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Discover Your Unique Connection to God

  • Whitney Hopler Crosswalk.com Contributing Writer
  • Updated Feb 15, 2012
Discover Your Unique Connection to God

Editor's note: The following is a report on the practical applications of Eric Parks and Casey Bankord's new book, Frequency: Discovering Your Unique Connection to God (Worthy Publishing, 2012).

You know that God has promised in the Bible to always be present with you. But how often do you connect with God in a way that awakens you to His presence? You know that God wants to communicate with you regularly. But how often do you actually sense what He has to say to you?

Too often, Christians settle for occasional encounters with God thrown haphazardly into their lives, rather than intentionally seeking to connect to God in the best way: the way that God uniquely designed each person to connect with Him. You can think of that unique connection as your very own frequency for tuning into God. Here’s how you can discover it, so you can grow closer to God in the way He made you to do so:

Recognize your unique role in the universe. God designed you to make a contribution to the universe that no one else can make. The more you learn how to tune into God on your unique frequency, the better you can fulfill His distinctive purposes for your life.

Understand your spiritual pathway. Your spiritual pathway is the way in which you most easily connect with God. If you have an activist pathway, you experience God through activities that require a high level of energy and passion for action. If you have a contemplative pathway, you experience God most when you have time to think deeply without distraction. If you have a creation pathway, you experience God most when you are in or around nature. If you have an intellectual pathway, you experience God most when you’re challenged intellectually and are learning more about Him. If you have a relational pathway, you experience god the most when you’re involved in significant relationships. If you have a serving pathway, you experience God most when you’re actively serving others. If you have a worship pathway, you experience God most during moment of worship. Keep in mind that God calls all believers to certain activities (such as reading the Bible, praying, building friendships with other believers, and serving other people), so it’s not a matter of whether or not you do those things, but how you can do them so that you can connect with God best through them.

Understand your learning style. The way you learn best will help you figure out the best ways for you to approach God to learn more about Him each day. The five primary learning styles are: auditory (learning best by listening), classroom (learning best through a variety of hands-on activities), social (learning best by communicating with people), verbal (learning best by writing, reading, and talking), and visual (learning best through images).

Understand your personality traits. Since each part of your personality affects how you relate to God, it’s important to figure out what types of spiritual practices will energize you and draw you closer to God the most. Consider which of the following personality styles (named after biblical characters who had those styles) best reflects your own: “Joseph” (morally principled and disciplined; strong on integrity but needs to watch out for anger), “Abraham” (caring, generous and encouraging; strong on compassion but needs to watch out for pride), “Jacob” (ambitious and industrious; strong on confidence but needs to watch out for a tendency to distort the truth to make yourself look better), “David” (creative and expressive; strong on passion but needs to watch out for envy), “Luke” (quiet and studious; strong on gathering knowledge but needs to watch out for pride), “Timothy” (enthusiastic and loyal; strong on working for a cause but needs to watch out for anxiety), “Solomon” (optimistic and playful; strong on joy and gratitude, but needs to watch out for greed), “Samson” (decisive and resourceful; strong on leadership but needs to watch out for a tendency to be tempted by unhealthy desires), “Jonathan” (diplomatic and supportive of others; strong on friendship but needs to watch out for a tendency to become passive when you should take action in difficult situations).

Deal with sin that’s blocking the connection God wants you to enjoy with Him. Ask God to show you specific sins in your life that are preventing you from growing closer to Him. Then confess each one and repent of it. Rely on God’s power to help you uproot sin from your life and pursue healing one day at a time.

Plan how to incorporate your frequency into your daily life. Be intentional about connecting with God on your frequency regularly, rather than randomly encountering Him. Use your mind to connect with God on your frequency by filling your mind with thoughts that inspire you. Devote your time first to God before anyone or anything else. Build your relationships with other people around your faith in God, and grow closer to God together. Serve other people regularly in ways that God leads you – ways that you can help meet people’s needs by doing activities that you enjoy and are good at doing. Every day, approach God with humility, surrendering your own agenda so you can discover and fulfill God’s great purposes for you.

Adapted from Frequency: Discovering Your Unique Connection to God, copyright 2012 by Eric Parks and Casey Bankord. Published by Worthy Publishing, Brentwood, Tn., www.worthypublishing.com.

Eric Parks is the cofounder of Monvee and also a part of the leadership team. He has been in ministry for nearly 15 years and currently serves on the leadership team of Red Rocks Church in Golden, Colorado as well. He has written and produced five film-based teaching series, and the most recent is “Finding.” He lives in Littleton, Colorado with his wife, Chrissy, and their three children.

Casey Bankord is on staff at Heartland Community Church in Rockford, IL as a worship leader and member of the directional leadership team. He is also an integral part of the team that birthed the idea of Monvee. He has been in full time ministry since he was a senior in high school and is currently studying for an MBA in Social Enterprise at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. He lives in Rockford, Illinios with his wife, Kayla, and their son, Wesley.

Whitney Hopler is a freelance writer and editor who serves as both a Crosswalk.com contributing writer and the editor of About.com’s site on angels and miracles (http://angels.about.com/). Contact Whitney at: angels.guide@about.com to send in a true story of an angelic encounter or a miraculous experience like an answered prayer