Intimacy with God; The Starting Point
His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.
2 Peter 1:3
When I first began developing Spiritual Anthropology, I considered the core pillars that it would focus on. One of the most vital was the ministry of prayer and worship—because it doesn’t just comfort, it shifts atmospheres and enacts kingdom plans.
I chose this focus intentionally, knowing that the SPANTHRO journey would confront both historical and present-day brokenness. And my mission with this platform is to edify and empower those who are burning to reach others through diverse, Spirit-led avenues.
Prayer and worship awaken our spiritual senses, not merely for awareness, but so that God’s redemption can be realized in tangible ways.
We are not meant to be passive observers—we are called to participate, to respond, to carry His presence into the places that need healing most.
If you are here on the SPANTHRO platform with me, you are probably hungry to see something change in the world around you. Maybe, like myself, you dream of moves of God that will shake and transform communities, regions and nations.
How does it all start?
I believe that it starts in our secret place, when we are hidden with God in His presence. It is the intimacy cultivated in an unadulterated, authentic relationship with the Lord that holds nothing back which unlocks more than we could ever do in our own power.
If you carry a burden for more than you can possibly handle - especially if you have big divine dreams or a call to ministry - keep reading!
Through this intimacy with God, there are encounters with Him that will mark you forever-moments that seem like time is standing still just for you. His majesty will ruin you for everything else that just simply does not matter. His goodness and mercy will wreck the plans you once painstakingly built without Him. His love will stir you to dare to live a crucified life so He can be alive in you.
On this journey, you’ll look back and marvel in awe at the fruit that blossomed from choosing—again and again—to believe that everything He is to you is eternally satisfying and more than sufficient.
Enough in the trial.
Enough in the tribulation.
Enough in the disappointments and the disillusionment.
Each confrontation with pain became an invitation to know Him more deeply, and each surrender became a seed of transformation.
We don’t need to look like the world to reach the world!
If you are zealous to see God move mightily in the earth and have the restless desire to be a part of it, I have good news for you:
You already have all that you need in Him. You do not need to do one single thing in your own strength to do anything for Him, just be with Him and stay with Him in all that you do!
That’s the secret that’s not really a secret because it is laid out in the word already.
Check out some life-giving passages: 2 Peter 1:2-4, John 15 (especially the part about the vine and the branches)
Please allow me to make a brief commentary on church culture. The Lord gave me too much to speak on this…
In this age, much of how we “do church” and “do ministry” is far from this paradigm of true intimacy with God and seeking to please Him. I have seen many ministries resort to gimmicky, business strategies that employ watered down theology just to attract seekers, keep people in the seats and not offend anyone.
The best remedy for this drift is unbroken communion with the Lord. When we’re tempted to bow to mammon or the fear of man, we’ll know where to run—to the One who gives grace to overcome when we lay down our own will.
We want to build for God’s kingdom, but without intimacy, we risk building our own—driven by pride and ego. The world doesn’t need our polished programs. It needs Jesus. And we can only give Him if we’re willing to get real, get vulnerable, crucify our flesh, and follow His guidance.
Otherwise, we’ll try to reach the world by blending in with its systems—and that path leads us astray.
But I digress…
I have much more to share in future content on how God is shaking up the secularized Church of the West and forming a remnant that has substance and staying power!
The doors to God’s presence swing out.
As David Bowden and Mart Green write in Learning to Be Loved:
“God is moving toward you in ways that no one has ever imagined before. God is an infinitely brilliant, endless energized, forever-faithful pursuer. And He is after you. If your relationship with God feels one-sided, it’s because you are trying to do all the pursuing yourself…Spiritual disciplines are not religious doors we walk through to get to God. They are the places in our world God has worn out to get to us.”
The authors exhort to us that the doors to intimacy with God swing out…Meaning they do not swing inward as if we have to push them open to get to God.
Intimacy might seem daunting. But remember that before you even initiated the intimacy with God, He was already at work. He gave us the Holy Spirit so that we could be empowered to respond to His call. We can love Him back because He first loved us!
1 John 4:13-19 breaks it down beautifully:
By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
You already house the presence of God inside of your very body, from the moment of making Jesus your Lord and Savior. You have 24/7 access to the Holy Spirit!
And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
If you ever doubted that you could remain in the life-changing love of God, this is your sign that it is more than possible!
Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
If intimacy with God feels uncomfortable, it’s often fear speaking—fear of being seen, fear of confronting hidden pain, or even fear of encountering a love so pure it undoes everything you thought you knew. I’ve been there.
Whatever the reason, if we have an unhealthy fear of approaching God (as opposed to simple reverence), we need to learn to receive His love. The phrase “made perfect” in verse 18 comes from the Greek teleioó (Strong’s #5048), meaning to be made complete, fulfilled, matured—like a telescope unfolding one stage at a time until it reaches full strength.
We go through necessary stages to reach the end goal: being fulfilled by His love. Fresh revelations of that love change us from the inside out.
And all the pressure is off, because…
19We love Him because He first loved us.
Take that into your heart today. Don’t shy away from moments with Him—whether in quiet time, while driving, or simply tuning into the Holy Spirit during unexpected pauses in your day. Talk to Him about everything. And most importantly, learn to listen.
We’ll be diving into hearing from God and exploring more nuances of intimacy with Him very soon!