The subject of intimacy with the Lord is sometimes thought to lead to an over familiarity with God, but the Biblical narrative paints a very different picture. The awesome holiness of God is asserted, but this does not hinder intimacy rather it encourages it. Lets  look at the Biblical narrative looking at some of the great heroes of the Faith.

Genesis 1-3 In the opening chapters of the bible we read of how God created humankind in his own image, the whole shape of the idea of the image of God speaks of a relationship. This is shown by the dialogue between the Lord and Adam after the fall, we see clearly that God was seeking fellowship with Adam and Eve, yet sin had broken that fellowship. But God does everything in his power to restore that relationship, the history of redemption starts with the fall and the promise of a saviour. As we look at the account of the fall we see that intimacy between God and man is broken, but their is the promise of restoration. What is amazing that even after man’s rebellion, God clothes Adam and Eve.

   And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.”
16       To the woman he said,
“I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;
with painful labor you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you.”
17       To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’
“Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat food from it
all the days of your life.
18       It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
19       By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.”
20       Adam named his wife Eve, because she would become the mother of all the living.
21       The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them. 22       And the LORD God said, “The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 23       So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24       After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.  (Ge 3:15–24).

We also see that the Lord made sure that they could not reach the tree of life because if they had eaten this it would have kept them in bondage to sin forever.  God in his grace bars the way to perdition and opens the door to salvation.

Abraham: in the life of Abraham we see so many demonstrations of faith as he heard the Lord speak to him, calling him first from his pagan background and the establishing a covenant with him.

   The LORD had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
2       “I will make you into a great nation,
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3       I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”
4       So Abram went, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran.  (Ge 12:1–4).

Abraham was willing to respond to the voice of God, he did not know all that this would involve and he certainly did not expect all the challenges that he received, but amid all the challenges he kept his eyes fixed on God’s promise. His greatest challenge was to be willing to sacrifice Issac the child of promise.

         Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
2       Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
3       Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4       On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5       He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”
6       Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, 7       Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
8       Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
9       When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10       Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11       But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
12       “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
13       Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14       So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”
15       The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16       and said, “I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17       I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18       and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”
19       Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.
(Ge 22:1–19).

Abraham learnt through this and many other difficult episodes that God can be trusted, Abraham is often used in the New Testament as an example of a man of faith, we can certainly benefit by mediating on the life of Abraham.

Moses: Moses was somebody who went through many trials and tribulations before he was called by God to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. When Moses is called by God to this ministry the Lord assures him that he knows all about him. Before he does this he shows Moses the greatness of God.

   3:1       Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2       There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3       So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”
4       When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
And Moses said, “Here I am.”
5       “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” 6       Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
7       The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8       So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9       And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10       So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
11       But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”
12       And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”
13       Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”
14       God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”
15       God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’
“This is my name forever,
the name you shall call me
from generation to generation. (Ex 3:1–15).

We then see a dialogue between Moses and the Lord which shows that Moses doubted his own ability to carry out this great task, he argues with the Lord and he graciously gives him Aron as his mouthpiece. Moses grew in his relationship with the Lord until it could be said  of him,

The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. (Ex 33:11).

Surely such an intimate relationship is something that we should cultivate, God desires intimacy with his people.

From this starting point Moses developed a very close relationship with the Lord. He came so close to the Lord that his face shone with the glory of God. But Moses like other biblical character is painted in all his humanness, the Bible records his failures as well as his success. Even though he was a man like us he continued to have a very intimate relationship with the God of  Holy love.

David: Here we meet the character who through his Psalms teaches much about worship and prayer, these very Psalms reflect the ups and downs of David’s life. I sometimes think that if some of these Psalms were prayed at an evangelical church prayer meeting, the person praying them would be accused of being unspiritual. David not only praised God but he poured out his heart before God, when he does this he expresses his lack of understanding and even feelings of depression. He can do this because he knows that the high and holy one is also the one who invites him to an intimate relationship. Psalm 51 shows how David was so aware of his sin,and he comes to God in repentance, and he calls out to the Lord to restore his intimate relationship with him.

