Have you or your loved one fallen away from the Lord?
Your spiritual journey with God isn’t always plain sailing. Every person encounters challenges to their faith.
Many believers experience closeness to God until they allow sin into their lives. This is known in the Old Testament as “backsliding”.
The journey of faith ought to be one of increasing closeness towards Christ.
Keep reading to find out how you can help a loved one – or yourself – return to God.
Fallen Away From God
There are many reasons why believers backslide. Sins can take form in a variety of different ways.
Digressions from Christ may not seem significant. It may not be intended or major incidents.
Falling away from God can simply be due to neglect. It could be that you’ve failed to routinely pray, or go to Church for a few weeks.
However, sometimes believers intentionally move away from Christ and engage in Sin. This can lead to terrible things.
But there is always a way back to God’s love.
1. Don’t Forget Prayer
If you’ve moved away from Christ, this may be because you’ve not been praying to God. By returning to prayer, you will find your way back to God.
As God’s children, we all need to have a connection with Him. Prayer is the means by which you can communicate with our Lord.
If you felt distant from a friend, the best way would be to talk together and re-connect. It’s no different with God.
When we pray, we share our innermost feelings and thoughts with our Lord. By praying, we can be reminded of the power of God.
Don’t forget to pray. But also remember that prayer doesn’t have to be a formal affair. Just share with God what’s on your mind.
2. Read the Scriptures
Have you not been reading God’s Word. By reading the scriptures every day you can return to our Lord.
You don’t have to spend hours and hours of the day reading the Bible. But regularly reading for short periods of time can be an important part of returning to God.
As Jesus Christ states, “if you continue My Word, then you are truly disciples of Mine” (John 8:31). You can become one of Jesus’ disciples too by reading God’s Word. This will definitely bring you closer to God.
3. Put Your Faith in God First
All believers live busy lives. It’s easy to get distracted by the day-to-day. But the Bible says, “In everything you do, put God first, and He will direct you and crown your efforts with success” (Proverbs 3:6).
It’s important to put your faith first ahead of other things in your life. Your journey of faith involves you making God’s plan, your plan. God’s Will becomes your will.
By putting god ahead of everything, you’ll notice a strengthening of your faith in God.
4. Start a Blessing Book
It’s easy to forget how a great a role God plays in our lives. God influences everything and is present in everything we do.
By starting a blessing book in which you record your blessings, you’ll learn to appreciate how much God loves you.
You can also use the blessing book to give thanks to God in prayer. After all, as it says in the Bible, “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
Blessing books are also a great way family devotional act to teach your children about Christ.
5. Be Humble with God
Just because God asks that we be humble, doesn’t mean he wants to control everything we do. It is simply out of care and love for His children that he wants us to be open and share ourselves with Him.
If you are having any trouble. Don’t be too proud to share it with God. Through humility, God can help you find the strength to overcome challenges you face.
However, being humble is much easier to say than to do in practice. But you could try reading about the lives of humble people. You can learn from many figures in the Bible that display great humility in front of God.
6. Avoid Cynicism
Have you fallen into a state of cynicism? A cynical view is one that separates us from God. It shows a lack of trust in our faith and negative feelings about others.
To return to God, you need to overcome the urge to be cynical in your life. If someone is making jokes about other people, change the subject. If the TV show that represents a cynical view of the world, change the channel.
By focusing on your own feelings and thoughts, you can transform your attitude from cyclical to positive about your faith. This is another great way to return to God after a relapse of faith.
It’s Time to Return to God
While it’s perfectly normal to have doubts and question your faith. All believers encounter challenges to their faith that they have to overcome.
But there are ways to step back from the edge of the cliff and return to God or help a loved one do the same.
By making small commitments to changing your attitude to faith, you can rediscover your faith in Christ. Don’t allow other distractions in life and sin to turn you away from our Lord.
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