The most important relationship in your life is the one you have with God.
And that’s why it is crucial that you prioritize that relationship with Him.
One of the ways you can build your relationship with God is by reading the Bible.
Reading the Word will help you to:
- Know Him
- Understand His love and sacrifice
- Trust and worship Him
- Obey Him
So now you may be wondering which books are the best to read if you want to get closer to God.
Best Books of the Bible to Read to Get Closer to God
Here are 7 books of the Bible that you can read to get closer to God. They will help you to know God, understand His love, trust Him and obey Him.
You Need To Know God
If you want to get closer to God, you need to know Him.
How can you form a relationship with someone you don’t know?
1) St John
If you want to know more about God, start by reading St. John.
This book is the fourth book in the New Testament.
It captures the life of Jesus, His love, miracles and teachings.
As you read the chapters, you will see how Jesus interacted with people as well as His compassion, power and wisdom.
You will get a good glimpse of His character, and you will see what He is really like.
This book will help you to understand why it’s important to:
- Stay connected to God
- Pray regularly
- Obey God
You Need to Understand God’s Love and Sacrifice
As you get to know God, your love for Him will grow.
Consequently, you will draw closer to Him and He will draw closer to you (James 4:8).
If you want to love God more, take some time to learn about His love and sacrifice for you.
You can deepen your understanding by reading and studying the following books of the Bible.
All these books are found in the New Testament.
I believe that if you understand how much God loves you, it will be much easier to draw closer to Him.
You will understand that His thoughts and plans for you are good.
2) Romans
I absolutely love the book of Romans!
If you really want to understand your need for a Savior, then this is the book for you.
Romans 1 starts by showing us that God reveals Himself to us through nature.
This book also helps you to understand that once you believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins, you become a child of God.
You are adopted into the family of God and become a partaker in the inheritance of the saints. This truth will help you to understand your identity in Christ.
After reading the first 10 chapters of this book, you will realize and understand:
- God’s love and grace
- Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross
- God wants to have a close relationship with you
- He did everything He could to facilitate a close relationship with you
It’s now up to you to decide if you want to have a close relationship with Him.
Key chapters to look out for in this book are Chapters 1, 3, 5, 8 and 10
I use several verses in this book to share the Gospel with others.
If you want to learn more about sharing the Gospel with non-believers or strangers in a step-by-step way, check out this article.
Recommended Article: How To Share The Gospel With A Non-Believer (Step-by-Step)
3) Galatians
Galatians is one of the books that can help you understand salvation.
You can also use Chapter 5 to examine your life because there is a list of works of the flesh as well as the fruit of the Spirit.
These lists will help you determine if you are moving towards God (fruit of the Spirit) or away from Him (works of the flesh).
If you see more acts of the flesh in your life than fruit of the Spirit then it’s time to draw closer to God.
Think about Galatians 5 as your mirror. It will help you see the areas in your life where you are doing well and the ones that need attention.
This book has only 6 chapters, so it’s quite easy to read. You can read 1 chapter a day.
One of the things I love about Galatians is that it helps you to focus on faith and grace instead of works and legalism.
You will realize that if you want to have a closer relationship with God, you have to let go of self-righteousness and cling to the righteousness of Christ.
Key chapters to look out for are Chapters 3, 4 and 5.
4) Ephesians
This book of the Bible also helps you understand God’s love and grace, and this is explained in Chapter 1.
In Chapter 1, we also learn that we are sealed with the Holy Spirit when we believe the gospel of salvation.
The other chapters will help you to realize that God’s heart for us is unity. He wants us to live in unity and in community.
The book then closes out with instructions for:
- Spiritual warfare
- Marriage
- Family life
- Other relationship
Key chapters to look out for are Chapters 1, 2 and 6.
5) Hebrews
Hebrews is one of the books of the Bible that helps you truly understand the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and why He had to come to earth.
The writer of Hebrews encourages believers to draw near to God.
As you read this book, you will realize that you can go before God without fear because Jesus has paid the penalty for sin.
You can go before God the Father because the righteousness of Christ has been imputed to you (if you believed that Jesus died for your sins).
In simpler words, as a believer, you have access to God’s throne of grace so you can approach Him for grace and mercy in times of need.
In Chapter 11, you will realize that if you want to please God, you have to have faith.
The Bible explicitly says that without faith, it is impossible to please God. You have to believe that He exists and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.
Key chapters to look out for are Chapters 9 and 11.
You Need to Trust and Worship God
If you want to get closer to God, you need to trust Him. It’s very difficult to form a close relationship with someone whom you don’t trust.
One of the ways to strengthen your faith in God is to focus on His character.
As you see how perfect He is, you will be naturally led to praise and worship Him.
6) Psalms
If you don’t know how to praise God, the book of Psalms will help you to do so.
This book is filled with prayers and praise unto God that will help you realize that you can express yourself freely before the Lord.
Many of the Psalms were written by David, and he had a very real and open relationship with the Lord.
As you read through the Psalms, you will realize that David poured his heart out before the Lord.
In times of joy, pain, sorrow, fear and anguish, David communicated with the Lord freely.
You can tell that this was a man who was close to the Lord. Notably, God refers to David as a man after His own heart.
In Psalms, we also learn that God inhabits the praises of His people.
If you want to get closer to God, start reading the Psalms aloud and praise the Lord using the Scripture.
Here are some Psalms that can help you to trust God more.
- Psalm 23
- Psalm 46
- Psalm 91
- Psalm 121
Here are some Psalms you can read aloud as praise unto God.
- Psalm 28
- Psalm 100
- Psalm 136
- Psalm 138
- Psalm 150
Here are some that are prayers
- Psalm 51
- Psalm 63
- Psalm 86
- Psalm 103
You Need to Obey God
In Jeremiah 2, God tells His people that they have committed 2 sins:
- They have turned away from God
- They have turned to broken cisterns that can hold no water
From this, we realize that when we turn away from God, we are committing sin
And one of the way we can turn away from God is by disobeying Him.
The Bible said how can two walk together, lest they agree? (Amos 3:3)
If we want to be close to God, we have to agree with His Word.
And one of the ways you show agreement with God is by obeying Him.
7) James
James is a great book that reminds us that we should not just be hearers of the Word but also doers of the Word.
Ultimately, God wants us to love Him and love people. And this book gives you practical ways to help you obey Him in these ways.
This book is only 5 chapters and covers topics such as:
- Submitting to God
- Showing love in deeds, not just words
- Combining faith with action
This is the book where we learn that if we want to get closer to God, we have to draw closer to Him, and He will draw closer to us (James 4:8)
Takeaway
If you really want to get closer to God by reading the Word, the best thing to do is to read the entire Bible.
It will help you to get a full picture of God’s love for you.
I highly recommend that you read it in chronological order for a better understanding.
If you want to learn more about the best way to read the entire Bible, check out these 2 articles:
Suggested Articles:
However, I understand that you may just want to read 1 or 2 books right now to start your journey.
Here is a recap of the books that were mentioned in this article.
- St. John
- Romans
- Galatians
- Ephesians
- Hebrews
- Psalms
- James