Open Church: How do you draw near to God?

Welcome to church! Open Church is a weekly post that aims to be a place where Christians on Hive can hang out, encourage and build up one another, and reflect the love of Christ. The church is not a building, but is made up of people who have been transformed by God’s grace.

Each week I will be putting up a new post with a new topic or theme for discussion. But feel free to come here just to fellowship and be a blessing to one another. Whatever denominational background your from, or if you’re just curious about the Christian faith, everyone is welcome.

So feel free to share a link to your favourite worship song, share a word of encouragement, a prayer request, or introduce yourself.

Today’s topic is: How do you draw near to God?

Each one of us have different habits when it comes to our quiet times, prayer practices, and Bible reading habits. Each of us sense God’s presence in different ways, and we draw close to God through different means. Moreover, we are all wired differently.

Some of us experience closeness with God through singing praises to God, and some see God’s majesty and glory in creation. God also speaks to each of us in different ways.

So I want to hear from you about your devotional habits. How do you draw near to God each day? And how does God usually speak to you?

For some who are starting out in the Christian faith, I hope reading the experiences of others can help us grow in exploring different ways of drawing near to God in worship, prayer, reading the Bible and listening to His voice.

I look forward to reading your experiences in the comments below.

Blessings
Jimmy


IMG_1769.PNG



0
0
0.000
20 comments
avatar
(Edited)

I can tell you any bad thoughts or tough times I experience I consciously say out loud that I will just lean on Christ to give me strength to get through any tough times. It's amazing how my devotion to doing this works so well. And I am not saying it's all peaches and roses. But the strength I get from Christ is what is amazing !!

Thanks for posting this Fellowship for Christians :)

0
0
0.000
avatar

That’s great. Thanks for sharing brother.

0
0
0.000
avatar

I draw near to God through praise and worship.most times when i am feeling low,i just want to praise Him and pour out my heart and tears to Him.after that i feel the power of the holy spirit upon me....and i am just new and full if joy again.

0
0
0.000
avatar

I can testify of this. It is indeed a wonderful experience.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Thanks for sharing your experiences @mariez. I love praise and worship too. Jesus is worthy of our praises and our complete devotion.

0
0
0.000
avatar

For me, drawing close to God is a daily thing. I draw closer to Him, Most especially during my worship time. When is presence is there, the atmosphere changes, it comes like a rush of wind with heat from within pouring out and I began to freeze and I was weeping.

Most times, I try within my power to control the whole thing but my strength fails me.

I remember when I was going through a lot of challenges and I was worshipping Him, I felt a rush of wind come from nowhere, I could not withstand the cold anymore, I began to freeze and weep at the same time. immediately, there was an ease in me. I felt calmness within me like I had nothing troubling me.

Most people tend to say hearing from God comes like a whisper, I doubt that fact. I have had experience on most occasions about hearing from God. In my experience on those occasions, it comes like a rumble of thunder or tornado about to blow off my ears.

Those experiences are always mind-blowing when you come out, you feel the difference, you feel happy and joyous and it radiates out into your physical appearance. The feeling of weight been lifted off your shoulder.

Indeed, in the presence of God, there is fullness of joy.

Thank you for always making us share our life experiences about knowing God. It is great doing that @nextgen622.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Thanks for sharing your experiences sister. Praise and worship of our Lord and Savior certainly connects us with God‘s presence.

0
0
0.000
avatar

To draw near to God is a constant every day practice. To read the Bible, hear what God is saying, to pray and answered prayers is a big source of joy and draw me even closer as I experience His goodness. Praise and worship are special but it's my quiet time that keeps me close. If I let that slip I can feel a distance creeping in.

0
0
0.000
avatar

So true. There are times in my walk with God where I haven’t spent quality time with Him for several days, and I would feel dry inside, and my wife would often know it too. :)

0
0
0.000
avatar

You make me smile :-) with "my wife would often know it too". It's our daily fellowship with Him that also manifest in the fruit of the spirit. Keeping our flesh in control.
Blessings.

0
0
0.000
avatar
(Edited)

Yes, very true. It’s so important to have daily quiet time spent with God.

0
0
0.000
avatar

I draw closer to my creator by constant studying of his word, as I study I get to know that I am not satisfied and that I can never know him enough, so I yearn for him, as I yearn for him I tend to draw closer to him.
Apart from that I get closer to God by worshipping him from the depth of my heart, most times I even burst into tears. I can remember such feelings right now, its always a time I don't want to recover from, it is always so rewarding.
Thanks for this question.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Wonderful @glotokens. I love the first part of your answer. The second part about worship is also great but we must just be careful to not rely on the "feeling" too much. Because when you don't "feel" God then you think something is wrong. Our relationship with Jesus Christ is firstly built on His word e.g the word say He is always with us, so even when you don't feel it, He is there.
Blessings

0
0
0.000
avatar

That’s great. Thanks for sharing sister.

Studying His Word, and worshipping Him are both so important in helping us connect with our Father.

0
0
0.000
avatar

...God is love. Humility is the main virtue in Orthodox Christianity. Humility is some kind of patience. Only with patience and humility, we are building love in our families, with friends and neighbors.
...Almsgiving is another virtue. Doing alms we express our love and care to others. Helping others we do not need to wait for returns from them. Our God, Jesus Christ, healed blind, leper men, not waiting returns in the form of money or presents from them, no...
...At least, One day a week we must go to Church for Divine Liturgy and Holy Communion. Praying in Church is not the same as doing prayer at home. Praying in Church makes you feel more grace and sweetness in your heart. You can feel God closer...
...Every day we need to say Thank You to our God because we don't even know which way we live our lives is better or worse. Every day we need to do Jesus Christ prayer: "Lord, Jesus Christ, have mercy on me" as well as do a prayer to our Guardian Angel - he is our internal voice, he is our conscience.

By adhering to these simple rules we can live our lives as true Orthodox Christians and be closer to God!

Orthodox Space blog

0
0
0.000
avatar

I agree with a lot in your post but

Guardian Angel - he is our internal voice, he is our conscience.

Who do you refer to above?

0
0
0.000
avatar

to our personal Angel whose name is given to us when baptizing - is a spirit who is believed to protect and help a particular person.

0
0
0.000