Connecting with God

How To Connect With God, Our Heavenly Father

There is the innate desire in all of us to want to connect with God and with each other. God is even more keen to connect with you than anyone else in this whole wide world. What is the secret sauce to connecting with God, our heavenly Father.

People from various religions try to find God. Take for example, Buddhism. When you walk into a Buddhist temple, you will notice that there are man-made idols of gods. The Buddhists worship these idols. They attempt to reach out to God and to have something that they can touch.

Sadly, these idols created by men have eyes that cannot see, ears that cannot hear and hands that cannot reach out to them. These idols also do not have the power nor the ability to help them or comfort them in their time of need.

Christianity is not a religion but a relationship with God who created us. Just like our earthly father, God wants to reach out to His children to have an intimate relationship with them. You find this in the Bible where God would commune with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.

So why does God want to connect with me?

Why do I want to connect with God?

How will I know when God is reaching out to me?

How do I reach out to Him?

When will He reach out to me?

Where will He reach out to me?

Who will He reach out to?

What will He say to me when He reaches out to me?

These are questions that I will help you discover for yourself as I bring you along on an exciting journey of connecting with God, our heavenly Father.

Why does God want to connect with me?

We love to connect with people and that is the reason social media such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, Facetime, LinkedIn are so popular.   There are some people that even have 1 million friends in Facebook.   Why do we have this insatiable desire to be part of a group even though we hardly know the person?   To say that we have so many friends in Facebook make us feel “wanted”, “accepted”, “recognized” as we have the need to be accepted and validated.

Why would the creator of the universe, the all-powerful God want to connect with us?

Does He know that we have sins in our life?  Even among the circle of our friends, we struggle to connect. How about our feeling so vulnerable, depressed and suicidal?  How about times when we feel angry and frustrated?

Why on earth does God want to connect with us when we sometimes don’t even like ourselves? At least in Facebook or Twitter, we can show our “good side” that we want people to see.  Since God is all knowing, He must know that we are not living a holy life. We have so many struggles with self-worth and imperfections with our body, face, speech, etc. Is He sure that He wants to connect with us? Many of us doubt so and would rather hide ourselves from Him than connect with Him.

So why does He want to connect with us even though He knows that we are imperfect?

The reason is because He created us and He treasures us. Let me give you an illustration. Have you ever seen a child doing his first drawing or building something with Lego for the first time? Even though to the outside world, it may not look much like what he says it is, yet there is the sense of pride that he has created it.

Now try to multiply that feeling of pride and joy a million times and maybe you may be able to fathom a little bit of how God feels when He created you in His own image. As He created you, He was putting good and perfect gifts inside you. He dreamed how you would look like after He has created you. The Bible says that we are God’s masterpiece/handiwork. Even the Mona Lisa or the most beautiful picture cannot compare to your beauty in God’s eyes. You are wonderfully created.

In case you think that God only wants to connect with holy people, remember that God searched out Adam and Eve after they sinned and disobeyed Him. He loved them so much that He even made garments of skin to cover them (He must be the first tailor).

Why do I want to connect with God?

The flip question that you may ask is “Why on earth do I want to connect with God?” How can it be of benefit to me? OR why do I want to do this when I am having difficulties in connecting with my own father whom I can see and touch?

  • God created a vacuum inside you

Do you know that when God created you, He has put inside each one of us a vacuum? Only He can fill the vacuum for us to  feel loved and significant.  Are you  filling this vacuum with career, love, sports, relationship, money, etc.? You will find that all of these can never truly satisfy you.

  • God has a manual on your life

Do you know that as your Creator, He has the manual on how you can excel in this world? Before you were created, He has already planned the good works that He wants you to do.  You can never truly know your destiny until and unless you connect with your Creator.

  • God is your GPS/compass

If you do not learn to connect with Him, you will travel this journey of life without the GPS/compass. You need God as your GPS/compass to  tell you what you should do next, what to do and what not to do. If you don’t learn to connect with Him, you will be like a mouse inside a maze that encounters blockage after blockage and unable to proceed further.  If you don’t ask Him by connecting to Him, you will not fulfill the destiny that He has for you.  You will also live this life without purpose or direction.

  • God creates your passion, desires and character

Do you know that He is the one who puts the passion, desires, and character in you?   You were not just an accident of your parents. God in His love for you knows exactly where you will be born, when you will be born and who you will be born to.

  • Success is nothing without God

For those who have good parents and are ahead in our lives, we can achieve great things without God in our lives. However, all our successes could come to nothing or even destroy us. Think of all the film stars, rock stars, and celebrities that have achieved fame and money. We have read that many ended up destroying their lives with drugs, sex and unworldly living.

  • Connecting with God when we are in trouble

Photo credit: Tom Pumford from Unsplash                                               Connecting with God our heavenly Father when we are in trouble.

Many of us think of only connecting with God or calling His name when we are in trouble. After all, when life is cruising along and we have everything that we need, why do we need to connect with Him? We think that He may want us to give up something that we like to do or ask us to do something that we don’t like to do.  So, most people don’t intentionally connect or communicate with God unless they are in trouble.

Think of it this way. If you are a parent and you have a child who has been estranged from you.  She does not really want to have anything to do with you except when the she is in trouble. However, sometimes even when she is in trouble, she will not seek your help. Because there has been no relationship with you thus far, she might hide her problems from you instead of moving towards you to ask for help or advice.  If you have such a child, I am sure that you will feel so sad that your child behaves in this way.

How much more will God feel sad when you treat Him the same way?  God is not angry with you. He is not upset with you. He is not going to judge you or condemn you. He wants to know you and hang out with you.  If you want to begin this exciting journey of connecting with Him, the first step that you can take is to say this simple prayer:

Dear heavenly Father,

I want to know you not just in my head but I desire to experience you intimately. I really want to connect with You. I am going to quiet myself and let you fill my thoughts with your thoughts about me as I ask you this question, “Heavenly Father, why do you want to connect with me?”

You will be surprised at what He says to you!!!!

 

We pray that you have enjoyed reading “Connecting with God, our heavenly Father” Part 1. Hey, follow me, I want to help you answer questions you may have.  Questions such as How will I know when God is reaching out to me? How do I reach out to Him? And many more…..

 

This article is written by Rinda Ho, who is writing her first book. She will share snippets on how you can connect with God in your journey through this website. She will also share songs that the Holy Spirit has downloaded to her so that you can encourage someone through these songs. Rinda has used God’s gift to serve as keynote speaker, held Christian seminars and taught group leaders and small groups in various churches, educating Christians how to hear God’s voice. She delights in mentoring Christians and see “ordinary” Christians fulfill their destiny, when the heavenly Father reveals to them the good works that He has prepared in advance for them to do.