The Life-Giving Power of Abiding in Christ

There's a profound promise woven throughout Scripture that often gets overlooked in our busy, achievement-oriented lives: when we seek God with our whole heart, we will find Him. Not maybe. Not possibly. We will find Him.

This isn't a promise designed to motivate us during our lowest moments, though it certainly does that. It's an invitation into the very heartbeat of Christian faith—that God Himself is our greatest prize. Everything else we experience in our spiritual journey—provision, healing, protection, peace—these are beautiful byproducts of the main event: we get Him.

The Vine and the Branches

In John 15, Jesus paints a vivid picture of what it means to live a fruitful spiritual life. He describes Himself as the true vine and His followers as branches. The imagery is simple yet profound: a branch cannot produce fruit by itself. It must remain connected to the vine, drawing all its nourishment, strength, and life-giving power from that source.
Jesus doesn't mince words about our dependency: "Apart from me you can do nothing."

Nothing.

Not "less than you could with me." Not "it will just be harder." Nothing.
This is a hard truth to swallow in a culture that celebrates self-sufficiency and bootstrapping our way to success. Yet it's also incredibly liberating. The pressure to produce spiritual fruit through our own striving evaporates when we understand that fruit is the natural result of connection, not the price we pay for it.

The Trap of Earning What's Already Given

Here's where many of us get tripped up: we unconsciously believe we need to produce fruit to earn our connection to God, when actually we need connection to God to produce fruit.

We think if we can just be righteous enough, loving enough, peaceful enough, joyful enough, then God will accept us into His presence. But Jesus presents something radically different. He says the righteousness, love, peace, and joy we're striving for only come when we're connected to Him. The connection isn't the reward for producing fruit—it's the source of the fruit itself.

This is the scandal of grace that the early church wrestled with and that we still wrestle with today: you were given this for free, so why are you trying to earn it again?
What Does Abiding Actually Mean?

The word "abide" appears repeatedly in John 15, and it literally means to remain and to return. It's the practice of purposefully making sure our lives are drawing nourishment from the right source and doing whatever we need to do to stay connected to Jesus.

We're invited to abide in several things:

His Love - God is love, and when we abide in His love, we abide in God and He abides in us.

His Truth - Holding onto the gospel message we first heard keeps us connected to the Father and the Son.

His Spirit - The Holy Spirit living in us is evidence that God abides in us.

His Word - When Scripture takes root in us and shapes our thinking, we remain connected to Christ.

Obedience - Following His commands isn't legalistic rule-following; it's the practice that keeps us connected to His life.

But here's the sobering reality: we can also abide in other things. We can abide in sin, darkness, death, offense, trauma, or bitterness. Whatever we regularly consume, we remain connected to. Whatever we feast upon becomes our home.

The Power of Attention and Consumption

Think about it this way: when you come to Scripture, you're sitting down at a banquet table loaded with life, fruit, His character, and His nature. As you read, you consume. You take the Word and put it inside you. You stay connected to His Word when you consume His Word.
But if you're constantly replaying the wrong committed against you, you're consuming offense. If you're feeding on highly sexualized material, you're consuming lust. If you're ruminating on anxiety-producing scenarios, you're consuming fear.

We stay connected to what we regularly consume.

This is why the practice of returning is so crucial. Everyone drifts. We get distracted, take a wrong exit, and suddenly realize we're far from where we intended to be. Abiding doesn't require perfection—it requires that we notice the drift and come back. Again and again and again.

Practical Steps for Daily Abiding

So what does this look like in everyday life? Here's a simple framework: morning, noon, and night.

Morning - Begin with worship and His Word. Put your attention on how great He is. Consume Scripture. Let it shape your thinking before the day's demands rush in.

Noon - Set an alarm as a checkpoint. When it goes off, pause and make sure your heart is locked in on Christ. Are you still connected, or have you drifted into anxiety, frustration, or distraction?

Night - Take time to acknowledge the work of the Lord in your life. Practice thanksgiving. Gratitude increases our awareness of Him and tunes our hearts back to His frequency.

Include worship, His Word, affection for Him, and thanksgiving. These aren't religious duties to check off—they're lifelines that keep us connected to the source of life.

