The following are a collection of tips on how best to get to know Jesus better. The tips on this page have been extracted from John Pridmore’s excellent book ‘From Gangland to Promised Land’ © XT3 Limited.

Know your need of God. Don’t kid yourself that you are stronger than you are.

Set time aside in the day for personal prayer. However, do remember that it’s not the amount of time you spend in prayer that matters, but how real you are when you pray. We should pray because we love God, not because we have to pray.

Always be yourself in front of others. Never act in a way to impress others. Be courageous with your faith and share it with others. Remember that pride always leads to a fall.

Never be lead by fear. Fear has nothing to do with God.

Read Scripture daily. Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ. We need to live our lives according to Jesus’ teachings and commandments.

When we sin we should immediately pick ourselves up and go to confession. Always trust that Jesus forgives even the greatest of sins.

Know that sin doesn’t hurt God as much as refusing to love your brother as yourself.

All spiritual growth depends on honesty with yourself and God. It’s only in having a very honest and genuine relationship with Christ that His voice can be heard clearly.

Find someone you can be honest and real with. This might be a priest, spiritual director, friend, or someone in your family. Pray for and with each other. None of us have the answers on our own.

To be real for Jesus we need his body and blood. Attend Mass and receive Holy Communion as often as possible, even daily. Spend time in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

Don’t judge or criticise yourself. Allow God to be the judge – he’s much more merciful than you are. We will never be perfect until we meet God in heaven.

God trusted Mary with our salvation, so how much more can we trust her with everything. Mary is the key to finding peace in Christ. Pray the Rosary.

Pray for protection often, especially the Saint Michael and Guardian Angel prayers. Invoke our Lady and the Saints. You are never alone.

Don’t be afraid of the Devil. As Padre Pio says, “Fear is greater than evil itself”. Stand up to the devil and he will flee from you. However, don’t look for confrontation with evil, and if it comes you way, don’t try and handle it yourself.

The devil’s greatest tactic is to convince us he is not real. His next tactic is to give people an unhealthy interest in him.

Avoid the occult, i.e. Ouija boards, tarot cards, fortune-telling, palm readings, astrology, witchcraft, and New Age ideas. Also be careful as to what you watch, listen or read. What we put into our mind has a massive effect on us.

Signs that we are under spiritual attack include: discouragement, increased temptation to sin, disunity with those close to us, fear, anxiety and despair.

Praise God. Always and everywhere thank God and constantly praise Him in all situations – even if your house is falling down around your ears! The joy of the Lord is our strength. The Devil hates joy.

Know that you are loved and accepted unconditionally by God, and don’t listen to the lies of the devil.

God made you the way you are for a reason. Never doubt it.

If you haven't yet had the opportunity to hear John Pridmore speak, I highly recommend you download his audio interview (dated 7/09/2007) from EWTN's 'The Journey Home' programme.