You can never stay close to the Lord if you don't call on Him.

Ps. 145:18  The LORD is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him sincerely.

You can never stay close to the Lord if you don’t call on Him.  Prayer is the only way you can get to the heart of God.  Like anyone whom you love, the Lord thrives on communication.  He wants to hear from you consistently and often.  There is no getting around it.  You must take the time and put forth the effort to pray.  And, you must pray sincerely.

Prayer that does not flow from the heart is really not prayer at all.  It’s not the words we say that touches the heart of God; it’s the meaning behind the words that we speak that He hears.  The Lord hears what comes from the heart and not from the lips.  So, if you want to know the closeness of God you must learn to pray from your heart and not your mind.  You must learn to condition your heart to pray.  And the condition of your heart is determined by how well it is saturated by God’s Word.  The Scriptures and God’s Word are essential and inseparable for the heart that wants to draw near to the heart of God.

Closeness to God is also gleaned from living by faith and not be sight.  It is daily letting faith determine how we live.  It is consistently striving to put into practice the Word.  It is understanding that what we believe doesn’t really matter if we don’t live it.  The more we live out our faith, the closer we are drawn to God.  He becomes more and more of a big deal to us.  He is not someone we can ignore.

Take the Lord, His Word, and His presence seriously and He will always be near to your heart.  We must fight the tendency to take faith for granted and the blessings of life we enjoy daily.  We must discipline ourselves to be God-conscious.  We must do things to help ourselves to stay near to the heart of God.