How to Fall In Love With God (13 Ways No One’s Talking About)

When I first started going back to church, I thought that the whole being in love with God was just talk. I truly didn’t understand that there were people in life that actually gave their trust to God and loved Him with their whole hearts. I had no idea how to fall in love with God.

So I started questioning people like I was a journalist. I would ask them “How do I fall in love with God like you did?” And people would mostly tell me the same three answers:

• “Pray more.”
• “Worship more.”
• “Read the Bible more.”

But I was doing those things. And it just wasn’t working for me. No matter what I did, I felt like my prayers ricocheted off the ceiling instead of going to God.

I knew God was close, but boy I didn’t feel like He was!

I knew this was an issue I had to solve in order for me to go any farther on my prayer journey.

(Side note: I have ADHD so I also have a HUGE issue with focus. Which wasn’t helping the feeling close to God part either.)

I had to go my own route and slowly found quirky ways to learn how to fall in love with God. They worked for me, so I decided to compile a list in hope that they work for you too.

Because let’s face it- life is tiring.

So many of us are in the midst of chaos or hardships. We are fighting battle after battle, and feeling like we are getting hit from each way like we’re stuck in the middle of some weird wave-storm that hits us from all over.

Let me tell you something though. When you’re the most tired and the most worn out, that is the best time to do this.

Here at Pray With Confidence, we don’t wait for life to be perfect to find God, we seek to find God in the midst of chaos, so that way it only gets better!

How to Fall in Love with God: 13 Ways People Aren’t Really Talking About

Here are 13 (mostly) unconventional ways to work on falling in love with God, no matter where you are on your spiritual journey.

#1- Don’t just read the Bible- seek out the hardest parts of the Bible to read.

Whether you’ve read the Bible your whole life or are just getting started, if you’re not feeling God, try reading the hardest parts of the Bible (or the lesser well-known parts of the Bible).

Yeah, I know this is weird.

If we’re struggling, isn’t it counterproductive to try something that makes us struggle?

Yes, and that’s why it works.

I know John 3:16 by heart. Even many non-Christians know that verse for the most part. And it’s a great part of the Bible (all parts are!) so don’t get me wrong.

But right now for seminary, I’m going through Judges, which is stretching me! (For example, Jael driving a tent peg through someone’s head in Judges 4:21...wow.)

I feel myself going to the Enduring Word Commentary and other commentaries every moment I can to try to work through many of these stories.

I do what Alonda from Let’s Talk Bible Study recommends: reading a chapter without looking up anything and writing down all the questions. Then, seeing if the questions got answered while reading. If not, look them up and learn more!

Why does this work?

It works for two reasons.

The first is to get us out of a “funk.” Sometimes we run across the same Bible verses and the same stories, and doing this helps us try out something new and get us re-excited about the Bible.

The other reason is to find God in new ways. Sometimes when we seek out God in ways we haven’t before, we can see Him in a new light, that gives us a renewed appreciation.

#2 Pray Differently

I struggle when people say “Just pray more.”

I know the intentions are great, but if I’m trying something that isn’t working, trying the same thing but just doing it more most likely won’t work either.

Most of us need to pray differently or change it up a bit.

You don’t have to throw away a prayer routine you have, just see how you can change it.

If you’re falling asleep praying- cool! That means God is the last thing on your mind, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

But if you feel like only praying at night is stopping you from having a thriving prayer life, switch it up a bit!

Try this:

• Write down what you love about your prayer life.
• Write down what you don’t love about your prayer life.
• Write down 3 small ways you could change your prayer life.
• Do one at a time. Give it a few weeks to make it a habit.

#3 Learn about God’s love beyond the John 3:16

God loves you.

We may hear this a lot, but do we actually understand the depths of it?

Find Bible verses that talk about God’s love for us.

A great way to do this is to go to Bible Gateway and type in things such as God’s love and see what comes up.

But also write down how God shows up in the lesser-known parts of the Bible.

For example, before when I was talking about the Book of Judges above, that book is basically about how time after time, the Israelite people continued to walk away from God, get treated poorly, cry out for God, and then God would bring a “judge” or a leader to lead them back to being okay. Rinse and repeat.

I was even getting agitated by this point. In Sunday School I always seemed to learn that the Israelites walked in the wilderness, made it to the Promised Land, and then lived happily ever after. No one told me about Judges growing up, and how the Israelites were finally in the amazing Promised Land, and then they started worshiping other Gods?! 

Yet God kept answering them every single time they prayed. Maybe not the way they imagined, but He always showed up.

God’s love shows up like this throughout the Bible. And once we find it, we can start applying it to our own life in ways that only God knows about.

#4 Find Your Jesus People

Surround yourself with wise counsel (Proverbs 11:14).

I’ve heard this advice a lot, but I’m kind of a loner so I never really took this advice up.

Until I went to the Whisper Gathering.

For a story that is too long to explain (I’ll save it for another time), I ended up at a prayer retreat in rural Mississippi. I met incredible women that were so strong in their faith. When there is a room of women strong in faith, it’s contagious!

Now there are four of us that talk through Facebook Messenger whenever we can and pray for each other, and wow does it make a difference.

If you don’t have a small group of people you can talk to about Jesus stuff, please email me and I’ll make sure we find you a group. Jq@praywithconfidence.com. 

#5 Find Your Non-Jesus People

Jesus didn’t come down to Earth to surround Himself with the religious, He came and hung out with the sinners (Mark 2:17.) We’re all sinners, so this verse is a bit easier than we think.

But we grow the most when we are engaging with ALL of God’s people and loving ALL of God’s people.

