How to Establish a Proper Relationship With God (I)

Bible Verses for Reference:

“For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the middle of them” (Matthew 18:20).

“If you continue in My word, then are you My disciples indeed” (John 8:31).

Relevant Words of God:

People believe in God, love God, and satisfy God by touching the Spirit of God with their heart, thereby obtaining His satisfaction; when engaging with God’s words with their heart, they are therefore moved by the Spirit of God. If you wish to achieve a proper spiritual life and establish a proper relationship with God, you must first give your heart to Him, and quiet your heart before Him. Only after you have poured your whole heart into God can you gradually develop a proper spiritual life. If people do not give their heart to God in their belief in Him, if their heart is not in Him and they do not treat His burden as their own, then everything they do is cheating God, and it is all the behavior of religious people—this cannot receive God’s praise. God cannot get anything from this kind of person; this kind of person can only serve as a foil to God’s work, like a decoration in the house of God, taking up space, and is a good-for-nothing—God does not use this kind of person. …

…………

… When one does not give his heart to God, his spirit becomes obtuse, it becomes numb and unconscious. This kind of person will never understand God’s words and will never have a proper relationship with God; this kind of person will never change their disposition. Changing one’s disposition is the process of one giving his heart completely to God, and of receiving enlightenment and illumination from the words of God. God’s work can allow one to actively enter in, as well as enable him to get rid of his negative aspects after gaining knowledge. When you are able to give your heart to God, you will be able to perceive every subtle moving within your spirit, and you will know every enlightenment and illumination received from God. Hold onto this, and you will gradually enter into the path of being perfected by the Holy Spirit. The quieter your heart can be before God, the more sensitive and delicate your spirit will be, and the more your spirit will be able to perceive the moving of the Holy Spirit, and then your relationship with God will become more and more proper.

from “Establishing a Proper Relationship With God Is Very Important” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

No step is more crucial to entering God’s words than quieting your heart in His presence. It is a lesson that all people are in urgent need of entering at present. The paths of entry into quieting your heart before God are as follows:

1. Withdraw your heart from external matters. Be at peace before God, and give your undivided attention to praying to God.

2. With your heart at peace before God, eat, drink, and enjoy God’s words.

3. Meditate on and contemplate God’s love and ponder God’s work in your heart.

First, begin from the aspect of prayer. Pray with undivided attention and at fixed times. No matter how pressed you are for time, how busy your work, or what befalls you, pray every day as normal, and eat and drink God’s words as normal. As long as you eat and drink God’s words, no matter what your surroundings are, you will have great enjoyment in your spirit, and you will be undisturbed by the people, events, or things around you. When you normally contemplate God in your heart, what goes on outside cannot bother you. This is what it means to possess stature. Begin with prayer: Praying quietly before God is most fruitful. After that, eat and drink the words of God, seek out the light in God’s words by pondering them, find the path to practice, know God’s purpose in speaking His words, and understand them without deviation. Ordinarily, it should be normal for you to be able to draw close to God in your heart, to contemplate God’s love and to ponder the words of God, without being disturbed by external things. When your heart has achieved a certain degree of peace, you will be able to muse silently and, within yourself, to contemplate God’s love and truly draw near to Him, regardless of your surroundings, until finally you reach the point where praise wells up in your heart, and it is even better than prayer. Then you will be possessed of a certain stature. If you are able to achieve the states of being described above, it will be proof that your heart is truly at peace before God. This is the first basic lesson. Only after people are able to be at peace before God can they be touched by the Holy Spirit, and enlightened and illuminated by the Holy Spirit, and only then are they able to have true communion with God, as well as to grasp God’s will and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. They will then have entered onto the right track in their spiritual lives.

from “On Quieting Your Heart Before God” in The Word Appears in the Flesh

Relevant Fellowship:

When establishing a proper relationship with God, where should we start? The most important thing is to speak from the heart when praying to God. For example, you say in prayer, “O God, I see that many of my brothers and sisters are able to dedicate their entire selves to expend themselves for You, but my stature is too small. I’m taking my livelihood and my future into consideration, as well as whether I’ll be able to endure physical hardship. I can’t let go of those things. I really am in Your debt. How could they have such stature? Our family backgrounds are the same, but they are able to expend themselves for You full time—why can’t I? I lack so much of the truth. I’m always thinking of fleshly concerns; my faith is so paltry. O God, may You enlighten and illuminate me, allowing me to have genuine faith in You and fully expend myself for You very soon.” This is speaking from the heart. If you have this kind of heart-to-heart communication with God every day, He will see that you’re sincere, that you’re not just going through the motions with Him, sweet-talking Him, or just paying lip service to Him. Then the Holy Spirit will do His work. This is the beginning of establishing a proper relationship with God. We are created beings, and He is the Creator. What should we created beings possess in the presence of our Creator? True obedience, acceptance, faith and worship. We must give our hearts to God completely; we must allow Him to lead, rule and plan. By praying and seeking in this way, our relationship with God will become proper.

from “Sermons and Fellowship About God’s Word ‘Establishing a Proper Relationship With God Is Very Important’ (I)” in Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life XIV