When Darkness Tries to Define Us

Perhaps the most powerful application of abiding comes when we face pain and trauma. In those moments, we have a choice: we can abide in the trauma, letting it play on repeat and define our reality, or we can attach our trauma to the vine and let Him define what it means.
This isn't easy. When you're in darkness, you can't always see the vine. That's why we need community—people who can grab us by the hand and remind us of what God has said about us, the testimonies of His faithfulness, the encounters we've had with Him.

As we walk the path of remembering God's acts, ways, and interventions in our lives, we find our way back to connection with the vine. And it's in that connection that healing happens—not while we're stuck abiding in darkness.

The Promise of Full Joy

Jesus wraps up His teaching on abiding with this beautiful promise: "These things I have spoken to you so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be made full."
Full joy. Not just experiencing joy, but becoming His joy. That we would delight Him as we remain connected to Him.

This is the invitation: not to strive harder, produce more, or earn your way into God's presence, but simply to remain. To stay connected. To return when you drift. To feast on Him rather than on the things that produce death and darkness.

The Christian life flows entirely from this connection. And the beautiful truth is that He's made Himself available. The way has been opened. The invitation stands.

Will you abide?

Living With Wholehearted Devotion

There's a profound invitation woven throughout Scripture that challenges our understanding of what it means to truly pursue God. In Jeremiah 29:13, we find this promise: "You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all of your heart." But what does it actually mean to seek God with our whole heart?

The Heart God Gives Us

Before we dive into the pursuit, we need to understand something foundational: the desire for God isn't something we manufacture on our own. Jeremiah 24:7 reveals this beautiful truth: "I will give them a heart to know me, for I am the Lord, and they will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with their whole heart."

This changes everything. God doesn't sit in heaven waiting for us to work up enough spiritual intensity to impress Him. Instead, He gives us the very heart that desires Him. If we could create this desire ourselves, there would have been no need for the cross, no need for Jesus, no need for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

The condition of our heart—that deep longing for God—comes from God Himself. He placed that desire within us because He wants to fulfill it. He didn't give us a heart with a desire for something He never planned to satisfy. He gave us a heart to know Him because knowing Him is exactly what He wants for us.

This means seeking God with our whole heart isn't about performing or proving ourselves. It's about surrendering what stands in the way of the heart He's already given us. It's laying down the things that don't match the desire for God that He's placed inside us.

The Power of Singular Focus

Jesus taught that "the eye is the lamp of the body. So then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light" (Matthew 6:22). That word "clear" means focused and sincere. When our eye is focused, His light fills our entire being.
There's something about clear focus that invites heaven into our lives. Jesus demonstrated this throughout His ministry. He set His face like flint toward the cross. It was for the joy set before Him—the joy of restoring us, washing us clean, pouring out His Spirit—that He endured the suffering.

Jesus lived with remarkable focus. He said, "I only do what I see my Father doing" and "I only say what I hear my Father saying." His one desire—to please the Father—set the priority for every other need and desire in His life.

A wholehearted pursuit means allowing the Lord to become not just one of many priorities, but the priority that all other priorities are set by. It's pushing against the idea of making God "a big part" of our life. Making Him a big part still means He's just a part. Wholehearted pursuit says, "You're the one thing I want. Any desire that doesn't line up with my desire for You gets surrendered."

The psalmist captured this beautifully: "One thing I ask, one thing I seek—that I may behold the beauty of the Lord." This is singular focus. This is wholehearted devotion.

Erasing the Sacred-Secular Divide

One of the most transformative shifts we can make is learning to erase the divide between what we consider sacred and secular. Seeking God with our whole heart means every part of our life gets turned toward Him in pursuit—not just the "religious" activities.

What we eat, what we drink, what we encourage, what we confront, what we love, when we help, when we serve—every moment, even the mundane ones, becomes an act of pursuit when we bring it to the Lord with a heart to bless Him.

Colossians 3:23 instructs us: "Whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not to men." Brother Lawrence, who wrote Practicing the Presence of God, said it this way: "The time of business does not differ from the time of prayer." He approached washing dishes and mopping floors as offerings to the Lord.

The call isn't to figure out some great destiny or world-changing mission. It's to do ordinary life as an offering to Him. Changing the world looks like letting Him show up in the way we treat each other. It's having space to say hello to a neighbor. It's stewarding our homes with thanksgiving. It's doing laundry with gratitude for the clothes we have to wash and the people who wear them.

When mundane tasks become opportunities for thanksgiving, they transform into acts of worship.

