P.U.S.H.! To Draw Closer to God

But the Lord said to me: “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ For you shall go to all to whom I send you, And whatever I command you, you shall speak. Jeremiah 1:7

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
Deuteronomy 6:5

Adia Peterson
Founder, KingdomFive! Student Ministries


PERSEVERE
Know that a life of you and God together means you will need to learn to persevere and persevere well. Remember that God is a deity, a king, a sovereign and father. He's going to love you and support you, but He will also challenge you, push you to go deeper. You're young, yes. But your youth does not mean God will not require you to be strong. Read Jeremiah 1 for more insight on this. Also check out David's speech to King Saul in 1 Samuel do not say I am a youth... Life is going to throw some curve balls your way--learn to hit them out of the ballpark. The more prepared you are for adversity, the better you become at overcoming it. Don't expect God to erase difficulty; ask Him for the grace to conquer. Ask Him to teach you what it takes to endure, and to win. 

UNITE
Make it a point to work with God in making your life work. Understand His point of view and work at agreeing with Him. When you are bonded with the Lord, you can't miss. Ask God to help you get in sync with His purpose and plan. What can you do to be on the same page? Get the answers you need from Him. There will be times when His will for your life is not so crystal clear. Dig into your word and seek His voice. Find out what you need to do to align yourself with the direction He wants you to take.

STRATEGIZE
Have a plan when it comes to thriving in your relationship with the Lord. Just like with every other goal you set out to accomplish, having a clear strategy is a key to seeing that goal through. Blanket statements don't work. Instead of saying, "I want to get closer to the Lord this year," be specific. "Every morning I'm going to spend 30 minutes in prayer before my day gets going." The more specific you are, the more you will fight to achieve what you set out to do. Relationships are hard work, period. Your relationship with God is no exception. Mapping out a strategy for how you plan to stay close to Him means you'll always have a blueprint to go by when life starts throwing the unexpected at you. Truth: you're not going to feel excited about what's happening with you and God everyday--some days you will feel impatient, frustrated, stuck! Other times He will say something that challenges you, makes you feel uncomfortable even. Don't retreat. Keep P.U.S.H.ing and work your plan. Faithfulness and diligence go a long way with God.

HEAR
Be willing to listen and hear what God has to say. To do this, you've got to put yourself in a place, in a posture to receive the Lord's voice concerning your life--to hear His thoughts and intents about you. This is easier said than done because to really hear Him, means you have put aside your opinions