Simple steps for spiritual growth
Pray. Prayer is the means for us to communicate with God and for Him to communicate with us. Whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you (John 16:23). Whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive (Matthew 21:22). Pray to God in the name of Jesus, and pray in faith.
Read the Bible. The Bible is God’s love letter to you. It will teach you who God is and what he desires from you. Don’t worry if it doesn’t all make sense right away. Trust that God will reveal more to you as you mature in your walk with Him. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow (1 Peter 2:2). 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 complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Attend church. Becoming part of a church body and participating regularly in worship services will help your faith to grow. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another (Hebrews 10:25). I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go into the house of the LORD” (Psalms 122:1).
Ask God to lead you to the right church for you. Read the church’s Statement of Faith; most will have one in print or on their website. Certain key doctrines are non-negotiable: The Bible is God-inspired and infallible in its original manuscripts; Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man; and salvation is based solely on faith in Jesus’s work on the cross.
Visit several churches. Are the sermons based on Scripture, and do they challenge you and lead you into a deeper relationship with God? Is the church actively involved in outreach ministries to the community? Are the people warm and welcoming? Do you prefer contemporary worship or traditional hymns and liturgy? When you sense a deep peace in your spirit, you’ll know you’ve found the right church for you.
Witness. Tell others what Jesus has done for you, giving them the opportunity to pray the prayer that you prayed when you became a Christian. You don’t need to be a Bible scholar; God is ready to use you now. Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15). Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you (Matthew 28:19-20). You shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8).
Beware. Satan will work hard to make you doubt your salvation. Your salvation is not based on how you feel or on your behavior on a particular day but on the promises of God contained in His Word. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit (Romans 8:1). Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow (Isaiah 1:18). If you prayed in faith and are pursuing a relationship with God, you have nothing to fear. When you sin, confess it to God and repent, or turn away, from it. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart — These, O God, You will not despise (Psalm 51:17).