Developing a Healthy Relationship with God
Suggested Bible readings are listed below to help us know what it means to have a healthy relationship with God. However, all of this information has to move from our heads to our hearts.
For in my inner being I delight in God’s law. Romans 7:22 (Emphasis added)
Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. I Samuel 16:7
For many of us, our heads have been to college, but our hearts are still in kindergarten. We know all the answers, and we know what the Bible says, but deep in our hearts we don’t believe it to the point of truly living it out in our daily lives.
An intimate relationship with another individual can only be developed by spending a lot of time with that person. Our relationship with God is no different. We need to drop everything to spend time with God at least once a day if we are to really get to know Him. Spending time with Him does not only help us mature, heal, stay on course, etc., but also brings great pleasure to God. Jesus knew this and spent many hours with His Father. (Read: Mark 1:35, Mark 6:46, Luke 5:16, Luke 6:12, Luke 9:18)
One of the aims of this ministry is to help those who want guidance on how to get started in spending regular, quality time with God. What do you do, how do you do it, and how do you maintain it over the long haul? This “teaching” can be done in a small group setting, one on one, in a mentoring relationship or in a coaching relationship. Getting involved with a prayer partner or a coaching partner will help to maintain this commitment on a permanent basis.
The greatest commandment
Mark 12:30
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
Enjoy God’s presence
Psalm 16:11
You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
Delight in God’s Word
Psalm 1:2-3
(Blessed is the man whose) delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.
Worship God
Psalm 34:1-3
I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips. My soul will boast in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together.
Trust God
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
Isaiah 26:3-4
You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal.
Believe God
John 1:12
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. (Emphasis added)
Greek definitions:
Received=to receive, acknowledge, embrace and follow a teacher’s instructions.
Believed=to have faith; to entrust oneself; to believe Jesus as to who He is and what He has done.
Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Truly know that God loves you
Psalm 13:5
But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.
Psalm 52:8
But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever.
Lamentations 3:19-23
I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Have a heart of gratitude and thanksgiving toward God
Psalm 57:9-10
I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
I Thessalonians 5:18
Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Fear God
Deuteronomy 10:12-13
And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?
Psalm 111:10
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding.
Be able to call God your Abba (“Daddy”)
Romans 8:15
For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, Abba, Father.
There are also many good books that can help you along on your journey. Please refer to suggested readings.