How to get closer to God spiritually — most people search for this in private. Late at night. After a hard season. After loss. After making mistakes. Sometimes, after everything else stopped working.
And here’s the truth:
Getting closer to God usually doesn’t look dramatic.
There’s no glowing cloud, no booming voice from the sky.
It’s quieter than that.
It shows up as:
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A little more peace than yesterday
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The strength to try again
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A thought that says “you’re not alone”
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A slow softening of the heart
You don’t need to be perfect. You don’t need to “know how” to be spiritual. You don’t even need to feel worthy. If you’re searching, you’re already halfway there.
Table of Contents
How to Get Closer to God Spiritually (without pretending to be someone else)
Let’s begin with something most people never say out loud:
You can believe in God and still feel distant.
You can pray and still feel nothing.
You can be surrounded by religious people and still feel spiritually lonely.
Getting closer to God isn’t about:
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Memorizing fancy prayers
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Behaving flawlessly
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Never doubting
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Acting “holy” on the outside
It’s about being brutally honest inside.
You might be:
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Tired
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Disappointed
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Confused
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Angry at life
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Unsure what you believe
That’s okay.
God can work with truth, even messy truth. What blocks growth isn’t sin or confusion — it’s pretending you’re somewhere you’re not.
Start where you actually are, not where you think you “should” be
Pause for a second and ask yourself:
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Do I feel distant?
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Do I feel numb?
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Do I feel curious?
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Do I feel guilty or unworthy?
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Do I miss God but don’t know how to go back?
Whatever your answer is, don’t judge it.
Real spiritual closeness doesn’t begin with rules.
It begins with honesty.
Some people secretly think:
“God probably doesn’t want anything to do with me.”
Yet you’re here, reading this, searching for how to get closer to God spiritually.
That longing itself is evidence of connection stirring again.
Turn your attention toward God in small, almost ordinary ways
Closeness grows where attention goes.
Think about any relationship:
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If you never talk
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Never listen
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Never think about the person
You drift apart.
The same happens spiritually.
You don’t need two-hour rituals. Start tiny:
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whisper “be with me today”
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Talk to God while driving or walking
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Say thank you before eating
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Pause before reacting in anger
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Reflect for 3–5 minutes at night
The goal isn’t perfection. The goal is turning toward God more often than you turn away.
Do this consistently, and the question of how to get closer to God spiritually begins answering itself through experience rather than theory.
Pray like you’re talking to someone who already knows you
A lot of people avoid prayer because they think they’ll “do it wrong.”
But prayer isn’t a speech.
It’s a conversation.
Sometimes it’s just sitting together in silence.
Your prayer can sound like:
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“I don’t know what to say.”
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“I’m tired.”
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“Help me figure my life out.”
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“I’m scared.”
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“Thank you for not giving up on me.”
No formal voice required. No perfect grammar. No performance.
Over time, prayer shifts from:
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Stiff → honest
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Scripted → spontaneous
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Fearful → trusting
That’s what real closeness looks like.
Read spiritual teachings slowly, not competitively
People often think they’re “bad spiritually” because they can’t read huge sections of scripture at once.
You don’t need volume. You need absorption.
Try this simple method:
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Read one small passage
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Stop
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Ask, “What is this trying to show me right now?”
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Apply one idea today
One idea lived is better than ten chapters skimmed.
Many people feel blocked spiritually because something inside them is hurting
You may intellectually believe in God, but emotionally feel numb or disconnected.
Often this comes from:
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Unprocessed grief
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Childhood religious fear
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Shame about past choices
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Trauma
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Resentment
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Disappointment
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Feeling “never good enough”
Sometimes God didn’t hurt you — people did, and they used God’s name while doing it. That leaves scars.
Deepening spiritually sometimes means unlearning painful ideas such as:
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“I must earn love.”
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“God is waiting to punish me.”
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“I don’t deserve forgiveness.”
