How Can Believers Deepen Their Intimacy with the Lord？ - Part 2 — Al Whittinghill

Fellowship with Christ in Suffering

Well, a lot of times people will ask you these questions, they'll come, and we often can trick our own hearts and think we want an intimacy that we don't really want. Because to be intimate with Jesus is to fellowship with Him, not only in the power of His resurrection, but in the fellowship of His sufferings, and even being made for some conformable actually physically to His death and suffering, great measure.

Seeking God's Will Through Present Obedience

But to cultivate this intimacy I think is, you know, we already know things from the Lord, we already have direction from the Lord. People say, well, how can I know God's will for my life? And I would say to them, the best way to know God's will for tomorrow and do it is to ask yourself, are you doing His will today?

You got to look at your life and say, Lord, have I bypassed something? Have I forgiven everyone? Are there things in my life that I feel like I must make excuses for? Am I putting my heart in the position of someone who really wants to hear from God, who really wants to belong to Him on His terms, not mine?

The Word as Scripture and Spirit-Quickened Rhema

So I must get in the Word. When Jesus spoke to the Pharisees who were not intimate, He says, you do err because you know not the scriptures nor the power of God. So see, there's the Word, we can know the Word on an objective logos level, where it's the Word that's unchanging, it's the perfect awesome Word of God.

But that's a thousand times it talks about that in the New Testament. But only 54 times it uses the word rhema. And that then is a different sort of just the Word as it exists. It's when the Spirit of God quickens, like in Psalm 119, and makes a logos personal to me.

It becomes God's Word to my heart. And when God gives a, faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the rhema. Every time it says to go deeper like that, it's the word rhema, only 50 times of all those others.

Immersing Oneself in the Word of God

So I've got to ask myself, am I giving myself to the scriptures? When you want to get clean, you can get in the shower and take a quick little buzz and get clean. You can take a more scrub, or you can get in the bathtub and scrub up, guys don't do that much.

But you can be like a wife and get in there forever, you know, and you look like a prune when you get out. But we got to approach God's Word like the prune, soaking, saturating, getting. So when you pinch someone, the Word of God is there, thy word have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against thee.

By the words of thy lips I've kept my feet from the paths of the destroyer. If you abide in me and my words, my rhemas abide in you, then you can ask whatever you will and it says literally, and God will generate it, Genesis, this unto you.

Listening to God Through Prayer

And so the Word of God, and then when you know His will, then it's a communion, not just making your supplications known, but listening. The polite part of conversation is to listen first. So we listen to Him in the Word, and one of the main words for prayer is the word for supplication, which is to really find out what God is up to, find out what He's saying, and let Him speak to your heart.

And then you join Him, and you take those precious promises that are all the bodies of Christ in Him, yes and amen, to the glory of God by us. The question is, do I want the world to think I'm weird? Do I want the world to reject me?

Taking Up the Cross for God's Pleasure and Glory

Do I want people to look at me or walk the other way at a party because they see, oh, there He is again. And see, we're not willing to take up our cross in many practical ways. So the best way to cult intimacy with God is to stay intimate with Him right now.

We keep wanting something bigger and better, why do I want intimacy? It should be for His pleasure and for His glory and for His honor, not just my deliverance and success I've already given my life. Now these are simple answers.

Daily Obedience and Trusting God with Ministry

I know it's easy to say, but the test is, am I doing His will today or am I bypassing something? Am I just saying, well, I'll forgive later or I'll do this later? If you want to know His will tomorrow, seek His face and will and do it today, and then He will take care.

You take care of the depth of your life, and God will give you the breadth of your ministry.