How Can I Know God Better?
Psalms 27:4 – One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple.
The ONE THING I desire above all other things is to know Him more intimately, to dwell in His presence every minute of every day of my life – to see Him in His beauty and glory and to think about Him and about life from the perspective of His presence.
Philippians 3:10-11 – That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
This highest cry in the heart of the Apostle Paul (and in my heart) is this: THAT I MAY KNOW HIM!!!
How can I do this? It doesn’t come automatically, but intimate fellowship with God is there for every one of God’s children.
How can I develop a closeness with God closer than I have every imagined where my Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but my eyes will behold Him, where my ears will hear a word behind me saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever I turn to the right or to the left? (Isaiah 30:20-21)
How would I get to know a person better? I would begin to spend more time with that person.
Spend time (and effort) developing a relationship with God. He is there, but faith believes not only that HE IS but also that HE IS A REWARDER of the one who DILIGENTLY seeks Him. Diligent seeking is required to get closer to God. Below are some steps that I have learned that have helped me time and time again in getting closer to God.
Spend time in prayer and praise just being with Him Then practice His presence every moment of every day. Treat Him always as though He is with you – as He says He is.
Attitudes to come to God in
Come expecting Him to be a rewarder (Hebrews 11:6). This is a prerequisite; he who comes to God must believe… not only that He is but that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. He is a rewarder of you.
Come with righteousness consciousness (Isaiah 54:14). Become rooted and grounded in the reality that you are in right standing with the God of the Universe! Come to know beyond doubt that GOD IS FOR YOU! (Romans 8:31-32) And know that He accepts you today, just as you are, and you are welcome in His presence every day on every occasion. We are told to draw near boldly even when we need mercy and grace (Hebrews 4:16).
Because of what He has done, you are welcome in His presence; you can draw near boldly at every time of need, any kind of need. If you don’t get near enough to God to let Him help you because you feel slightly guilty or inadequate or sin conscious, how can you ever receive His help to overcome the very things that make you feel unworthy in His presence? To get His results, you must take His point of view and accept your acceptance in Christ and come to know beyond any doubt you are welcome with Him. You can come to Him and talk to Him about anything.
Don’t come degrading yourself. You are a new creation, His workmanship, and you have no business degrading God’s creation.
Don’t concentrate on your faith or lack of it. Don’t concentrate on your lacks and short-comings. If there is something to confess, confess it quickly and let is go. Instead concentrate on Him, His love, His mercy, His provision and promises and on His desire to do good things for you.
Come with expectancy
Actually expect God to answer, to be towards you as He says He is, to act towards you as you see Jesus act in the New Testament. This is the faith that will release God’s power into your life and situation.
Matthew 6:6 – Pray to the Father who is unseen. HE IS there in the secret place! See Him actually there with you listening to you.
Matthew 6:7 – He hears without complicated or religious words or perfect prayers. Talk to Him as a friend.
Matthew 6:8 – He knows what you need before you ask, and it isn’t up to you to say it just right.
Hebrews 4:14-16 – He feels your pain; He understands and is touched with the feeling of your infirmities and invites you to come and boldly receive.
John 6:37 – He will not cast you out when you come. He actually likes you. He enjoys spending time with you.
1 Peter 3:12 – He delights in your prayers.
Romans 10:12 – He is rich unto all who call upon Him. He has plenty of what you need and is willing to give it to you!
Hebrews 4:16 – Come with boldness and confidence.
Hebrews 10:22 – Draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.
Know beyond doubt that He hears you when you pray, that He delights in your prayers, that He will and does answer you. Simply, put faith in these things He has said. Then you will get results. Your life will change. You will come to know God and begin to have deeper fellowship than you ever thought possible. He can become more real even than the natural world around you.
Hebrews 12:28 – Draw near with reverence and awe.
Some Very Practical Steps
What to do with your mind when you come
Psalm 103:1 – Bless the Lord oh my soul… Make it do it. Offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving.
Romans 12:1 – …Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable (it is something you can do with your mind and will) service (worship).
