Answer: Now in this fast-paced world, everyone feels the pressure of life is very heavy. Bustling about for things like family, career, and children, many brothers and sisters cannot normally read the Bible, pray, or attend meetings. They stray further and further from God, and often feel empty and miserable in the depths of their hearts. Then, how can we keep a normal relationship with God in a busy life?
First, true prayer is an indispensable practice.
In daily life, because of busy work or household chores, we tend to go through formalities or follow a process when praying. We just perfunctorily pray a few words and then that’s it, regardless if it conforms to the Lord’s will or not. No matter how many perfunctory prayers like this we have, we can’t have a normal relationship with God. The Lord Jesus said, “When the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24). God likes that we can worship Him in spirit and in truth. So if we want to keep a normal relationship with God, first our heart should turn to God. No matter how busy we are, we can come before God everyday with a sincere heart and pray to God, and tell God the honest words in our heart. For example, when we feel weak, we tell God why we are weak, and pray to God to lead us to walk out of the weakness. When we have difficulties, we also tell God with honesty, and pray to God to lead us to understand God’s will. In difficulties, we don’t complain about God, but ask God to help us through the adversity. When we pray, we can’t just ask for fleshly benefits, but should pray to seek God’s will, and seek how to be after God’s will in every situation. When we pray in this way, God will hear us, and we can receive God’s guidance and have a way forward. If we practice in this way often, our relationship with God will get better and better.
Secondly, quiet our heart to read the Bible, ponder God’s words, and practice according to God’s words. This is also a critical step.
In this society, our pace of life is getting faster. We are busy for our family, career, children, and so on, and race against the clock. It’s easy for us to neglect reading God’s words. Even if we can find some time occasionally, we read in the way a man on horseback looks at flowers and pay no attention to pondering God’s will from His words and finding the way to practice. Sometimes outwardly we are reading God’s words, but in our heart we are thinking about family or work. We can’t quiet our heart before God and ponder, so the reading can’t achieve the result that should be.
God’s word says, “…every one of you must take time away from every person, matter, and object for your personal spiritual devotionals, where you will be able to bring peace to your heart and quiet yourself before God. You should have your own individual devotional notes where you can record your knowledge of God’s word and how your spirit has been moved, regardless of whether what you write down is profound or superficial. Quiet your heart before God with intention. If you can dedicate one or two hours to a true spiritual life during the day, then your life that day will feel enriched and your heart will be bright and clear. If you live this kind of spiritual life on a daily basis, then you will be able to give your heart to God more and more, your spirit will become stronger and stronger, your condition will become better and better, you will become more capable of walking the path led by the Holy Spirit, and God will bestow more and more blessings upon you.” So, in order to keep a normal relationship with God, everyday we should take some time and avoid all the people, matters, and objects that can disturb us, to quiet our heart before God to read the Bible and ponder God’s words, and reflect on which aspects we didn’t practice according to God’s words in our life, work, and service. In this way, we’ll have knowledge of our inadequacies, and understand God’s will and requirements through His words. We can find a path of practice and do according to God’s words. If we keep doing this, our spiritual life will be better and better, our relationship with God will get better and better, and our life will be more and more enriched and relaxed.
If we can do these two things, even though our work is busy, we can still keep a normal relationship with God. God will bestow upon us peace and joy, and let us live in His blessings.