Is There a Quick, Simple Way to Grow Closer to God?
Yes. Let’s get started!
Do you remember the name of our website? That’s right, it’s EverNearer.com. But do you remember the tagline? It’s Growing Passionate Jesus Followers.
Every blog post we share and every set of daily thoughts on social media have that same purpose. I am here to help you draw closer to your Lord. And not just that, but also to help you get excited about following the Lord!
One Challenge
One of the challenges most of us deal with is that we’ve got a lot going on in our lives. Yet we sincerely want to be growing as Jesus followers. In the past we’ve answered the question, Where Do I Find time to Study the Bible? We’ve talked about THE Secret to an Amazing Relationship with God. We’ve even learned about how to desire more of God.
But what if you’re already doing all those things, have a full schedule and STILL want to grow closer to God?
I can help you. It’s something I picked up several years ago, but I don’t really talk about much.
The Caveats
Now, before I tell you this crazy simple way to grow closer to God every day, I must warn you about three things.
1) It won’t take any extra time.
a. Ok, I know people promise this frequently…so I guess I’ll be just a bit more specific. It’ll take 1-2 minutes extra the first time (or when you want to make a tweak) and about 10 seconds extra all the rest of the time. Literally. Each week I spend about 5-7 extra minutes, and I get 3-5 extra hours of time growing closer to Jesus.
b. You read that right. I don’t spend 3-5 extra hours…I spend only 5-7 minutes PER WEEK but I get 3-5 extra hours of growing closer to God time!
c. Oh, I usually get an extra hour to hour and a half on top of the 3-5 hours for a related reason, but that’s just a bonus for me. I’ll explain in a bit if you’d like to do that as well.
2) You do have to change one habit. But it’s a tiny change and once you’ve done it a few times you’ll want to keep doing it. In case you’d like more help on changing a habit, check out our post, How Can I Change My Habits?
3) What I’m going to share with you won’t be an earth-shattering revelation. It’s possible you already do it sometimes. But if you do it every day, you’ll get the most benefit to your growth in Jesus.
Are you ready?
It’s All About Your Ears
Let’s note a few verses from Paul.
“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”
-Romans 10:14-17 ESV
Did you catch part of the theme? God sends people to us so we can hear the gospel and grow closer to Him. Of course, we should be reading the Bible every day. But we also need to hear the Word of God…and we need to learn more about how to apply it in our lives.
Now, if you’ve already found the perfect church for your current season of life, then at least once a week you’re hearing solid biblical teaching. That’s great! The local church is where you should go all in and grow and serve with joy!
But what if you could get even more and more variety of solid biblical teaching, and enjoy it?
The Not So Secret Secret
There is something I do just about every day. And if you’re someone who grew up in a culture like mine, you usually do it as well. Of course, there are many activities we have in common, but this one takes some time and nearly zero thought. You know what it is?
A shower.
I take a shower almost every day. If we’re getting up crazy early and it’s a travel day where we won’t be spending time close to people we might skip a day, but otherwise showering is pretty much a daily thing.
Do you love music? I love music! And I used to listen to a lot of music in the shower. But not anymore. For the last several years I’ve changed that habit. And here’s where I get those 3-5 free hours of growing in God in exchange for 5-7 minutes of weekly effort.
You see, I’ve found a few preachers online who I REALLY enjoy learning from. And so, when I’m in the shower I’m no longer (poorly) singing along with TobyMac or Matthew West. No, I’m getting powerful Bible-based preaching from one of my favorite online pastors.
Hang With Me Here
See, I told you it would not be earth-shattering. But I’m not kidding. I have learned SO much from these exemplary Bible teachers over the years. And it literally isn’t costing me any more time than I was already using. If you’re going to shower anyway (and please do), then why not turn it into learning more about God and how to apply His word time?
Below I’ll provide a list of people I listen to fairly regularly. And just note, I don’t always agree with everything they say. Does that matter? Not if it’s not a salvation issue. I learn a lot of important ideas about life as a Jesus follower and love the process. Then I can take what I’ve learned and better love like Jesus!
Oh, that hour to hour and a half bonus. I’m a runner and generally run three days per week. On my short run days, I’m rocking the music. But on long run days I listen to Christian audiobooks. I’m right in the middle of the C. S. Lewis Essential Audio Library and it’s AMAZING! Then I jump in the shower and catch one of the people below.
A List to Start With
As I said, here are some of my go-to preachers. Maybe you won’t like some of them. I encourage you to find those that the Holy Spirit speaks to you through. I’ll link you to their websites, but you can usually also get them in your favorite podcast player. Mine is the Overcast player if you’re interested.
One note. Some of these links go to the churches. Which means you’ll occasionally find messages from other speakers. But the quality of the guest speakers is always top notch!
Mike Burnette – LifePoint Church: Pastor Mike is my pastor, but don’t think that’s why he’s the top of the list. In my opinion as someone who started learning from him WAY before we ever came to the church he leads, he’s an incredibly gifted speaker who uses adroitly uses humor, God’s love, and deep truth in sharing God’s word for God’s people in today’s world.
Robert Morris – Gateway Church: Do you want to know about symbolism is the Bible? Do you want to see how various passages tie together? Pastor Robert will satisfy your nerd-out desire while keeping you entertained and growing your understanding of God’s word.
Craig Groeschel – Life.Church: How about the person who leads the church that supplies the YouVersion Bible app for free to millions of people? Craig will make you laugh, make you think, and give you practical ways to grow in Christ.
Frank Ramseur – Calvary Chapel Chattanooga: Pastor Frank and the staff pastors at Calvary Chapel will often challenge your ideas. They are unabashedly against the evil in today’s world and will explain to you exactly why from a biblical perspective.
Sisters and brothers, I could have listed a LOT more, both women and men…but this list will get you started. Here is my recommendation. Try a few sermons from one of these people and if the holy Spirit speaks to you then go deeper. If not, try someone else on the list. Or pick someone completely different. Just make sure it’s a person solidly grounded in the Word of God.
Get in the habit of hearing God’s truth out loud every day. Hearing such teaching and applying it in your life can grow you closer to God than ever before!
If you have follow-up thoughts, feel free to reach out to me directly via our contact form. Also, if you’d like to learn more about me and why I create all this content about following Jesus, check out my About page.
Love you Jesus follower!