1. Ask God to help you know Him better (before you do anything else…just ask Him).

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This is what my wife Sarah did. Over a decade ago, she cried out to God, “God! Show me who You are. I want to know You. Who are You?” Many of you have heard my wife’s testimony of how she began to pursue God after years of Him pursuing her. That testimony started with a question to God, nothing more. She went straight to the source to begin her journey. She started out “choosing what was best” (Matthew 10:42) by choosing the best first step—simply asking God to meet with her. And so Jesus has, over the course of the last decade…And He’ll do the same for us, if we only have the faith and courage to ask…

2. Invite Jesus into your daily activities (chores, errands, entertainment, etc.).

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Peter Marshall, the late Scottish pastor who became chaplain of the U.S. Senate in 1947, said it well,

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“God is a God of laughter, as well as prayer…A God of singing, as well as

Of tears.

God is at home in the play of His children.

He loves to hear us laugh.

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We do not honor God by our long faces…our austerity.

God wants us to be good—not ‘goody goody.’

There is quite a distinction.

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We must try to make the distinction between worship

and work

and play

less sharp…

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If God is not in our [IPhones] as well as our hymnbooks,

there is something wrong with our religion.

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If our God does not enter our kitchens,

there is something the matter with [our cooking].

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If we can’t take God into our recreation,

there is something wrong with the way we play.

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If God, for us, does not smile,

there is something wrong with our idea of God.

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We all believe in the God of the heroic.

What we need most these days is the God

Of the humdrum…

The commonplace…The everyday.”[1]

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3. Talk to Jesus throughout your day.

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We usually get to know people better by talking with them, having conversations with them—asking them questions and then listening to their responses. If God is a Person, then why would getting to know Him be any different? He is never too busy for you…Never…

4. Sit in silence with Jesus.

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This is the listening aspect of talking with God. True listening is an issue of respect. It does not involve our ears so much as it involves our eyes. We look at what we are concentrating on most. Sarah and I teach our daughters to look at the person with whom they are speaking—this shows attention and respect. For our daughters, this mostly involves taking their eyes off the television or out of a book (not an easy thing!). The same is true for us. If we really want to be and talk with the God of the universe, it is important for us to look at Him (if not with our eyes than with our minds and thoughts). Invigorating prayer—conversation with Jesus—eventually requires us to stop multi-tasking, to stop looking at ourselves in the mirror, and to start looking at the real “fairest One of all,” the One who invented beauty in the first place…           

5. Ask Jesus to help you recognize Him in your daily life.

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Friends, the Bible teaches us that we are born into this world sinful (Psalm 51:5), broken, out of tune, and “bent” as C.S. Lewis has said, naturally (or unnaturally, depending on how you look at it) drifting away from God. We need forgiveness—to be fixed, re-tuned, and re-bent so that we can see God, ourselves, and reality clearly. We need God’s help to see His active presence in our daily lives, just as I couldn’t see the words on these pages, or your bright and shining faces, without my glasses and contact lenses. And again, it all starts with a simple, sincere, and succinct request to Him directly… 

6. Read the Bible. As much as possible. This is the primary way we get to know God! Then, while reading, look at the different passages for what they show you about God.

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I have struggled for years with reading Scripture. I am either overwhelmed because of its size, intimidated because of its depth, or distracted by my desire to feed on the candy that I crave instead of the nourishment that I need (please click HERE for practical ways to read the Bible more consistently).

And so I have asked God to help me desire to get to know Him better
(because sometimes I don’t want to);

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And so I have asked God to help me desire to do the right things in life
(because sometimes I don’t want to);

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And so I have also asked God to help me desire to read His Word to me
(because sometimes I don’t want to).

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And He has!…Over a lifetime, God can change our desires to line up with His…

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And in addition to consistently asking God to bend our desires to match His, it is also important, once we have been reading God’s Word for a while, to ask God to help us look at the accounts of this book in fresh ways, from new perspectives, from fresh angles, so that we taste and enjoy and get nourished by all the courses of the meal, not simply the appetizers (or just the vegetables). There is nothing wrong with eating the salad of God’s Word (initial nutritional necessity) so that you can get to the cake of God’s Word (heightened understanding of, intimacy with, and appreciation for God)…especially if He has written it like that intentionally!

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7. Receive Jesus As Your Savior. Christianity isn’t about making bad people good; it is primarily about making dead people alive (unknown). God wants your heart before He wants your hands; simply talk to Jesus and ask Him to forgive your sins–past, present AND future sins! Although you may not understand much, tell Him that by simple faith you accept His death on the cross as the payment for your sins and that you want Him to adopt you into His family forever. He will then begin to live in you through His Holy Spirit and you will not only get to know Him on the outside but also from the inside-out!

If you are not ready to accept Jesus as your Savior, don’t give up! Keep asking questions from mature Christians, keep seeking the Bible for your answers, and keep asking God to help you with whatever is stopping you from receiving Jesus’ FREE offer of forgiveness and eternal life!

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8. Learn To Obey Jesus. We do not obey Jesus to earn His love but rather to thank Him for His love we cannot earn. We do not obey Jesus so He will love us but rather to show Him that we are learning to love HIM! (John 14:23-25) After you receive Jesus as your Savior, He will begin to teach you to be like Him and in learning from Him each day you will over time get to know Jesus in amazing and difficult ways! 

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YOU ARE LOVED!!!

[1] Marshall, Catherine, A Man Called Peter (Grand Rapids, Chosen Books, 2002), p. 150.