Building Intimacy With GodSample

Day 2: Barriers to Intimacy with God

As you read yesterday in John 15, spiritual fruit comes only when we have intimate fellowship with Jesus (abiding in Him.) This means that a Christian who doesn’t have intimate fellowship with God is no threat to the kingdom of darkness! God’s enemy, Satan, is invested in keeping you from knowing God. Pursuing God is not just a matter of willpower; it’s a spiritual battle. Today, we are going to look at three common barriers to knowing God. 

Three barriers to intimacy:

1. Religion

This can be the greatest obstacle to knowing God because it gives us a false sense of confidence. We can believe that doing things for God is the same as knowing Him, and neglect having a true relationship with God. This is the most dangerous barrier because we don’t know we are missing something. 

2. Shame

Many Christian feel like they are unworthy of being in the presence of God. The Bible tells us that we are made worthy to be with God if we trust in Jesus. Shame will keep us hiding from God’s presence instead of running to Him. 

3. Self-reliance and pride

Most of the time, Christians walk around thinking we are doing okay with the amount of God that we currently have. We might actually be afraid of more of God because He might tear down our self-reliance. Today, you will read Jesus’s interaction with someone who felt this way in Mark 10. Have you ever wanted just enough of God to comfort you but not demand anything from you? You will notice that Jesus did not negotiate with the man in Mark. He doesn’t compromise, but expects that we love Him with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our strength.