If you're anything like me and rely heavily on your relationship with God, you know how important and beneficial it is to actually take the time every day to grow closer to Him.

Also, before I go any further, I want to be extremely clear when saying this: I, myself, believe in God, but I realize not everyone does, and that's totally okay. If you believe in another higher power, or none at all, I'm all for it, and also, it's none of my business.

While we're at it, I could also get into how people who believe in God have a wide range of different beliefs, and how I don't agree at ALL with a large majority of the "Christian belief" articles I see floating around on the internet. But that's a topic of discussion for another time.

Anyway, I believe in God, and believe it's important for believers to have their own relationships with Him, which may be different from person to person.

For me, going to church doesn't equal a strong relationship with God. Of course, going to church and being surrounded by other believers in worship is usually a good thing, but it's not the only thing to do.

I do go to church and find that it's been beneficial. I also understand that not everyone has the same experience with churches, and again, that's an entire subject we could delve into at a later time.

I find that I grow in my faith more on my own time, though. I have made it a habit to do certain things every day which make me feel good, bring the important things into focus for me, and give me alone time with Him.

I spend time almost every single day journaling and reading God's word, which makes me feel good, and you can never go wrong with getting your thoughts and worries out on paper.

I also take time multiple times a day to simply pray or just talk to God. I used to be so intimidated by praying, and thought there was a "certain" way it had to be done for it to be "good", and I am o glad I learned that just simply isn't true.

I find if I approach it in more of a conversational way and just letting God, in, it's much easier to approach and comes more naturally.

Another thing I have found myself doing recently is starting my day off with worship/gospel music. I have a pretty decent drive to work every day, so what I do is just use that drive to listen to my music.

I feel like it starts my day off on the right foot, makes me feel good, and brings me closer to Him.

I think it is so important to make the time to do these things or other things that are similar because it's so helpful.

It's just so easy to get sidetracked or consumed in the everyday struggles and "stuff" going on, so doing these seemingly small things every day to be close to God really helps to keep things in perspective.

I know for me, it reminds me to focus on the good things, keep those things at the forefront of my focus, and it calms me down.

If you're a believer yourself, maybe try taking some time each day to do some of these things and see how it goes.