Direct answer: Teach a new believer to seek God by beginning with the gospel, not with an intimidating list of spiritual disciplines. Help the person read a short passage of Scripture, talk honestly with God in prayer, participate in the local church, and obey one clear truth at a time. The Pursuit of God can support that process, but Scripture should remain the governing authority and the new believer should never be taught that devotional performance earns God’s acceptance.
Begin with belonging before behavior
A new Christian can easily hear “seek God” as “work hard enough to keep God pleased.” That reverses the gospel. The believer approaches God because of Christ, not because a devotional routine has created worthiness.
Colossians 2:6–7 provides a helpful order: believers have received Christ and are then called to continue walking in Him. Spiritual practices matter, but they grow from grace.
When you teach a new believer, say this plainly: Bible reading, prayer, worship, and obedience do not buy God’s love. They are ways a person who belongs to Christ learns to know, trust, and follow Him.
Teach one simple way to read the Bible
Do not begin with a complicated study system. Open a short passage from a Gospel and ask four questions:
- What happens in this passage?
- What does it show me about Jesus?
- What does it show me about people and the human heart?
- What response of faith or obedience does the passage call for?
Read together before assigning independent work. New believers learn by watching how a mature Christian observes context, asks questions, admits uncertainty, and submits conclusions to Scripture.
Let prayer sound like a real relationship
Many new Christians assume prayer requires special vocabulary. Model brief, ordinary prayer. Thank God for what the passage reveals. Confess a specific sin. Ask for help with one responsibility. Pray for another person.
Then invite the new believer to pray one or two sentences. Do not turn first attempts at prayer into a public performance review.
Use Tozer as a conversation partner, not as a substitute Bible
The Pursuit of God can be especially useful for teaching spiritual hunger because Tozer repeatedly presses readers beyond religious information toward God Himself. Chapter 1 can open a conversation about desire for God. Chapter 5 can help discuss God’s presence. Chapter 7 can introduce faith as attention directed toward God. Chapter 10 can connect devotion with ordinary life.
But Tozer should be read under Scripture. If a phrase is difficult, explain it. If a new believer confuses Tozer’s devotional language with a direct biblical statement, go back to the relevant passage and clarify the difference.
A four-week beginning plan
Week 1 — Grace and assurance
Read a short section from John 3 or Ephesians 2. Discuss what God has done in Christ and why salvation is not earned. End by asking, “Because this is true, how can we approach God this week?”
Week 2 — Hearing God in Scripture
Read Mark 1 or another Gospel scene together. Use the four questions above. If you introduce Tozer, use only a short paragraph or chapter theme and let Scripture govern the lesson.
Week 3 — Talking with God
Read a psalm and turn its truths into prayer. Teach praise, confession, thanksgiving, and requests without requiring a formula every time.
Week 4 — Obedience and Christian community
Read Acts 2:42–47 or James 1:22–25. Identify one act of obedience and one concrete step toward healthy church involvement or Christian fellowship.
Keep the practices small enough to become real
A new believer does not need to imitate the schedule of a Christian who has followed Jesus for decades. Start with a short daily reading, a simple prayer, gathered worship, and one ongoing relationship with a mature believer.
Consistency matters, but the purpose is relationship and formation. A five-minute practice done with attention can teach more than an ambitious plan that produces guilt and is abandoned after three days.
Teach obedience without turning discipleship into scorekeeping
Jesus connects love and obedience, and James warns against hearing without doing. New believers should learn early that Christian truth is meant to be lived. At the same time, failure should lead to confession, grace, repair, and renewed obedience—not hiding.
If the passage calls for forgiveness, discuss the relationship involved. If it exposes dishonesty, make restitution where appropriate. If it teaches generosity, identify a concrete way to give. The mentor’s role is to help connect truth with life, not to control every decision.
What this article does not try to cover
Teaching a new believer to seek God is one part of discipleship. A complete disciple-making process also addresses doctrine, church life, relationships, mission, leadership, accountability, and eventually helping others follow Jesus. Those broader systems belong elsewhere in the Knowledge Catalogue.
This page stays focused on the first spiritual foundation: learning to seek and know God through Christ, Scripture, prayer, obedience, and Christian community.
The natural next step: learn to abide
Once a new believer understands that seeking God is not a performance system, John 15 becomes a powerful next lesson. Christian growth is not sustained by trying harder in isolation; fruit grows from remaining in Christ. Continue with Kingdom Pathway 2 — Abide in Me for that next stage.
Related reading: How Can The Pursuit of God Be Used as a Christian Discipleship Workbook?; How Can The Pursuit of God Be Used as a Discipleship Study Guide?; How to Use The Pursuit of God in One-to-One Discipleship; How to Use The Pursuit of God as a Bible Study.
Primary text consulted: A. W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God. Biblical anchors: Colossians 2:6–7; Acts 2:42; 1 Peter 2:2; John 15:1–11.