Gary explained that during worship, God wants to speak to us particularly concerning His love for us. The worship team from the Laughingly Vineyard then sang beautiful love songs to the Lord, expressing their love for Him in a more intimate way than anything I had ever heard.
As they did, God reached into the depths of my spirit, and ministered His love to me. That launched me on a wonderful journey of seeking and craving more intimacy with my heavenly Father. It also sent me back to the Scriptures to learn more about worship.
While this journey has been wonderful, it has also been a struggle. I have found that intimacy with God did not came easily for me. My journey led me to explore what intimacy with God is, and the barriers that can prevent me from entering into a close relationship with God.
I first discovered that intimacy is a giving and receiving of love -- indeed two-way. It involves a spirit to Spirit meeting with God in which our spirits become one.
Intimacy is also an entering into His Presence. We can choose to remain in the outer courts of the tabernacle, on the fringes, or through worship we can step into the inner courts where we are washed and cleansed from sin and self and can be drawn into a close relationship with Him. Once there, God calls us to go even further -- into the Holy of Holies, the inner chambers of His glorious Presence. When we abide in His Presence, we can experience His glory and His holiness.
I also learned that entering into intimacy requires me to become transparent and vulnerable before God. Once our hearts are convinced of God's incredible, unconditional love for us, we can open ourselves to Him, knowing He won't condemn us. Instead we will welcome His concern as He cleanses, heals and restores us into a more intimate relationship with Him.
Sometimes God will speak to us of our resentments or of judgements we hold against others. As we worship, God calls us to forgive people who have hurt us and to release them. He gets through the self-protecting walls we have built around our hearts. The walls keep us at a distance from God and from others. God longs to melt and soften our hearts and bring healing to deep parts of our spirit. We learn that when others hurt us, our loving Father is able to shield us from the pain and heal us.
Entering into intimacy with God, therefore, involves making choices to believe that He loves us, to open up to Him and allow His love into our hearts, to give Him permission to do whatever He needs to do in us, and to be vulnerable before Him. I have found the journey so worth while. Filled with gratitude for all He has done, I stand amazed at such a God and worship Him.
Connie Sinnott is an associate pastor & worship leader along with her husband, Jeremy Sinnott at the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship.
