Someone once summed up our life with Christ like this: “To know God and make Him known.” Another good short life mission statement is “Love God, love people.” The Westminster Catechism begins with, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” I love all these and remind myself of them frequently. Each of them brings out the truth that the supreme purpose of our existence is God Himself. It is to know, love, glorify, serve, enjoy and please God, in this life and for eternity.
I suppose humans invent all sorts of different purposes for their life. The ones above are not man-made; they are God’s purpose for us—we are made for Him. It’s a sad reality that great numbers of people, whom God has made for His glorious purpose, do not even know God at all. And there are many who know about God but do not know Him personally. It is this idea of knowing God that I want to talk to you about today. Do we really know Him?
There are two books that come to mind when I think of this idea of knowing God. The first is the classic The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer. I’ve read this book over and over through the years. It is a short but very potent study of the attributes of God. Tozer has a way of brilliantly connecting all the qualities of God so you begin to really get a clear picture of who God is. Another classic book that I discovered as a new Christian is Knowing God by J.I. Packer.
While there is a difference between knowing about God and knowing God, I want to make the point that you cannot know God intimately apart from an accurate knowledge of God. It’s possible to have accurate knowledge of God without intimacy with God, but it’s impossible to have intimacy with God without knowledge. Intimacy without knowledge would likely be a delusion of our imagination. The books I mention are, of course, secondary to reading the Word. Make sure you understand what God has revealed about Himself!
Knowing people
It is a basic principle in all relationships that the more we know a person, the more comfortable we will be talking with that person. We all know what it’s like getting to know someone for the first time. Maybe you’re at a wedding, sitting around a table with about ten strangers, and everyone is making an effort to get to know each other (I personally find this exhausting, except on the rare occasion I have instant chemistry with someone). But usually, conversation with someone we don’t know is like an awkward dance, and neither knows where it’s heading. But it’s a start.
As we grow to know someone, we begin to trust them. We let our guard down more and more. We don’t feel like we need to perform or impress them because, well, they know us too well. We can be ourselves. I’m quite sure we all love these relationships the best because we feel relaxed. In fact, when we know a person, we can easily spend several hours or several days with them. I’ve spent over 30 years with my wife. I know her better than anyone on the planet, and she knows me better than anyone. That depth of knowing creates an atmosphere in the relationship that is relaxed and comfortable.
Discipline isn’t enough
It’s a plain fact that the better we know the Lord, the more our prayer life will flourish. That’s why developing a deep prayer life isn’t a matter of just discipline. If we don’t feel comfortable talking with the Lord, discipline isn’t going to help that much. Oh it might enable us to successfully accomplish praying, fasting, reading the Bible, and so on. Many people do religious exercises and feel good that they did them—but they aren’t experiencing the sweetness of intimacy that those who really know God enjoy.
What I’m saying is that the path to having a deep prayer life isn’t as hard as you might think. I remember when I was a young Christian reading about “great mighty men of God” who prayed for 2 hours every day! Or men who prayed 5 hours a day!! Or ministers who shut away in their study with God all day!!! I would read these stories and think their devotional lives were crazy, heroic, exceptional—like someone who had undergone rigorous devotion and discipline to scale a high mountain.
It’s not like that.
John the beloved
Again, when we know someone, it’s easy to talk with them. We can spend hours effortlessly and joyfully talking. We never walk away from a three-hour conversation with someone we are close to and think, “Wow, I’m so devoted, that was so hard!” No. It’s easy. It’s enjoyable, right?
Well, that’s how God wants it to be with us. He wants us to know Him, and feel comfortable around Him. To let our guard down completely. To be relaxed and at home in His presence. It reminds me of the youngest of the twelve apostles, John, who described himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” Jesus loved all the disciples, but John, being younger, must have gotten a little extra affection. We’ve all seen how the youngest child gets treated with extra care and affection. My youngest brother—who is a very full-grown adult—we still call “Baby Tony.”
Scripture says that John would lay his head on Jesus at times. I love these little details in the Bible. It shows just how comfortable and relaxed John was with Jesus. We know they spent three years, night and day, with one another. They shared meals, and built fires, ministered to crowds, and had long talks at night. John felt at home. He was like a baby bird under a mother’s wing.
Why people neglect prayer
I believe a lot of Christians neglect prayer because they don’t know God in a way that makes them feel comfortable and relaxed in His presence. Many feel anything but relaxed! They are terrified of God. They are nervous around Him. They are insecure approaching Him. They are guarded and defensive. Many actually dread prayer. It’s the last thing they want to do. How sad is it that the very purpose of a person’s existence is the last thing they want to do?
I want to encourage some of you who struggle with this, to relate to God in a new way. Crawl into His arms and just be vulnerable. He already knows everything about you. Just put your hand over your face and bury yourself in Him. He doesn’t want you to dread being with Him or to feel uptight around Him.
It’s not so different from what an earthly dad would want from his child. When my daughters were little, I loved that they felt comfortable running up to me and telling me what was on their hearts. There was no pretense. They didn’t have to suddenly get serious as they approached Dad. They didn’t have to feel nervous. They could be themselves in all their quirky loveliness.
Breakfast with Jesus
One of my favorite stories of Jesus is found in John’s gospel. The disciples were coming in from fishing (this was after Jesus was crucified and was resurrected. Jesus was appearing to people in various settings in ways they didn’t immediately recognize Him).
Jesus says to them, "Children, do you have any fish?" They answered him, "No." — John 21:5
I love that He called them children. It was a term of affection. It reflected the kind of relationship Jesus had with them. Jesus tells them to cast their net out again on the right side of the boat to find a catch. Now, three years earlier, a very similar thing happened, that I’m sure they instantly remembered, when Jesus did a great miracle to fill their boats to overflowing with a great catch. So they throw in the net and, as expected, they can barely even pull the net up because of the quantity of fish (153 to be exact).
This miracle is exciting but I think what happens next is even more amazing. Jesus says to them, “Come and have breakfast.” This was especially significant for Peter because it was the first time he saw the Lord after he denied Him. Even after Peter’s failure, the Lord wanted to have breakfast with him. My friends, the Lord wants us to come to Him—just as we are—and find rest in His presence.
You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. — Psalm 16:11
My prayer for you is that you’d feel at home with the Lord. He wants you to feel at home. He adores you as His child. He wants you to feel so relaxed that you could easily be with Him all day.