Daily Christian Habits That Help You Stay Connected to God?
What are some daily Christian habits that help you stay connected to God? According to Google, this is a question that hundreds of people often ask themselves and so it is one to be addressed!
Presuppositions
If you get your ‘presupposition’ wrong, then you may well ask the wrong question. It may not seem obvious but if you assume that it is habits that lead to a connection with God, it is an incorrect assumption! Such an assumption might lead on to asking, ‘what daily Christian habits will help me stay connected to God?’ We need to turn first to a proverb first published by John Heywood in 1546 referring to the ‘natural and logical order of things’.
Putting The Cart Before The horse
This phrase was later popularised by the witty William Shakespeare. It was based on the common knowledge that a horse was designed to pull a cart, not the other way around – this still seems to be the case! Heywood related it to the Greek concept of inversion, ‘Histeron proteron,’ which means ‘the latter before the former’. The relevance is this – it is not habits that lead to ‘connection to God’ but the other way around. So first we need to look at what connection to God means and how it happens. Then we can look at good, useful and reaffirming habits that will be likely to sustain our connection with God.
Connection Is Not A Formula
As human beings, we love to understand the world through formulae for doing so gives us a feeling of being in control. If we know that A + B = C, then we can write it down, test the formula, bring it into the ‘laws of science’ and then live by it. The danger is trying to do the same when we come to God.
Always Grace
God’s original Law was set out in the Ten Commandments which we have never been able to keep and so grace was given in the coming of Jesus Christ to fulfil the Law on our behalf. The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross was to bring us out from our failure to keep the Law and through the gift of His undeserved mercy into the new freedom of grace. Sin and its penalty dealt with, we can now choose to live to please God rather than to repeatedly indulge ‘self’. Whenever we choose rules and performance for approval, we’re moving away from grace and back into law but ‘legalism’ will always fail.
- ‘For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace’ – Romans 6:14
- ‘For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast’ – Ephesians 2:8-9
- ‘No one can please God by obeying the Law. The Scriptures also say, “The people God accepts because of their faith will live”’ – Galatians 3:11
Living In Grace And Fully Connected
The most telling words of Jesus were given to us in John 17:26, just before He was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. Read them slowly and ask God to give you a full understanding:
‘I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them’
Jesus tells us here that His mission was to connect us fully so that God, His Father, would be our Father too and we would become truly adopted children of God. No longer then do we need to act on what we think we know. Instead, through grace we live as children of God and can make daily choices that bring joy to God and, in so doing, have His joy in us. Living in grace brings total security, freedom and peace.
Back To Those Daily Habits!
The setting up of monasteries by committed monks was a remarkable achievement. They did many good things but the downside is that they also brought people back into ‘Legalism’ with the many rules and regulations that people had to keep. There are dozens of monastic orders and they vary in their specific rules, focus, and practices. Some like the Benedictines and Cistercians emphasize a life of solitude and contemplation whilst others such as Dominicans and Franciscans combine prayer with active ministries. In some extremes, people chose to self-flagellate to bring their bodies under control. In other periods of church history, there were times of persecution against Christians who saw things differently and, sadly, by ‘the established church’ of the day against others who didn’t do things ‘their way’.
Christians are not called to live in a ‘secret society’ but to be ‘salt and light’ within communities where they live, pointing people to Christ and to the freedom He gives.
Freedom and Grace Lifestyle ‘Habits’ – taken from Paul’s letter to the Galatians Chapter 5
| Bible Truth | Lifestyle Habit and Practice |
| ‘For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery’ (v1) | Live in freedom as a child of God – use your time, money and choices to please God |
| ‘For you were called to freedom. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another’ (v13) | Remind yourself daily that your freedom was won by the death of Christ on the cross. Look for opportunities to show others kindness, remembering that each time you do, it brings joy to God. |
| ‘But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh’ (v16-17) | Spend time in prayer at the start of the day to focus on God. Simply ask Him to fill your heart and mind with the presence of His Holy Spirit to strengthen you when tempted. |
| ‘Now the works of the flesh are evident…’ (v19-21) | As you read the list, you will know your own vulnerabilities. These behaviours are not fitting for a child of God. |
| ‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control’ (v22-23) | How beautiful is that? The power of God in your life means you will start to look different to the old ‘you’ and more like Jesus. |
| ‘If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit’ (v25) | This is the daily walk that goes with the daily talk. |
If you want more help, remind yourself:
- Arm yourself with God’s armour – the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation, the shield of faith, the sword of the Spirit (God’s Word), the shoes of the Gospel of peace (Ephesians 6:10-18)
- If you mess up, God has it covered – ‘If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness’ (1 John 1:9)
- Your position in Christ is secure – ‘There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus’ (Romans 8:1)
- Learn to think God’s way – ‘Whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things’ (Philippians 4:8)
- Don’t be taken captive – ‘The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ’ (2 Corinthians 10:4-5)
There is so much more that God has to help you each day – listen to worship songs (such as these from YouTube https://youtu.be/rOmTINlRhxM?si=O3tQyf_s_iO9E8BH ), pray through The Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-15), talk with Christian friends and find a healthy local Church you can join.
Remember God’s mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:21-23), Jesus says no-one shall pluck you out of His hand (John 10:28-29).
IF GOD IS FOR YOU, WHO CAN BE AGAINST YOU (Romans 8:31)
So there is no formula, just a renewed mind and a thankful heart seeking to live for the glory of God – remember, Connection leads to habits rather than the other way around.
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