Growing in Intimacy with God
Happy New Year dear reader and friends,
Can you believe we are already in February 2026? I am so excited about this year and what God has in store for me, and what He has for you, dear friends. I wanted to share something special with you that the Lord Jesus has shared with me, and I believe this word can be applied to any child of God.
And that is the word INTIMACY.
This word may be new to some when it comes to Christianity, and it may be so familiar to those of us who have been in the faith that it goes in one ear and out the other. It might even feel so familiar that we think we do not need to grow in this area, especially if our intimacy with the Lord feels deep and thriving. But I want to share with you that you can never outgrow walking deeply with God in intimacy with Him.
The Lord has shared with me that this is something He wants me to walk in this year, and it is going to look different. But it is also an invitation into something so sweet that He wants me to remember and enjoy. Does this mean that I have not been walking with God in intimacy over the last five years? No, not at all. But for some of us, intimacy with the Lord can look different depending on the season we are in.
I have walked through a lot of healing over the last five years, and so my intimacy and relationship with God has looked different in the way I have related to Him. The Lord has been tending to my heart, correcting me, and helping me through things that I needed help with. He has been helping me to stay wholehearted and pure before Him.
The last five years have been about cultivating purity, obedience, intimacy, and faithfulness. Jesus has been doing beautiful inner work in me, shaping my heart to look more like His. It has felt like, for the last five years, I have been on the table and Jesus has been doing surgery on me. So of course, although we have had an intimate relationship, it has looked different.
But now, praise the Lord, He has taken my hand, helped me off the table, and said along the lines of, “Let’s walk together now. It’s a year of intimacy for us.”
The Lord shared this word with me at the end of November. And as he said it was good to have me back; I could feel his excitement and anticipation — to have His friend back at this level of intimacy he desired, now that I have walked through healing and inner growth over the last 5 years (I will one day make a podcast on this because these seasons are hard but so needed and beautiful)
To clarify, I hadn’t gone anywhere. In fact, I would say I have been more dedicated to the Lord and His Word over the last five years than ever before. I have a deeper revelation of the Bible and the gospel, and I am walking in ways I only dreamt of before. But I didn’t realise He had missed His friend on a friend level — the one He walks with, the one who is always checking in on him and adoring him. And, because I had been in a season of healing and He had been helping me, certain aspects of our intimacy had been set aside so I could heal, grow and rediscover my authority as a child of God.
The last five years have been years of realigning and growing in wholeheartedness. But now I am ever so excited to focus on intimacy with Him again. For context, it can be difficult to be intimate with the Lord when fear, anxiety, or worry are present — and I had a lot of that. So the Lord needed to help me take care of those things, and unfortunately, it wasn’t work that was done in a year.
I am not saying I have not been praying, or had not been intimate with the Lord, or grown in the Word — because I have. But now I have a healed heart, a freer heart that is no longer weighed down by worry or fear, but filled with love for the Lord. And to be invited by Jesus into deepening intimacy with Him is my favourite invitation. Jesus was delighted to have His friend off the table and walking with Him again, hand in hand, and I cannot tell you how beautiful it is. I have to admit, I have missed our intimacy as well. Again, the Lord is so ready to give Himself to us — but are we ready? Maybe you are there, and maybe you are not. The Lord knows what we need to focus on in each season.
And I want to extend this invitation to you. As you pursue different things this year, do not forget to fall deeper in love with the Lord. Walk with Him in your pain, your joy, your wins, and your losses. God has such an intimate love for you. Do not forget Him. As you read your Bible, read it with the Holy Spirit. Ask Him to show you Jesus. Adore Him. Follow His guidance. Do you care what God thinks about the decisions you are considering? The friends you are trying to make? The relationships you are thinking of entering? The job that you desire? God has a way and an opinion about those things.
Intimacy with the Lord is exciting. It is an adventure that I cannot pass by — and neither should you. So what does intimacy with Jesus look like to you this year?
I truly feel like the Lord is inviting me again into a honeymoon phase with Him, and what a privilege that is. I have been walking with Jesus for nearly 14 years now, and to be in this honeymoon phase again is amazing. I know there are different theologies about intimacy and the idea that we can have it all the time. I agree.
I cannot say that for the last five years it has been hard for me to hear the Lord, get direction, sense His presence, or see His hand and love in my life — because He has been all over my life. But now the Lord is telling me there is more and friend - there is more in him for you as well. More of His intimacy. More of His love. More of His desires.
The Lord wants to be experienced by you, and we should want to experience Him. He loves your presence too. So let’s go. Let’s walk with the Lord in intimacy. Ask Him what that looks like for you. Are we hungry to be with Him? To tell Him about our day? To be led by Him? Lately, when I open my Bible or start talking to Him, I cry in His presence. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate this tenderness towards His heart and presence. I have craved these moments, and this invitation from Him has made them possible again for me.
So what does this look like practically? It looks like a few things:
Praying and experiencing God’s presence
Intimacy with the Word, meditating on it, and living it out
Talking and praying with God throughout the day
Being still in His presence and soaking in it
Going to your heart to meet with the Lord and have moments with Him
Before I finish, let me say that I have not grown in these things alone. Over the last five years, I have read many books that have helped me get to the place I am now, and I thought I would share a few with you. They will impact people differently, but here are some that really helped me:
The Reset - Jeremy Riddle
The Practice of the Presence of God — Brother Lawrence
Intimacy with Christ — Jeanne Guyon
Resilience — John Eldredge
Get Your Life Back — John Eldredge
Walking with God — John Eldredge
Beautiful Outlaw — John Eldredge
The Father Heart of God — Floyd McClung
Hinds’ Feet on High Places (fiction) — Hannah Hurnard
The Family of Jesus (fiction) — Karen Kingsbury
I do read other books, including more theological ones, but these helped me grow in certain areas of intimacy. I will be writing more on this and will also share more in a podcast. But for now, I pray this blog encourages you to pursue the Lord and walk deeper with Him. Let me know how this is impacting you.
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Love Sarah
