PATHS TO DEEPER INTIMACY

ALL YOUR WAYS acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your PATHS”” – Proverbs 3:6

Leaning solely on God and His Word will establish the Believer on the PATHS to DEEPER INTIMACY: “Trust in the Lord with ALL YOUR HEART, and lean not on your own understanding; in ALL YOUR WAYS acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your PATHS” (Pro.3: 5-6). Here are Four Scriptural Paths to Deeper Intimacy with God:

Know God by Studying His Word: Intimacy starts and grows with knowledge – knowing who God is and knowing Him. It's rare to become intimate with someone we don't know. The path to intimacy starts with believing in Jesus Christ. When the Philippian jailer asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” The apostles told him to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and he will be saved (Acts 16:30). Belief in Christ initiates our knowledge of Him. Then., we’ll come to see that He is the God Who loves us, cares for us, and wants what is best for us.

Trust Him: Our knowledge of God grows as we trust in and experience Him. God is our Friend, but He's not like any friend we've ever had. God never breaks a heart, like human beings do. As we draw closer to Him, we’ll want to be in His Presence, not only receive His presents. Deeper intimacy means that the quest continues forever, for our hunger and thirst is infinite and is only satisfied in eternity. The more we know of God, the more we want God. Thankfully, because we live in this world, He left His presence with us in the form of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. He is always with us, and we can always call on Him. Life's situations will test us, but with intimate relationship with God, there is nothing we cannot face together.

Commit to Living for Him: The more time we spend with someone, the more we know them, and in liking them, the more we want to spend time with them. God built us for relationship; He wants our time and attention. There are no shortcuts to spending time with God. We must spend time with His Word – the Bible. We must come to God’s Word prayerfully, asking Him to speak to us and to open our eyes and ears to understand what is written and how to apply them to life. This approach will always yield a broader and deeper understanding of Him.

Prioritize God: Deeper intimacy requires prioritizing our relationship with God as the most important thing in our life (Matt.6:33). It means removing distractions which hinder, and which may fool us into thinking we're doing all the right things, yet there are no spiritual benefits or growth. Distractions produce dissatisfaction because our focus is no longer on the Author – Creator, Pioneer, and Finisher of our Faith. Rather than make excuses for distractions, if we crave deeper intimacy with God, He will prune us and remove them from us.