The closer I drew near to God, the more God showed Himself to me

Greg would not give up the relationship he has with God for anything in the world. Even though he often went to church and was raised in a Christian home, he did not have a personal relationship with God. He would only pray whenever he wanted something and once he got what he wanted he forgot about God again.

Even though Greg owned a Bible, he had no interest in reading it. He picked it up once to dust it off, and then he put it away again on the shelf thinking that one day he would eventually read it. He never listened to praise and worship music and had no knowledge of the Holy Spirit or that Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to help us.

Using foul language was a part of his life since he was a small child, it was part of his daily vocabulary. Greg’s spiritual eyes and ears were closed to the gospel and he did not want to know anything about God. He had heard about surrendering to God before, but the things in his life kept him busy and he was more concerned about keeping his freedom. One day he attended a church service and while they were singing a sense of peace came over him. He wanted to go back every Sunday but was torn between God and the things of the world.

Eventually the worldly life became boring and even secular music no longer appealed to him. He wanted to know if God was real and if so, wanted proof. He wanted to know why he could not hear God speaking to him. Something inside told Greg that he knew God existed, but he did not think that there could ever be a way for him to have a relationship with Him. In a moment of pure desperation, he knew that he either had to give his entire life over to God, or he had to forget about Him completely.

He told God that he was angry with Him for never confirming His existence to him and in that moment God took over his life. It was Greg’s turning point. Greg started praising God every minute of his life and wanted to learn everything he could about Him. He listened to worship music every chance he got.

God was removing worldly things from his life, and his view shifted from himself towards God. He knew that God was in control of everything, and this gave him complete peace. God renewed his heart and he finally had a strong personal relationship with Him. He even started attending Bible school at his church. When he started focusing on God, he received a sense of joy, and of peace that words cannot explain.

His prayer life became strong and he started praying for and interceding for other people. One day he was praying and felt someone touch him but when he opened his eyes there was no one there. He knew that God had touched him and that he would never be the same again.

“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you…” James 4:8