Intimacy. To be completely known, accepted, and loved. It’s one of our most basic needs. No matter what else is going on in our lives, we need to know that someone knows us. All about us. Even the worst aspects of our nature. Yet still loves us. Generally speaking, friends like that are hard to come by. In the Christian world, however, faithful, loyal friends should be plentiful.
And there is One who sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24). The Lord loves us with a deep love. He knows us better than we know ourselves, and loves us in spite of ourselves. We may know in our heads that God loves us this way. But knowing it in our hearts is a different matter. Relationships of the heart require time and attention in order to grow deep. But when they do, they become our dearest treasures.
That’s what God wants us to experience with Him. The Bible is filled with God’s call for us to come away with Him. To sit quietly with Him. To know Him well.
Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world. (Psalm46:10)
And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth. (John 17:3)
It was also Paul’s prayer for the churches.
I have not stopped … asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. (Ephesians 1:16-17)
When we know God well, we love Him more and more. When we love Him well, we obey Him. Because we know that His plans for us are good. He wants us to have a life of fulfillment. Which is the reason Jesus came in the first place (John 10:10 NIV).
The result of knowing God well, is loving Him well.Intimacy starts with time. Time alone with God in His Word, the Bible. When you develop consistent, quality time with Him, your relationship will deepen. You can have what Catherine Martin calls “radical intimacy” with God. Her book on quiet times is what I want to share with you this week.
I discovered Catherine Martin several years ago—and what a find she and her studies were! She has developed a beautiful study method that I enjoy. She calls it the P.R.A.Y.E.R. method, and all of her books and Bible studies use it.
P – Prepare Your Heart
R – Read and Study God’s Word
A – Adore God in Prayer
Y – Yield Yourself to God
E – Enjoy His Presence
R – Rest in His Love
Six Secrets to a Powerful Quiet Time is a 30-Day journey (6 days a week, for 5 weeks). Five days are devotional in nature. The sixth day she pulls the week’s topics together with a Bible study using her P.R.A.Y.E.R. method. Catherine (and me!) wants you to experience “radical intimacy” with God that is developed through deep, personal time with Him. This book will set you on the path for just that!
![This week in our small group study, I felt the Lord’s gentle chastisement.
We looked at the promise in Luke 11:28, “He [Jesus] replied, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.’”
At first glance, the promise of blessing comes from obedience. But it’s much more.
In the preceding verses, Jesus had cast out a demon that caused a man to be mute. The crowd accused Him of casting out a demon with Satan’s power.
Jesus explained how ridiculous it would be for Satan to drive out his own demons. Then a woman cries out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you,” (v 27).
This is the sticking point. Jesus was in the middle of an important discourse when this woman interrupts Him. He corrects her with this:
✨ Blessed are those who HEAR the word of God and obey it.
That word HEAR means to LISTEN with FULL ATTENTION.
✨ We cannot truly obey God if we don’t know what He’s saying to us.
Basically, Jesus told this woman, and the others in the crowd, “Pay attention!! Don’t get distracted from my voice. I have important things to tell you. You won’t know what they are and what I want you to do, if all you’re thinking about is what you want to say or how you can gain attention. Put your attention on ME.”
It’s never fun to be Jesus’s object lesson.
The questions I’m asking myself …
✨ What keeps me from spending time alone with Jesus?
✨ When I finally get alone with Him, what distracts me?
✨ What keeps me from focusing on God’s Word?
✨ What causes my kind to wander when I’m praying?
➡️ Eliminating distractions …
➡️ Exercising discipline …
… to bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5)
… brings true blessing.
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Thank you for sharing Dianne. I look forward to using the PRAYER method. I am praying to be more intentional in my TAG Time (Time Alone with God). I too want to grow deeper in His word daily – radical intimacy!
Thanks for sharing, sounds like a study I’d be interested in.
Just came across you. This sounds like a great study.
I love how God responds to us when we come close to Him – He comes close to us. (James 4:8). He is waiting for us to turn to Him and then He responds by being intimate with us.
I love your acronym … TAG Time! So creative!
Carol, I know you would totally enjoy it.
Hi Kathy! So glad our paths crossed! Praying blessings on your upcoming weekend!
Rachel, that verse has been in front of me since the beginning of summer. No matter what I’m reading or studying, the principle of drawing near is part of it. It is so precious!