Mostly people have their own ideas about religion. For many, these are rituals, rules and prohibitions, teachings and holy books ... But all this is so far from the Lord. This is what a general understanding of religion looks like - a kind of human knowledge designed to get closer to any particular deity. In general, these representations include everything but a genuine relationship.
Basic concepts
In order to understand how to approach God in Orthodoxy, one must take into account that relations with him will need to be built. There are a number of texts in the Bible that show that God is with us; He wants to have fellowship with man. He speaks of some as his old friends, and of all Christians he speaks of as his children.
Answering the question of how to come to God as self-confident people, priests advise to take into account that one will have to see His love in many ways, but above all in the fact that He himself solves the main problem of man - the problem of sin. The Son of God - Jesus Christ - is the highest evidence of the Lord’s love for people. He went through the path of suffering in order to atone for the sins of men. His proposal applies to everyone. He loves all people. It becomes easy to come to God if you realize that Jesus died for all people.
Way to god
The facts that determine our fellowship with the Lord are called spiritual laws. The main way to come to God is to learn about them and acknowledge them. It is important to get acquainted with the facts to everyone who wants to draw close to Him. They are contained in the Bible. The first of these is that He loves humanity. The second fact is that it is sinful.
Although today we can come directly to the Lord Himself, the townsfolk no longer want this. Instead, they send mediators, priests, preachers. They do not want to meet with Him personally.
In ancient Israel, a person could come to Him only through a priest, and always with some kind of gift. A similar practice exists today. This is common in modern society. Instead of the common people thinking how to gain faith in God, how to go to Him, they go to church, and services are held there when someone prays in their place, reads the Bible, but they themselves do it only as formal ritual. And they listen to sermons, read interesting information, they sing songs that someone else composed, but in fact thus avoid direct contact with God.
Why? What they do not feel enough "worthy"? Or there is no time for God, and in fact they are not interested in this? At the same time, they believe that God is needed for life - for example, in order to protect us, to help us in life, to bless, give success, health, and also, so that God finally comes to death and lifts a person to heaven .
The priest is not a mediator
We do not live in antiquity. Thanks to the fact that the innocent Christ sacrificed himself, no other sacrifices are needed. Thanks to faith in Him, we can come to God without intermediaries.
Come to god yourself
It is not enough to rely on someone else that a person will receive the favor of the Lord, that he will be led to faith, this is a delusion. The question of how to come to God must be dealt with independently. It is not in vain that He made a great sacrifice in that He gave His Son to death, and people do not accept this.
Today everyone should turn to the Lord personally. He forgives the one who believed in Him and confessed his own sins. It is possible and necessary to communicate with Him personally.
One who wonders how to come to God does not need human mediators. In Christ, doors were opened for people directly to God, and everyone can talk with Him about everything. About lies, about their limitations, about joy and success, but also about the ideas of life.
Necessity
Man was created in order to live in fellowship with God. However, he decided to be guided solely by his own ideas, regardless of the will of the Almighty. The human attitude is characterized by active resistance or passive indifference to Him and is a manifestation of what the Bible calls sin.
If a person is sinful, and God is holy, then there is a huge abyss that separates a person from God. People sometimes wonder how to come to Him and achieve full life on their own, for example, the right actions, philosophy or religion. None of this, however, can solve the problem of their sin.
Tips: how to come?
Man must personally accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Then he will be able to know and experience His love. Sincerity is also important. It should be borne in mind that priests consider faith to be the original property of man. It is worth repenting and talking with the Lord.
Accept him
To accept Jesus means to acknowledge that a person is sinful, to turn to God and repent of his sins. Repentance means not only regretting one’s misconduct, but ultimately conquering it. This is not always easy, but God sees the human heart, sees if he thinks it is serious, and He himself helps to overcome the things that lie between man and Him. A believer can trust Jesus that He will take his life in his hands, forgive sins and that God will make a person the way he wanted to see. And it’s not enough just to realize with reason that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that he died for human sins. It is necessary to accept Christ by faith and the decision of his will.
Reconcile with God
What does your current relationship with God look like? Can you turn to Him at any moment - in health and grief? If not, then there are obstacles in something. It is like talking to people. If a person has a cool relationship with someone, and he does not have free time for their development, then he understands that there are some obstacles. If he wants to restore communication with an interested person, he will need to remove the obstacles - to forgive and apologize.
The Bible states that there is an obstacle in the form of sin between every person and the Lord. And Christ became a "bridge" across the gap between God and people. Each of us has done many things that are in conflict with God. Thus, if we follow Him, we must recognize that it is necessary to remove obstacles in our relationship with Him so that we can live with Him. For example, the fact that we still lived our own way and did not reckon with God.
Prodigal son
The beginning of a relationship with Him is best compared to the return of the prodigal son home. In the Bible (from Luke) is a story about a young man who left his father to enjoy life in accordance with his wishes. When he gradually lost all his property that his father gave him (the legacy), he realized that the best thing was for him in the house. After all, his ideas about life led to complete ruin.
He went to his father asking for forgiveness and that he would be glad if he was given the opportunity to be one of his workers. He knew that he did not deserve to be a son because of what he had done. After all, he left his house. However, his father accepted him. For him, this prodigal son never ceased to be a son. He was glad that he returned home.
How to come to God?
How do you even get to the Lord if you recognize that there is a barrier of sin between man and Him? Christ to man opened the way to Him. We ourselves would not have been able to Him. In the end, in our life we have violated God's laws so many times in relationships, words and thoughts that we cannot resist the Lord. Christ, however, made a sacrifice for human sins. The fact that He took our sins upon himself allows us to come to God and ask him to forgive our sins. Of course, the fact that Christ died for our sins does not mean that we are automatically forgiven of sins. God forgives what He is asked.
Build a relationship with God
The beginning of a relationship with Him proceeds from the fact that you need to return to Him - to your Creator. For this you need forgiveness. Thus, a relationship with the Lord begins with prayer. It may look, for example, as follows: “Lord God, thank you that your son, Jesus Christ died for my sins. I ask you to forgive me my sin. Please forgive me for not having considered you " It must be borne in mind that He himself proclaimed: "Draw near to God."
When the prodigal son returned home, he again returned to the relationship of son and father. Again, he respected the power of his father. Therefore, it is important to continue with a prayer: “Lord God, I ask you to receive me. I want to follow you. "
It takes time to build a relationship with Him. And instead of watching the program “Glory to God you have come” with the choir, you need to devote time to communion with the Lord.
There is a big difference between being a modern slave to someone and being someone who saved a person from hell by his death. The next part of the prayer, therefore, may look, for example, like this: “Lord God, thank you for your son Jesus Christ paid the ransom for me. I want Him to be my master, and I will be the one who will listen to Him.” .
You can pray alone, but it is much better to pray, having gathered with one of the believers. This can help a person to begin communication with God, and at the same time, the second person present will witness a new decision.
God gives freedom
Any person has the right to resolve the issue of reconciliation with Him. He is always happy to accept everyone as the father of a prodigal son. And this should be remembered to everyone who is thinking about how to come to God. You need to understand that you need to turn to the Lord not only in sorrow, but also in health. Often, the path to God lies through many pains and sufferings.