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Life in Jesus04

Connecting with God

The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn’t live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn’t take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don’t make him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn’t play hide-and-seek with us. He’s not remote; he’s near. We live and move in him, can’t get away from him! — Acts 17:24-28 MSG

God made the entire human race so we could seek after him, and not just seek him, but actually find him! He’s not a God that is far off or “out there” somewhere. He is a God that is near, who is ever with us.

From the very first moment of human history, it starts this way! God is with Adam and Eve in the garden. And he continues this course all throughout scripture. God starts a partnership with Abraham, he wrestles with Jacob in the middle of the night, he speaks to Moses out of a burning bush, he guides the Israelites day and night by cloud and fire to the promised land, he spoke tirelessly through the prophets, he came to earth through Jesus Christ, and he has sent his Spirit to live among us with the special promise “surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)

God has made it clear from the very beginning that he wants a relationship with us. A relationship, not because he needs something from us, God needs nothing, but a relationship because he loves us, takes joy in us, and wants connection with us.

So we can be sure God is present and pursuing us, but we can also be sure that God will not force a relationship on us, we have to pursue him also.

So how do we do that?

Well, through the ages Christians have found several things that help connect us more deeply with God. We’ve also noticed that what brings closeness and meaning for one person might not necessarily affect someone else in the same way. Remember, we are connecting with a “person” meaning someone personal, and not just an object. And because we’re all unique and different, we will and can relate to him in unique ways.

Think about a dad who has a great relationship with all his kids. Yet, not all those relationships will look exactly the same. With one they might like to talk about sports and go to games and joke around a lot, with another they might like to go get coffee and have more intellectual conversations, with another they might like to fish or spend time in nature together. None of those mean one is closer to him than the others, it just means they connect and relate in different ways. It’s the same with our Father in Heaven. One may feel the deepest connection with him while worshiping, another while studying scripture, another while being in nature.

The goal of this lesson is for you to see the different ways you can pursue a relationship with God and give you plenty of things to try. All of us should do all of these things at one time or another, but likely there will be a few things that bring you the deepest connection, and those are the things you will want to build in your life most often.

Here are 9 common ways to connect with God. Look over them together.

NATURE - experiencing God through creation
“I feel most connected with God when I’m outside”

BEAUTY - experiencing God through senses and beauty
“I feel most connected with God when I observe or experience beautiful things”

TRADITION - experiencing God through tradition and handed down rituals
“I feel most connected with God through time tested rituals”

SOLITUDE - experiencing God through silence and simplicity
“I feel most connected with God in silence”

ACTION - experiencing God through creating change or confronting evil
“I feel most connected with God when I work with him on things he cares about”

CARE - experiencing God through taking care of people
“I feel most connected with God when I care for the needs of others”

EXPRESSION - experiencing God through excitement, celebration, and outward expression
“I feel most connected with God when I show my heart”

PRESENCE - experiencing God through emotional and personal time with God
“I feel most connected with God when I spend time with him”

LEARNING - experiencing God through learning new things about him and studying the scriptures
“I feel most connected with God when I learn more about him”

Talk about it
  • Do you feel like you’ve ever “connected” with God before? How? What was that like?
  • Do you believe in connecting with God on a deep level? Why or why not?
  • What do you think holds you back from connecting with God more?
Talk about it
  • Which ones feel the most like you and why?
  • Which ones feel the least like you and why?
  • What questions does all of this bring up for you? Talk through those together.

Practicals

Look at the chart of practicals. Pick two things from categories you think are most like you, and one from a category you don’t connect as much with that you’d like to try.

*adapted from Gary Thomas’s Sacred Pathways

NATURE

  • Go for a walk with God outside. Pray, listen, and worship.
  • Read your bible or memorize a scripture outside.
  • Look at God’s creation and think about what it teaches you about God.
  • Find beautiful places nearby to see and experience.

BEAUTY

  • Draw or make something as you pray.
  • Draw or paint reflections on a scripture you read.
  • Look at meaningful art and reflect on the truths of God in it.
  • Have a good meal with Christian friends.
  • Create a beautiful place to spend time praying and reading scripture.

TRADITION

  • Follow the liturgical calendar.
  • Read the bible out loud.
  • Set regular time to connect with God each day.
  • Memorize verses.
  • Pray the Psalms or look up some famous prayers to use in your prayer time.

SOLITUDE

  • Put away or turn off your phone for a designated amount of time.
  • Practice sitting in silence and just trying to listen for God. Start with 5 minutes and build up over time.
  • Slow down. Focus on not rushing throughout your day.
  • Clean and organize your space, then spend some time reflectng on God there.

ACTION

  • Put away or turn off your phone for a designated amount of time.
  • Practice sitting in silence and just trying to listen for God. Start with 5 minutes and build up over time.
  • Slow down. Focus on not rushing throughout your day.
  • Clean and organize your space, then spend some time reflectng on God there.

CARE

  • Check in on different people each week and ask how you can be praying for them.
  • Send an encouraging text or letter to someone.
  • Make a list of needs you see around you. Think about how you can help fill them, and get started!
  • Look up service opportunities in your city.

EXPRESSION

  • Be bold and expressive during worship.
  • Spend some time worshiping by yourself.
  • Find some new worship songs you like.
  • Try a new way of interacting with God.
  • Seek to bring excitement and energy to your community.

PRESENCE

  • Read a whole chapter or whole book of the bible and journal on it.
  • Pick one scripture to focus your attention and prayer on for the day.
  • Journal your prayers.
  • Sit and contemplate God’s character and how you’ve seen that in your life.
  • Talk with God out loud.

LEARNING

  • Get a commentary on a book of the bible you’re interested in.
  • Watch “Bible Project” videos online.
  • Listen to the “BEMA” podcast.
  • Find a book about a topic that interests you and read it with your mentor.
  • Write a lesson about something God has taught you.
Go further

Try the 3 things you picked out from the chart this week.

Take note of what that experiencing was like so you can share it next week!