Are you “staying on the surface” spiritually, unwilling to get below it, and satisfied with the routine of making do? Staying with the familiar, the place that affords us the most ease and comfort, is spiritually sufficient, but it’s not God’s desire for us. God calls us to draw closer to Him by seeking out a deeper Christian experience than just staying on the surface.
I realized this about my own life. I saw I was complacent in certain areas of my life, and it birthed a spiritual dissatisfaction that weighed heavily on my heart. That weight was the conviction and prompting of the Holy Spirit to move out of my complacency. Complacency is a real serious enemy to the believer, because it robs us of spiritual depth, potential, and our purpose.
The Spirit of God began to give me a desire to go deeper in the areas that lacked depth and to seek more depth in those areas that have already obtained some degree of depth. There is never such a thing as going “too deep” where spiritual things are concerned. God’s Word assures us that if we draw closer to Him then He will draw nearer to us (Jas. 4:8). Going after the deep things of God will involve sacrifice. Oftentimes, we have to face personal challenges in order to experience the deeper Christian life. True progression in Christ never comes without self-examination and sacrifice, but every effort is worth it.
The delight of the “depth experience” and its reward is a greater intimacy with Christ. God will reward those that diligently seek Him; and that reward is the deep infusion of His presence, knowledge, and wisdom in our lives (Heb. 11:6). In Luke 5:4, Jesus instructs Peter and his fellow fishermen “to launch into the deep.” You can’t launch into the deep if there is an unwillingness to move from the shorelines, nor can you obtain the great things of what lies below the shallow waters. Jesus instructs them to launch out into the deep because the best catch is found in the deep. Likewise, we are unable to get all that we need from the spiritual shoreline of our lives. If we are willing to launch out and cast the nets down into the waters, there will be a great spiritual harvest awaiting us.
The Apostle Paul said, “O the depth of God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge” (Rom. 11:33). Paul expresses the shear awesomeness of experiencing a greater depth in God. If we want to experience that kind of depth we must answer the question, “What must I do in order to experience the deep things of God?” Would you like your life to have more spiritual depth than it does right now? It’s God’s desire that we all have an intimate experience with Christ that is life changing. Try these practices to help you go deeper in your relationship with Jesus.
SEEKING A DEEPER RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS
1. Pray
A basic but powerful way to move into a deeper and more intimate walk with Christ is discovering the beauty of “fervent prayer” (Jas. 5:16). Fervent prayer is the kind of prayer we must cultivate in our life in order to experience God in a powerful way. This kind of prayer is an intense and passionate experience, because it results in the presence of God. When we open up our hearts to God, He offers us more of Himself. There have been moments during this kind of prayer where God has spoken to me revealing His will for my life and His great love for me. It’s during those times that I reciprocate my own feelings of joy and contentment that I have found in Jesus Christ. Prayer can produce passion in our lives.
2. Worship
A worshipping heart will draw God closer to us and open the door to having a more intimate knowledge of God. By worshipping Him, we express our love and adoration for Him. On this journey, there must come a moment of sheer realization that God is the greatest love of your life. Worship has changed my life.
3. Meditate on God’s Word.
By meditating on God’s Word, we become more in touch with the mind and person of God. Reading the Word causes our relationship to take on a deeper significance. The Holy Spirit begins revealing the true meaning of the Word to us, and then the Word becomes a beautiful letter written just for us. Yet the only way this can happen is by setting regular time aside to read it. Colossians 3:16 says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Allowing God’s Word to dwell in us changes who we are and causes us to have a deeper, more satisfying relationship with Christ.
4. Commune with the Holy Spirit.
When we commune with the Holy Spirit, we are aligning our desires and actions with the will of the Father. He is the one who unfolds the mysteries of Scripture and reveals the heart of God to us. The Holy Spirit will speak to our hearts and calm every fear. The Holy Spirit is a comforter as well as a teacher. Communing with the Holy Spirit will also cause us to move deeper into righteousness and holiness. It’s so easy to lose our focus in the busyness of life, failing to let the Holy Spirit lead and guide our lives. We need to be alert and sensitive to the voice of the Holy Spirit – for it is the Holy Spirit who helps us go to the deep.
If you go after the deep, God will bless you beyond your greatest expectations!
~ By Sonza Davis
