Signs of true intimacy with God and how to grow closer to him

What is intimacy with God?

What is intimacy with God really like? Well, to me it is a blessed assurance (I love this C&W version of the song by Alan Jackson) that Jesus is mine. The biggest thing for me in intimacy with God is that I know from my innermost core that in Him, I live and I move, and I have my being (Acts 17:28). Quite honestly, apart from His grace and love which I now understand, I don’t know how I lived without intimacy with God before. In the same way, intimacy with someone is being known truly by another person, and that’s how we can develop greater intimacy with God, by getting to know him better.

There are many ways to get closer to God, including reading bible verses about intimacy, but what are the signs that show you’re moving forwards in your relationship with Him?

Signs that you’re getting closer to God

Trust

A lot of people have asked me over the years how I truly know that I am close to God, and I would say that the biggest part for me is trust.

The bible speaks of this in Hebrews 11:6 (EASY); “Unless we trust God, it is impossible for us to make God happy. Anyone who comes to God must believe that God is there. They must also believe that God helps everyone who wants to know him.”

I have heard a few people who have had a partner be unfaithful to them say that once the unfaithfulness was revealed, they realised how little they knew that partner. I believe that if trust is missing in any relationship, it cannot be close.

In Proverbs 3:5-6, the Word says; “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” This to me is the most important piece of scripture for Christian living. If, like me, you find it a struggle to trust God, I suggest you pray and ask Him daily to give you the ability to trust Him, as I do; “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Phil. 2:13.)

The trust I now have is not perfect, but it grows stronger over time. The one difference for me now is that I am able to trust that I am exactly where God wants me to be at this moment in time, and this gives me immense strength despite whatever else may me tumultuous and confusing in my life.

This has given me a solid hope for the future, which I would say is the second sign of being in an intimate relationship with God.

Hope

The bible says that this hope will never disappoint (Rom. 5:5), and this is further assurance that God is close.

But to get to this point of trust even being a factor in my life, I needed to get rid of blockages that kept me from moving into a deeper relationship with God, as God cannot be in relationship with sin and He cannot override our choices (Isa. 59:2 & Josh. 24:15.)

I would suggest working through a step-for-step process (like in the book, Breakthrough into Deeper Intimacy with God) as I did. The reason I believe we need this process to clear the blockages is because we are mostly unaware of them, even when others point them out to us. You see, this is the work of the Holy Spirit that happens when we seek God earnestly (Jer. 29:13), and the process is one of uncovering, discovering and then discarding.

Peace

On a much more practical level, another sign of being closer to God is a sense of inner peace. For me, it felt as if a burden had been lifted off my shoulders, even though I still go through the normal troubles of life. God removed some of my troubles, but the others that remained were not as worrying to me.

I seemed to experience an inexplicable peace during these times, like when I was diagnosed with cancer and had to go for intensive radio-chemotherapy. This sense of peace had to be the closeness of God, as it totally aligns with what David wrote in Psalm 23:4; “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” This was a game-changer for me, because I never had it so good, and this fact helps keep me focused on God.

God’s direction

Another key sign of closeness with God is a genuine sense that my life is being directed by God, which ties in with Prov. 3:6.

This feeling is not a feeling of detachment or being out of control, but rather a knowing what to do – or what not to do – in situations that would have previously baffled us.

When I find myself unsure of things these days, I more naturally turn to God and ask Him, and there is an underlying assurance that the solution will come, and this assurance was never there before I felt closeness with God.

“Man’s steps are ordered and ordained by the Lord. How then can a man [fully] understand his way?” Proverbs 20:24 (AMP.)

Proverbs 8:17 (ESV); “I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.” Love as we know, is the grace that is the greatest of all (1 Cor. 13:13), and God’s love is unfathomable and eternal.

Diligence refers to careful and persistent work or effort, and I found this worked in my life.

How can you seek God?

The key though, is to remember we cannot seek diligently on our own, and God is wanting us to ask Him for help daily; “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.” Luke 11:9 (NLT.)

Practically, as I did at the start, I recommend reading at least one verse a day – starting in Matthew – and saying the Lord’s Prayer initially (or your own prayer, if you like), and committing to it every day without fail. This way you will grow into it without it being too much.

As you trust in God working and growing closer to you, so you will find yourself reading more and praying longer, as God leads you. It truly is a wonderful thing.

Apart from all the signs above, the one sign that is simply inexplicable, is the fact that I just know that God is close; it’s not a sense, but rather a fact.

Because this fact is so strong in my mind, there is no other place I would rather be. What is even more revealing, is the awareness that God had been there all the time; protecting me and directing situations and circumstances that led me to where I am now.

This makes perfect sense when we read Acts 17:28 (AMP); “For in Him we live and move and exist [that is, in Him we actually have our being], as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’”

I trust and pray that you may experience true intimacy with God in your life, as you get rid of any blockages and seek Him diligently, Amen.