The Path of Quick Obedience

Obedience is inseparable from wholehearted pursuit. Jesus said, "Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me, and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him" (John 14:21).

Jesus draws a direct line: if you love Me, you'll obey My commands. When you obey, I know you love Me. When you obey, I love you. When you obey, I show Myself to you.
Desire for God finds its feet in obedience to Him. If we say we want Him yet aren't able to obey Him, there's a disconnect. Part of our pursuit becomes a willingness to obey quickly when the Lord speaks—to call and encourage someone, to be generous, to pray for someone, to surrender sin.

Often, spiritual stagnancy can be traced back to a place where we stopped obeying. It's usually not until we go back and make that right that we rediscover His voice.

Five Questions for Daily Pursuit

To engage with wholehearted pursuit in every area of life, consider these five questions:

1. How can I honor God in this moment? Whether driving in traffic, having a disagreement, or making a decision—pause and ask how to honor Him right now.

2. What does love look like here? Since God is love (1 John 4:8), pursuing Him means living out His character. In every situation, ask what love would do.

3. What would trust in God look like in this area? Proverbs 3:5-6 calls us to trust in the Lord with all our heart. Sometimes we don't realize how much distrust exists until we ask what trust would actually look like.

4. What does faithfulness look like in this area? "He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much" (Luke 16:10). Faithfulness in small things is part of our pursuit, especially in seasons of waiting.

5. What is God already doing here that I can partner with? Jesus said, "My Father is working until now, so I myself am working" (John 5:17). We don't start from scratch. God is already at work. Our job is to discover what He's doing and step into alignment with it.

An Offering of Everything

Imagine standing before the Lord one day and being able to say, "It was all done unto You. You were the inspiration behind all of it. You were the grace that empowered all of it. You were the priority that set the course for all of it."

That's the invitation—to live a life where every area overflows with faithfulness and trust, where our actions align with our desire for God, where everything becomes an offering to Him.

The way we talk to each other, the way we encourage one another, the way we interact with a server at a restaurant—what would happen if every part of our life became an offering to the Lord?

This is wholehearted pursuit. Not intensity of emotion, but totality of surrender. Not religious performance, but responsive obedience. Not compartmentalized spirituality, but integrated devotion that touches every corner of our existence.

God has given you a heart to know Him. That desire within you? He put it there. And He's ready to fulfill it completely.

When Pursuit Meets Promise: Discovering God in a Year of Answered Prayer

There's something powerful that happens when we stop singing about God and start singing to Him. When our hearts align with the truth of who He is—His holiness, His goodness, His worthiness—the noise of this world begins to fade, and we become acutely aware of His presence.

This isn't about religious performance or checking boxes on a spiritual to-do list. It's about encountering the living God who adores us, who pursues us, who meets us exactly where we are.

The Invitation to Pursue

Jeremiah 29 contains one of the most quoted verses in Scripture: "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for good and not evil, to prosper you and not harm you." But what comes next is equally—if not more—powerful:
"Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you. You will seek me and you will find me when you search for me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord."

Read that again slowly. Notice how God repeats Himself—four different ways in just a few verses:

• You'll pray and I'll listen
• You'll seek me and find me
• I will be found by you

When God emphasizes something this strongly, we should pay attention. This isn't empty promise or wishful thinking. This is the declaration of a faithful God who fulfills His word.

Beyond Maintenance Mode

Sometimes we approach our relationship with God like we've arrived at a destination. We found Him, He redeemed us, we're saved—mission accomplished. We maintain a little bit of connection and call it good.

But imagine driving to a beautiful hiking destination, pulling into the parking lot, and never getting out of the car. Technically, you went there. But did you really experience it? Did you see the waterfalls, feel the mist on your face, hear the rush of water over ancient rocks?
God isn't inviting us to sit in the parking lot of salvation. He's inviting us to explore the infinite depths of who He is. Even an eternity won't be enough time to fully know Him—and that's the beauty of it.

The Heart Posture of Pursuit

Pursuit of God isn't primarily about performance; it's about relationship. It's not about how many chapters we read or how long we pray. It's about how much of ourselves we let Him see, how much access we give Him to our hearts.

Look at David in the Psalms. He comes before God as an absolute mess, laying everything bare—his anger, his enemies, his fears, his doubts. Yet he was called "a man after God's own heart." Not because he accomplished the most tasks, but because he didn't hide anything from God.

