What It Means to Walk with God

As Christians, we talk a lot about walking with God. But what does it mean to walk with God? How can we improve our walk with Him?

What Does It Mean to Walk With God?

Walking with God is Christianese for having a relationship with our Heavenly Father. It speaks to the depth of our relationship and the fact that it is a constant practice…one that has many benefits for us.

Let’s pretend for a moment that we’re taking an actual walk with God. Whay are some of the things you’d need for that walk?

Gear: I don’t know about you but going for a walk anywhere and with anyone requires a degree of preparation. I need to choose the right outfit and the right shoes (because every woman knows walking too long in the wrong footwear is hard on the feet).

Destination: Going for a walk usually includes a destination.  For example, you may choose to a particular landmark and back. Even if you were just walking aimlessly,  you may notice a pattern to the places you choose to go.

Mindset: A decision to walk anywhere for any purpose requires the right mindset. Just think about your attitude when exercising, if you think it’s a chore then your workout is difficult. But a positive attitude often make the task a much more pleasant experience.

Why Is It Important to walk with God?

So why is it important for us to walk with God? Let’s break this down so we can really analyze it. When we say “God” we’re referring to one of three persons:

• God, the Father
• God, the Son, also known as Jesus, or
• God, the Spirit, also known as the Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit

Importance of walking with God, the Father

It’s necessary to walk with God, the Father because we’re building a relationship with Him. When humanity was created, we were in perfect communion with God. This perfect relationship was destroyed because of sin.

But our Heavenly Father loves us, He keeps trying to repair the relationship regardless of the cost to Himself. We walk with Him so we can repair our relationship with the Person we’ll be spending eternity with.

Remember how we said our destination is important? Well, you wouldn’t want to spend eternity with a stranger, would you?

Importance of walking with God, the Son

Jesus is our guide. He is the way, the path, and the life. It is Jesus, the Son of God who points the way to His Heavenly Father showing us how we can live a perfect, blameless life on earth.

Jesus is our hope. We walk with Him because He died for our sins and paid the price for our sins.

Importance of walking with God, the Spirit

It’s important to walk with God, the Holy Spirit because it is He who gives us the strength, faith, and other resources that we need to get to our destination.

Without the Holy Spirit, we could do nothing and be nothing.

How do I Walk with God?

So how do we walk with God? One of the best examples of someone who walked with God is Abraham. The Bible had this to say about him,

“Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Romans 4:3 ESV

So what does believing God has to do with walking with Him?

Abraham’s walk with God started with a promise.

At the crux of it, to walk with God is to serve Him faithfully and live a blameless life. We do this when we spend time getting to know Him, obey His Word, and live as living sacrifices using our gifts for the completion of His work.

Walking with God takes courage and faith…the kind of courage and faith that it takes to go into deep waters when you can’t swim simply because you trust the guide.

Understanding our relationship with God is important if we want to deepen our faith. What does it mean to live a life of courageous faith? This is the question Lauren Gaskill attempts to answer in her debut book Into the Deep.

Into the Deep Review

For the past few years, I’ve been struggling with faith. Oh, I’m not on the verge of backsliding or anything so dramatic, but I’ve been craving a deeper faith. I want faith like Abraham. But, I’ve come to realize Abrahamic faith requires trust and wading into deep waters long before you feel ready.

The enemy lies to us. He tells us we have been defeated and the battle is lost. #IntotheDeep #christianbookreview #hebrews12endurance Click To Tweet

Into the Deep is an invitation to do just that: wade into the deep. It sounds scary, doesn’t it? But as Lauren gently reminds us, we don’t have to be afraid of the deep because Jesus will be right there with us. Each chapter ends with a set of questions inviting us to go deeper into the topics discussed. Our introspection is encouraged to lead us into a deeper faith walk with Jesus.

Related: I Will Never Leave

Know God – Lauren encourages her readers to have a relationship with God. Jesus is the one who goes into the deep waters with us and so we have to cultivate and maintain a connection with Him. We not only have to know Him, but we also have to believe Him.

Know yourself – Throughout the book, Lauren tells parts of her story. She walks us through her history and her walk with God. When we know who we are, we understand how much we need a connection with Christ. We learn to pray with boldness for the things we need.

Run your race – Each of us is on a journey that we approach in a unique way. We are not alone in this life, but everyone is on a different journey. Our stories matter and should be shared. As we run our race and share our experiences, we encourage others and ourselves.

Favorite Quotes from Into the Deep

We admire people who seem to trust God freely, easily, and fully. We wish we could doubt less and trust more. Yet if we examine our lives, the truth is that we spend more time dwelling on our doubts than we spend surrendering and pressing into God.

This is so true. I tend to do this but when I remember to focus on God, my doubts fade and I forget I had them in the first place. But here’s the thing, walking with God means putting our trust in Him…even when we don’t understand or it doesn’t seem to make sense.

Give God your defeated mindset and watch as He fortifies you with the strength and courage you need to overcome and claim the victory that’s rightfully yours.

The enemy lies to us. He tells us we have been defeated and the battle is lost. Jesus is the one who fights on our behalf (if we let Him) and He has already won.

Jesus is the one who fights on our behalf (if we let Him) and He has already won. #IntotheDeep #christianbookreview #hebrews12endurance Click To Tweet

All that concerns you matter to God because you matter to God. Your faith matters to Him too; He wants to grow your faith, but it’s a joint effort. The heart must yield to God before His hands can cultivate its soil. In this yielding, He wants to give you peace in your decisions, and the more you exercise faith in this way, the more you will see how active and purposeful it is.

We have a tendency to believe some things are too “small” to bring to God. Our Heavenly Father cares about every aspect of our lives. Have you ever had a request that God granted even though you did not pray about it? This is a great reminder that God gave each of us a measure of faith (Romans 12:3) and He’s willing to increase it if we yield to His leading.

Related: Book Review: Enough

Sometimes all we need is a reaffirming word from a brother or sister in Christ. But we will never get the support we need if we don’t set our pride and fear aside and reach out for help.

Ask for help if you need it. And, be willing to help someone in need.

God is stronger than the enemy beneath our feet, and He has a divine check on the chaos that the enemy’s movement creates. Even if our worst nightmare comes to life, God is not surprised; and if we can just hold on, we will see deliverance once again.

God is in control. He knows everything and gives us His strength to get through it.

Related: Book Review: Therefore I Have Hope

I received an ARC as part of the Into the Deep launch team. A positive review was not required. Purchase your copy on Amazon. Have you read Into the Deep? What was your opinion?

In addition to examining the character of God and the lives of women and men of the Bible who chose to dive deeper with God, she provides practical examples and tools that help us take our faith to the next level by learning to make decisions by faith alone, control our reactions to overwhelming situations, and live a life rooted in love.

Get ready to exchange fear and frustration for the boldness, courage, and holy confidence that lead to a life of deep faith and joy!