Four Ideas for Reconnecting with God

by Andy Wood on September 17, 2012

in Ability, Five LV Laws, Life Currency, Principle of Freedom, Since You Asked

Q – I am really backsliding in my relationship with God and I’m not really worshipping like I used to. What should I do? Please help.

There is more to life than trusting Christ as your Savior and waiting to die so you can show up in heaven.  He has designed a journey of growth, love, and intimacy that allows you to make choices today that will serve you in this life (the future) and the next (your eternal home in heaven).  It’s also possible, however, that you can waste your life and its opportunities for intimacy with the Lord.  That’s the basis of this question.

Every believer deals with this issue – what to do when we find ourselves drifting away from that connection with the Lord.  If somebody gave merit badges or degrees in this, I’d be at the front of the line!  Here are some things I have found to be helpful in reconnecting my life with God, reordering my priorities, and renewing my spiritual life.

1.  Identify the things that are standing between you and Him.

If you’re going south in your relationship with God, something is standing in the way.  Maybe more than one “something.”  The prophet Isaiah addressed some people who had lost touch with God, and he was pretty in-your-face with it:

Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save,
nor his ear too dull to hear.
But your iniquities have separated
you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,
so that he will not hear. (Isa 59:1-2 NIV)

“Iniquities” means your inward bent toward doing your own thing.  I have found that whenever I am far from God, it’s usually the same suspects that are standing in the way – habits, thoughts, actions, or things I neglect.  Those are my iniquities.  Yours may be the same things, or they may be different.

Once you’ve identified them, admit them to the Lord.  The Bible word for that is “confession.”  Scripture promises that “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

2.  Take action, with or without feelings.

We live in a feelings-driven culture and sometimes that makes us stupid. Or at least vulnerable to stupid choices.  That’s totally true in our relationship with Christ.  But it goes even deeper.  Once we do feel distant from Christ, many people wait around for a feeling to bring them back to Christ.  That’s like the sun waiting on an alarm clock to go off before it chooses to rise.

If in your words you’re “not really worshipping like I used to,” here’s a thought.  Worship anyway.  Do the things you know to do, with or without the feelings.

Now, let’s be honest.  Getting that started is like pushing a boulder up a hill.  Frankly, it’s near-impossible to do in your own strength.  So ask God for help – not to feel something, but to do something.  God says to His people in Psalm 50:15, “Call upon me in the day of trouble;

I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”  There is no greater trouble than being powerless to do the right thing.

3.  Fill your life with things or people who encourage your walk with God.

Fools and the wise are known by their companions (see Proverbs 13:20).  That’s certainly true of people, but it’s also true of things like what you read, the music you listen to, or your entertainment choices.  Find people and environments that encourage you to move closer to the Lord.  That may require you to say no – at least for a season – to things or people who hinder your intimacy with Christ.

Sometimes the most important person to spend time with is yourself.  By that I mean, get a-l-o-n-e!  You need time to yourself to pray, reconnect with God, listen for His voice, and sort your life out some.  You won’t tend to get that when you’re constantly bombarded with people, room noise, or media.

If you’re a music listener, keep a playlist of those songs that inspire, motivate, or seem to draw you back to God.  Music is a powerful force and has significant spiritual properties that I think we’ve only scratched the surface of understanding.

4.  When you don’t have any faithfulness of your own, hold on to His.

Just because you aren’t very faithful doesn’t mean He isn’t.  Paul said that “if we are faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot disown himself” (2 Timothy 2:13).

God is faithful to love you, even when you don’t deserve it (as if we ever do).  He is faithful to heal you, even when you feel broken into a million pieces.  God is faithful to forgive you, even when you have failed Him greatly.  He is faithful to strengthen you, especially when you have no strength of your own.  The Lord is faithful to keep His commitments to you – but He’s also faithful to keep your commitments to Him!

Here’s the beauty of reconnecting with God.  If I’m headed from Chicago to New York, but make a wrong turn and head toward Los Angeles instead, then to make things right, I have to backtrack to Chicago again and start over.

Spiritual reconnection doesn’t work like that.  If I make a wrong turn away from the Lord, no matter how far I roam, when I turn back toward  Him, He is immediately there.  I don’t have to start over – I just have to start toward Him and stay moving toward Him.  That is how faithful and powerful He is.

However far away you may feel, and however that may have changed your daily choices and lifestyle, you have a Heavenly Father who still knows how to run to you when you come home. All it takes is a willingness to remember those former days when things were spiritually strong, turn your heart and action back to that, and do again what you once did.  He takes care of the rest.

He takes care of you.

And you can trust Him to be faithful to that – even when you can’t trust yourself.

Martha Orlando September 17, 2012 at 2:42 pm

Yes! God is ever present and always faithful. And, you are so right on here – worshiping and trusting is not a “feeling”. We may not feel God’s presence every time we pray or praise, but we need to have faith that He is walking with us.
Blessings, Andy!
Martha Orlando´s last blog post .."Let us Pray, Let us Pray, Everywhere and Every Way . . ."

