Practical Ways to Know God Deeper – Part 3

Wednesday, May 26, 2021

In this article, I continue detailing the 20 practical lessons I’ve learned from 20 years of seeking to know the Lord intimately. In case you missed the first two parts of this series, you can catch up with Part 1 and Part 2 if needed.

13. Don’t be self-righteous about your relationship with the Lord.

If you are married, don’t judge, coerce, or try to control your spouse to spend time with the Lord. Don’t do this with your kids, friends, or family members either.

Let go and let God move in their life.

Angie and I have a now famous story we like to tell when we were first married. I was like a strict Pharisee, rigorous about spending time with the Lord every day. But I was also very judgmental of anyone who didn’t seek the Lord like I did. And because Angie wasn’t living up to my standard of how a believer should spend time in the Lord’s presence, I judged her severely.

One Saturday morning, actually the first morning in our new apartment as husband and wife, I was on the back-porch “spending time with God”—or so I thought. Looking back, I’m not sure the Lord was anywhere near me because of my self-righteous attitude.

But Angie came out and offered me some fresh strawberry muffins and orange juice that she made for me. When she walked outside, in my heart I was outraged she wasn’t seeking the Lord like I was. I thought, “Oh no. I have married a lukewarm wife. I have become like Solomon and my wife is going to lead me astray from wholehearted love for God. If my wife was really serious about the Lord, she would not have made me breakfast. She would have been fasting until she had spent time with the Lord.”

Anyone who knows Angie and I will probably laugh at this story because she is definitely the better half. She is more like the better 95%.

When Angie said, “Let’s have breakfast together,” I replied, “No. I am seeking the Lord. You can come out here and seek the Lord with me.” Needless to say, that didn’t go over so well. Nor was that Saturday a fun day at our apartment. Thankfully, we always have a good laugh when we tell that story.

My point is don’t be self-righteous about your relationship with the Lord. Don’t think you are superior to other “less spiritual” Christians because you spend time with the Lord and they don’t.

Avoid all forms of self-righteousness when you “successfully” spend time with the Lord. I assure you. This will hinder intimacy with the Lord. Jesus hates self-righteousness.

14. Hunger and thirst for God grows as you experience Him on a regular basis.

Isaiah prophesied, “Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. . . . Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in abundance. Incline your ear and come to Me” (Isa. 55:1-3).

Hunger and thirst for the Lord is the currency of the kingdom. The degree of our hunger and thirst for the Lord determines how much of Him we have. Put another way, the measure of Christ we have is the measure of Christ we want.

Bottom line: If you are hungry and thirsty for Him, you will make time to seek Him. If you lack hunger and thirst for Him, you won’t make time to seek Him.

Instead, we will make excuses. Excuses that seem to justify our negligence. And we often think God accepts our excuses covering our lukewarm desire for Him. He does not. That’s why it’s so much better to be honest with Him and say to Him, “Lord, I want to hunger and thirst for you. But I don’t right now. Would you give me a greater hunger and thirst for You.”

I have also found that hunger and thirst for the Lord grows the more we experience Him on a regular basis. Let me explain.

If you have ever fasted or been sick, you know your appetite shrinks. The only way to get your appetite back is to begin eating again in small amounts. As you do this, before long, your hunger has increased.

The same is true spiritually. If you will consistently seek the Lord and begin to experience Him, your hunger and thirst will increase.

15. There’s a difference between seeking God and abiding in Him.

Jesus said, “Abide in Me, and I in you” (John 15:4).

Abiding in the Lord involves staying connected to Him, having an ongoing conversation with Him throughout the day, and drawing from His life to produce spiritual fruit.

We are to abide in the Lord throughout the day but seeking Him is a concentrated focus upon the Lord for a set time.

There’s a difference between the two. I have found seeking the Lord helps me to abide in Him throughout the day. I have also found it much more difficult to abide in the Lord when I haven’t sought Him first thing in the morning.