The Lord isn't looking for the one who prays the most. He's looking for the one who prays the most openly.

Our success is found in how deeply we are known and how deeply we know Him.

He's Good and He Wants to Be Found

Here's a core belief that transforms everything: God is good, and He wants to be found by us.

He's not far off, indifferent, or playing games. He's not waiting for us to pray loud enough or passionately enough to grab His attention. He doesn't give false hope or make empty promises.

When David wrote, "You said, 'Seek my face.' Your face, Lord, I will seek," he understood something profound: God doesn't invite us into things He doesn't plan to fulfill.
God is right there. He's waiting. He's waiting for the slightest turn of our hearts toward Him. When we start to make Him priority, when we set aside time, when we lean in and listen—
He's right there.

Made for More

We were created for God. Augustine said it perfectly: "Our heart is restless until it finds rest in God."

As the deer pants for water, so our souls long for Him. We thirst for the living God. We hunger and thirst for righteousness. This isn't religious language—it's the description of how we're designed.

God didn't create us because He was lonely or bored. He was perfectly fulfilled before any of us existed. He created us so He could share Himself with us.

Think about that. You were made so that God could fulfill you, satisfy you, complete you. You were made to be satisfied by feasting on His presence.

There Is More

When we read Scripture and see how God interacted with His people—Moses meeting Him in a burning bush, Joshua falling in love with His presence, Moses talking with God face to face as a friend—we should come away convinced: there is more of Him than we've experienced.

And here's the stunning reality: the old covenant that Moses lived under carries less glory than the new covenant we live under through Jesus. If Moses' face shone with the glory of God, how much more should we expect to encounter His presence?

The Question That Changes Everything

What would change about your pursuit if you were convinced God was going to meet you there?

If you truly believed that when you seek Him, you will find Him—how would that shift your priorities? Would you slow down a little more? Carve out more time? Approach Him with greater expectation?

This isn't about running after God out of obligation or trying to maintain the appearance of being a "good Christian." This is about running toward the fulfillment of what He's promised. When we find Him, we can't help but want to seek Him more. The discovery becomes the fuel.

A Year of Answered Prayer

Some of us have been praying for things for years. Family members we're believing will encounter Jesus. Areas of life that need healing. Needs that have persisted far longer than we expected.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick—that's Scripture too. There's validity to feeling disappointed, even offended by God when prayers seem unanswered.

But where do you go when you're sick? To the Great Physician.

God can handle your anger. He can handle your disappointment. He can handle your honest questions and accusations. Don't leave at that sentence. Let Him tend to your wounds, hold you, heal you, and keep walking with you.

The Invitation

This is the invitation: to position ourselves in pursuit, not because of what we're not experiencing, but because of the promise of what God has declared over us.
He will listen. We will find Him. He will be found by us.

Today is a new day. There's no list of wrongs hanging over you. You can boldly approach the throne of grace and meet with the living God who adores you, who looks at you and smiles.

Come with your mess. Come with your questions. Come with your hope and your disappointment. Come just as you are.

He's waiting to meet you there.

How to Hear God's Voice

In a world drowning in information, tragedy, and constant upheaval, there's a profound invitation available to each of us: to slow down and listen for the voice of God. Not the voice of our anxiety, not the voice of our political stance, not even the voice of our religious activity—but the actual, living voice of our Father.

The Boy Who Didn't Recognize God's Voice

The story of young Samuel in 1 Samuel 3 offers profound hope for anyone struggling to hear God clearly. Here was a boy serving in the temple, doing all the religious activities, ministering before God—and yet he didn't know the Lord's voice.
Four times God called Samuel's name. Four times Samuel ran to Eli the priest, thinking the old man had summoned him. And here's the remarkable part: God never got frustrated. He didn't say, "Two strikes and you're out." He didn't move on to someone more spiritually attuned. He simply kept calling.

This reveals something beautiful about God's character: He's patient with our learning curve. He understands that recognizing His voice is a process. When we miss what He's saying, He doesn't withdraw in disappointment. He speaks again.
The story also reveals our need for spiritual parents—people who have walked with God longer than we have, who can come alongside us and say, "That thing you're experiencing? That's actually God. Go back and make yourself available to Him."

What Does God's Voice Sound Like?

