Drawing Closer to God

Summary: Most Christians will tell you that they want to get closer to God. Few succeed in
doing that. But I am here to tell you; you can experience that closeness to God.

LOVE – REMEMBER GOD LOVES YOU

(love pecan pie, love my dog, love my wife, and I love God)
Jeremiah 31:3 The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting
love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.
 When you determine to get closer to God, be assured that you are not presuming or
imposing, because God is “draw[ing] you”.
o He loves you, and He loves to draw you close to Himself
o As you draw closer to God in prayer
o As you draw closer to God in worship
o And as you draw closer to God in His Word the Bible
 Know that His love for you is “everlasting”; it won’t disappear because
you’ve faltered or sinned.

PRAY – SPEAK TO GOD OFTEN

(talk to your friends)
Psalm 55:17, KJV Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall
hear my voice.
 Jesus modeled prayer, and He prayed extensively. He taught His followers to pray. Paul
spoke often of his continual prayers. The apostles in Jerusalem “gave themselves to
prayer” (Acts 6:4).
o Try a three-times-daily prayer schedule
 Tape a note on the bathroom mirror to pray first thing in the morning
 Set aside one period of time during the day to pray
 Put a note on your bedside end table to pray last thing at night
 These can be short times; just try be faithful to them.

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PRAISE – PRAISE GOD THROUGHOUT THE DAY
(son Why did you do such a good job, now I am going to punish you for doing such a good job)
Psalm 119:164 Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous laws.
 Consciously, deliberately cultivate the habit of uttering brief exclamations of praise to
God throughout the day.
 This develops a God- and Christ-awareness in us.

TRUST – PUT YOUR TRUST IN GOD

(kid, daddy picks him up)
Matthew 11:28-30 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
[29] Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you
will find rest for your souls. [30] For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
 “Come to [Jesus].” He wants you close to Him. He’s called “the Bridegroom”. That
means He loves you.
 Are you feeling “weary” and “burdened”? That’s the time, not to “zone out,” but to
“come to” Jesus.
 You’ll find gentleness there with Him, not scolding or reproof. He will “give you rest ...
for your soul.”
 So come — and come often, come daily — to Jesus.

Hebrews 4:14-16 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens,
Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. [15] For we do not have a high
priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted
in every way, just as we are — yet was without sin. [16] Let us then approach the throne of grace
with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
 As you come with confidence to Jesus on His throne of grace, remember that He
sympathizes with your weaknesses; He does not despise them (or you!).
 Remember that the Savior you are approaching has “been through” what you are going
through. He was “tempted in every way, just as we are”, yet without sinning.
 In His presence you will find, not condemnation, but “mercy and ... grace”.

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SUBMIT / RESIST – SUBMIT TO GOD AND RESIST THE DEVIL
James 4:7-8a Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. [8]
Come near to God and he will come near to you. 8a, KJV Draw nigh to God, and He will draw
nigh to you.
 “Submit yourselves, then, to God.” This means we basically abandon ourselves to Him
and place ourselves totally in His hands.
 “[You] draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you.”
 God expects us to take some initiative in drawing closer to Him. As we do, He
reciprocates — guaranteed! This means you can always be close to God, if you choose to
draw near to Him.

 Drawing near to God is not like a couple running towards each other on the beach
 Drawing near to God is not like a calling a pet rock to come to you
 If you are a true Christian, then God lives inside of you, in your spirit;
o So how do we draw close to God?
o We start by doing all these things that we have talked about
o And through submission to God we start giving God the layers of the world that
we have allowed to be built up around us
o Imagine this:
 Take a light bulb and start putting onion sections on it until all you can see
is a very faint, if any, glow.
 One by one start peeling back the labels
 The more that gets peeled off the brighter the light
o The things of this world are the things that hide God from us
o As we get involved in stuff of this world that stuff, snuffs out God
 Television, Movies, Hobbies, Work, Ranching, Dating, Bad Habits,
 Friends, Art, and even Church
 We start with one small act of talking to God and asking for forgiveness for allowing this
thing to take time away from your relationship with Him.
 Let’s start that today - Who will join me today by finding a place to pray to start our
journey to being closer to God
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