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Building a TRUE Relationship with God

Marmoura99Marmoura99
edited December 1969 in Faith Issues
Hi! I'm a little concerned because I've found that recently I don't feel God in my life. What I mean by that is that although I know He's working in me and to help me, I don't feel that strong bond that draws me close to him. Even when I pray, read the Bible, or go to Church, I'm happy that I do all those things but it feels like my heart is empty.

SO, my questions are:
1. How do I get the Holy Spirit to start working in me again?
2. How do I build a strong relationship with God?
3. How do I keep that relationship once its built?

Thanks. God Bless :)

Comments

  • copticmark
    Hi
    This 3 questions can be the basis for a long series in a youth meeting in the church. So to give a short answers:
    1) The Holy Spirit is in you, for u are the temple of God and the His Spirit dwells in u. He never stops to work he rebukes for righteousness, for judgment and against Sin.
    2) To build and keep a relationship with God is a continuous life long process, No one can bring a child and expect him to grow to maturity in one day, It taks a life time. same with spiritual life , it take all our life time, we grow in Christ every day.
    There is no magic formula to make us saints in a moment. In fact a saint means somthing belongs to god (Hagios in Greek) this mean u are a saint the moment u were baptized, so stay in Him and he will bless u and make u grow in faith in Christ every day
    God bless
  • deaconmark123deaconmark123
    I had the same thing but my Father of Confession said it was the devil and i just need to beat him. Like you cant stop birds from flying over your head but you can stop them from building a nest on your head... I would take my advice last knowing it will not be as good as the other bright souls we have on this site.

    -Pray
  • Marmoura99Marmoura99
    Thanks copticmark and deaconmark123!

    another question though: How can I fight off the devil? It actually feels like i have debates in my head between the good and the bad...all the time!! sometimes I keep praying until these ideas go away but other times I give up too soon and give in to these temptations.

    Also, everytime I feel like im getting closer to God, something brings me back worse than I was before. How can I stop that? How can I renew the work of the Holy Spirit within me and put these thoughts to rest?

    Thanks
  • copticmark
    Hi
    Just as u said, that u keep praying untill u loose all the bad thoughts. U R doing the right thing. Praying is the strongest weapon, I will not get into the life of prayers here. it is a very very long subject. But in short keep praying even using small prayer like"My lord Jesus Son of God Have mercy on me a sinner". very very very helpful.
    and yes it is  a spiritual war, our adversery is like a lion (as st paul said) roaming around to devour us. This war will never end till the moment we meet Christ in the life to come. However the spirit gets stronger and stronger in the Lord as we grow in Him.
    Pray, read the bible daily and partake in the communion from the body and blood of our Lord Jesus who strengthen us.
    God bless
  • Marmoura99Marmoura99
    It feels like I'm not doing enough... i keep losing the battle and Im so scared!!
  • peterfarringtonpeterfarrington
    Sometimes we have to give up on feelings. They are not always a good guide to what is going on in our hearts. We can imagine an Olympic athlete, he runs a race and wins a medal and he feels wonderful. "This is the best day of my life", he says. But a year later he is stuck in a routine of 8 hours training a day in the rain and cold, on his own. It doesn't feel the same at all. But something is going on in his body, it is being prepared and transformed even though he doesn't feel very happy about what is happening.

    It is the same for us. It is through trials and tribulations that we attain the Kingdom of God, not through warm experiences and a comfortable spiritual life. Believe me, it is no different for a person who has been a Christian for many years, or even a priest. Let me say in my own life that I work through one difficulty and another appears. Sometimes they are like buses and come along three at a time. And there are times I have cried out, 'Is this it!'. But if we wish to be fit to run the race of our lives then yes, this is it, and it is hard, but it makes us strong.

    We have to accept that much of our spiritual effort will be a matter of routine. We must offer to God our habits of prayer and praise and worship, and as He wills, and in His way, he will fill that offering with peace and joy. But if we pray for many months with a sense of dryness then we must persevere. 

    Let me urge you to continue in the spiritual habits that you have. Tell God that it is hard but that even in the difficult times you wish to offer yourself to him. If the Christian life were always easy then we would not love God for Himself but for the things we could get from him. But it is not easy. And we love Him in the midst of our pain and confusion because He has entered into our human condition and knows what it is to be rejected, to be lonely, to be wrongly accused, to be punished for something He had not done.

    Nor are we ever alone, but are surrounded by a great host of saints and angels who care for us and intercede for us. They are like the friends who come out to watch us train when it is raining, and they are standing at the trackside shouting, 'Keep going, don't give up!'.

    It is hard to think of any saint who had an easy life. So it is not unusual to discover that becoming a spiritual athlete is not an easy matter. But if we persevere, calling on the grace of God at all times, because we can do nothing at all in our own strength then we will see that we are growing in the faith. All we can do is offer aour godly spiritual habits and wait for the coming of the Lord. When he wills, and he knows best, we will find him present with us. If he seems absent then we must wait patiently, comtinuing in prayer, praise and worship.

    We can pray, "Lord this is too hard for me to bear in my own strength. I try and keep failing. I hand my life over to you, in my weakness and confusion, and ask that you will give me the grace I need this day to live a life that brings you honour. My will is weak, but your grace is strong."

    The Lord bless you and keep you safe.

    Father Peter
  • copticmark
    [quote author=Marmoura99 link=topic=8511.msg107860#msg107860 date=1258674366]
    It feels like I'm not doing enough... i keep losing the battle and Im so scared!!

    Hi there
    father Peter's comment is so good, advice of gold, follow it and stay in Christ.
    I want to add one comment on what u have said being scared.
    Simply put, do not be scared, because this battel we enter we enter it VICTORIOUS, it is not like regular battels ,it is a spiritual war that our Lord Jesus has already WON FOR US, we are VICTORIOUS in HIM no one can take that victory from us, even Satan, he just use scare tactics but has NO power over us, Nothing can take this VICTORY that jesus gave us "oh death where is they sting" it has been abolished on the cross and this victory was given to us in full in the resurrection, in Him (Jesus) we re sitting in heaven. Cling to Jesus and to His salvation, keep in the Faith, for faith in Him saves us.
    God bless
  • Marmoura99Marmoura99
    Father Peter, thank you so much! I cannot even begin to tell you how much better your words made me feel. The devil is very sneeky and sometimes makes us feel like we dont have a good relationship with God despite our efforts so we give up. But, you reminded me of all the saints who had persevered and won in the end and that encouraged me to do the same!

    Copticmark, thank you for helping me and being so patient with my concerns! You are 1000% right in what you said. It makes me think of two verses from the Bible that reinforce this: "if God is for us, who will be against us" (Romans 8:28) and also "Be anxious for nothing but in everything, through prayer and supplication, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ" (Phil 4:4-7).

    Please continue to pray for me and my weaknesses.

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