That We Might Know Him - Part 4

1 John 1:1–4 “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it…

We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.”

We have learned that we come to KNOW God more by reading His Word, because Scripture testifies to who He is—His nature, His character, His purpose. Everything we need to KNOW about God is found in the Scriptures. But we also learned that knowing God is not merely having head knowledge, lest we become like the Pharisees. We read Scripture because it is one of the ways we KNOW God and hear from Him. Often, He speaks to us through His Word.

I once heard someone say, “If you want to know God a little, spend a little time with Him. If you want to know Him a lot, spend a lot of time with Him.” That is so true. If we truly want to KNOW God more, we must spend time meditating on and studying His Word.

Joshua 1:8 “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night.”

Another way we get to KNOW God more is by communicating with Him. Imagine going on a date with someone and never speaking a word. Imagine doing that date after date. How long could a relationship like that last? Could you ever truly know anything about that person? A relationship without communication and reciprocation will never grow in intimacy. And so it is with our relationship with Christ.

One of the primary ways we communicate with God is through prayer. Many of us learned the Lord’s Prayer as children, but we often overlook the significance of the opening words.

Matthew 6:9–10 “This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’”

If we want to know someone deeply, we spend time with them and learn their desires, their likes, their heart. Matthew 6 gives us a template for prayer. We are to seek God’s desires and God’s will for our lives. Regardless of our circumstances, it is about KNOWING God’s will in all things. Prayer is not about bending God toward our desires—it is about bending our desires toward His will.

This is the ultimate expression of love: when our desire becomes to please God and seek His will rather than approaching Him with a “genie mentality,” asking only what He can do for us.

Prayer: Dear God, Creator of the heavens and the earth, thank You for the gift of Your Son, that we may have eternal life and that our joy may be made complete as we fellowship with You. Teach us to seek Your will on earth as it is in heaven—not our will, but Yours be done—for Your ways are far better than anything we could ever imagine. We ask this in Jesus’ precious name… Amen.