{"id":117663,"date":"2026-10-02T11:05:58","date_gmt":"2026-10-02T15:05:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/?p=117663"},"modified":"2026-10-02T11:05:58","modified_gmt":"2026-10-02T15:05:58","slug":"relationship-with-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bgodinspired.com\/index.php\/what-jesus-teaches\/relationship-with-god\/","title":{"rendered":"Relationship With God: Jesus’ First Ask Was to Be With Him"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>7 Minute, 31 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>

Someone tells you that following Jesus is “not a religion, it’s a relationship.” You nod, because it sounds right. Then you get home, sit on the edge of the bed, and realize you have no idea what a relationship with God is supposed to look like on a Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

With a friend, you know what to do. You call. You show up. You hear their voice. But God is not sitting across the table, and when you try to pray it can feel like talking into an empty room. So you start to wonder if everyone else got something you didn’t. Here is the good news: the first people who walked with Jesus started in exactly the same place, and the very first thing He asked of them was simpler than anything you are worried about.<\/p>\n

Take the First Step<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n

The First Job Description Jesus Ever Gave<\/h2>\n

In Mark chapter 3, Jesus goes up a mountain and calls twelve ordinary men to Himself. Mark then tells us why He chose them. Read the order carefully:<\/p>\n

“And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach” (Mark 3:14, KJV)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Before the preaching. Before any assignment at all, the first reason on the list was this: that they should be with him.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not “get it right.” Just be with Him. Eat with Him, walk the roads with Him, listen to Him talk, and watch what He did with people.<\/p>\n

For the first followers of Jesus, the relationship did not start as a feeling or a skill. It started as time in His company. And time is something you can actually give, even on a tired Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Why a Relationship With God Feels So Far Away<\/h2>\n

Most of us try to build a relationship with God the way we would study for a test. We collect facts, try to say the right words in prayer, and wait for a warm feeling that proves it is working.<\/p>\n

When the feeling does not come, we decide we are bad at this.<\/p>\n

But think about how you got close to the people you love most. It was not by memorizing facts about them. It was by being around them long enough that you knew what they would say before they said it.<\/p>\n

Jesus put it in exactly those terms on the last night before the cross:<\/p>\n

“Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.” (John 15:15, KJV)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Look at what makes someone a friend in that verse. A servant just takes orders. A friend gets told what is going on, because a friend is close enough to hear it.<\/p>\n

The Question Philip Asked That Changes Everything<\/h2>\n

Here is a detail most people read right past, and it may be the most comforting one.<\/p>\n

On that same last night, after years of walking beside Jesus, one of the twelve still felt like God was far away. His name was Philip, and he said what a lot of us are thinking:<\/p>\n

“Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?” (John 14:8-9, KJV)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Philip had seen the miracles and heard the sermons, and he still wanted one clear look at God that would finally settle it.<\/p>\n

Notice what Jesus did not<\/em> say. He did not tell Philip to try harder, pray longer, or feel more. He pointed at Himself. If you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus.<\/strong><\/p>\n

That is the gold here for anyone who feels God is far off. You are not asked to reach into an empty sky. You are given a face, a voice, and a life to look at. The way Jesus touched the sick man nobody touched. The way He let children climb into His arms. The way He stopped for people the crowd walked past. That is what God is like, and you can read it, today, in the Gospels.<\/p>\n

What This Changes About Your Ordinary Day<\/h2>\n

So a relationship with God is not a mystery you have to crack. It is the same thing Jesus offered those first twelve: be with Him. In real life, that can be very small.<\/p>\n