The Christian Teacher

Providing lessons, inspiration, and encouragement to Sunday School teachers and Christian educators.

The Importance of Having a Relationship With God

Sunday School lesson about the importance of having a relationship with God using the King James Bible.

A relationship with God is something that is expected of Christians. However, not all Christians see it that way, and that’s mostly due to ignorance. They have no idea the benefits of having a relationship with God and the consequences that follow if they fail to do so. 

Why should we want a relationship with God? 

Many Christians are under the impression that getting to go to heaven is enough for them, and they can now live their lives however they want. The truth is, if you aren’t walking with God, you are in bondage to this world (and all its expectations), your own flesh (and all its carnal desires), and the devil. 

James 1:13-15 KJV: Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. 

Why do people sin?  

There are a lot of answers to this question, but I’ll give you the short version: They think it’s going to make them happy. 

Let me give you a few examples that we could all be familiar with: 

The prostitute – do you think she spent her days as a little girl wanting to grow up and be used, objectified, and abused by men?  

The drunkard – do you think he wanted to spend his nights in a ditch, miserable, violent towards his family, and never good for anything? 

The depressed millionaire – Do you think he ever envisioned his glamorous life where he could have anything he wants as sitting at the top of his tower all alone and wondering how he could feel so empty inside? 

Happiness apart from God is momentary, short-lived, and leaves a person feeling more empty and hollow than before they ever experienced it. That’s why people keep going back to these sources of momentary happiness – drugs, alcohol, attention, a relationship, money – all thinking that this time, the happiness will last forever. 

Proverbs 26:11 KJV – As a dog returneth to his vomit; so a fool returneth to his folly. 

Most people know the consequences of sin, but the devil comes along and convinces them that they are the exception.

They will be the one person out of thousands and millions who will somehow be able to get away with it. 

The Bible tells us in 2 Timothy 2:22 KJV: Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 

Skip down to verses 25-26: In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will. 

People fall into that trap of believing the devil, over and over and over again. I’ll get away with it this time. I won’t let it get that bad this time. 

The Bible commands in Galatians 5:16 KJV – This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 

What happens when we walk in the spirit?  

Galatians 5:22-23 KJV: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 

Love, joy, and peace – three of the main qualities that people in the world are after today. God not only promises that, but he also promises longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance as well. 

How do we walk in the Spirit / have a relationship with God? 

A lot of Christians will answer: “Well, just be a good person. Do the best you can.”

Let me ask you a question. 

Have you ever made up your mind that you were going to do something, or that you were going to be a certain way? Such as, not cussing anymore, not losing your temper and yelling, not giving in to a certain temptation? But, when it comes down to it, when you get angry or are tempted, you just can’t do it? 

Let’s refer back to that worldly “Be a good person; do the best you can” answer in regards to being a Christian. Every born-again, saved Christian should know that salvation had nothing to do with themselves – how good they were, how hard they tried, etc. Us doing our best will never be good enough. 

Believe it or not, the same is true when trying to have a relationship with God. We have to go to him on his terms. 

Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV commands us to be dependent on God: Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 

2 Corinthians 1:9 KJV – But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: 

Even in Psalms 18:2 KJV, David says: The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. 

People are like tea bags.

When you get in hot water, everything inside you comes out. You can’t control it, just like a tea bag can’t. That tea bag can try as hard as it can to keep all its contents inside, but it just won’t work. It wasn’t designed that way. 

The only way to make sure good things come out of the tea bag, is to put good things in it. 

The same is true for people. 

John 15:4-5 KJV: Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 

You need God to change your heart – change your desires and your mindset. Your self-will will get you nowhere. 

However, God does have some expectations for us as Christians (just as the world even has expectations for Christians). Remember, he expects us to approach him on his terms in order to form a relationship. 

What are we supposed to do? 

It is important to note that God reciprocates our actions toward him: 

James 4:7-8 KJV: Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. 

2 Timothy 2:11-12 KJV: It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: 

If we want God to take notice of us, we have to take notice of him. If we want God to listen to us, we have to listen to him. If we want God to speak to us, we have to speak to him. 

How? 

There are three very important things that you must do. 

1. Read the Bible. 

The Bible is God’s word. He doesn’t use signs, prophets, or visions to speak to us. He wrote us a book. Why did God use those methods in the past? Because the Bible hadn’t been written yet. 

2 Timothy 3:16-17 KJV: All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. 

Psalms 119:105 KJV – NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. 

Matthew 4:4 KJV – But he (Jesus) answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 

Hebrews 4:12 KJV – For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 

Psalm 119:9 KJV – Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. 

1 Timothy 4:13 KJV – Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. 

If you really want to know the importance that God places on his own word, read Psalm 119. The longest chapter in the Bible is dedicated to God’s word. 

2. Pray

Matthew 26:41 KJV – Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. 

Philippians 4:6 KJV – Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 
 
John 15:7 KJV – If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 

1 Thessalonians 5:17 KJV – Pray without ceasing. 
 
Romans 8:26 KJV – Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 

Matthew 26:41 KJV – Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. 

James 4:1-3 KJV – From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. 

God doesn’t hear some prayers because he knows what is best for us, and also because he knows our motives. When you start spending time with God in the Bible and in church, he changes your desires for what you should ask for and also reveals why some prayers shouldn’t be answered. 

What is prayer? It’s talking to God.  

God gives us an example to follow in the Lord’s prayer by first, praising God, then asking forgiveness of our sins, then asking God to help others, and finally asking God to help us. Some Christians are erroneously under the idea that the Lord’s prayer is the prayer they ought to pray all the time. However, Matthew 6:7 KJV tells us – But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 

3. Go to Church

There is an argument circulating that people can be just as close to God outside church as in. Well, look at those people and ask how often they read their Bible, or pray, or witness. How often does God hear their prayers?  

Despite their argument is, it isn’t Biblical. They are going against what God says, because he tells us to go to church. 

Hebrews 10:24-25 KJV – And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. 

Matthew 18:20 KJV – For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. 

Romans 12:5 KJV – So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. 

You are going to hear about the hypocrites in the church, and that’s true. There are hypocrites in the church. That’s exactly where they should be, too. However, there are even more hypocrites outside the church than there are in it. 

Lesson Overview: Make time for God.

The most commonly heard excuse as to why people don’t do these three things is because they don’t have time. The truth is, they do have time, but the world, the flesh and the devil will do everything possible to distract them. Another very simple truth is that we simply cannot have a relationship with God unless we are actively seeking him by talking to him (in prayer) and listening to him (through his word and church teaching). 

The way to have a relationship with God is the same for everyone else. We have to spend time with him. We have to make him a priority where we make time for him. 

God doesn’t take excuses very well, no matter how good they may seem to you or anyone who listens to you. 

Ephesians 5:14-18 KJVWherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; 

If you enjoyed this Bible lesson about having a relationship with God, be sure to check out other lessons here.