Building Intimacy With GodChikamu

Day 3: Worshipping God with Our Hearts

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” This verse is the most central of the Jewish and Christian faith. Jesus said that it is the greatest of all commandments. As I meditated on the verse, I got stuck on the word “heart.” How could I love God with my heart? Although I was serving God, He felt so distant.

For about a year, that became my quest. How could I learn to love God intimately?  There are two primary ways that I learned to engage with God beyond head knowledge and duty.

1. Worship

Unlike my typical prayers, worship is when I choose to reflect upon and rejoice in the character of God. You are probably most familiar with corporate worship—praising God in church. But intimacy also means developing a pattern of personal and private worship. I’ve learned to set aside time to be alone with the Lord, simply engaging my heart in love for Him.

Here are a few ways you can begin to do this, even for a few minutes every day:

• Get on your knees with some worship music playing and meditate on the words.
• Read out loud Psalms of worship. 
• Go through the alphabet, praising God using each letter to remind you of His attributes. 
• Go for a walk and pay attention to God’s beauty through creation. 

2. Surrender

Jesus isn’t asking for our obedience; instead, He’s saying that when we fall in love with Him, obedience will naturally flow from us. Intimacy with God means much more than obedience—it requires surrender. Today you will read Luke 15:11-32. This is the familiar story of the prodigal son. The older son was obedient to the father but was never surrendered in love. His obedience was transactional—doing the right things to get good things from the father. Instead, the younger son came to a place of absolute surrender to love and appreciate his father.

Have you ever surrendered to God? What is keeping you from doing so?