So if you want to learn how to fall in love with God and are struggling, learn how to love all of His people like He does.

#6 30-Second Prayers

There are quite a few Bible verses about Jesus sneaking away to pray.

If Jesus did it, it’s okay for us to do it too.

Here’s the cool thing: It never says how long Jesus snuck away. It just said that He did. 

When I need to refuel my love for God, I take a week and create deliberate 30-second prayers. I make it a challenge to see how many 30-second-or-less prayers I can do a day. It gradually shifts my mind into constantly turning to God. and making Him my main focus.

#7 Prayer Sandwiches

This is my favorite way to pray. Here’s what you do:

• Grab a notebook.
• Write down stream-of-consciousness anything that is on your mind to God. Don’t think, just write anything that is on your heart, no matter how good or bad it is. 
• Read the Bible. 
• Go back and write out another prayer.
• Compare the prayer before and the prayer after. 

Comparing the before-and-after prayers shows God’s fingerprints and how His Word truly comes alive in our prayer life. It can be a great reminder of His love for us and our innate love for Him that is hidden somewhere in us.

#8 Calendar Chats

Every day that I talk to God I cross it off on my calendar. It is a visual and a kinesthetic reminder to start talking to Him. Sometimes it’s the end of the day and I find myself praying as I cross off the calendar, it’s okay! We are a work in progress, and this reminder can be a huge help.

#9 Prayer Walks

Out of all of these, this may be the most conventional way that people do talk about. But I couldn’t go without putting it out here because of how helpful it is. To learn how to prayer walk, click here.

#10 Worship Loudly

Find a place where you can crank up the music and worship loudly. Try to match the worship songs to whatever you need to work out with God. One of my favorites is “Jesus I Have My Doubts.” It’s a beautifully honest song that I blare whenever life is really hard and I can’t feel God.

#11 Prayer Partnering (But Not The Type You Think)

When a lot of us think of prayer partnering, we think of being matched with someone to pray together with. And yes, we all should have prayer partners or prayer groups.

But when I say prayer partnering, I am talking about a technique that really helps me with prayer. This started when a friend of mine said her daughter was having trouble sleeping. My daughter was having trouble sleeping too, so every night when my daughter and I prayed we also prayed for this girl. We “partnered” the prayers together; whenever we prayed for my daughter we also prayed for her.

The great thing about this is that now we never forget praying for this girl. My daughter hasn’t even met her ever, but she remembers to pray for her each night.

Pick something you are likely to pray for each night, and then partner it with something that you need to pray for. 

#12 Fill your inbox and social media with positive Jesus messages

Sometimes we think of social media as an evil place full of sin. But in reality, the algorithms are created to show us what we show the most interest in. (Note: I was previously a Christian social media manager before running this blog full-time.)

For example: let’s say that you can’t stand your dramatic neighbor. Everytime she posts on social media, you read her long-winded comments and get frustrated. Well, the bots on Facebook don’t know you’re frustrated. All they know is that you stopped the scrolling to read it. Because of that, they show you more of her posts, as well as more posts like it. Suddenly, our algorithms change and our Facebook is flooded with negativity.

Well, the good news is you can change that! Pick a Facebook page with positive content. (You can start with us if you’d like!) Or Instagram if you’re not a Facebook person. Follow the page. Like and engage with a few of the posts. You can even just read the posts without clicking anything- Facebook counts that as engaging! Suddenly, you’ll see that page pop up more. If you do this with 5-10 pages, within a week you’ll see your whole social media shift!

To make this especially work, scroll really fast past negative content. It will eventually disappear.

Subscribe to daily devotionalsYou can do this with your inbox too! or follow some great Christian bloggers (here’s a list of 75 separated by categories!)

#13 Fill your inbox with people that think differently than you

One time I posted a beautiful message about Judas that I found on Facebook. A kind person commented and reminded me to be wary of who I follow because the original poster had posts in the past that weren’t “of God.”

The person that warned me of this truly is a great person, and I know her intentions were 100 percent pure.

Yet I think we walk a dangerous path if we only surround ourselves with people that interpret God’s Word the same exact way we do. Many of us can spend hours spending one verse and come to two different conclusions.

And a great way to grow is by asking the Holy Spirit to fill you as you read the Bible and come to the conclusion about where God leads you. But reading people that may not always think the same as you help you grow because it helps formulate your own belief system.

By doing this, we are reminded of how great our God is.

So how do you find these people? Facebook is a great place to start! Also, try Googling. For example, if you feel that homosexuality is a sin, try reading affirming content creators such as Mary Katherine Backstrom  or the Lovely Rites. You don’t have to follow anyone you disagree with forever, but it is a great way to solidify what you believe. By solidifying what you believe, you can grow closer to God.

Bonus Tip!

I know I said 13 ways at the beginning of this, but I wanted to throw one last one in here. Here it is:

Drop.

The.

Guilt.

Yep. I said it. Drop that guilt.

I am the biggest believer that the #1 thing that is stopping us from having a thriving prayer life is the guilt we have for our current prayer life.

If we all became prayer warriors overnight like we think everyone else has done, we miss out on the best part about prayer: the journey with God.

So instead of beating yourself up every time you don’t pray or don’t pray as you imagined, remember that every time you go to God He is there ready to listen and ready to deliver you from whatever you are experiencing. He most likely won’t ever answer a prayer the way you think He will, so if you’re stuck on figuring out how to fall in love with God because of your life experiences, just try shifting your focus on what He wants you to learn on the journey instead. And drop that guilt- God loves you.

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