If there is a fundamental requirement when we become Christians is a personal relationship with God. While we have it offered to us, it must be an active, purposeful, and intentional act that we do. We can pray, go to church, and do all the right things, a personal relationship with God is not one we should take for granted.
You can say that I have been a Christian all my life. You may even grow up in the church and be immersed in it. The truth is, I was too. I have heard of having a personal relationship with God in so many different sermons over the years. Maybe it was to a point that it went in one ear and out the other. I didn’t realize that I never digested that truth.
Why A Personal Relationship With God Is Crucial
To Not Be Misled
The Lord finally woke me out of that sleep and I realized that my foundations were all wrong. As I mentioned, I grew up in the church, always going to church. But because my community centered around the church, we highly respected anyone that preached. So anytime a preacher or teacher would come through, we would always ask for their prayer. But this is where I went wrong.
Whenever I was facing something, yes I would pray for God to help. But it got to a point where I felt like my prayer was not enough. I had to go to someone that was more “godly” to pray for me. Without realizing it, this habit continued for years. And instead of developing my faith and going to my Father on the throne directly, I would go to man. Their faith became a crutch for my own faith. I allowed someone else to come between my personal relationship with God.
All those years, my prayer life and ultimately, my spiritual life, were through someone else. I never questioned their preaching. It was as if they became my god and what they prophesied and preached was what God’s. But what does the Bible say about this?
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. - 1 John 4:1 (ESV)
See, while many Christians are well-meaning, they are also fallible human beings. They are not perfect and they may get things wrong sometimes. But the one thing a true Christ-follower will do is to encourage you to follow Jesus also. They will tell you the Word in truth, not to tell you for their own gain. In fact, they will encourage you to spend time with God, to study His Word, and learn to hear from Him yourself.
No preacher, prophet, or teacher of God will ever try to come between you and God. Jesus’s death removed everything that was in the way between us and God. The glory must be God’s, not because of a certain preacher’s powers. So while we are to respect men and women of God, we’re not ever to hold them up in a way that uplifts them, instead of God. They are servants of the Most High, not to take the honor for themselves. And certainly not to delight in hearing from God on your behalf so that your faith is stunted.
To Be Able To Discern His Voice
When we don’t have an active, purposeful, and personal relationship with God, it’s easy to believe other lies. Think about your own relationship with friends. If you have a close, active relationship with someone, you know them. You know their character, what they would say, and what they wouldn’t say. If someone else came by and told you so and so said this about you, it may be easy to believe if you didn’t know the person well. But if they were a close friend that you speak to all the time, no way would you listen to the nonsense!
The Bible says our enemy is the father of lies. So he will constantly try to feed us lies. The lies could be about the way we see ourselves. So we become always critical of how we look or how we act. It could be the way we see certain situations, seeing them as hopeless instead of having faith that God works everything for our good. We can only discern to hear what God says about us and what is truth through an active, close, and personal relationship with God.
And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. - John 8:32 (ESV)
Let Us Pray
Heavenly Father, thank you for your Word that always reminds me of the truth. Thank You, Jesus, that You made a way for me to come directly to You. I praise Your name that I can come to the foot of Your throne directly. In Your name, I pray. Amen.
Recommendation
Knowing God starts with knowing His Word. If you don’t already own a Bible, there are many churches that give one for free. You can also download a YouVersion Bible App. Or if you’d like a physical copy, it can easily be found on amazon.