Dominique Felder November 3, 2013 at 1:21 am

I would like to Thank you for posting this. You showed me a deep level of His Love!!!

Blessing Ajayi March 4, 2014 at 3:37 am

Thank you so much for this

Tina Marie March 19, 2014 at 1:52 am

Thank you so much for this post! May it help many people get back to the Lord (myself included) and may God bless you greatly!

Loatile manyedi August 13, 2014 at 3:18 pm

This Post is gonna change my life, thank very much for reminding us how loving n caring our father is and how we should keep believing in him, worshiping him with pride and confidence

Joseph Moore August 19, 2014 at 7:45 pm

I really appreciate your post, such powerful words, that really helped me and strengthen me,

Nomfs July 14, 2015 at 1:34 am

Thank you so much. Reading this has helped me abundantly. The knowledge you have shared has empowered me. God bless you.

Ellis August 24, 2015 at 11:29 am

“Fill your life with things or people who encourage your walk with God” and “Take action, with or without feelings”. Thanks a lot

JonInCa October 15, 2015 at 10:54 am

Thank you for writing this article. I’ve been heading in the wrong direction for 20 years or more. Divorce and a string of broken relationships has lead to me look inward and realize I am not the man God intended me to be. I’m lost. Your words bring tears to my eyes… He never leaves me – all I need to do is turn around and He is standing there – just waiting for me to take a step towards Him.

fatso November 4, 2015 at 9:48 pm

I am broken. I am along time follower. I don’t know why God allowed this things to happen. I know I shouldn’t ask him why. I am not worthy to question His will for me. I am a sinner and doesn’t deserve of His love. But He is the only one I know I can turn to and say my feelings. I don’t feel His love for me now.

Judy January 13, 2016 at 7:15 am

Quite encouraging…thank you

Whoa February 18, 2016 at 4:55 am

Truly a blessing, Thank You.

Jonathan April 4, 2016 at 7:25 pm

Thank you for the inspiration, I can now return to a more spiritual way of life.

Angel Livingston April 23, 2016 at 9:06 pm

you are absolutely Amaizing and although i dont know u thank God For your deliverance i so needed this Lord knows i did so thank you from the depths of my heart

Angel Livingston April 23, 2016 at 9:10 pm

im no longer stuck in my somber and regret i Was really beginning to Doubt his love for me,I pray for your Greater in him and His Kingdom
#lovecastoutallthings

Ntombi May 19, 2016 at 5:20 pm

Thank you for reminding me of God’s love, just what I needed! God bless you

Eunice Olayinka Modede June 4, 2016 at 6:02 pm

i enjoy yr preaching, yr anointing wl not run down, i understad yr message without carry dictionary, it inspire me, u wl nt fail out of the knowledge of God

Ganar dinero con un blog July 5, 2016 at 8:51 am

With havin so much written content do you ever run into any issues of plagorism or copyright infringement?
My site has a lot of completely unique content I’ve either created myself or outsourced but
it looks like a lot of it is popping it up all over the web without my
authorization. Do you know any techniques to help reduce content from being stolen? I’d truly appreciate it.
Ganar dinero con un blog´s last blog post ..Ganar dinero con un blog

Chantel October 15, 2016 at 1:39 pm

Thank you for this word

Gloria January 9, 2017 at 8:59 am

I basically knew what I had to do but I guess I had to read it to make me realize that I was getting off track and reading your answer only made me realize that God is the one and only who has been with me through my struggles I have had too many distractions recently that are robbing me of my time with God thank you and also thanks to God for loving me.

Trisha Vegter June 21, 2018 at 10:03 am

Hi you have a user friendly site It was very easy to post all the best

MyrtleJuicy June 23, 2018 at 6:32 am

I often visit your website and have noticed that
you don’t update it often. More frequent updates
will give your site higher authority & rank in google.
I know that writing content takes a lot of time, but you can always help yourself with miftolo’s tools which will
shorten the time of creating an article to a couple of seconds.
MyrtleJuicy´s last blog post ..MyrtleJuicy

BestLucie August 18, 2018 at 7:23 pm

I have noticed you don’t monetize your website, don’t waste your traffic,
you can earn additional cash every month. You can use the best adsense alternative
for any type of website (they approve all websites), for more info simply search in gooogle:
boorfe’s tips monetize your website
BestLucie´s last blog post ..BestLucie

sweetwilliam bongane khoza April 6, 2020 at 9:55 am

I was at the point of throw down the towel and I was about to kill myself but your message reached me in time, may God bless you, you saved my life today

Mimie Marcia December 29, 2020 at 8:45 am

Thank you

Comments on this entry are closed.

{ 2 trackbacks }

Previous post:

Next post: