What helped you have a meaningful and real relationship with Jesus Christ?

The two most important things that have helped me are Bible reading and prayer--having my own walk with God. I like to have a notebook/journal and sometimes write down verses, things I learn or specific prayers. I try to read the Bible as if it was written just for me and look for what I can learn from it and apply to my life. When I find a verse or a passage hard to understand, I sometimes read it in the Living Bible which is very easy to understand. I also like to underline special verses in the Bible as it makes my Bible more personal and verses easier to find.
And then prayer--talking to God about everything really. Prayer makes God more real.
 

Its also helped me to read Christian devotional books and other Christian books, listen to good Christian music and watch good dvds.

For a few years, I taught Sunday School which was really good for me as it made me dig into the Bible and learn lessons that I could teach very simply.

I am also blessed to have parents, siblings and friends who have real relationships with God and who are open to talk to.

 Christian camps and conferences that I've been to over the years were helpful.

There are many things that have helped me in my relationship with God, but the most important is definately time alone with Him.

How should a girl prepare for marriage?

1) Learn skills.
 Cooking, driving, gardening/yard work, looking after children etc.
Cooking is a big one! It's best to learn as much as possible before you are married, as once you are married meal planning becomes a big daily responsibility.
You don't want your husband to be like the newly wed guy who said, "My wife really worships me. She puts before me three burnt offerings every day!" :)


Help!!

2) Learn to keep a tidy room/house.
It's one thing to have a bedroom to keep in order, but it's another thing to have a whole house to look after. It's good to learn to keep your room clean and tidy and then it won't be so overwhelming when you have a whole house. Also, I can assure you, your husband will appreciate coming home to a clean orderly house!

3) Keep your heart for your man.
When you are married, you will have to stay faithful to your man. But if you are used to switching boyfriends regularly and flirting with anyone, how will you stay true to your man? God only has one man for you, so why not keep your heart pure until He shows you the right one?

4) Respect your father and/or any other authority in your life.
If you don't respect your father now, you probably won't respect your husband. Your father has much more experience than your future husband, so if you can't respect your father for his rules, authority and decisions, you won't respect your husband with his little experience/wisdom. Even though he isn't perfect and makes mistakes sometimes, respect him. Your husband won't be perfect either!

5) Learn to be content and thankful.
If you're not happy and fulfilled as a single woman, you won't be content as a wife either. You will not automatically become fulfilled once you are married.

Also, if you learn to be content and not covetous, you will be a big blessing to your husband as you will help save money!

6) Start praying for him.
As a wife, you'll need to pray for your husband that he will make the right decisions as he leads the family. Why not get in the habit now? All young guys need a lot of prayer! Even if you never marry, I don't believe your prayers will be wasted.

7) Make a list of all you want your husband to be, then learn to be that yourself.
It's easy to have expectations and yet not come close to meeting them ourselves. If you learn to be what you want your husband to be, you'll attract the type of husband you want.

8) Learn how guys think.
Males and females think very differently! If you learn how he thinks and what he needs, then you will be a better and happier wife!! Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus is a good book to learn how men think.

9) Study the Bible to see what God says to women.
What does the Bible say about how girls/women should live and act? What does God expect from wives? Why not find out?

Does God have one specific person for you to marry or would any good Christian guy do?

Is there a 'right' one?
If I hadn't believed that God had a specific person for me to marry, I wouldn't have married the man that I did! I wasn't attracted to my husband when I first met him or when he wanted to start a relationship sometime later. I hardly knew him and we didn't live in the same area, so I couldn't really get to know him without starting a relationship. If I hadn't believed that God had a specific person for me, I wouldn't have even thought twice about it. But I knew it was possible that he was the right one for me, so I prayed about it a lot and asked God for wisdom. And after five years of being married, I am so thankful I left the choice to God because He always knows what's best!
So I definitely believe the answer to this question is yes! (If its God's will for you to marry)
But I wasn't sure if I could actually back it up from the Bible.
So I started looking and was surprised at what I found. I read the story of Rebekah and Isaac to see if there were any clues.
In Genesis 24:14 when Abraham's servant was praying about finding a wife for Isaac he said,

And let it come to pass, that the damsel to whom I shall say, Let down thy pitcher, I pray thee, that I may drink; and she shall say, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let the same be she that thou hast appointed for thy servant Isaac; and thereby shall I know that thou hast shewed kindness unto my master.

He said the same thing again in verse 44 when he was talking to Rebekah's family.
This servant believed that there was one particular girl who was the right one for Isaac. And it made his job a whole lot easier!! :)
And then if you look at the story of the very first marriage, you see that God created a wife for Adam. He didn't create 10 and give Adam the choice! He created Eve especially for Adam.
God knows what we need far better than we do.
But in saying all that, no guy is perfect! The right one does not mean a perfect one. And it's more important to be the right one yourself!

How do you know God's will in making decisions?

Surrender your own will

If you want directions to get to a certain place, you have to admit that you don't know the way yourself. You have to be willing to accept that what you thought was the right way may not actually be! If you're determined that you already know the right way, you won't listen to advice. It's the same with making decisions. If you want to know God's will you must be willing to accept whatever His will is. And often (but not always) it's not we would choose.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9

Why do teen Christians find it so hard to talk to God about their sin and to confess to Him?

There are seven things that I can think of that make it hard to confess our sin.

1)Dishonesty

We often have excuses, we blame it on someone else or we just don't really think it is sin. To confess we have to be completely honest and admit that “I was wrong!” Adam and Eve are a perfect example of that! Proverbs 28:13 says “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”

How can I know Christ better?

This is a question someone asked me privately. But it's a very good practical question for young girls, so I decided to share my answers here aswell.

Make some time to get to know God each day.

The story of Mary and Martha in the Bible is always a good reminder to me. Martha was busy serving Jesus, while Mary was sitting at his feet learning from Him. Too often I get so busy doing good things for God that I neglect to spend time with Him. And Jesus said we must abide in Him to be able to bring forth fruit.

When I was a single girl, I was able to have time first thing in the morning or in my room at night to read the Bible and pray. When I got married and then started having children, having a quiet time was not so easy! Nearly impossible---so many interruptions! I had to learn new ways and how to make the most of just a few minutes. So the way you do it is not so important.

I find it helpful to find a verse in the morning to think about during the day. Because it's very easy to read in the morning and then forget about it for the rest of the day (which is not much help)!