How Do I Build A Strong Faith in God?
“How do I build a strong faith in God?” I’ve been asked that question many times over the years and was asked again a couple of weeks ago by one of my blog readers. So, I thought this would be as good a time as any to share with you what has worked for me. First, please allow me to explain a little about my upbringing.
When I was in about the fifth or sixth grade, my family went to church quite often. One Sunday morning my sister decided to walk to the front of the church and be saved. The next thing I knew, my family was guiding me up there, too. I followed along believing that was what I was “supposed” to do, but not really feeling God’s presence at all. I did this because I believed I had to be a “good girl” to be loved by God.
I continued trying to do the “right” thing for years and followed the rules in my mind of what I was “supposed” to do as a good Christian girl, but never felt a real connection to God. I believed God was somewhere “over there” and that I couldn’t receive God’s guidance and help. I felt really alone.
I got totally freaked out in my twenties when I moved to Los Angeles and found a new church. As I sat and listened to the message, I realized that this church was teaching from the same Bible as I had been brought up on and, YET, the preacher was interpreting it completely differently. I thought, “Oh my gosh! Am I being brainwashed by one of these churches?”
Of course, I wasn’t being brainwashed. But what I did begin to see is that there are many different interpretations of the Bible. What an awakening! For years, I had been wearing blinders that created tunnel vision for me. My experience up until that point was that God was something to be feared and that I would be judged harshly if I didn’t “act” right. Thankfully, with this new church, I slowly began to take those blinders off.
BUT, I still wasn’t feeling connected to God.
It was when I realized that I had a lot of anger, fear and control issues and had a deep desire to be different wanting to be a more loving wife and mom that a new path emerged. I was encouraged by my therapist to get into meditation. All of the sudden, my world began to change.
I took classes at a school for healing and energetic medicine. The first step in meditation was to open up and create a connection to our higher selves. We didn’t talk about God in the school, just about energy. But what started happening to me was feeling the loving presence of God. I felt such an immense connection to the Divine. The peace, calmness and love in those moments allowed me to see that everything in my life was okay. My aloneness began to dissipate! I immediately became more joyful and a much more loving wife and mom.
I didn’t understand back then that every time I meditated and tapped into my higher self, I was actually tapping into God. Some years later I came across this Bible verse that explained what was happening. Christ said, “I will ask the Father and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” (John 14: 16-17) The counselor inside of me is my higher self. It is God within me. It is MY truth! This is why it felt so darn good to meditate. I had created a connection to that loving source!
I was on fire about this new path! Never would I have imagined that I would feel so much love. I wanted more!
I plunged into my classes. I took a year’s program for intuitive healing. Through that process I truly began to see that we are all energy. But the biggest realization for me was that we have blocks that keep us from living in our truths and cause us to disconnect from God. The class taught me how to release those blocks. And with each release, I found a greater connection to God.
“The Kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17:21)
To deepen your faith in God, you must create a connection to God.
That means going within to tap into YOUR truth.
Tapping into my truth became my focus. And being a mom was the pathway there. I began to watch how I interacted with the people around me. I knew that if I reacted in any way other than love, I wasn’t being in my truth.
When you are connected to God, you are peaceful, joyful, and playful, and feel no lack. But when you are disconnected, your feelings show you. This is when anger, judgment, blame, resentment, fear and the need to control take over. Your feelings are your greatest teachers. They show you that you are living from false beliefs that block you from God. These beliefs are buried in the subconscious mind and tell you how you think you “must be” to receive love.
Receiving love is the key here.
The reason we don’t experience God’s love and know without a doubt that it can show up for us is because we are shut down to receiving God’s love.
We don’t BELIEVE we are worthy!
The energetic blocks that stem from your subconscious beliefs of how you think you are “supposed to act” are what make you feel unworthy. When you react to the people around you or to life’s situations, it’s because these beliefs are being triggered and telling you that what you think is “right” or is the truth, IS NOT YOUR TRUTH. You’ve bought into others’ ways of being rather than being who you are. Think of “acting” as “performing.” When you are performing, you disconnect from God.
To deepen your faith in God, STOP PERFORMING FOR LOVE.
THIS is how I developed my faith that God is always there for me. By honoring and loving the way God made me, I created a connection and an opening to RECEIVE God’s love. By standing in my truth, I released the beliefs that said I was not worthy of love simply for being me. I quit trying to be “good” and stopped performing for love. I made a decision to love myself unconditionally. And in making that decision, I ALLOWED God to show up.
God’s love is always there.
We just have to be open to receive it!
The second key point to creating faith was ASKING for what I needed. Because I had felt so alone for a big part of my life, I really didn’t ask for God’s help. And if I did, I wasn’t open to receive it due to my beliefs that I was unworthy. But as I cleaned up the beliefs that said I couldn’t have God’s love and guidance, and then asked for it, God’s love constantly showed up!
At first my requests for help came with little things. And as I received guidance, I created a foundation for my faith. Then when difficult times came with cries for help, I was grounded in my faith enough to receive God’s love and support in grand ways.
Finding YOUR truth is the path to God. And as you stand in your truth, opening up to God’s love and guidance, your faith deepens. You begin to see that you are a part of this beautiful energy of love and support. It’s always there. You simply have to open up and receive it!
****Note: My mission is to help you release the subconscious beliefs that tell you that you’re unworthy of love. My greatest desire is for you to see that you are lovable and loved by God so that you may open up to this guidance and support. This is why I am so on fire about The Enlightened Mom book and CDs. I take you step-by-step to release the beliefs that shut you down to God’s love. And with each release, you will become a more joyful, loving, playful person. It’s all about loving and mothering yourself unconditionally! And as you do, that love will overflow to everyone! To check out the book and its companion CDs, click here.