There is a question I have carried in my heart for many years, one that people ask me often, and one that I have asked God myself in the quiet of many mornings: “How do I get closer to God?”
The longer I walk in faith, the more I realize that drawing close to God is not an achievement, it is a relationship. It is not a destination, it is a daily returning, a steady opening of the heart. God never moves away from us. We are the ones who drift, who get distracted, who get tired, who forget to listen.
But the good news is this,
every small turning of the heart draws us closer to Him. Every whisper of desire, every quiet prayer, every act of love is noticed by God.
Here is what I have learned through Scripture and through my own life as a religious sister.
1. Begin With Honest Prayer
When I joined religious life, I thought prayer had to be perfect, poetic, full of holy words. Over the years, God has taught me something much gentler,
He wants honesty more than beauty.
Some of my closest moments with God came when I simply said,
“Lord, I am tired,”
or
“Jesus, I feel lost,”
or
“Be with me, I don’t know what to do.”
Scripture says,
“The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.”
Honesty opens the door to intimacy. God meets us where we truly are, not where we pretend to be.
2. Create a Daily Moment With God
The soul needs a rhythm, a place where God can whisper. For me, it is early morning. Before the noise of the world enters, I sit with , a cup of tea, and my journal.
Your moment may look different.
It could be:
- Right before bed
- during a walk
- in the car after dropping children at school
- during lunch break
- in silence before the Blessed Sacrament
What matters is not the length, but the consistency.
Jesus Himself would retreat away from crowds to pray.
“But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”
Luke 5:16
Daily moments create familiarity, and familiarity creates closeness.
3. Let Scripture Speak Into Your Life
There are days when Scripture feels like a warm light entering a tired heart. God speaks through His Word with a tenderness that I cannot explain.
Sometimes a single verse stays with me for weeks.
When I was a young sister facing uncertainty about my vocation, I stumbled upon:
“Be still and know that I am God.”
Psalm 46:10
I remember sitting with tears in my eyes as if God Himself had sat beside me.
Scripture has the power to correct, comfort, guide, and strengthen.
If you want to grow closer to God, open His Word. Even one verse a day can change the interior of your heart.
4. Serve With Love, Even in Small Ways
One thing religious life has taught me is that God is found just as easily in the laundry room as in the chapel.
Holiness is not only in grand actions, it is in the quiet ways we love.
Jesus said,
“Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for Me.”
Matthew 25:40
When we:
- help someone who is struggling
- listen patiently
- forgive without being asked
- choose kindness over being right
We touch the heart of God.
Service opens the soul. It makes room for God to enter.
5. Learn to Be Silent With God
Silence is where love grows.
At first, silence made me uncomfortable. I wanted words, answers, clarity. Over time, I realized silence is not the absence of God, it is often where He speaks the loudest.
In silent prayer, God reveals the hidden places of the heart, the fears we hide, the longings we deny, the wounds we carry. Silence helps us hear what we would miss in noise.
“In quietness and trust shall be your strength.”
Isaiah 30:15
Just sit with Him. No expectations. No pressure.
God will do the rest.
6. Surround Yourself With People Who Lift Your Faith
Faith is not meant to be lived alone. When we walk with others who love God, we grow without even realizing it.
Whether it is:
- a prayer group
- a Bible study
- a church fellowship
- a spiritual mentor
- a close friend who believes deeply
being surrounded by faith strengthens faith.
This is something I have experienced again and again in my ministry.
7. Return to the Sacraments
If you are Catholic like me, the sacraments are encounters with the living Christ.
Confession has brought me closer to God in ways I cannot describe.
The Eucharist is my strength, my peace, my closest moment with Jesus.
God uses the sacraments to heal, to restore, to renew.
If you feel far from God, begin again. He is waiting with open arms.
8. Surrender Control, One Piece at a Time
There is a secret to closeness with God, and it is found in surrender.
When I look back at my life, the moments I felt closest to God were not when things were perfect, but when I finally let go.
When I stopped trying to control outcomes.
When I trusted Him with tears in my eyes.
When I said, “Lord, I place this in Your hands.”
Jesus invites us again and again,
“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Matthew 11:28
Closeness begins where self-reliance ends.
A Personal Moment I Will Never Forget
There was a time early in my religious life when I felt spiritually dry. I was praying, serving, working, doing everything I was “supposed” to do, yet I felt far from God.
One evening, while sitting alone in the chapel, I whispered,
“Lord, I do not feel You.”
And in the silence that followed, a gentle thought came into my heart,
“You do not have to feel Me to be close to Me. I am here.”
I realized then that closeness is not always emotional.
Sometimes God is closest when we feel nothing at all.
Because closeness is measured not by emotion, but by trust.
That moment has stayed with me for yea
A Final Thought
Growing closer to God is not a task to finish, it is a journey to walk.
A gentle returning, day after day.
God does not ask for perfection. He asks for presence.
He asks for openness.
He asks for a willing heart.
And here is the truth I have learned through every season of my life:
If you take one step toward God, He runs toward you with a thousand.
You are never too far.
You are never too late.
God is already reaching for you.
All you have to do is take the next small step.
