How can I draw nearer to God? As Matthew 7:7-8 says to do, I ask and seek and knock and I desire to draw nearer but I still feel distanced from Him. I have asked Him to reveal Himself to me, but I still feel a lot of times my prayers aren’t getting very far.
James 4:8 says when we draw near to God He’ll draw near to us, but we have to have clean hands and a pure heart. As believers we still sin and sometimes our sins can keep us at a distance, not because of His displeasure, but because of our guilt. 1 John 1:9 says when we confess our sins He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. This gives us clean hands and a pure heart.
As for revealing Himself to us, He has done this through His Word. So if you want a closer relationship with Him you only have to spend more time in His word and in prayer.
As is the case with anyone else, we get to know God better by engaging Him in conversation. We do this by listening to what He says in His word and responding with prayers about what we’ve read. This will turn our Bible studies into conversations with God and is guaranteed to bring us closer to Him.
Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them and to our God, for he will freely pardon (Isaiah 55:5-7).