God's voice sounds like Jesus. This is our anchor point. Jesus is the perfect representation of the Father, our window into what God is truly like. If we hear something that contradicts what Jesus said or wouldn't sound like something Jesus would say, we should question it.
God's voice typically produces peace rather than confusion. Even in conviction—when He's exposing something in our lives that needs to change—there's a peace that comes because His conviction is always an invitation to healing and transformation. His voice draws us closer to Him and to His people. It never isolates, dominates, or shames.

The Many Ways God Speaks

Scripture remains the primary and governing voice of God. If we want to grow in hearing His voice, we must become intimately familiar with His Word. God will never violate Scripture, though He may violate our understanding of it to reveal Himself more fully. Many of us have experienced moments when a verse seems to jump off the page, when we grab our highlighter because something in that passage is alive for us in that moment. That's God speaking.

The still, small voice is perhaps the most common way God speaks, yet it's also the easiest to miss. Like Elijah discovered, God wasn't in the earthquake or the mighty wind, but in the gentle whisper. These are the passing thoughts that land while we're praying—ideas we didn't have before we started seeking Him. We often want burning bushes and booming voices when God is whispering wisdom in our quiet moments.

The inner knowing—that settled clarity, that conviction that rises up when we're in a situation we shouldn't be in, or when we walk into a space and sense God's presence. The early church fathers taught believers to track what draws them toward God and what draws them away. This awareness is itself a form of hearing.

Visions and dreams are biblical ways God speaks, though not everyone experiences them regularly. God sometimes bypasses our ego and striving by speaking in the night. Not every vivid dream is prophetic, but God does use this avenue. The interpretation always belongs to Him—we should be wary of formulas that claim to decode every symbol and color.
God speaks through people—through prophetic words, encouragement, and even correction. These should always be tested against Scripture, subjected to discernment, and evaluated by their fruit.

The Trap of Comparison

One of the greatest hindrances to hearing God is comparing how He speaks to us with how He speaks to others. When we fixate on wanting the dramatic testimony someone else had, we miss the quiet gift He's offering us right now.
God's goal isn't that we master a formula for hearing Him. His goal is that we remain dependent on His voice. As soon as we think we've figured Him out, He does something new—not to confuse us, but to keep us connected to Him rather than to a method.

It's Not About Trying Harder

The key to hearing God isn't trying harder. It's slowing down. It's paying attention. It's staying anchored in Scripture. It's practicing the simple prayer: "Speak, Lord. Your servant is listening."

Jesus wasn't in a hurry. He moved at a pace that allowed Him to stay connected to the Father's voice. He demonstrated what it looks like to be completely dependent on hearing from Heaven, and the result was that Heaven invaded earth—chains broke, bodies healed, lives transformed, reconciliation happened.

Pressure is the opposite of slowing down. Anxiety is the opposite of awareness. When we become scared that we're not hearing God because something is wrong with us, anxiety increases and we find it even harder to hear Him.

But here's the truth: God's desire to speak to us is greater than our desire to find Him. He promised that when we seek Him, we will find Him. He's not concerned or in a rush. He'll keep speaking until we find Him.

Our job? Keep listening. Keep coming back to Scripture. Keep surrounding ourselves with people who hear His voice. Keep making ourselves available.

And watch what happens when God's people become connected to the voice of their Father.

Finding God in Scripture

There's a sobering moment in the Gospel of John where Jesus confronts the religious experts of His day—the Pharisees. These were men who had dedicated their entire lives to studying Scripture. They had memorized vast portions of the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms. They could quote passages with precision and debate theological nuances for hours. Yet Jesus tells them something shocking: "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; but it is these that testify about Me, and yet you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life" (John 5:39-40).

How is it possible to know Scripture inside and out, yet completely miss the God it reveals?
This question should give us all pause. It reveals a startling truth: it's entirely possible to study the Bible and not move closer to God. We can read it, memorize it, even teach it, and yet grow cold in our hearts toward the very One who inspired it. The Pharisees prove this. When the Messiah they had been waiting for stood right in front of them, they didn't recognize Him. Their approach to Scripture had somehow distanced them from recognizing God rather than drawing them near.

Scripture as Encounter, Not Just Information

The Bible isn't meant to be merely an information download. It's not a textbook we master for a spiritual exam. Scripture is designed to be a doorway—a threshold we cross to encounter the living God. It's the difference between knowing about someone and actually knowing them.

