7 ways to build a more intimate relationship with god in the new year

When God heard the cries of His people in Egypt under the harsh rule and oppression of their master, he sent Moses to bring them a message of hope and comfort. He had a plan not just to bring them out of there suffering but to draw them closer to Himself. He told Moses to tell the people that He would rescue them and redeem them with an outstretched arm.

He said, “ I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under your burdens…” [Exo 6:7 ESV]

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1. Share your fears, hurts and burdens
   1. Do you feel loved and closer to me when i share with you these types of things?[Psa 139:23 ESV] 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!
   2. Sharing your heart with God is making yourself known. Does he know all, yes but he still desires us to make ourselves know. To present our selvws before him
2. Show appreciation, thanksgiving
   1. Being thankful for your spouse is the antidote against discontentment and indifference. Being thankful to the Lord draws us nearer to him and keeps us near to him.
   2. [Psa 100:4 ESV] 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!
   3. Recognize the cost - veil was torn to let us in …matt 27 50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.
   4. 51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.
   5. 
       
3. Ask Him what he wants, his will
   1. [Act 13:22 ESV] 22 And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, 'I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.'
   2. Asking your spouse what they want to do, or eat, or would make them happy or would fill them up.
4. Repentance
   1. [Rom 2:4 ESV] 4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
   2. God's love and kindness and patience is ment to lead us to repentance.
   3. Just like in marriage, true repentance from sins only build trust and intimacy.
   4. Having a repentant spirit, one that is not prideful or arrogant, will cause you to move toward God rather than away from him
5. Be faithful - show up
   1. [Pro 20:6 ESV] 6 Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love, but a faithful man who can find?
   2. [Act 11:23 ESV] 23 When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose,
   3. But remember how God God is. Our love and devotion is based on His faithfulness not ours.
      1. [2Ti 2:13 ESV] 13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful-- for he cannot deny himself.
   4. Never stop believing, and ask God to help you with any unbeleife like the blind man Jesus healed.
6. Know him, his ways and to Trust him
   1. [Psa 37:5 ESV] 5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.
   2. We must know what his word says in order to know him and trust him - take time to read
   3. Saying yes to him with opportunity that gets You out of comfort helps To trust him
   4. Romans 11:33 E"Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!"
       
7. Worship and praise
   1. Make worshiping a lifestyle,
      1. Music of coarse
      2. Music can help us meditate on God’s goodness and his word.
      3. Other creative avenues of worship - poetry, art, using your talents to honor him
      4. But more than music and praise, worship is an act of surrender.
      5. Surrendering to him, submitting yourself before him.
      6. [Job 1:20 ESV] 20 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped.
      7. Worship is a heart posture of laying your life down before God. and recognizing that you are lowly and in need.
      8. Humility, reverence, awe.

Dear Lord, 

Thank you for providing a way for us to have a real relationship with You, an intimate and close relationship. Thank you for tearing the veil and giving us a mediator so that we can stand in your presence. We pray we would worship you and honor you all the days of our lives. We pray we would share our hearts with you and pray often. Lord, help us establish a solid habit of prayer. Please help us pray with each other more regularly. We pray our marriage honors You. Please continue to draw us closer to You and help us to engage with you in deep ways  

In Jesus’ name AMEN!