Want Intimacy with God? Try Something New

God speaks to each of us in unique ways. Natalie Hanemann shares four strategies that can help you become more mindful of His voice.

The Spirit of God is alive and active all around us, but sometimes we get distracted and miss it. Or we don’t have our spiritual senses attuned to realize that was God.

How many times have you had a seemingly random thought that felt wise and timely, but before you could fully process it, your phone buzzed or your child called out for you? Often, these insights are “holy downloads” or infused knowledge from God, but we’re too busy on the outside or too noisy on the inside to receive the message.

God speaks to each of us in unique ways. Some people “hear” the voice of Jesus; some people “feel” a message coming through a song; some “sense” God’s presence when standing before something that causes awe, like the Grand Canyon.

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I notice God’s presence most often when I’m doing the things He made me to do. When engaged in those activities, I lose a sense of time and my self-consciousness seems to fall away. For me, this includes writing or hiking in the woods.

I’ll share a few practical exercises that helped me become more mindful of the subtle voice of the Lord.

Four Activities that Grew My Intimacy with God

Spend time with the Blessed Sacrament.

The Lord’s voice is a whisper, and I regret that I’ve missed so many words He communicated to me because I simply wasn’t paying attention. I said I wanted Him to be the leader of my life, but then I wasn’t making any changes to allow myself to better hear Him.

A few Lents ago, I decided to commit to an hour every Friday in front of the Blessed Sacrament. What I did during this hour morphed as I grew more attuned to what worked best. The rewards far outweighed the investment of time and energy I took to make it to this weekly commitment.

Journal.

Write a letter to Jesus telling Him what’s on your mind and heart. He wants to be your best friend, and He more than anyone else can be trusted with your inmost thoughts and feelings. Jesus is intensely interested in you and has all the time in the world to listen. So don’t be shy when you share. The more I wrote to Jesus, the more I was able to give Him the weight of my burdens.

Be who you are.

St. Irenaeus wrote, “The glory of God is a human being fully alive” (Against the Heretics, written in the year 185). God knows you well, and He gave you unique gifts. Are you clear on what those gifts are? It may be woodworking or playing the piano.

I’ve shared how writing is one way I’ve grown closer to Jesus. I believe that’s because the place in my brain I tap into to pray is also the place I tap into to write. Figuring out your unique gifting may take some time, but once you do, you will feel the presence of the Lord and lift up your heart to Him, which is the definition St. John Damascene gave for prayer.

Stop trying to control prayer time.

No ascetic practice (Rosary, mortification, or fasting, for example) will bring an encounter with God. God always acts first (CCC 142, 259). Our job is to respond (CCC 2090). If we have expectations for what will happen during our prayer time, we aren’t letting God be God. The best disposition for seeking out the Lord is docility (CCC 1742). Docile means letting ourselves be easily led.

Maybe time with Him feels unproductive. He finds precious every moment we allow Him to gaze at us and we change when we gaze upon Him. Sometimes when I’m sitting in the silent sanctuary, I imagine Jesus coming down off the cross and sitting next to me. What I desire most from Him is proximity so I can rest my head on His shoulder or find His hand and hold it. Don’t put an expectation of what will happen during prayer.

Only a Direct Touch from the Lord Can Change Us

The Holy Spirit dwelling in each of us is always reaching out to God the Father, groaning on our behalf (Romans 8:26), petitioning and praising as we walk through our days trying to live in His will. His goodness draws me to want to walk each step with Him and these less common prayer practices help me to achieve a shadow of intimacy, though with grace, one day that shadow will be removed and I shall know Him face to face (1 Corinthians 13:12).

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Now it’s your turn. What are some uncommon ways you feel the presence of God in your life? How does your prayer life reflect the unique ways He’s communicating with you? With Lent fast approaching, can you think of a new prayer practice that will help you grow closer to Jesus?

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Want Intimacy with God? Try Something New