Dr. Ashley Anderson
Recently, I watched a sermon by Pastor Dharius Daniels. He used this phrase, ”Intimacy requires intentionality.” With just three words, he gave a profound message about faith and life. We often seek intimacy with God and say we want to hear Him speak to, guide, and direct us while not being intentional about the relationship.
Just like in a friendship or romance, the relationship will not flourish if we don’t intentionally
invest our time, energy, and efforts. It is not enough for us to say we want God to change us and show us what we need to do to be better. We have to also put ourselves into position to hear what He has to say.
When we enter wilderness seasons or seasons with uncertainty and discomfort, we cry out to God for help. We want God to make things plain or remove the obstacle, so we intensely pray, fast, and attend church. Once things are going well and the crisis is over, we ignore Him or lose the priority of the relationship. We start treating God like he’s common!
Maybe your trials are not due to a string of bad luck. What if God simply wants to bring you closer to the throne? We cannot exit a season without learning the lesson; the lesson cannot be learned until we spend time with the Teacher.
Here are my top three suggestions on getting intentional with God.
1. Schedule your quiet time. Look at your schedule and block 20-30 minutes to be alone with God. Use that time to read, pray, meditate, journal or be still so that you can hear His voice.
2. Read scripture daily. Subscribe to a plan or plans in your Bible app so that you’re reminded daily to get in the word and glean lessons that you can apply to your life.
3. Find an accountability partner. Have at least one person that you study and pray with that will join you in the Bible app plans. Make sure that person will call you out when you’re not prioritizing your God time and be willing to do the same for them.
Let’s start this month by creating intentional actions toward intimacy with God.