things to get closer

i sent out this facebook message (now slightly edited) to our youth group about half a year ago, towards the end of summer before i came to OU (thought it might be helpful, and feel free to add on):

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hey, a couple of us compiled this list of things we could do to try to get closer to God at my house this past night, and i thought it might be useful to others. keep in mind that...these are only things that are supposed to bring us closer, to help us fall in love. they're only tools. if one starts to do them simply for the sake of doing them, one is missing the point. here's the list. feel free to add on - message me or something.

--tell God what happened today - converse freely. you can look around your room or setting and thank Him for what He's done. it might help to even go on a walk. the idea is...it's prayer. and prayer isn't necessarily and shouldn't completely be just asking for things - it should be conversation. in the process of prayer, there won't always be some kind of catharsis, but being in communication with God should be a time of honesty and letting go or realizing that someone is listening to anything you want to say. and the more time you spend with anyone, the more you become like them.
--secret/sacred place - somewhere personal where you can simply expect to meet God, on a personal level. like a prayer house, or just somewhere where it is either set aside for you to focus on God or somewhere where it seems you can escape. another good point is that expectation is great...expect to see God in certain areas or times of your day (like true desire), and He seems to respect that very nicely.
--periodic quiet times - self explanatory. a little groove is nice, as long as it stays interesting or exciting. would probably help a lot in times of desolation. additionally, if you're having trouble getting started, i think the short letters in the New Testament are great - Galatians through Colossians, 1 John, 1 Peter, James. a Proverb a day means the whole book in a month, and i know several of my friends who do a Psalm a day. a little consistency is nice. sometimes there is grace to do it in the morning, but it really does make a difference the more awake you are.
--write things down - keep a journal or just jot down quick notes. it seems like i never remember anything from a sermon if i don't write anything down. and it used to be that anything really important would end up on my wall. in high school, they always said to put your list of goals on your bedroom door so you would see it every morning.
--visual reminders - on your mirror, planner, hand, walls, bedroom door, etc. simply a reminder. i think all those WWJD bracelets served that purpose very well
--watch your input - TV, youtube, facebook, etc. (it could even be relationships) what you spend your time doing determines a lot of the way you think, a lot of the content you think about.
--daily Bible verse - hey, facebook has one of these apps. Air1, a Christian radio station, has a daily Bible verse e-mailed every morning. you could probably find a lot of different services that would get you a verse a day. beats the SAT question of the day any day.
--fellowship - hanging out with people. supporting each other and getting supported. and having fun and relaxing and sometimes pouring out emotions and expressing things that you just need to let out. this helps having a small group or ministry that you can count on, especially if they meet once or twice a week. you should just be able to be real with them, without having to feel like you have to be someone else. community is incredibly important.
--outlets for expression - things like art, music, dance. things where it seems like you can be yourself. i guess for me, it's sorta like running, because i sorta find God there and i can express myself that way. it could really look like anything. painting, basketball, playing piano, knitting, listening to music, hanging out [people/social interaction]. it could be anything.
--constant prayer - mike did this thing where his watch would beep ever half hour and he would just pray something and then maybe go back to whatever he was doing. he said when he did it, there was extreme grace to do it, so that within a week or so, he found he didn't need his watch to beep anymore beacuse he was perpetually praying.
--worship - it helps if you play an instrument, but singing is just as legit. worship is something that you can lose yourself in sometimes, whether you are playing an instrument or listening to music. some suggestions for cool worship music? Hillsong United, Chris Tomlin, David Crowder Band, Matt Redman, the Passion CDs
--carrying around a Bible and reading it it really is the Word of God. God is all over it. if you need somewhere to look to find Him, the Bible is a place to look.

there it is, hope it helps. incredibly important to stress that it doesn't take any of these things to fall in love with God. it's just that some of these things could help bring us closer to God. at the end of the day, it's still always about what God did for us and whether or not we were able to take steps towards Him, not how much we were able to accomplish for Him.

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really dwelling on God (being God-conscious) seems to result in really spending your day or time with God. it is like He is really there with You, and time spent with God does not go in vain. there is a connection going on on a heart level, whether you are in church or in class or running a race or shopping. also, being in prayer and focusing on the things of God makes you more spiritually minded, so i think you really begin to hear God speak. there is an incredible stress on the Bible, prayer, and church, because these are three very strong connections that we have to God, but all of these can be misused and manipulated by some so that they no longer lead directly to God.

i would add to that list that fasting is something that can be used, God willing, to grow closer to God. it seeks to replace the desire of human flesh with desire for God, so much that we are fed and satisfied by God Himself rather than food or Facebook. fasting and prayer should go hand in hand.

something else, though it probably wouldn't fit into a single day, is short term or long term missions. to do the work of God by building houses or relationships and seeking to blatantly live for the gospel. it is something great to be out on the missions field, to be called a missionary, and to be able to say and believe "the only reason i am here is because of God. i am serving God in this place, and that is my purpose and identity."

another thing - it helps to get sleep. it helps to be well rested. it is hard to pursue or even just think things through if your mind is lagging. at the same time, it helps not to be so bogged down by a schedule or activities so that you cannot think of anything besides what you need to be doing or what you should be doing. on the other hand, if God has called you to that and that is where you are supposed to be, then go with that. but it might be counterproductive and distracting to try to balance so many various activities as well as maintain a healthy relationship with Christ.

hope this helps. and i bet there will be certain areas in your life where you might really simply feel God, in some weird fascinating sense. basketball, gardening, even school. God can be found anywhere, and we are all uniquely made to enjoy Him. hope this helps [and would love input]