Consider the beautiful promise in Jeremiah 29:13: "You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart." Notice the certainty. Not "you might find Me" or "if conditions are right, you'll find Me." The promise is absolute: you WILL find Him when you seek Him wholeheartedly.

What does it mean to seek God with our whole heart? It's not about the intensity of our emotions or the fervor of our prayers. It means viewing every area of our life as an opportunity for pursuing God. In our work, our relationships, our parenting, our struggles, our celebrations—in all of it, we ask: "How do I seek the Lord here? How do I find Him in this?"

The Spirit Opens Our Eyes

After His resurrection, Jesus spent time with His disciples before ascending to heaven. Luke records a pivotal moment: "Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures" (Luke 24:45).

These disciples had walked with Jesus for three years. They'd heard Him teach, watched Him perform miracles, listened to Him explain the Scriptures. Yet they still needed the Spirit of God to open their eyes to truly understand. They needed supernatural help to see how all of Scripture—the Law, the Prophets, the Psalms—pointed to Jesus.

This reveals something crucial: we need the Holy Spirit when we read the Bible. Without Him, we're just processing words on a page. With Him, those words become living and active, piercing our hearts and transforming our lives.

Knowledge Through Encounter

Proverbs 9:10 offers profound wisdom: "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." That word "knowledge" in Hebrew carries the meaning of intimate, experiential knowing—the kind of deep knowing that comes through encounter, not just intellectual study.

There's a difference between knowing about peace and experiencing the Prince of Peace in the middle of a storm. One is theoretical; the other is transformational. When we've actually encountered God's peace in our chaos, we don't just recommend books about peace—we share our story. We break off a piece of our life and offer it to others. That carries power.

This is what makes our testimonies so vital. When we share how we've encountered God, we're not just relaying information; we're inviting others into the reality of who He is.

Eight Practical Ways to Encounter God in Scripture

1. Look for Jesus - Every story in Scripture whispers His name. From Genesis to Revelation, it all points to Christ. When Abraham took Isaac up the mountain, willing to sacrifice his son, God stopped him and provided a ram instead. It was a foreshadowing of the Father who would one day provide His own Son as the sacrifice. Reading Scripture through the lens of Jesus changes everything.

2. Slow Down - Speed is the enemy of depth. In our busy lives, we're tempted to rush through our Bible reading, trying to check it off our list. But transformation happens when we pause, when we sit with a verse that stands out and let it sink deep into our souls. We don't need to read more; we need to read better.

3. Invite the Holy Spirit before opening your Bible, pause and pray. "Lord, open my eyes. Help me see You. Confront me and mold me as I read." This isn't reminding God what to do; it's reminding ourselves why we've come.

4. Pray Scripture - when a verse strikes you, turn it into prayer. Let it become conversation with God. If you read about God's peace, ask Him to make you a person of peace. If you read about His faithfulness, thank Him for the ways He's been faithful to you. Praying Scripture turns information into communion.

5. Read to Be Formed - Ask yourself: What is this exposing in me? Where am I resisting? What belief needs to change? Don't just read to know more; read to become more like Jesus.

6. Put It Into Practice - after reading, complete this sentence: "Today I will _____ in response to this." Revelation without response leads to stagnation. Choose one small, concrete action and do it within 24 hours.

7. Read with the Church - The Bible was written to communities, not just individuals. Join a small group. Discuss what you're reading. Share what God is showing you. We need each other to interpret and apply Scripture well.

8. Expect Encounter - Come to Scripture believing you're going to meet God there. Expectation makes space for encounter. When you truly believe He'll meet you in His Word, you read differently—slower, more attentively, more hopefully.

The Transformation Is Real

Research shows that reading the Bible four or more times a week dramatically impacts our lives.
Loneliness drops by 30%.
Anger issues decrease by 32%.
Bitterness in relationships falls by 40%.
Viewing pornography drops by 61%.
Sharing faith increases by 200%,
Discipling others by 230%.

There's a reason we feel resistance to opening our Bibles. The enemy knows the power contained in these pages. He knows that when we feast on God's Word, we become dangerous to his plans. He'd much rather keep us distracted, busy, anxious, and disconnected.

But there's another voice calling—the voice of the One who invites us to seek and promises we will find. The One who offers Himself freely in the pages of Scripture, waiting to be discovered, waiting to transform us from the inside out.
The question isn't whether God can be found in Scripture. The question is: will we take the time to look?

