I don’t know where you are right now. Maybe you haven’t been to church in years, or you’ve just been distant for a month or two. Maybe you’ve had one of those weeks where you thought, “I really don’t feel God’s presence in my life.” And yet you long to be close to God.

How do you get back to him?

Here is a pathway to spiritual transformation—the three things you need to do to get back to God:

Realize you need to change. Nothing is going to change in your life until you get dissatisfied with the way you are. You need to get to the point where you say, “I don’t like this. I’m tired of being stressed out all the time. I’m tired of being frustrated all the time. I’m tired of being overworked all the time. I’m tired of feeling distant from God.”

Why does God let you get to that point? Because he loves you just the way you are, but he loves you too much to let you stay that way. He will not let you waste your life.

God says in Jeremiah 29:13, “When you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed” (The Message).

Own up to your sin. Isaiah 59:2 says, “The trouble is that your sins have cut you off from God. Because of sin he has turned his face away from you” (TLB).

Have you ever prayed and felt like God was a million miles away or like there was a wall between you and God?

Where does that distance come from? Your sins have separated you from God. But if you feel far from God, guess who moved? You! God has always been there. He loves you unconditionally, and he’s waiting for you to own up to your sin so you can have a right relationship with him again.

Give up control. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 3:18, “We all show the Lord’s glory, and we are being changed to be like him. This change in us brings ever greater glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (NCV).

True transformation happens when your heart moves from self-centeredness to God-centeredness. Are you there yet?

That transformation doesn’t happen overnight. God is going to work on you your entire life. But to start the process, you have to make a decision to repent and, “in view of God’s mercy, to offer your [body] as a living sacrifice” (Romans 12:1 NIV).

God wants to be close to you. And he promises that when you seriously seek him, you will not be disappointed. Watch expectantly how God works in your life this coming year as you seek him with all your heart, mind, and soul.