How To Be Friends With God
Inside all of us there is a desire for a relationship with our God. We long to fellowship with our Creator. But how do we form a relationship with God? This study takes a look at what we need to do to have a "Friendship with God".
Give Him Control Of Your Life
"Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me. For you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long." Psalm 25:4-5
God is perfect. He is sinless. We are imperfect. We are sinful. Our sin is what separates us from Him. But God loves us so much that He stepped out of heaven and took the form of a man, Jesus Christ, who lived the perfect (sinless) life that we couldn't, died on the cross for our sins, and rose from the grave. If we accept the sacrifice that He made on our behalf, then we are forgiven for our sins - past, present, and future. Our sin is removed. The gap between God and man is bridged.
We refer to Jesus as our Savior and Lord. We call Him Savior because He died for our sins. And we call Him Lord because we recognize that He is better suited to direct our life then we are. So we give Him control and ask Him to lead us. A relationship is then formed. This is the first step.
Understand The Relationship
"Our Father in heaven" ~ Matthew 6:9
It's important to understand the role that you play and the role that God plays in your relationship. God loves to be called "Father". And Jesus tells us that we must become "as little children" (Matthew 18:3). So our relationship is that of a (heavenly) Father and a child.
One of the characteristics of children is their complete dependence on their parents. Children simply cannot take care of themselves and need their parents to provide for them.
In the same way God wants us to depend completely on Him. He wants us to look to Him for direction (like we talked about above), for help, and to be thankful for our blessings because all good things come from Him.
Pray
"Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." ~ Jeremiah 33:3
Prayer is how we communicate with God. It isn't something that we only do before we eat or before bed. Rather, we should be praying throughout the day -- talking to God - involving Him in our daily life (1 Thessalonians 5:7). That means casting our cares before Him, asking for strength and wisdom to get through another day, praising Him for His ability to provide for us, and just saying "hi".
Be Honest With Him
"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts." ~ Psalm 139:23
Honesty is important is because you need to take an objective look inside your heart in order to recognize your need of a Savior. Being honest is also important when praying. If you are angry or confused about something let God know -- be up front with Him.
Read The Bible
"You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in Your Word" ~ Psalm 119:114
The Bible gives us insight into the heart of man and the mind of God. It provides both instruction as well as encouragement. In the Bible we learn that "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son." (John 3:16). Its value cannot even begin to be measured. The Bible is God's message to you.
Obey His Commands
"If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love." ~ John 15:9
Reading the Bible isn't enough. With His help, you must apply that which you learn. Everything written in the Bible was put there for a reason. God knows the struggles and dangers that are in this world. He also knows how we can be happy and content. He has provided us with a Book that tells us how we should live our lives but again, we must apply what we learn, just talking about them isn't enough.
Will you stumble and sin? Yes you will. And when you do you do two things.
First, you apply 1 John 1:9 to your life...
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (See also Psalm 32:5 & Proverbs 28:13)
If you confess your sins Jesus will forgive you. When you do that you are set free from sin. And “if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).
Second, you pray a prayer like we find in Psalm 25:4:
"Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths.”
We ask God to teach us His ways, to help us follow His commands. Yes, there will be times when we stumble, but we don’t have to be slaves to sin. We can be slaves to righteousness.
Final Thoughts
"Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. ~ Philippians." 4:4-9
When you put all these things together you find that it really is possible to call God "friend". And the Friend you'll find is one that will always be there, never let you down, and never stop loving you.
How To Be Friends With God - BibleStudyPlanet.com
