Intimacy With God

by Ruth Habegger

I believe that this is the very core of what we were born to for.
To be deeply known and loved by our Creator and in return to seek Him and love Him with our everything.

The more I get to know God, the hungrier I get to know Him even more. It’s an upside-down kingdom, the more you eat, the hungrier you get.

Intimacy with God for me means that I am chosen, loved and wanted by the King of Kings, that nothing and no one can ever snap me out of His loving embrace. I can come just as I am, happy, sad, angry, disappointed, silly, tired, insecure.
He is my safe place, my peace and my home.

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29,13

For a while I lost my hunger for more of Him through disappointment, grieve, anger, unforgiveness and religion. I knew that I was born to be a burning one, so I gave up my home and my career and moved across the globe to a place full of hungry ones, to find healing for my heart and catch the fire again.

What changed me, healed me and brought me back to life were my encounters with Jesus, alone in my bedroom on the carpet. Where I saw Him for who He is and He told me who I am in His eyes.

There is this chorus from a song: “I’ve seen I AM, now I know who I am.” This is so true. We find ourselves when we lose ourselves in Him.

Intimacy as Kris Valloton always says means in-to –me-you-see.

For me being intimate with God doesn’t always mean that I have to spend hours in prayer locked up in my room. Sometimes in the hectic of my daily life I only get 3 minutes with Him in the morning while putting my make up on. But that’s enough to realign myself with His truth and start my day right.

But as it is with the ones we love, if I don’t spend time with Him, however that looks like, I miss Him intensely. My heart and Spirit long for Him, just to be with Him. He is not a religious concept; He is a person.

Intimacy with God is not just reading a verse in our Bible every morning or raising our hands in worship on Sunday morning, intimacy with God about telling Him all our crap and asking Him to make our lives better.

Intimacy is our deepest depths of our hearts connecting with the heart of our Father, our Creator, our King, it’s the very thing we were born to do.

Think of your best friends, do you only call them when you need them to do something for you? Or when you’re unhappy?

I really don’t hope so.

Friends are the family we choose, so we choose those people because we love them for who they are and probably also for who we are when we are with them.

It’s the same with God.

So why not instead of messaging your friend every detail of your day simply tell it to God?

I talk to Him throughout the day, all day long. I tell Him what I love, what makes me mad and mostly I just thank Him for I see His beauty in goodness everywhere I go.

On a practical level:

I delete all my social media on a regular basis, whenever I realise that I spend more time on there then with God.

“Whatever steals your fire, throw it away.” Brian Jonson

I don’t leave the house before I’ve spent time with Him, even just for 3 minutes

I choose to worship Him every day, not matter any feelings or circumstances, because He ALWAYS deserves our praise

I’ve invited people into my life who I trust with my whole heart and I gave them permission to speak into every area of my life

I live in community with hungry ones, burning ones and together we press in for the more of Him. My lifeline this summer has been prayer meetings with my one close friend.

I talk to all 3 of the Trinity throughout the day, telling my thoughts, fears, joys and prayers for people I meet throughout the day

I choose to have a thankful heart

I ask the Holy Spirit every morning, what Psalm I should read that day and I always read the verse of the day on my bible app. The bible reveals the fullness of who He is in such an incredible way.

I can’t be in nature and not feel God.

So whenever I feel disconnected, I get outdoors into the forest or drive up to the mountains and just talk to Him and listen to Him

“Draw near to me and I will draw near to you.” James 4,8

Find out what drawing near to Him looks like for you and then do it.

Because you were created for it.