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How Do I Know God Better? A List of Ways To Know Who God Is

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Written by Richard Hartian

Who is God? People come to be aware of God in many ways; but how do you really know God better? There is a difference between merely being aware of God and knowing Him.

God promises us that if you seek Him, you will find Him. So, if you truly want to know your Creator, search for Him.

  • I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me. – Proverbs 8:17
  • This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. – 1 Timothy 2:3-4

God’s Word tells us in the first chapter of John, verse 1, “In the Beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God.” In verse 14, we are told that the Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us.

  • In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. – John 1:1
  • And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. – John 1:14

So if you want to know God, you have to spend time with what God gave us to know Him.

But first, let’s take a look at a list of ways that we try to know God that fail apart from the one way God Himself gave us to know Him. Don’t get me wrong, this list is filled with wonderful things and what we consider “godly activities.” As a Christian, this list represents things that we have in our life because we already know God and have accepted His Son as our Savior. They come naturally as a result of who we are and who we are becoming.

Sadly, for those who want to know God, this list represents works; things we do because we often feel like we “should” do them. They do not reveal God to us apart from daily reading, studying, and memorizing God’s Word. All too often we confuse these things as ways God reveals Himself to us. Take a look at the list and notice that many of them are things that we do “to God,” “for God,” or “about God.”

  • Listening to godly music
  • Talking to or about God
  • Singing songs about God
  • Singing songs to God
  • Donating time to help others
  • Volunteering at church
  • Belonging to a church
  • Socializing with godly people
  • Reading books about God
  • Leading a small group
  • Having the title of pastor, elder or deacon
  • Donating or tithing to a church or Christian group

When a person truly knows God, this list takes on a new meaning and becomes worship to the God we know. It then has a different affect on our spirit and relationship with God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and The Holy Spirit, who lives in a believer (2 Corinthians 13:5, 1 Corinthians 6:19,1 Corinthians 3:16).

Here are the ways given to us by God to know Him:

  • Read from a Bible that is a literal translation of God’s Word. It must be translated from the original Hebrew and Greek.  I tend to prefer the English Standard Version (ESV), New American Standard Bible (NASB) and the Amplified (AMP) translations of the Bible. I also have the Holman Christian Standard that was given to me by Ravi Zacharias.

o    Jesus said that God would send the Holy Spirit to help you remember what He said. You have to know, (read and memorize) God’s Word in order for the Holy Spirit to help you understand and remember God’s Words –  “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” – John 14:26

o    “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” – Romans 15:4

o    “And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” – 1 John 2:3-4

o    “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” – John 6:63

o    “For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” – Hebrews 4:12

o    “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. – Psalm 119:11

o    How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.” – Psalm 119:9

  • Ask God to reveal Himself while you spend time reading and memorizing God’s Word.
  • Taking God’s Word and allowing it to change your life by actively changing what you do and how you respond to life’s situations –

o    “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.” – 2 Timothy 3:16

When you think about it, God really has made it easy for someone to know Him. He wrote everything He wanted us to know about Him in the Bible. He reveals His plan for us and tells us who He is.

If you really want the life changing message that God has to offer, I challenge you to try the following in your life; I can say from experience, God will show up for you.

  1. Start and end your day in God’s Word – devotionals do not count.
  2. Pray to God what you are reading. As an example, using Proverbs 8:17 Pray, “Dear heavenly Father, your Word says that if I seek you diligently that I will find You. Lord please help me to know how to seek You in the way You would want me to.  God, I ask that the promise You give in Proverbs 8:17 be realized in my life and that I find You in such a way that it changes me to be more like the person You created me to be.”
  3. Don’t watch more TV than the time you are willing to read, study, and memorize God’s Word.
  4. Take notes (journal) about what God is revealing about Himself, His character and desires for you. Spend time thinking about what affect this has on your life, and work towards making changes in your life based on what you are learning.

Be blessed by how God works in your life as you diligently seek Him by reading, studying, and memorizing His Word.

Originally post at Hartian.com