7 Steps to Creating Intimacy With God

God made you. God loves you. God has a purpose for your life.

The classic definition from the Westminster Catechism sums up our primary purpose in life best: “The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.”

But how does one go about doing that? The same way you go about any relationship—spend time together.

Spending time with God is the only way to become intimate with who He is and how He goes about doing things. Some refer to spending time with God as a “quiet time.”

Quiet time simply means taking a brief period of time to quiet oneself from all distractions and spend it reading God’s Word, meditating on what He says and talking it over with Him. Some call it devotions, God time, and so on, and you can call it anything you want as a way of describing a designated time you will spend meeting with God.

Just as sleep is required for the body to regenerate on a daily basis, so is a daily quiet time needed to rejuvenate the spirit. Being sleep-deprived can cause severe and permanent physical and mental problems. It is probably why sleep deprivation has been used as a torture technique when looking to break down a captive.

Depriving our spirit time to connect intimately with God can also lead to all kinds of problems. We can become severely sidetracked from living out a vibrant, spiritually strong and intimate relationship with God. Without daily quiet time, intentionally planned out, we can become vulnerable to the deceptions of our enemy, the devil.

There is an invisible world all around you, whether you believe it or not. The devil and demonic forces are at war with God and His angelic beings, and you are caught up in it because you are a target. The devil’s goal is to discredit and disprove God. He is trying to prove a point that with his influence, little finite human beings like you will reject the invisible Creator God, and that you will instead choose to be your own god.

The benefit of spending intimate time every day with the God who made you means you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

Here are seven steps to creating intimacy with God:

1. Make a commitment to have a quiet time every day. Determine the value intimacy with God has in your life. View it equally as important as food for your body or the oxygen you need to breathe.

2. Prioritize your quiet time. This really has to be your first and most important activity of your day. It’s likely that every day you have to decide which things you’re going to do that have the highest priority. If you make a list of things to do, put this as No. 1.

3. Choose a place and schedule a time daily to have your quiet time. For most people, first thing in the morning seems to work well. It helps set the day in the right direction with the determination to follow the Lord’s lead. Select a comfortable spot that keeps you free from distractions. I have a favorite chair by the window. But yours could be something entirely different that best suits your needs. I’ve heard of everything from having it in the car in the parking lot outside work, to a busy mom with little kids retreating to a closet. Whatever location you select, view it as a sanctuary where you can meet one-on-one with God.

4. Read God’s Word. There are so many great Bible reading plans with a variety of ways to go through the Scriptures. Almost every year since I surrendered my life to Christ, I make it a goal to read through the Bible in a year. It has been the No. 1 way for me to gain God’s perspective on who He is and how He relates to us.

5. Use a journal to record your thoughts and insights. This does not have to be a lengthy nor complicated process. As you read or when you’ve finished reading a section of Scripture, simply write down a few words, phrases or sentences that express your insights. Make it personal and make it applicable.

6. Pray. This is not some kind of formal, lengthy, religious ritual. Rather it is simply a conversation, in your own words, talking with God about the insights He shared with you. You will want to praise Him for who He is, thank Him for what He’s done, and like a child with his father, ask Him for what you (or others) need.

7. Make it count. Find the one thing from your time spent with God that you will take with you throughout the day. Make it something you can apply to your everyday life as a tangible action item.

“Come away with me. Let us go alone to a quiet place and rest for a while” (Mark 6:31, WE).

For a more in-depth look at how to create intimacy with God,get Todd Isberner’s new book What Every Man Needs to Know: How to Master Faith, Family, Fitness and Finance.

Todd Isberner is a husband, father, business owner and author of What Every Man Needs to Know. As a result of his own life-altering conversion, Todd invested over 40 years learning to master the cornerstones of a man’s life: faith, family, fitness and finances. His success is based on discovering the deeper meanings and impact each one of these has in life. A former business owner, professional media consultant and coach, today Todd invests his time mentoring other men along their journey to success. More at ToddIsberner.com.