INSTRUCTIONS: After reading the following quotes by A.W.Tozer, ponder the Scripture passages that follow, and then ask yourself if you really are in an intimate relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ. Is He is the supreme desire of your life? Are you pursuing Him for who He is, or just for what He offers? Are you pursuing Him at all?

“Within the fold of conservative Christianity there are to be found increasing numbers of persons whose religious lives are marked by a growing hunger after God Himself. They are eager for spiritual realities and will not be put off with words, nor will they be content with correct “interpretations” of truth. They are athirst for God, and they will not be satisfied til they have drunk deep at the fountain of Living Water.” – A.W. Tozer

“Current Evangelicalism has laid the altar and divided the sacrifice into parts, but now seems satisfied to count the stones and rearrange the pieces with never a care that there is not a sign of fire upon the top of lofty Carmel. But God be thanked that there are a few who care. They are those who, while they love the altar and delight in the sacrifice, are yet unable to reconcile themselves to the continued absence of fire. They desire God above all. They are athirst to taste for themselves the “piercing sweetness” of the love of Christ, about whom all the holy prophets did write and the Psalmists did sing.” – A.W. Tozer

“There is today no lack of Bible teachers to set forth correctly the principles of the doctrines of Christ, but too many of these seem satisfied to teach the fundamentals of the faith year after year, strangely unaware that there is in their ministry no manifest Presence, nor anything unusual in their personal lives. They minister constantly to believers who feel within their breasts a longing which their teaching simply does not satisfy.” – A.W. Tozer

“Sound Bible exposition is an imperative must in the church of the Living God. Without it no church can be a New Testament church in any strict sense of the term. But exposition may be carried on in such a way as to leave the hearers devoid of any true spiritual nourishment whatever. For it is not mere words that nourish the soul, but God Himself, and unless and until the hearers find God in personal experience they are not the better for having heard the truth.” – A.W. Tozer

“The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him; that they may delight in His Presence; may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God Himself in the core and center of their hearts.” – A.W. Tozer

The modern scientist has lost God amid the wonders of His World; we Christians are in real danger of losing God amid the wonders of His Word. We have almost forgotten that God is a person and, as such, can b cultivated as any person can. It is inherent in personality to be able to know other personalities, but full knowledge of one personality by another cannot be achieved in one encounter. It is only after long and loving mental intercourse that the full possibilities of both can be explored.” – A.W. Tozer

“All social intercourse between human beings is a response of personality to personality, grading upward from the most casual brush between man and man to the fullest, most intimate communion of which the human soul is capable. Religion, so far as it is genuine, is in essence the response of created personalities to the creating personality, God.” – A.W. Tozer

“Come near to the holy men and women of the past and you will soon feel the heat of their desire after God. They mourned for Him, they prayed and wrestled and sought for Him day and night, in season and out, and when they had found Him the finding was all the sweeter for the long seeking.” – A.W. Tozer

Now, with these thoughts in mind, ponder the following passages of Scripture.

“This is life eternal, that they know [be intimate with] Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou has sent.” – Jesus in John 17:3 [emphasis mine]

“Now therefore, I pray Thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now Thy way, that I may know [be intimate with] Thee, that I may find grace in Thy sight.” – Moses in Exodus 33:13 [emphasis mine]

“My soul longs for You [God] like a thirsty Land.” – David in Psalm 143:6 [emphasis mine]

“As the deer pants [thirsts] for the water books, so pants [thirsts] by soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” – David in Psalm 42:1-2 [emphasis mine]

“Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied [proclaimed God's Word] in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you [we were not intimate with one another]; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.” – Jesus in Matthew 7:21-23 [emphasis mine]

“That I may know Him [be intimately involved with him more and more], and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship [intimacy] of His sufferings, being made conformed to His death.” – Paul in Philippians 3:10 [emphasis mine]

“Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for Whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.” – Paul in Philippians 3:8

“I am the good shepherd. I know [am intimate with] my own and my own know [are intimate with] Me, just as the Father knows [is intimate with] me and I know [am intimate with] the Father…” – Jesus in John 10:14 [emphasis mine]

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them [am intimately involved with them], and they follow Me. And I give unto them [those I'm intimate with] eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” – Jesus in John 10:27 [emphasis mine]

Now, ponder what you’ve read and ask yourself the following questions. But be honest with yourself … about yourself.

Do I know Jesus Christ – am I intimate with Him?

Does He know me – is He intimate with me?

Am I hungry for God?

Do I thirst for Him?

Do I desire God more than everything and anything else in this world?

Do I commune with God regularly, cultivating and experiencing His manifest presence through prayer? Or is prayer just another boring discipline of the Christian life for me?

How much time do I spend communing with Jesus in prayer each day?

What am I pursuing in this life; what are my priorities – based on where I spend my time and my money.

Am I after God more than I am after the American dream?

Where is the majority of my time spent each day?

What is my mind thinking about most of the time – God or other things?

Am I more active in church than I am with Jesus Himself?

Am I more interested in doing ministry, than I am with spending time with Jesus in private?

What motivates me most in life?

Am I in truly in pursuit of God?

My Own Final Thought
The average professing Christian in America prays just 3-4 minutes a day. The average pastor prays just 6-8 minutes a day. While this may be commendable, it is hardly time enough to build or maintain a relationship with another – in this case, God. Interestingly, the average professing Christian also finds the time to watch endless hours of television and movies each day. How can we say we know someone, when we never commune or talk with Him. How can we say we are intimate with somebody Who we never, or rarely, fellowship with? Are you sure that you know Him? More importantly, does He know you?

A Final Thought From Tozer
“How tragic that we in this dark day have had our seeking done for us by our teachers. Everything is made to center upon the initial act of “accepting” Christ (a term, incidentally, which is not found in the Bible) and we are not expected thereafter to crave any further revelation of God to our souls. We have been snared in the coils of a spurious logic which insists that if we have found Him, we need no more seek Him. This is set before us as the last word in orthodoxy, and it is taken for granted that no Bible-taught Christian ever believed otherwise. … The experiential heart-theology of a grand army of fragrant saints is rejected in favor of a smug interpretation of Scripture which would certainly have sounded strange to an Augustine, a Rutherford or a Brainerd.

In the midst of this great chill there are some, I rejoice to acknowledge, who will not be content with shallow logic. They will admit the force of the argument, and they turn away with tears to hunt some lonely place and pray, “O God, show me Thy glory!” They want to taste, to touch with their hearts, to see with their inner eyes the wonder that is God.

I want deliberately to encourage this mighty longing after God. The lack of it has brought us to our present low estate. The stiff and wooden quality about our religious lives is a result of our lack of holy desire. Complacency is a deadly foe of all spiritual growth. Acute desire must be present or there will be no manifestation of Christ to His people. He waits to be wanted. Too bad that with many of us He waits to so long, so very long, in vain.” – A.W Tozer

You can read more from Brother Mark at Disciple Life Ministries. DLM is an evangelistic, reform, revival and disciple making ministry that seeks to encourage and foster true Christianity and true discipleship within, and in spite of, the prevailing lukewarm and worldly Evangelical and Emerging Church cultures in America.