By Hayden Shearman

Remember Form One and Two? Or, for students of the new skool, Year Seven and Eight? They are the years of the typical “Intermediate Romance.” His friend would ask her friend and her friend would ask her if she would like to “go out” with him. Once she said “yes” the romance would usually go on to last a week (at best stretching over one whole awkward month). It would consist of holding hands, sitting next to each other at lunch, a kiss behind the bike sheds, and maybe, if it got really serious, actually talking to each other!

This type of relationship has many of the outward external signs of a good relationship but almost nothing to back it up. God doesn’t want your relationship with Him to be like that. He wants to know you intimately, and for you to know him intimately—the external stuff can wait.

“But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” - Matthew 6:6

Here Jesus explains that before things are to happen in the open, God wants them to happen in our hearts. He waits for us to seek him in private, and like any honest relationship, the growth or change on the outside will only come if there’s been a growth or change in the unseen parts of the relationship.

Somewhere between being a kid and being a grown up we realise that relationships are about the conversation and connection we have with people. Prayer is a habit of growing intimacy through spiritual conversation with God. It’s this private connection time that makes the relationship tick!

Jesus Himself set the example. His strength to do mighty things in public came from the private and intimate relationship He had with His Father:

“So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.” - Luke 5:16

“Now it came to pass in those days that he went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.” - Luke 6:12

So many people remain feeling like God is a distant stranger, simply because they never set aside any time for the intimate parts of the relationship. Don’t settle for an “Intermediate Romance”—seek the lover of your soul in the secret place today!

Dig deeper

Throughout history one of the sole similarities of great men and women of God is their disciplined devotion to prayer. Read their thoughts on prayer here.