Intimacy with God

September 3, 2008 · Filed Under spiritual hearing · 1 Comment 

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to sit down with a close friend of mine and listen to him share his own experience on hearing God.

Early on his walk of faith, his desire to hear God was strong. In almost every situation, he would ask, God, is this what you want me to do? Or, Was that you, God? Are you trying to tell me something? His mind was constantly on the lookout for a “word from God” regarding every area of his life.

I’ve wrestled quite a bit with this notion of knowing God’s will in every area of our lives. It seems almost impossible; yet there are numerous scriptures supporting this idea:

    “Seek his will in all you do, and he will direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:6).

    “If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life” (Matthew 16:25).

    Even Jesus only did what he knew the Father wanted him to do: “I assure you, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does” (John 5:19).

I also think about Brother Lawrence’s writings from 300 years ago, where he learned to “practice the presence of God” in his everyday life. He was able to achieve a profound intimacy with God.

I believe this is the life God has called us to, a life of intimacy with him. And not just, “Lord, bless this food” prayers, but deep, profound, soul-searching, mind-engaging conversations with our Father. I believe this is God’s greatest desire for us. It’s not about giving, serving, working, helping, and doing. It’s about being. Being a child of God. Being with our Father. Spending time with him.

After all, what’s the greatest commandment? To love God with all of our heart, with all of our soul, with all of our strength and with all of our mind. That’s loving God with everything.

My friend and I talked some more about this intimacy with God, and I could sense some cynicism in his voice. He had been wounded years ago. I could hear it in his voice. So, I asked him about it.

He went on to explain that what started out as a desire to hear God soon became a bondage, a stress. He would wrestle over every decision, every “word”, every situation. His peaceful prayer time soon became filled with pressure. He had moved from listening to straining and striving.

When he told me this, my first thought was, That’s the enemy. Think about it for moment. If the devil could do one thing and one thing only to cripple your walk with God, it would be to disrupt communication between you and your Father. It’s a common military tactic—the first strike of a successful engagement is to take out communications. With that gone, surely confusion and disorganization will follow. My friend agreed.

Just as God has a plan for your life, so the devil also has an evil plan for your life. He does not want you to hear God, so he will take you to one of two extremes:

1. The devil wants to take you to a place of frustration, like my friend, where hearing God becomes full of pressure and stress. And who wants pressure and stress? It’s just a lot easier not to listen.

2. Or, the devil will convince you that God doesn’t speak at all. Cut the communication cord early, before it even has a chance to work. Sadly, this is where most believers are today.

God has great plans for you, and for you to live out those plans, we must hear what they are. I encourage you, today, to listen. God is speaking.

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