Psalm 103:2 -. . Forget not His benefits. . .
Use your mind and imagination when you come. You can visualize Him as anything He says He is. You can visualize Him doing anything you see Him doing in the Word; see Him doing it for you. You can purposely visualize Him fulfilling His promises to you. The results this will produce will amaze you.
Mark 11:24 – See Him answering your prayers when you pray just as Jesus said to do.
1 John 5:14-15 – Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
See Him listening and answering your requests at the time of prayer. You can leave knowing you have the answer when you know His will as shown in His word!
Visualize yourself before Him worshiping, acceptable in Christ, and Him enjoying your worship and listening to your prayers, delighting in you Visualize Him as described in His glory, yet giving joyful attention to you.
He may be a great and glorious God, but He knows how many hairs are on your head and actually cares about the smallest details of your life.
Put God’s own words back into His mouth. (2 Chronicles 20:6-12). Say about yourself and towards yourself the things that He has said in His Word.
What to do with your body when you come
Romans 12:1 – Present your body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. This is your reasonable worship. Make your body hold still and concentrate on the Lord alone.
Find a comfortable position. If your knees ache or body parts fall asleep, you will not be concentrating on God.
The Bible speaks of standing, kneeling, lying prostrate, lying on your bed, dancing, raising your hands, clapping, shouting, and playing instruments – so the body position is not as important and your heart and mind and words.
What to say when you come to God
You can speak in tongues. (1 Corinthians 14:17; Acts 10:46; 2:10; Romans 8:26, 27 – Doing this, you give thanks well, praise God, declare His wonders, express your deepest longings and pray His perfect will.
But don’t limit your prayer time only to this kind of prayer. Your mind isn’t involved as it is when you pray in your known language. (1 Corinthians 14:13-14) God hears you, but sometimes you need to hear you to get your whole being involved and get into faith.
Just speak from your heart and tell God what He means to you and what is going on with you. Treat Him as if He cares and listens as He has said He does; treat Him as if He were your good friend listening as you talk over things happening in your life.
Listen to anointed, scriptural worship music; sing and think about the words as you sing them. This is a great key to entering His presence. Come before Him with singing.
While reading the Bible, keep a notebook of words and expressions that say what you would like to say to God and use them in prayer and worship. This increases your praise and worship vocabulary. Learn from the word not from how others around you are praying. People can pray in the weirdest ways that they heard someone else do, but it is many times far from the truth in the word.
Take note of what worshipers in the Bible said as words of worship and use them. There is endless worship going on around the Throne of God, and you can join in. Even if you say the same thing over and over as they do, God accepts and receives you.
Other Keys I Have Learned in Approaching God
Meeting His love with faith, with expectation of His goodness towards me, opens the door to it flowing into my life. This is the door to the power flow. This is where you find all of the ability to live as you know you should. This is where you will find all of the answers you are seeking and the knowledge and wisdom you need to live effectively. This is where you meet with the power and reality of the living God.
Faith in his mercy releases it to me. Faith in His promises makes them effective in my life. Truly expecting from my heart God to be in my own daily personal experience as good as He says He is, as He has shown in Christ He is – this is the key to living and enjoying an abundant, fruitful life.
This is the essence of the Gospel: He has already given all I could possibly need; I merely receive; I merely take it and with full-hearted assurance expect it to be there when needed and act accordingly.
He hears me when I pray and gives me the things I have been seeking. It gets through to me though my faith, my trust and quiet, full-hearted expectation. So if there is a problem in the expectation, the answers to my prayers are hindered – and I go without my needs being met.
I believe He is there when I pray because He says He is. I believe He hears and answers me when I pray because He has promised to. I can do these things based on His Word alone; no feelings or experiences are needed. I go away in faith knowing I now have the things I desire when I pray. This is the way that the Lord works in meeting my needs. And this is how it will always be, because this is the essence of the Gospel. God has given all we can ever need in Jesus, and we take it for ourselves through our faith. The one who God has made righteous is designed to LIVE by faith.