If you’ve been walking with Jesus for a while, you’ve probably had moments where you wondered, “Is there more?” You’ve prayed the prayers, read the Bible, and gone to church—but deep down, there’s a holy ache. A hunger. A longing for something deeper, richer, and more alive.

The good news? That hunger isn’t a sign that something’s wrong. It’s a sign that the Spirit of God is drawing you closer.

God is not looking for people who know about Him—He’s calling sons and daughters who walk with Him. And that kind of relationship isn’t built in the shallows. It’s found in the deep.

So how do we actually go deeper?

1. Cultivate a Lifestyle of Intimacy, Not Just Activity
In Luke 10, Jesus gently corrected Martha for being “worried and upset about many things,” while Mary chose “what is better” by sitting at His feet. Activity isn’t bad—but intimacy comes first. If you’re doing a hundred things for God but haven’t been with God, your soul will dry up.

Ask yourself daily: Am I working for God more than I’m walking with Him?

2. Make Space for the Holy Spirit to Move
Growing deeper spiritually doesn’t come from striving—it comes from surrender. As charismatic believers, we know the Holy Spirit isn’t an optional add-on; He’s essential. He’s the Comforter, the Teacher, the Power Source.

Let the Spirit lead your prayer life. Ask Him what’s on His heart. Let Him interrupt your schedule, your worship, even your church service. Sometimes the deepest work happens when we’re willing to follow His whisper, not just our plan.

“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” — Galatians 5:25

3. Feed on the Word With Expectation
Don’t just read the Bible out of duty. Come hungry. Come expectant. This Book is alive. It’s Spirit-breathed, and when you read it with the help of the Holy Spirit, it will cut through distraction, expose lies, and draw you into truth.

Try this: Before opening the Bible, pause and pray, “Holy Spirit, reveal Jesus to me. Speak directly to my heart today.”

4. Pursue God in Worship—Even When You Don’t Feel It
Worship is one of the fastest ways to shift your atmosphere and your attention. Whether you’re in your car, at the sink, or in a sanctuary, you can connect with God in real-time.

Worship isn’t about a feeling—it’s about exalting Jesus. And often, it’s when we don’t feel like worshiping that it becomes a sacrifice that pulls us deeper into His presence.

“Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” — James 4:8

5. Let God Refine You—Even When It Hurts
Going deeper will cost you something. Sometimes it’s pride. Sometimes comfort. Sometimes control.

Don’t be surprised when God starts putting His finger on things. He doesn’t do it to condemn you—He does it to free you. Conviction is a gift. Let Him prune you so you can bear more fruit (John 15:2).

Deeper isn’t just about revelation—it’s about transformation.

6. Surround Yourself with Spirit-Led Community
You were never meant to go deeper alone. God moves powerfully through the body of Christ. Find people who stir your faith, challenge your comfort zone, and believe for the impossible. Join a small group. Ask for prayer. Confess sin. Celebrate wins. Cry together. Worship together.

“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” — Proverbs 27:17

7. Pray Bold Prayers and Expect Miracles
Charismatic faith isn’t about hype—it’s about hunger. When you believe God still moves, you start praying like He does. You lay hands on the sick. You declare truth over your kids. You speak life into your city. You fast not just to go without, but to go after.

Don’t settle for a tame faith. Ask God for the fire of the early Church—then make room for it.

Final Thought:
If your spirit is stirring while reading this, it’s not by accident. That’s the Holy Spirit inviting you deeper.

So pause. Breathe. And say it with faith:

“Jesus, I want more of You. Holy Spirit, have Your way in my life.”

He’ll take you up on that prayer.

And when He does, your life will never be the same.

The Bible, often referred to as the Holy Scriptures, is the foundational text for Christians worldwide. It is more than just a book though; it is the inspired Word of God, divinely authored through human hands. The Bible is a collection of 66 books, divided into the Old Testament and the New Testament, and it tells the story of God's interaction with the world and His people. The Bible gives us clear insight and direction for engaging with a moral standard that pleases God and it stands as an invitation to all humanity to come to Jesus to be saved from sin, death and the grave.

