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God’s grace refers to some kind of favor that God gifts. As we read in many must-read spiritual life books, it is not always something that we expect but comes out of the goodness of God. Many people believe that seeking God’s grace is enough to be given gifts or something good from God. However, we need to understand that God’s grace is given in the most unexpected ways, and simply asking for it is not an assurance that his grace will be given, nor is it something that we can earn from reaching a certain number of prayers in a day or donating a specific amount to charity.
Seeking God’s Grace In the Day – to – Day
There is a degree of importance in seeking God’s grace, so how do we do so? There are three core things we need to bear in mind when seeking God’s grace in our day-to-day life: to pray, repent, and submit to him.
Pray
Prayer is our connection to God. In the same way that we build relationships with others by spending time with them, talking to them, and sharing our own experiences, we can build our relationship with God through prayer.
However, instead of thinking of prayer as a requirement for seeking God’s grace, for example, needing to pray at least three times a day, think of it more as a way of talking or keeping touch with someone you hold dear. The number of times we pray is not as important as the quality of the prayer we give.
Say we pray three times a day, but during those times, we are easily distracted; we are in a hurry and not really reflecting that much. In that case, it would have been better to just hold off praying instead during the day and pray properly during the nighttime. Spending ample time with him reflecting on what you should be thankful for that day, what we could have improved on in our own thoughts or behavior, and how we were able to preach his good news through our actions with others. In this case, praying earnestly once a day is much better than haphazardly praying in a rush or not putting our minds and hearts into the prayer.
Prayer is also a moment of self-reflection. Early prayer is the time of the day when we think about the moments we have experienced throughout the day, what we are grateful for, and our shortcomings. It is true prayer that we can thank the lord for his guidance and recognize his presence in our lives and his role in every decision we make.
Repent
We often think of repentance as simply asking for forgiveness from the person we have hurt. However, as Christians, we need to broaden and understand our view of repentance, especially its role in seeking God’s Grace. Repentance firstly means apologizing to God for using your free will to do good or help others, instead of using it to harm or make life more difficult for others.
From a flip perspective, repentance reminds us that we are very lucky to have been given the opportunity by the Lord to make our own decisions, but we should use those abilities for good instead of evil.
Secondly, repentance also involves asking for forgiveness from others. However, merely saying that you are sorry is not always enough. Repentance is a promise to do better next time and try our best not to make the same mistakes again. If we truly repent, we will not make the same mistakes again and will work hard to improve our behavior or attitude.
Submit to God
Submitting to God sounds very questionable because if we cannot directly hear what God is saying, how do we know what we are supposed to do? But this is exactly why we study catechism and read the Bible—to understand our role in God’s plan. Submitting to God means being fully dedicated to living out his doctrines and values, resisting temptations from the devil, and humbling yourself in submission, knowing that he is the divine creator of us all.
Simply put, submitting to God means living out his values and what he teaches in the gospel. Being a voice of good, helping others through trying times, and practicing gratitude and humility are simple ways to show our submission to God and seeking God’s grace.
The Importance of Seeking God’s Grace
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Seeking God’s grace is vital as we journey through life and feel the different challenges that are thrown towards us. Sometimes, we may feel that life is unfair or that the lord has abandoned us. No matter how many times we seek his guidance, it seems that our prayers are left unanswered.
So if God’s grace is not a 100% assurance that all our prayers will be answered or that bad things will not happen to us, what is the importance of seeking God’s grace? Remember that God’s grace brings about our own salvation. His grace is key in strengthening our faith and beliefs that all we do is for a greater purpose and plays a part in his plan for us and the world in general. To learn more about experiences of seeking God’s grace and strengthening our faith through tribulations, purchase Blue Skies and the Dove of Peace: One Man’s Journey to Find God.
