God has given us everything we need to live successful, godly lives. In His Word, He has given us many promises. But how do we take advantage of them? How do we move into His greater plans for us? To live victoriously, we must know the Father. It is the most important thing we need to do.
Peter tells us something about this. (The emphasis is mine.)
2 PETER 1:3–4 (NLT)
3 By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.
4 And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.
The key to living life on earth is getting to know our God! Just as it takes time to develop natural relationships, though, it also takes time to get to know the Father. It doesn’t happen instantly—even though we live in a time when everything is instant.
Think about it. It used to take an hour to bake a potato in the oven. Now it takes only five minutes in the microwave. But I still find myself sitting there wondering, “Will this ever hurry up and get through?”
That’s the age we live in, and that’s how we try to approach our relationship with God. We want to get to know Him microwave-style. But the Father is saying, “I’m putting you in the Crock-Pot. And I’m going to cook you until you’re so filled with My power, My strength, and My might that nothing can keep you from fulfilling your calling.”
An intimate relationship with the Lord is the only thing that will truly relieve the stresses of this life.
Hallelujah! When we allow the Father to put us in His Crock-Pot—when we take the time to get to know Him—we’ll become like Him. Then we won’t give up, stress out, or fall down, no matter what we face.
So how do we get to know Him? One of the most important ways is by meditating in His Word. Joshua 1:8 (MSG) instructs us to “ponder and meditate on it day and night, making sure you practice everything written in it. Then you’ll get where you’re going; then you’ll succeed.”
The Word is so precious! And if we want to know our God, we need to fall in love with His Word.
At Rhema Bible Church where my husband and I pastor, we give the babies in the nursery their own little Bibles. The teachers hold the Bible up to their cheeks and say to the children, “We love our Bibles.” Why? We want those little ones to get acquainted at an early age with loving their Heavenly Father and His Word.
I heard about one little boy from church who was roaming around his house searching for something. His mother had no idea what he was looking for. Finally, his eyes lit up when he saw the big family Bible in the living room.
That precious little boy went over to that great big Bible and struggled to try to lift it to his cheek. Why? Because he loved his Bible so much.
Like this little boy, we must fall in love with our Heavenly Father through His Word. You see, God’s character and nature are revealed through the Word. And the more we read and study for ourselves, the more we’ll learn about Him and see His faithfulness toward us in every situation.
The second way we come to know the Lord is through prayer. Our relationship with Him will not rise to the level He desires unless we fellowship with Him.
Unfortunately, we sometimes get so involved in our daily lives—with the work of our God—that we fail to commune with the God of our work. I’ve caught myself doing this. I was always the Martha who made everything happen. And we need Marthas! But we must be Marys as well (Luke 10:38–42). We need to set aside time to talk to the Lord and allow Him to talk to us.
When He was on earth, Jesus always took time to fellowship with the Father. Though He was the Son of God and already knew why He had come, He spent more time praying to the Father than anything else.
That’s the way we should be with the Lord. We should pray about everything continually—not just when something awful happens to us. I know it’s easy to push the 911 button during a crisis and pray fervently. But that shouldn’t be the only time we talk to God! Prayer should be the response to every event in our lives (Phil. 4:6–7; 1 Peter 5:7).
The Lord desires so much for us to know Him, for our hearts to connect with His. He longs for us to know Him as our best friend. He is a friend who sticks closer than a brother (Prov. 18:24). The question is, will we spend time getting to know Him today? An intimate relationship with the Lord is the only thing that will truly relieve the stresses of this life. It’s what will open doors of opportunity, lead us down the right paths, and cause us to walk in His ways.
Our heart’s cry should be to know the Lord in a closer, deeper way. Above all else, our greatest passion in life should be to know Him. When we know the Father, we know the end result. We always triumph. And no matter what path our life takes, the God we know—our Heavenly Father—will get us to our destination in victory!
Action Needed: Have you spent time with God today? Set aside time to enter His presence. Give Him your undivided attention. Talk to Him and let Him talk to you. He’s ready to listen and help you through every situation.
Faith in Action
Connect With Him
Prayer is the most powerful instrument you have as a believer. Here are some tips to help you successfully commune with your Father.
- Be disciplined and make prayer a priority.
- Stay in God’s presence on purpose.
- Open your mouth and talk to the Father.
- Follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.
- Know the power of prayer.
Author
Lynette Hagin
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