The Old Testament

The Old Testament consists of 39 books that cover a vast timeline from creation to the period before Jesus Christ’s birth. It includes historical accounts, poetry, wisdom literature, and prophetic writings. Key sections include the Torah (or Pentateuch), which comprises the first five books: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. These books lay the groundwork for God’s covenant with His people, detailing creation, the fall of man, and the establishment of Israel as a chosen nation.

Books like Psalms and Proverbs are full of poetry and wisdom, offering insights into the human experience and guidance on living a life that honors God.

The prophetic books, such as Isaiah and Jeremiah, foretell the coming of the Messiah and call for repentance and faithfulness to God’s laws.

The New Testament

The New Testament consists of 27 books, focusing on the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the early Christian church's formation and expansion.

The Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—are the heart of the New Testament, chronicling Jesus’ life and teachings. They highlight His miracles, parables, crucifixion, and triumphant resurrection, which are central to Christian belief.

Following the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles details the early church’s history, emphasizing the spread of Christianity through the work of the Holy Spirit. The Epistles, letters written by apostles like Paul, Peter, and John, provide theological insights, pastoral guidance, and practical instructions for living out the Christian faith.

Divine Inspiration and Authority

For believers, the Bible’s divine inspiration is a core belief. As stated in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” This means that the Bible is not merely a human document but one inspired by the Holy Spirit, carrying God’s authority in every aspect of life.

Role of the Holy Spirit

We emphasize the role of the Holy Spirit in understanding and applying the Bible. The Spirit illuminates the Scriptures, helping believers discern God’s voice and will. This dynamic interaction with scripture is one way to experience God’s presence and power in everyday life. Our relationship with the Holy Spirit is vital as we read and interpret the Bible, making it a living and active document.

Practical Application

The Bible is not just a historical or theological document; it is a practical guide for daily living. Its teachings cover every aspect of life, including moral conduct, social justice, family relationships, and personal spirituality. By diving into Scripture, we find direction, encouragement, and correction.

The Psalms, for instance, provide comfort in times of trouble, while the Proverbs offer wisdom for making decisions.

The study of scripture is a vital practice in the life of those that follow Jesus. The goal is not only to gain knowledge but to be transformed into the likeness of Christ, as stated in Romans 12:2, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

One of the most common questions that I receive is around to grow in hearing the Lord’s voice. Understanding how to hear God speak to us is an important part of our walk with the Lord. It is core to our ability to walk in relationship with God. Scripture connects our ability to hear God’s voice with the fact that we are His sheep and He is our shepherd.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.”

John 10:1-5

Take Time

The sheep know the voice of the shepherd because they have spent time together. The sheep don’t know the voice of the stranger because they haven’t spent the same time walking through the pastures with the stranger listening to his voice.

I can pick out my wife’s voice in a crowded room not because it is drastically more unique than everyone else’s but because I have spent 15 + years listening to her voice.  So when she enters the room, I recognize what has become familiar and consistent.  That’s what time does.

When we are looking to grow in hearing God’s voice it’s important to set aside time to be with Him. It is a relationship that grows. The more we take time to share our hearts with Him, ask Him questions and listen the more we get to know His voice.


Read Scripture

Scripture reveals what God is like and shows us what God sounds like. If we want to grow in hearing God’s voice, scripture is essential. When I say scripture, I’m not just talking about reading the verse of the day off your favorite influencer’s instagram page or bible app. I’m talking about real time in scripture. Where we read through chapters at a time so that we see each verse in the context it was written in.

Time in scripture helps us learn what God sounds like but it also helps us grow in our discernment. It helps us recognize when we are hearing His voice vs another. His voice will never violate scripture and will always lead us into deeper relationship with God & His people.


Learn The Languages of Heaven

This may come as a surprise to some but God’s first language isn’t English. He is able to communicate with us in multiple ways. Below is (a non exhaustive) list of ways that God speaks to us. *For more information on the languages of Heaven, check out our series on the Prophetic.

Still Smalll Voice - 1 Kings 19:11-13

Scripture - 2 Timothy 3:16-17

Visions - Acts 2:17-18

Dreams - Daniel 2:31-35, Genesis 20:3, Matthew 2:13

There are many ways that the Lord speaks to us. Understanding the ways that He speaks helps us to recognize His voice when He does. Sometimes, when we feel like we can’t find God’s voice it is because He is speaking to us in a new way that we haven’t heard Him speak in before.

His voice is for everyone and He is always speaking. Lean into His voice today.