As we finish this month’s conversation about having a thriving relationship with God, Shae Bynes offers her advice for gaining confidence in our relationship with God, prioritizing that relationship as time goes on, and how your community can support you while you support their own relationships with God.

You can listen to this entire conversation with Shae on our podcast, Work, Love, Pray! Listen below or click here to find your preferred listening platform.

How can we grow ourselves to not only be more confident in our relationship with God, but also be more confident in God?

Any confidence that we acquire is confidence in Him, not apart from Him. When you start to lean less upon your own understanding and focus more on walking with Him, leading with Him, and dreaming with Him, the more aware you are of how very dependent and how very integrated your partnership with God is.

The fact that the posture of your heart is that you want to stay in alignment with God is enough for God to work with. So often, we put burdens on ourselves that don’t belong to us. Jesus said, “I have these burdens. You don’t.” We don’t have to condemn ourselves or be in fear, because that’s a sign of an inferior kingdom and that’s not the way in Him. 

How can we continue to prioritize building and strengthening our relationship with God? 

Matthew 6:33 tells us to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. With that as the foundational revelation in our life, we know that we are to continuously seek Him first. I think everyone finds different rhythms and flows of their life that work for them. One of the things that’s been really important for me is creating space. I could fill up every hour of my workday easily. Add in kids and my marriage and the dishes and all the things, and I could literally fill up my entire day with doing.

Instead of doing that, I create intentional spaces. I don’t do back-to-back meetings. I create intentional spaces in between tasks and meetings to be able to breathe, to be able to think, to be able to listen, and to be able to converse with God. This discipline has really helped me to continue to have a rhythm of life that is aware of my very dependence on God. It also helps me remember to work from that place of rest and not feel like I’m having to work just for the ability to rest later. 

How can your community help you with your relationship with God?

When you have other people around you, you have the ability for others to sharpen and affirm you. Growing your relationship with God is not an isolated journey. God modeled community and collaboration from the beginning of time. Why would we think that we could flow in life without community? It’s vitally important to be surrounded, to have a space of close people. I prayed and asked God to just continue to surround me with people who would sharpen me so that we could sharpen one another. And He did!

What is one thought or a piece of advice that you want us to remember most from this month’s conversation? 

Grab hold of the revelation of the freedom that you have to walk in Him. A relationship with God is not about checklists, religious routines, or man’s traditions. A thriving relationship with God is about cultivating, then thriving and flourishing in an ongoing relationship with God. If you give yourself the grace that has already been given to you to walk step-by-step, you will be astounded when you look back and see what God has done in and through your life. I can’t overemphasize the freedom that you have to grow in Him, to be led and guided with Him, to dream with Him, and to walk with Him.

Shae Bynes is a passionate storyteller, mentor, and strategist who equips leaders to be catalysts for transformation in the marketplace.

Known as “Chief Fire Igniter”, she has reached over one million aspiring and current entrepreneurs around the globe through her devotionals, books, courses, podcasts, and more.  Her teaching and mentoring provide inspiration and practical strategies for doing business in partnership with God for greater Kingdom influence and impact.

Shae co-founded the Kingdom Driven Entrepreneur movement in 2012 and her most popular book Grace Over Grind: How Grace Will Take Your Business Where Grinding Can’t is shifting the way people live, work, and engage the world around them. Whether she is sharing on platforms publicly or consulting privately, you can expect Shae to deliver an abundance of truth with love, grace, and contagious joy.

Shae holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Masters of Business Administration from the University of South Florida and University of Florida respectively.

Shae has been married to her husband Phil for 23 years and is mom to three beautiful daughters. She has a healthy addiction to sunshine and water and calls the Fort Lauderdale, Florida area her home.