   1       Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
2       Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
3       For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
4       Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge.
5       Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6       Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
7       Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8       Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9       Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.
10       Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11       Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12       Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
13       Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
so that sinners will turn back to you.
14       Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
you who are God my Savior,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15       Open my lips, Lord,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16       You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17       My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart
you, God, will not despise.
18       May it please you to prosper Zion,
to build up the walls of Jerusalem.
19       Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous,
in burnt offerings offered whole;
then bulls will be offered on your altar  (Ps 51:1–19).

This Psalm demonstrates how David realises that sin has seperated him from the intimate relationship with God that he had and is manifested in other Psalms. This Psalm is one of repentance calling out for a restoration of that intimate relationship on God’s terms.

Isaiah, one of the interesting things about this prophet is that he is called to ministry in a powerful way, he has a vision of the Lord as one who is high and lifted up, but at the same time he is cleansed and empowered for ministry. His prophecies show that he clearly receives the revelation of God’s heart for his people.

         In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2       Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3       And they were calling to one another:
“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory.”
4       At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
5       “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”
6       Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7       With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”
8       Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

Isaiah comes face to face with the majesty of God in all his holiness, but this is not to condemn him but rather to draw him close to this great God so that he might serve him and be transformed by him. (Is 6:1–8).

John’s Gospel. Jesus talks about intimacy with God in Chapters 14-16 of John’s gospel,he then demonstrates that intimacy in his prayer in chapter 17.

8       I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19       Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20       On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21       Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
(Jn 14:18–21).

15:1       “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2       He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3       You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4       Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5       “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.  (Jn 15:1–5).

After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:
“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2       For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3       Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4       I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5       And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

6       “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7       Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8       For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9       I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10       All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11       I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. 12       While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.
13       “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14       I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15       My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16       They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17       Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18       As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19       For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

20       “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21       that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22       I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—23       I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
24       “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
25       “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26       I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
(Jn 17:1–26)

Paul Prayers: When Paul prays for the Church he demonstates his intimate walk with the Lord, good examples of this are his prayers in Ephesians.

16       I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17       I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18       I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people,
(Eph 1:16–18).

This is a prayer that demonstrates that Paul wanted believers to have an intimate relatioship with the Lord.

Letters to the Churches in Revelation: These letters show the intimate knowledge that the Lord has of these churches, he calls them to a closer walk with himself. Good examples of this are his challenge to the church at Ephesus and the Church at Laodecia.

The challenge to Ephesus is to return to their first love,listen to what Jesus says,

   “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands. 2       I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3       You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.
4       Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5       Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6       But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7       Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
(Re 2:1–7).

We know that the Church at Ephesus heeded this call to  renew their love . Ignatius writing to the Ephesians just a few years later says,

I have become aquainted with your greatly-desired name in God, which ye have aquired by the habit of righteousness, according to the faith and love in Christ jesus our Saviour. being the followers of  the love of God towards man, and stirring up yourselves by the blood of Christ, you have perfectly accomplished the work which was beseeming to you.

These words show that the Church han really taken to heart the words of the Lord Jesus.

The Church at Laodecia

   4       “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. 15       I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16       So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17       You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18       I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.
19       Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. 20       Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
21       To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22       Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
(Re 3:14–22).

This letter is an interesting one because of how the Lord uses the local geography and culture to speak to his church. Laodecia had lukewarm water in its water supplies and travellers were warned not to stay there because the water tasted so foul. The two nearest cities had very different water supplies one had cold refreshing water, the other had a hot spring famed for its healing properties. this is why the Lord uses the terms hot and cold as positive terms. The Lord wants his his church to be refreshing and he wants it to bring his healing to the nations. The letter contains an invitation from the Lord to an intimate realtionship with the Lord when he says,

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

This passage is often used in evangelism but that is not its first purpose, its main purpose is to invite the Church to an intimate realtionship with the Saviour

It is also noteworthy that this whole book closes with an invitation to a close relationship with the Lord.

      The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.

(Re 22:17).

This whole subject is deeply challenging to me, I realise that I have a long way to go but I hunger after a deeper intimacy with God, do you?