The Essentials of Intimacy with God

How close do you feel to God? Is He near to you, close at hand, easy to reach? Or, is He distant and far off, unattainable? Your answers, especially if you are honest with yourself, reveal a lot about your approach to worship through the truths of Scripture. The Bible is our only manual when it comes to relationship with God. If worship is an expression of that relationship, then the Bible is paramount in our understanding of how to approach worship in any circumstance. I, too, have struggled in my own relationship with God, at times feeling that He is distant, and only the promises of Scripture have sustained me. The fact is that God has called us to Himself—He desires an intimate, ongoing relationship with us. But how does this occur? Is it easy to live a lifestyle of intimacy with God? What are the steps I can take to feel close to Him each day? In this short devotional, I will outline three essential elements for you, three basic ingredients to actually experience the sweet communion of intimacy with God every day. I will share with you the basic elements of honesty, trust, and determination that chemically combine to create a dynamic relationship with God!

ONE: Adopt an attitude of honesty with God.
Chemistry was not one of my best subjects in school. I did squeak through the course with a B, but only because my wife helped me with the algebra! I did learn, however, about the basic elements that make up the atoms and particles that form our earth and even the universe we live in. I learned more about the Periodic Table of the Elements than I thought I would ever use, but the analogy is helpful to us now. As you may remember from your own chemistry classes, the combination and number of electrons and neutrons in atoms form different types of elements that perform unique functions. Changing the number and combination of the atoms in the slightest degree forms different elements and different chemicals. A chemist combines particular elements to get a particular result. To get the right result, the chemist must know which elements combine to get the result he or she desires. That's how it is with our worship lives— we need to know the right elements to combine to get what we want, intimacy with God and the first element we need to have is honesty .

Statistics from the book The Day America Told the Truth quoted in USA Today reported that 91% of Americans lie routinely. The author cited further statistics that 36% tell dark, important lies, 86% lie to parents, 75% lie to friends, 73% lie to siblings, 81% lie about feelings, and 43% lie about income. Another study by the American Management Association reports that billions are lost annually due to employee pilfering, commercial bribery, embezzlement, burglary, shoplifting, arson, and fraud (ref. Morgan/Nelson). But how many of us lie to God? How many of us pilfer from His mercy when He wants to lavish it upon us? I'm not sure what it is about us humans, but we have this nasty habit of thinking we can fool God. We'll go to great lengths to hide things from Him that He already knows! We tend to forget that He is the potter, we are the clay. We want to sidestep the fact that He is the Creator and we are the created (Psalm 100). We shove under the rug our bad attitudes, our bad habits, and our sins. But He sees it all. He knows it all.

There's nothing hidden from His eyes!

I am a terrible liar. Anytime I'm trying to fool my wife about something (which is not often!), I can never keep a straight face, especially if she asks me a direct question about whatever I do not want her to know at that moment. I have a lot of trouble pulling off surprise birthday parties for her! I learned a long time ago that it was useless for me to attempt to deceive her, so I don't even try anymore, even in the smallest things. Perhaps that's why we've had a great marriage for 24 years now.

This same principle is key in our relationship with God. When we try to fool God, we're only fooling ourselves and, the sooner we learn that lesson, the better. Charles Finney once said "A person who is dishonest in little things isn't really honest in anything." Success in worship is based on an attitude of honesty, just like every good human relationship. If I lie continually to my wife, our marriage relationship breaks down, trust is worn away, and we both lose out on something very precious. I encourage you now to take out a sheet of paper and prayerfully list any areas in your life in which you are not being truly honest with God. List those things and then offer them to Him in prayer right now.