16. Always monitor your oil supply.

In the parable of the ten virgins, the five wise virgins had enough oil in their lamps for their lights to burn brightly (Matt. 25:1-13). This oil, symbolizing the Holy Spirit, was purchased in the secret place as they waited on the Lord and pressed in to know Him.

Based upon this parable, we should always monitor our oil supply.

Just as you look at the battery on your cell phone to see when you need to recharge it, monitor your oil supply. Be aware of your spiritual strength and stamina.

When you are low on oil, spend time seeking the Lord.

I have found, if I have a really good time of seeking the Lord, this can help me to abide in Him and walk in the Spirit for 2-3 days.

17. Intimacy with God is internal.

When I first started seeking the Lord two decades ago, I would look up to heaven and try talking to Jesus in the heavenly throne room.

Everything changed when I received the revelation of Christ in me. Then I realized my spirit is where fellowship with the Father, the Son, and the Spirit takes place on earth. My spirit is where fellowship with the Godhead begins and ends.

All intimacy with God originates in our spirits.

Paul said, “The one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him” (1 Cor. 6:17).

Yet most are unfamiliar with their spirit. Why? Their body, coupled together with their soul, has suppressed their spirit. For this reason, especially if you haven’t distinguished your spirit from your soul and body, take some time and ask the Lord to strengthen your spirit. Ask Him to help you discern your spirit from your body and soul.

Your heart is the garden of the Lord. Your heart is where the Holy Spirit wants to dwell. When all the distractions, anxieties, and desires for other things are removed from your heart, then you can begin to experience fellowship with the Holy Spirit in your heart.

The goal is to have the Spirit, who dwells in your spirit, to fill your heart and to then live His life through you, from your heart.

18. Christ in you is the key to knowing Him intimately.

Along the same lines as the previous point, the game-changer for me was having a true revelation of Christ living in me. Paul said Christ in you is the hope of glory (Col. 1:27).

Knowing deeply that Christ, through His Spirit, dwells within you is the number one key to knowing God intimately.

If you don’t have this revelation, ask the Lord for it. Pray Ephesians 1:17-18 until your heart is enlightened to know the power in you and toward you as you believe.

Christ in you connects you to God who sits on the throne in heaven.

19. The devil wants to stop you from having intimacy with God at all costs.

The devil wants to lead you away from simple and pure devotion to Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 11:3).

If you make knowing God intimately your life vision, it will be greatly contested by the enemy. Press through the warfare and don’t quit. It is well worth it in the end.

In fact, if you are not presently experiencing spiritual warfare, it probably means you are lukewarm. I don’t say that to condemn you or to make you want to experience spiritual warfare, for that would be foolish. But I say this because the kingdom of darkness wants to stop the church from establishing a secret place relationship with the Trinity at all costs.

Knowing this beforehand helps when you start experiencing spiritual attacks as you get closer to Christ.

20. Knowing God intimately is worth any price you have to pay.

Paul said, “I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Phil. 3:8). Translating the Greek in this verse, here’s my paraphrase: “Knowing Christ experientially is far superior and far better than anything or anyone else.”

I began my pursuit of Christ over twenty-years ago, and looking back today at the age of 49, I am so thankful I made this my life vision. I have made a lot of really dumb choices in my life. But the wisest choice I made was to make intimacy with Christ my life vision.

Looking back, I realize how many truths the Lord has taught me in the secret place. The many things He has revealed and spoken. All the transformation He has accomplished within me. There truly is nothing greater than knowing the Lord intimately. And you know what? I feel like I barely know Him and I am just getting started.

Pursue This One Thing

After detailing the twenty lessons I have learned in twenty years of pursuing intimacy with Christ in Part 1, Part 2, and in Part 3, I now have a greater resolve to focus even more on knowing Him. I want my life to revolve around this “one thing” (Phil. 3:13).

How about you? Would you join me in pursuing Christ like never before?

Bryan Kessler