How to Prepare Your Heart to Know God More
3 Practical Steps New Believers Must Take
how to prepare your heart to know God more: 3 Practical Steps New Believers Must Take
A Brief Testimony
At age 17, I experienced my first intense yearning to know the One who made me. It was a strange, mysterious, and soul-penetrating feeling that I ignored for the next four and a half years of my life.
In 2021, at age 22, I reached the lowest point in my life. Amidst all the chaos, depression, anger, and brokenness, there revisited the silent echo reverberating in the depths of my soul —an invitation from God to come and know Him. Gladfully this time, I didn’t wait four and a half years, but within five months, I was baptized and made new in Christ.
I knew him, but I didn’t.
Praise be to God! After baptism, I was the happiest woman alive. I became immensely excited and determined to drop all my sinful acts and devote myself fully to God. Sadly, within the first two years of being a Christian, I found myself battling to trust and glorify God.
As a relatively new Christian (three years as of this post), I came to understand that the reason I was struggling to trust, submit, and honor God completely was that I didn't really know Him.
Well, I knew a sovereign God existed, and that I now had eternal life because of Christ’s sacrifice, but I didn’t know much about God’s character, what He was about, or whether He truly saw and cared for me.
Preparing my heart to know Him
I was wrestling to love God, but He loves and chose me from the beginning to dwell with Him.
Eventually, I became restless with this shallow and lukewarm relationship I had with my Father. I desperately needed the stumbling block that disconnected me from God to shatter as soon as possible so that I may know Him intimately. So, I went in full pursuit of Him.
My soul ached to bond with my Maker in the most intimate, vulnerable, father-daughter way.
“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13)
As daughters of the King, we need to get ready our hearts to experience God’s beautiful presence.
We need to seek Him to know Him.
If you are a new believer reading this post, there are three simple yet powerful steps you can take to prepare your soul to know God more. And by the way, God is always here right beside us. He’s omnipresence and omniscience. It’s us who draw away from Him (Isaiah 59:2), and not God who draws away from us (Psalm 139:7-10 ). Here are the three (+ 1 bonus) steps we can take to draw closer to our Designer. These same four strategies I employ daily in my Christian life, and the rewards for following them have been tremendous.
How to Prepare Your Heart to Know God More. 3 Practical Steps New Believers Must Take
1. Pray to God
Pray to God that you want to know Him, including His heart, truth, and will for your life. Pray that you desire sweet fellowship with Him. Share with God that you don’t only want to hear about Him at church, on YouTube videos, or read about Him on Pinterest and blogs, but that you sincerely desire to experience Him for yourself.
Share with Him that you want to see the manifestation of His presence in your life and that you need Him to be your LIFE.
God cares about your feelings, thoughts, and desires. Therefore, don’t be afraid to share with Him why it is significant for you to know Him intimately. I often share with God that I’m hungry to know His heart because of (1) to glorify Him even more, and walk in His truth and (2) for my heart’s sake.
The blessings of keeping God at the forefront of our lives are boundless, both earthly and even more so eternal.
God already knows that He is the King, that He is life, and that He is the source of endless abundance. He knows the blessings each of His daughters can experience from an intimate relationship with Him (because, to say again, He is the blesser and life itself). Still, our Lord wants us to come to Him with prayers, praise, and thanksgiving (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). Why so? Because God takes full delight in our submission, obedience, and earnest devotion to Him (Psalm 149:4; 147:11).
2. Read Scriptures
How can you know God more without reading His holy words? What’s the purpose of the scriptures? Is it just to know a bunch of historical stories describing the great and mighty miracles God did for his people? Or is it, the best way I can put it, ‘the breath for life’?
It’s through God’s inerrant and sufficient words we, His children, can recognize, understand, and appreciate His wonderful attributes.
So, are you seriously, deeply, and fervently hungry to Know God more? I implore you to open your bible 3-5 times a week and hear what God has to say about Himself.
Reading scriptures is the best gateway to know the Master you serve.
3. Quit sinning
"You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." (Ephesians 4:22-24)
How can a woman desperately want to know God when she continues to sin against Him?
“Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.'" (Leviticus 19:2)
Another mandatory step you can take to prepare yourself to experience God’s Holy presence is to
stop doing the things you know misalign with His nature and will.
I think you might already know this, but to reiterate;
sinning, no matter how fun, harmless, and exciting it seems doesn’t do us anything good. Rather, sins pull us away from God and compromise our earthly and eternal blessings.
Thank God that our God is a gracious God who took the form of a man, Christ, to die for our sins. I’m humbled to receive God’s grace, and through Christ, I can fellowship with the triune God (1 Corinthians 1:9).
The gospel is wonderful news (the best news on earth!), but, as daughters of the most High, we should never abuse this freedom by indulging in old sinful habits. (Galatians 5:13)
“Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." (Galatians 5:1)
I remembered when I was in habitual sexual sin, and how much I felt like a huge wedge came between me and God. It felt like I lost His presence. But I didn’t actually.
Even during my weakness, God’s presence remains strong.
During this time, I came to realize that it was not God who drifted away from me but I, who drifted away from Him. The guilt and shame that I was feeling were too burdensome so I prayed less, read my bible less, and kept away from God less.
When we sin, the guilt we sense is driven by the Holy Spirit as a gift from God intended to drive us back to His likeness. (True Woman 101 by Nancy Demoss Wolgemuth & Mary a Kassian). This likeness refers to God’s holiness and righteousness.
Therefore, until we address those unrepented sins, we won't be able to truly develop and embrace an intimate fellowship with our God.
4. (Bonus) Embrace Your Heart
Lastly, if we want to know God more, we must position our hearts to receive Him.
When we intentionally cultivate an open and receptive mind and heart, we are placed in the best position to experience God's glory. How comes?
Because having a surrendering and receptive attitude lays bare our souls so that God can fill us up with His wisdom and presence (Psalm 16:11).
When we let go of ego and preconceived ideologies relating to the nature of God, we become more open to receiving new insights and revelations about His wonderful will and character (Proverbs 11:2).
Let’s Wrap up
I want you to begin opening up your heart, praying, reading scriptures, and pursuing holiness in all areas of your life as essential means (preparations) of knowing God more intimately.
Do I have an intimate relationship with God?
I believe I do, and I believe our relationship is growing stronger each time I spend time with Him through prayers, singing, writing, reading scriptures, serving others, and walking in holiness.
A wife can’t know Her husband well by living in separate countries and not spending ample time with each other. Similarly, we won’t know our greater Husband above if we don’t create space to know Him.
If you find value in today’s article, comment below, or email me at questionsqueendefined@gmail.com. Also, share with other women in your circles who would greatly benefit from this blog post.
