Developing Intimacy with God
A couple of weeks ago, I received an update letter from a friend who serves as a missionary. In that letter, I learned that he intends to transition to a different area of the same overall ministry, and that this was something that he is confident that God is leading him to do. I am wrestling with several different decisions at the moment – some related to career, others to lifestyle, others to ministry, others to childrearing – and his confidence intrigued me. So, I fired off an email requesting an extended telephone conversation, and we scheduled an appointment. (It’s sad when I feel that I have to schedule an appointment for a phone conversation with a friend, but that’s part of why I needed to have that conversation.)
We talked briefly of our families, and then got straight to the meat of what I wanted to talk about. Actually, it was more what I wanted to listen about. He had tapped into something that was largely foreign to me, and I wanted to know more about it.
He described his experiences and why he was confident that God was leading him in his new direction. Then, he asked me about my decision-making strategies. Eventually he told me about a resource that he has used to help confirm God’s leading in things. It involves prayer (obviously), but is a systematic and deliberate way of prayerfully approaching a decision. It turns out that it is described in a book: “Developing Intimacy with God: An Eight-Week Prayer Guide Based on Ignatius’ ‘Spiritual Exercises’”, by Alex B. Aronis. Based on his recommendation, I have decided to devote one hour per morning for eight weeks to work through this guide. Today was day two.
No, I’m not going to bore you by regurgitating each day of this process… I know that works for many bloggers, but it just isn’t my style. Plus, I’m never sure how regularly I will be posting here and I don’t want to disappoint the random person who wants to be able to follow the process. If that’s you, get the book. It’s an easy read, and VERY practical.
The first challenge I am facing in deepening my intimacy with God is being able to see myself as God sees me. I’m finding that I have first needed to examine myself and be honest about how I see myself. When was the last time you did that?
Ask yourself two questions:
- What is your primary purpose in life? (Really, what is it? Don’t just give the Sunday school answer here…)
- What motivates you to pursue your primary purpose in life?
As I’ve asked myself those questions in the prescribed morning prayer time, I have found that my approach to situations during the day has been quite different than it might otherwise have been. A simple recognition of those two facts has already begun to shape the way I interact with the circumstances of my life.
If God can change me that much in two days, what might He accomplish in eight weeks?
What about if I give Him that much time over the course of a lifetime?