TWO: Adopt an attitude of trusting God!
I have encouraged worship and worshipers for about 25 years now. I would have to say that the number one issue facing worship leaders today is one of trusting God. Every worship leader I have interacted with in the last few years, whether in a large or small church, seems to be in a trust crisis of one type or another. Church ministry is challenging enough, with all of its scrutiny and nit picking from the congregation and even the pastoral staff, and it is often compounded with the trials of life itself. If someone just loved the traditional hymn you used this Sunday, there are nine others who hated it, waiting in line! Of course, the opposite can be quite true if you are serving in a traditional church that only recently allowed drums and guitars into the sanctuary. I know that I have felt extremely frustrated with the more vocal individuals in my congregation who make their wants and wishes known to me each week—I get so exasperated! That's when it comes down to trusting that God is in each song, that He's in each exhortation and prayer, that He's watching over the elements of the worship service and blessing those with open and receptive hearts. What trust crisis are you in now?

I say often in my seminars "Worship is first personal, then corporate." God calls us to walk with Him by faith (reference) and not by sight—a tough thing to do when you're in front of people leading worship (or trying to!) and the congregation's just staring at you as if you just landed from the planet Zarpath! Whether you lead worship publicly or not, though, God requires of His children faith in every spiritual endeavor—faith is the doorway to relationship with Him and the means to pleasing Him throughout our lives. Sometimes I notice that believers seem to stop using their faith once they've accepted Christ as their Savior, as if that's the only thing they would use their faith for. How distressing! He wants our lives to be abundantly overflowing with His presence, but faith is what allows that to occur (John 10:10). If a child has been born perfectly healthy, with two legs and two arms, we think it abnormal if they never learn to feed themselves or walk. Why is it, then, that our churches are filled with people who've never learned how to walk by faith or feed themselves in the Word? It seems we have a lot of stunted growth in worship these days because people around us do not use their faith and never experience the blessedness of a fully developed trust that God is with them, on their side, loving and providing for them in every way. True worship requires trust.

THREE: Adopt an attitude of determination in your relationship with God!
The church is filled with "fair weather Christians"—people who feel that God loves them when their circumstances flourish and that He is displeased with them when they do not see prosperity at every turn. This attitude, however, is not Scriptural at all and flies in the face of faith. I can think of no other area of our Christian lives where determination is any more essential than in the area of worship—we must not give up ! John Donne, a famous Anglican theologian and preacher in the 17th Century wrote these words: " Love him [God] not only in spiritual transfigurations when he visits thy soule with glorious consolations, but even in his inward eclipses, when he withholds his comforts, and withdraws his cheerfulness, even when he makes as though he knew not thee, Love him."

When it comes to our relationship with God, we often adopt what I call a "sitcom" mentality. The sitcom mentality is the notion that all of our problems, all of our difficulties in life will be rectified in about a half hour , just like the average situation comedy on television! If they're not, we become disillusioned with God, even with life itself, and we give up. We become sour, bitter, and difficult to deal with. Do you know people like this? Are you one of them? In this day of quick fixes and instant gratification, we've lost the sense of determination and doggedness, relegating any outstanding accomplishments to elite athletes and Olympians as we settle down into our easy chairs for another sugar-laden snack.

Thomas Edison produced 1,093 inventions that transformed the world as we know it, including the electric light bulb, moving pictures, and the phonograph. Yet, Edison had only three months of formal schooling. He defined genius as "one-percent inspiration and 99% perspiration." He would work for days on end on his projects and failure never discouraged him. After trying 10,000 times to get a battery to hold charge and failing, a friend attempted to console him. "Why, I have not failed" he said. "I've just found 10,000 ways that don't work." (Morgan/Nelson).

Jesus said "Broad is the way that leads to destruction... But narrow...)" In a sermon by my good friend, Alan Armstrong, he said that the narrow way isn't our behavior, our rule keeping and legalism, but our determination to know the Door . It takes more than most are willing to give to be successful in worship, but if we're determined, the rewards are incredible.

Now It's Up To You
Whether you are just starting in your relationship with Christ, or you've known Him for many years, you'll never find anything any more rewarding than pursuing a daily, intimate relationship with Him through worship. We've seen today that we need three essential elements, just like the chemist, in order to enjoy Him to the fullest: honesty, trust, and determination. What you do with these essentials will make all the difference!