How to Develop Intimacy with the Lord
James 4:8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you….
Do you want to hear from God more clearly? Do you want to develop your relationship with God and mature? Do you wish to experience Him on a personal level and bask in His presence always? I bet you want more out of your relationship with the Lord but simply don't know where to start. I mean, you consistently hear people speak about how the Lord speaks so clearly to them but you've never experienced it and wish you could! You know, it's possible to grow closer to the Lord and be intimate.
I love Sid Roth's show, It's Supernatural. I love listening to men and women of God describing their experiences with the supernatural and Jesus. I sometimes fall asleep watching video recordings of the show so that I'll experience such a supernatural encounter as the guests! I love how the show illustrates how experiencing the supernatural is easy and is for everyone. It shows how intimacy with the Lord is for everyone and can be achieved.
In order to encounter or experience growth in your relationship with the Lord, there are some simple things you can do although there isn’t any formula.
Spend Time with God
How do you grow closer to your friends or family? The answer is simple, you spend time with them. So in order to develop intimacy with the Lord, you need to spend time with Him. You need to speak to Him and listen to His response so you get to know Him better. You must learn to shift your attention from yourself and your needs to focus on Him.
Jesus while on earth, spent long periods of time with the Father. He made time to consistently and intentionally meet with Him; he fellowshipped with the Father through prayer. Hence, Jesus shows us one way to develop and grow in intimacy with the Lord. Prayer or having conversations with God helps you to grow closer to God. This time spent in prayer isn't focused on asking God for anything but rather in worship and chatting with Him.
Study and Meditate the Word of God
Secondly, spending time in the word helps you to know the Lord better. God speaks and directs through His word. The more of the word you know, the more you’ll grow in your relationship with him.
John 8:32 "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
The focus here isn’t to fill yourself with knowledge of the word but to get a personal revelation of the word in your spirit. Mere knowledge of the word doesn’t foster a healthy relationship with the Lord as the Pharisees indicate. You must understand the word of God and trust the word absolutely. It is trust that builds intimacy and keeps any relationship and your relationship with the Lord requires your trust in Him.
You need to meditate on the Word until you grasp a personal revelation for yourself. Aside personally reading the word on your own, you also need to listen to sermons either audio or video. The more of the word you know the more you will know the Lord. Fill your mind and spirit with the word
Trust the word of God
Abraham had such a great relationship with the Lord because he absolutely trusted in His word. Abraham believed that God was able to accomplish His words even when his circumstances indicated the opposite. His unflinching faith caused him to obey the word of God even when it meant sacrificing his only son, Isaac. He had faith in God concerning the birth of Isaac.
Who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, "So shall your descendants be." And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah's womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. Romans 4:18-21, NKJV
Absolute trust leads to obedience. Abraham obeyed God because he trusted Him. When God came to earth in the form of a man in Genesis, He spent a long time chatting with Abraham and revealing to Him what He would do to Sodom and Gomorrah.
And the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, "since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? “For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him." Genesis 18:17-19, NKJV
When you trust God, He also trusts you as you yield yourself to the spirit and reveals Himself to you. Develop intimacy with the Lord by trusting Him. Faith is what God needs from us for without faith it is impossible to please Him. Through faith, prayer, obedience and the word you'll foster a relationship with the Lord and grow your intimacy with Him.
What ways are you developing your intimacy with the Lord?
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