Get ready for your next adventure! Learn the key to developing an intimate friendship with God that is an intimate relationship of continual discovery and delight.
My daughter had a baby not too long ago. When I arrived and met baby Abigail, I didn’t know much about her.
I knew her name and her parents. I knew some general things about babies and the ways babies might respond.
But I didn’t know Abigail.
As I spent time with Abigail, I began to learn more about her.
I learned how she liked to be held, what kind of bounce she preferred, and how she would not take a pacifier.
But I still didn’t know all there is to know about her. I will continue to learn about her as we grow in our relationship together.
Ongoing Interactions
Likewise, we continue to know God by continued experiences with Him.
We can know general things about God, but we can only know Him truly by taking action to know more about Him and experience Him.
In the Christian classic book, Practicing His Presence, Brother Lawrence provides key strategies to help us understand how to know God intimately.
Lawrence resolved to come to know God solely for the love of God.
Thus, he came to form the habit of conversing with God continually and referring all that he did to God.
In fact, he came to know God so profoundly that his times of worship and prayer were no different than other times of the day.
In his book, Lawrence writes,
Let me put it this way: before we can love, we must know. We must know someone before we can love him. How shall we keep our “first love” for the Lord? By constantly knowing Him better! Then how shall we know the Lord? We must often turn to Him, think of Him, behold Him. Then our hearts will be found with our treasure. [1]
When we turn often toward God and think of Him and behold His goodness, our love grows larger and larger.
Paul instructs believers not to “set” their minds on earthy, fleshly things but on things that are above, heavenly, Godly things (Rom 8:5; Col 3:2).
The Lord says in Jeremiah 9:23-24,
“Let no wise man boast of his wisdom, nor let the mighty man boast of his might, nor a rich man boast of his riches; but let the one who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me” (emphasis mine).
What does it mean to have an intimate relationship with God?
This is what it means to have an intimate relationship with God:
An intimate friendship or intimate relationship with God means you pursue a close, personal, and deep connection with God through ongoing interactions. It involves a strong sense of trust, faith, and curious openness to the presence of God in your life. We learn to become more aware of God’s presence in our day-to-day life. by pursuing activities that provide opportunities for us to experience Him.
How do I develop an intimate friendship with God
We can know and understand Him more and grow in intimate friendship with God through ongoing interactions.
- We can turn our hearts and minds to think about Scripture, think about Him, and ponder His ways more often during our day.
- We can talk to Him, ask Him questions, and consult Him in day-to-day life situations.
- We can learn to recognize what God’s voice sounds like and listen. We can learn what His presence feels like and how to practice being in His presence.
In this manner, we continue to learn more about Him and learn to love Him more intimately. We build an intimate friendship with God.
No matter how much we know about God already, we have not even scratched the surface in coming to know Him.
If all you want is to know the Bible, you must simply study hard and be assisted by teachers who know the Bible.
However, if you want to know what it means to have an intimate friendship with God, you must have ongoing interactions with Him. There is no other way.
The secret to an intimate friendship with God is ongoing interactions!
After spending time with baby Abigail, I learned to love her so much more.
Oh, and when I experienced her smile and then she grasped my finger, it thrilled my heart!
And when God smiles at you and wraps his arms around you, you are more than thrilled!
You experience His intimate love inside and out. You are changed, from one glorious moment in His presence to the next.
Abundant Blessings Friends!
Knowing God’s Presence Series
- The 3 Secrets to Knowing God
- The Surprising Secret to an Intimate Friendship With God
- Why You Might Not Be Aware of God’s Presence
1Brother Lawrence and Frank Laubach, Practicing His Presence, ed. Gene Edwards (Jacksonville, FL: The SeedSowers), 45, 85.
