Lord, don’t do all the talking. Slow down enough to feel His peace in your heart. I like to light a candle and turn on relaxing piano music and just sit in a peaceful quiet place.
As I journal my prayers or say them out loud or in my mind, I also leave a few moments of silence. Sometimes God may impress something on my heart. Sometimes it may be a Bible verse that stands out to me during my reading. Or maybe it will be a Bible verse that the Holy Spirit brings to my remembrance in that moment. Sometimes God will remind me of someone I know so I can pray for them.
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (ESV, John 14:26)
I’m still learning to discern God’s voice, but one thing we can know for sure is that God will never contradict His Word and ask you to do something that doesn’t align with it.
5. Pursue Jesus together with other believers
While it may be harder to get together with other believers now due to social distancing, we still should not let that stop us from spending time with them.
With technology, we can meet with other believers online and stay connected in that way. I have a weekly women’s prayer meeting I attend online where I and my friends from Germany exchange prayer requests and pray for one another. It’s great to be able to still be part of their lives in that way. Thanks to COVID they had to turn their in-person group in Berlin to an online group for now, which makes it possible for me to attend even from the US.
A lot of churches are also opening up while maintaining best practices of social distancing. For those who are healthy and not at high risk, it’s still a great way to connect with other believers. In fact, the Bible says to do so:
“And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.” (NLT, Hebrews 10:25)
Another way of pursuing Jesus together is with your family or close friends. You can have a family Bible study or attend a small group. When James and I were living in Germany and were unable to attend a small group due to the long commute, we decided that we would do our own small group at home, just the two of us. Now that we live in the US, we still like to do our own Bible study at home in addition to attending a small group.
We pick a book of the Bible that we are going to study and study one chapter per week. We then close our time by exchanging prayer requests and praying together while holding hands. It has been great for our marriage, and it also helps us to pursue God together. It doesn’t happen every single week, especially in the last few months when we had to move around a lot, but it’s a practice we intend to keep up.
What helps you to stay close to the Lord? Share your tip in the comments below.
