A direct correlation exists between people drawing near to God and Him revealing His glory. God always responds to hungry hearts. James 4:8 (NKJV) says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”
Drawing near to God means we commune with Him in our thoughts. We allow His Word to shape our attitudes, and we glorify Him in our lifestyle. Amid the stress and pressures of everyday life, we take time to focus on God and not on the affairs of life. And we praise Him with heartfelt gratitude for who He is and what we have because of Him.
Let’s look at what we can expect to experience when we draw near to God.
A Place of Protection
When we draw close to God, we will experience a place of protection in His presence.
We can run to Him and find protection under the shadow of the Almighty. We can hide in Him and be “covered with His feathers and find refuge under His wings” (Ps. 91:4).
As Christians, we are in Christ from a positional perspective, but we can experientially get too far away from God’s place of protection. This happens when we allow distractions, the things of the world, offenses, and so forth to keep us far from the Father in our thoughts, attitudes, and worship. Sometimes, needless tragedies happened because a believer wasn’t drawing near to God in their walk.
When we live near God in a place of protection, He can manifest Himself to keep us from harm. Too often, the Holy Spirit tries to warn believers of something to come that they need to avoid. But they override the promptings and miss out on a manifestation of the Holy Spirit to bless and protect them.
We must live in close fellowship with the Lord daily, not just on Sunday or at a special meeting or seminar. It doesn’t mean we have to stop all of our daily activities. We can stay in an attitude of prayer and fellowship while going about our daily affairs.
When we live near God in a place of protection, He can manifest Himself to keep us from harm.
A Place of Communion
We will experience a place of communion when we live close to God. The further away we live from the Lord, the less we will be able to hear His voice. The Father wants intimate communion and fellowship with all His children. But it is difficult to have an intimate conversation with someone if they are not close to you.
If I were standing in my pulpit at Rhema Bible Church and wanted to have a conversation, without a microphone, with an usher standing in the back of the auditorium, it would be difficult. I might try to holler, “How are you doing?” If he heard me, he might nod or perhaps yell back, “I’m doing great!” But we couldn’t have an in-depth conversation because of the distance between us.
Similarly, suppose we’re living far from God in our thoughts, attitude, and worship. We wouldn’t be able to enjoy the privilege of an authentic relationship with Him. When a believer goes any length of time without entering into a place of intimate communion with the Lord, their Christian experience becomes lackluster and weak. They will succumb to every temptation and give in to every adverse circumstance that comes their way.
It takes living experientially close to God to overcome temptation. So refuse to let anything keep you from drawing near to the Lord and experiencing His presence in your life.
A Place of Receiving
Another experience we can enter into as we draw close to God is a place of receiving from Him. Some people doubt that God wants them to have the blessings He has promised in His Word. But those blessings were bought and paid for by the blood of Jesus. Why wouldn’t He want us to have them!
Romans 8:32 says, “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” It is difficult to draw near to God if we wonder if He wants to bless us. Instead of doubting, we should rejoice and receive what He has provided.
The way to overcome doubt concerning the promises of God is through faith in His Word. It’s easy to have faith in God’s promises when we are in close fellowship with Him. But a distant relationship with Him causes us to fall prey to doubt and unbelief. A lack of reading, studying, or meditating on scripture causes faith to elude us.
God made His will clear to us in His Word.
2 CORINTHIANS 1:20 (NIV)
20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ.
And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.
The Lord is saying yes to every promise He has made. But unless we add our “so be it” to God’s “yes,” we will never experience the reality of these blessings in our lives!
Everyone qualifies to be a recipient of the promises of God by accepting Jesus as Savior.
But we have to experientially draw near to God to receive from Him. In that place of being near to the Father, we experience a place of protection, of communion, of receiving, and of enjoying all His blessings!
Our Position Is Secure
Some believers aren’t certain about their position with God. They don’t understand His plan of redemption and the work Jesus accomplished on their behalf at the cross—in his death, burial, and resurrection. They often feel unworthy of drawing near to God. But the Bible says we can approach Him with full assurance of faith (Heb. 10:22). Through the blood of Jesus, our hearts have been cleansed from the guilt caused by our sin nature.
When we accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord, we are washed, cleansed by His blood, and made free to enjoy communion with the Most High. Our position changes from being a part of the kingdom of darkness to having citizenship in the kingdom of light! Positionally, we have been brought near to Him in a divine union. Now we must draw near to Him in our experience. We must enjoy fellowship with Him through His Word and prayer.
Author
Kenneth W. Hagin
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