A relationship with God is not the same thing as a religion about God.
Religion can exist at a distance.
It can involve correct beliefs, consistent attendance, appropriate behavior, and the performance of the right rituals, all without any actual encounter with the person at the center of it.
You can know everything about someone without knowing them. You can study the biography of a great person without ever having a conversation with them.
The information and the relationship are two different things.
What Scripture describes is not a system of religious observance.
It is a relationship with a living person who speaks, who listens, who acts, who feels, and who is deeply invested in being known.
Jesus did not come to give people better religious practices. He came to restore what Adam and Eve lost when the relationship between God and humanity was fractured: direct, unmediated, intimate access to the Father.
John 17:3 is the verse that reframes everything.
Eternal life, Jesus says, is not primarily a destination or a duration. It is a relationship: this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
The word translated know here is the same word used for the deepest personal knowledge.
It is the word for the kind of knowing that takes a lifetime and still has not reached the bottom.
The relationship is the point. Everything else flows from it.
What This Relationship Is Built On
1. This Is Eternal Life: That They Know You, the Only True God
“And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” ESV | John 17:3
2. Draw Near to God, and He Will Draw Near to You
“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” ESV | James 4:8
3. You Will Seek Me and Find Me When You Seek Me With All Your Heart
“You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” ESV | Jeremiah 29:13
4. The Lord Is Near to All Who Call on Him in Truth
“The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.” ESV | Psalm 145:18
Knowing God Personally
5. Before I Formed You in the Womb I Knew You
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.” ESV | Jeremiah 1:5
6. My Sheep Hear My Voice, and I Know Them, and They Follow Me
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” ESV | John 10:27
7. I Am the Good Shepherd, I Know My Own and My Own Know Me
“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me.” ESV | John 10:14
8. O Lord, You Have Searched Me and Known Me
“O LORD, you have searched me and known me!” ESV | Psalm 139:1
9. Now I Know in Part, but Then I Shall Know Fully Even as I Am Fully Known
“For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.” ESV | 1 Corinthians 13:12
Access to God Through Christ
10. I Am the Way and the Truth and the Life, No One Comes to the Father Except Through Me
“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'” ESV | John 14:6
11. We Have Peace With God Through Our Lord Jesus Christ
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” ESV | Romans 5:1
12. In Him and Through Faith in Him We May Approach God With Freedom and Confidence
“In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.” NIV | Ephesians 3:12
13. He Who Has the Son Has Life
“Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” NIV | 1 John 5:12
The Character of the Relationship
14. Behold I Stand at the Door and Knock, If Anyone Hears My Voice and Opens the Door I Will Come In
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” ESV | Revelation 3:20
15. Abide in Me and I in You, the Branch Cannot Bear Fruit Unless It Abides in the Vine
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.” ESV | John 15:4
16. The Lord Used to Speak to Moses Face to Face as a Man Speaks to His Friend
“Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.” ESV | Exodus 33:11
17. No Longer Do I Call You Servants but I Have Called You Friends
“No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.” ESV | John 15:15
Sustained by His Love and Presence
18. I Will Never Leave You Nor Forsake You
“Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.'” ESV | Hebrews 13:5
19. The Lord Is My Shepherd, I Shall Not Want
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.” KJV | Psalm 23:1
20. See What Kind of Love the Father Has Given to Us, That We Should Be Called Children of God
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” ESV | 1 John 3:1
21. For You Did Not Receive the Spirit of Slavery to Fall Back Into Fear but the Spirit of Adoption as Sons
“For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!'” ESV | Romans 8:15
Growing Deeper in the Relationship
22. Love the Lord Your God With All Your Heart and With All Your Soul and With All Your Mind
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” ESV | Matthew 22:37
23. Delight Yourself in the Lord, and He Will Give You the Desires of Your Heart
“Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” NIV | Psalm 37:4
24. That I May Know Him and the Power of His Resurrection
“That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.” ESV | Philippians 3:10
25. Walk Humbly With Your God
“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” ESV | Micah 6:8
26. Be Still and Know That I Am God
“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” ESV | Psalm 46:10
27. God Is Faithful, by Whom You Were Called Into the Fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ Our Lord
“God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” ESV | 1 Corinthians 1:9
The Relationship Was God’s Idea First
The most important thing to understand about having a relationship with God is that the initiative was never yours. He formed you before you were born.
He called you by name. He sent his Son. He knocked on the door. He searches, he pursues, he waits, he runs toward the returning child.
The relationship was designed and desired by God before you had any capacity to desire it back.
That changes what pursuing the relationship looks like. It is not the effort of someone trying to earn access to a distant deity. It is the response of a person who is already known, already called, and already loved, choosing to walk toward what has always been waiting for them.
The fellowship you were called into through Jesus Christ is the fellowship with the God who made you, lost you, and came after you. That fellowship is available, it is personal, and it is offered without condition to anyone who will receive it.
Questions People Ask About Having a Relationship With God
How do you have a personal relationship with God?
John 17:3 says eternal life is knowing God personally. John 14:6 establishes Jesus as the access point. James 4:8 says drawing near to God results in him drawing near to you. Romans 10:9 connects confession and belief to salvation. The relationship begins with faith in Christ and grows through prayer, Scripture, and honest daily engagement with God.
What does a relationship with God look like?
Exodus 33:11 records God speaking with Moses as a man speaks with a friend. John 15:15 shows Jesus calling his disciples friends. Psalm 23 describes the shepherd-sheep relationship of ongoing guidance and care. Revelation 3:20 shows shared meals as the image of fellowship. A relationship with God involves regular conversation, honest dependence, and the kind of knowing that develops in genuine time spent together.
Is a relationship with God the same as being religious?
No. Matthew 7:21–23 records Jesus describing people who performed religious activity without knowing him. John 17:3 defines eternal life as knowing God, not as performing religious duties. Religion can exist without relationship. What Scripture consistently describes is personal encounter, ongoing communication, and mutual knowledge rather than adherence to a system of practices.
How does prayer build a relationship with God?
James 5:16 says the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Psalm 5:3 describes the morning practice of laying requests before God and waiting. Philippians 4:6–7 connects prayer with the peace of God. Prayer is the primary conversational practice of the relationship. It is not a transaction. It is the language of the connection being maintained.
Can you have a relationship with God if you have sinned greatly?
Yes. Romans 5:8 says God demonstrated his love for us while we were still sinners. Luke 15:20 shows the father running toward the returning prodigal before any explanation was given. First John 1:9 says confession results in forgiveness and cleansing. The relationship is not offered to the qualified. It is offered to the honest, the willing, and the returning.
Father, I Want to Know You, Not Just Know About You
Father, I want to bring before you the honest state of my relationship with you, not the version that sounds appropriately spiritual, but the actual distance or closeness I am experiencing right now.
Let John 17:3 be the thing I actually want, not as a theological position but as the lived reality of my days: knowing you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you sent, in the way the word knowing actually means.
Draw near to me as I draw near to you, and let the fellowship I was called into through Jesus Christ become something I inhabit rather than something I only believe exists.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