Closeness grows when you stop running from yourself.
Gratitude quietly rewires the heart
Gratitude isn’t ignoring hard things.
It’s simply noticing the good things too.
Small examples:
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A warm drink
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A safe place to sleep
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Laughter with someone
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Getting through a day you thought you couldn’t
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Lessons from past mistakes
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Breath… just breath
When practiced regularly, gratitude:
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Reduces anxiety
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Increases contentment
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Opens the heart
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Makes you more aware of God’s presence
Write three things daily. They can be tiny. Tiny counts.
Bring God into normal, boring, everyday life
One of the biggest misconceptions is that God is only found in religious buildings.
But connection often happens in:
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Kitchens
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Buses
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Office chairs
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Quiet bedrooms
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Grocery store aisles
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Early morning walks
You can simply think:
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“Walk with me through this.”
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“Help me respond kindly here.”
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“Bless the work I do today.”
Suddenly, life itself becomes prayer.
That’s how to get closer to God spiritually without adding more to your schedule — you invite God into what is already there.
Be still sometimes, even if your mind goes wild
Stillness is hard today. Everything buzzes. Notifications, noise, distractions, racing thoughts.
But underneath all of that is a quieter layer of you.
Sit down.
Close your eyes.
Breathe slowly.
At first, you may notice:
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Restlessness
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Overthinking
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Discomfort
That’s normal. Stay anyway.
Eventually, the noise settles a bit. You begin to sense something steady beneath the chaos — that’s often where people start to feel spiritual closeness again.
Live in a way that matches your deeper values
You don’t need to be flawless. Nobody is. But living totally out of alignment with your conscience creates inner distance.
Ask yourself regularly:
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“Is this decision making me smaller or wiser?”
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“Am I proud of how I treated people today?”
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“Does this bring me closer to or farther from God?”
When your actions and inner values begin to align, peace increases.
And closeness with God often feels like peace.
Forgiveness releases the heart so it can feel again
Holding grudges is heavy. It eats emotional energy you don’t realize you’re spending.
Forgiveness doesn’t mean:
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Pretending it didn’t happen
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Allowing the same treatment again
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Instantly trusting
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Forgetting
It means saying:
“This will not control my entire inner world anymore.”
Sometimes the hardest person to forgive is yourself.
But self-hatred does not make you holy. Healing does.
Service pulls you out of your own head in the best way
One of the fastest ways people experience God is through compassion.
Not grand gestures — small ones:
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Answering a message from someone lonely
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Helping without announcing it
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Listening without trying to win the conversation
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Doing something kind that no one will ever know about
When you love others, you participate in something larger than yourself. And that “larger than yourself” feeling — that’s where many people sense God most clearly.
Doubt isn’t the opposite of faith — apathy is
You can question and still be deeply spiritual.
Real faith isn’t mindless certainty. It’s wrestling, learning, staying curious, and showing up again even when you don’t “feel it.”
If you’re doubting but still seeking how to get closer to God spiritually, you’re not weak — you’re growing.
When you feel nothing spiritually, keep showing up anyway
Sometimes you will:
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Pray and feel nothing
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Read and feel bored
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Sit in silence and only hear your thoughts
This doesn’t mean God is gone.
It often means your soul is being stretched.
Continue gently:
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Keep showing up
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Keep telling the truth in prayer
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Rest when tired
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Avoid shaming yourself
Feelings come and go. Commitment builds roots.
Final reflection
Closeness to God usually arrives quietly.
Not as fireworks.
As small shifts.
Every time you:
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Choose kindness when anger is easier
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Say “thank You” instead of “why me”
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Get back up after failing
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Admit the truth instead of pretending
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Ask for guidance even when you’re unsure
—You move closer.
Your relationship with God doesn’t need to look like anyone else’s. It doesn’t need to be polished. Let it be real. Let it be imperfect. Let it be yours.
Keep going. Something in you is already reaching back.
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