BARRIERS TO INTIMACY WITH GOD
Have you ever wondered why you can't grow closer to God or what may be preventing you from seeking that intimacy with God?
Here are a few points to consider:
Lack of desire
We may want a relationship with God, but it may just be one thing we desire among a whole list of other things. And based on the testimony of our calendar and our checkbook, God may not be the top one on our list. But God is such that he is, the only one thing necessary. He is the only thing we should desire, and in that one desire for him, we can desire and love all of his created order rightly – everything from our family to the food at your next meal.
Distractions
Our intention may very well be to have God be our one and only desire and love, as the greatest commandment Jesus teaches. But then, in this age of social media, mindless entertainment, and devices that call out to us, our spiritual A.D.D. gets in the way, and our hours and days get filled with things we know at the end of the day really don’t mean or matter to us all that much, especially when compared to things like our faith and our family, bringing us to the next obstacle.
Lack of a Daily Prayer Life If our entire prayer life consists of going to church on Sunday, we are not giving God the “in” to affect us in our daily life. We may very well be inspired by what we heard and experienced at Sunday Church, but if we never recall those inspirations of God’s wisdom and guidance in our regular daily prayer, how can we expect it to affect our everyday lives and know the intimacy God desires with us?
Willfulness Pride blinds us from even knowing that we are being willful, and being willful closes us off from transformative change. Our stubbornness to do what we want and for things to go the way we want them to go precludes us from God having his way with us. Humility, then, is the key that unlocks the doorway to intimacy with God. We have to be malleable clay before him, allowing his divine truth and love to refashion us in a way that we may not desire at first because his ways are not our ways.
How can we overcome these Barriers?
Firstly sit alone and ask yourself if you would like to grow closer to God? God doesn't force himself upon no man but he sure knocks on our hearts. It's up to us to let him in.
Make an intentional effort everyday to work on your prayer life, it all begins with prayer, your desire to pray and seek God as stated above must come first, after which prayer will come more naturally.
With prayer, God can move mountains and shift those barriers aside as he sees your interest in Him.
The social media won't matter anymore, The movies and certain company of friends won't matter anymore but God will take first place in your life.
Slowly you will begin making decisions that will reflect your walk with Christ and that is where God wants us, to place him first and to enjoy a blessed and fruitful life with him. Are you willing to take the leap?