Q: How do I move God from my head to my heart? I have read so many books, watched so many biblical/theological videos, attended functions, listened to many people on the topic of God—and yet I cannot find Him in my heart-of-hearts. I do not know how to relate to Him on a personal level. —Sharon
A: To “move God from [our] head to our heart” is complicated by the fact that we’re sinners. Even when we’ve been born again, we retain the stubborn tendency to resist the Holy Spirit’s life and work within us. So even though we may really want to draw closer to God, we often become ambivalent. Paul described this tendency in Romans 7:
“I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway” (Romans 7:18-19).
In Jesus’s first major discourse, the “Sermon on the Mount” (Matthew 5:3-12), He described what those who are close to his heart will live out: humility, patience, mercifulness, longing for righteousness, purity of heart, peace seeking, and courage in the face of persecution. Characteristics like these don’t come quickly to us due to our fallen human nature. There’s no simple “technique” or method for gaining them. They develop gradually with the passing of time through the work of God’s Word and the Holy Spirit, determination, self-examination, discipline, and acts of love (1John 4:7-8). —Dan Vander Lugt
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Mike Wittmer on May 22, 2014 at 5:54 pm
This is great advice. Another thing that helps me is to remember that Jesus has ascended, so my personal relationship with him will not be as easy and exciting until He returns and I see Him face to face. Sometimes we oversell what Christians should expect now. When I feel hungry for more of God, that’s a good reminder to pray “Come quickly, Lord Jesus.”
ychrist on May 23, 2014 at 9:23 am
Hi Sharon, I have never posted on this site, but when I read your question I knew I had to. You mentioned that you have gone to seminars, read books, listened to people. All of this is good but does not truly bring us to an intimate relationship with God. The only way you can be in an intimate relationship with Him is to spend time alone with Him. Just you and God. Jesus said “come to me” Think of other relationships in your life, I know if I would not have spent alone time with my husband – if while we were dating it was always on a group date, there were always other people around I would not have been able to get into the close personal relationship with him, truly got to know him. Same with Jesus. You must spend time alone with Him. Grab your Bible and morning, noon and night talk with him, study something that you’ve been wondering about (not through other people’s words, but solely from the Word of God). Your relationship will grown, and you will start to know him in the intimate way the Bible refers to. One more example – if I tell you I have one million dollars for you – but you must come to me to receive it. So you read some books about me, then you go and meet with my fan club, then you join that fan club etc Are you going to receive that million dollars? In Christ’s Love!