How Can I Know God?

There is a reason the concept of God is often tucked away in the last chapter of most self-help books. When I work with Christian business authors, they often say things like, “Ezra, I want people to know I’m a Christian, but I don’t want to come across as too preachy, so I don’t want my faith to be too prominent in this book.”

I understand why they say this. Most relationship manuals start with tangible connections—individuals we can all see, hear, and touch. Only at the end, almost as a throw-in, do these authors mention being “spiritual” or a “person of faith.” They settle for a more back-door approach and almost apologize for their belief in the supernatural.

But the life Jesus modeled made investment in people contingent on the relationship he had with his Father. In John 5:30, he says, “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.”

Nothing. Not a little bit. Not 80% capacity. Nothing.

It was out of this relationship that all of Jesus’ investment flowed. Before he ever spoke to thousands on a hillside, Jesus got alone with his Father and spent time preparing his mind and soul. Jesus’ connection to his Father was the basis of every relationship he shared.

The question we must ask is whether this type of relationship is possible today. In other words, is God knowable?

A Wonderful Opportunity

Even if you’ve been a Christian for some time, it would be good to pause, step outside your Christian bubble, and give this question some careful consideration.

To many, this question is laughable because the very idea of God sounds like a myth. When asked what he would say if he were to meet God, the well-known atheist mathematician Bertrand Russell replied, “I should say: ‘God! Why did you make the evidence for your existence so insufficient?’”

Russel’s question parallels the mindset of many skeptics today who embrace the concept of God but settle for a version that is unknowable. Following in the shoes of deist thinkers like Benjamin Franklin, they think those who say they know God in a relational manner are arrogant. After all, who are finite human beings to assert they have some sort of direct connection to the creator of this universe?

To others, the idea of relationship with God is just lunacy. In the words of Joy Behar from The View, “It's one thing to talk to Jesus. It's another thing when Jesus talks to you. That's called mental illness.”

I’ll be the first to say my skeptical antenna goes up whenever I hear someone say, “I’ve heard from God.” More than once, I’ve heard someone at a small gathering get up with what they said was a word from God. A minute into what they shared, I sat there thinking to myself, I’m not quite so sure!

But just as a few bad mechanics are not a sweeping indictment against an entire automotive industry, so a few bad faith actors should not destroy our hope that God knows us and wants to make himself known. Indeed, this is at the heart of what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

The essence of the Christian faith is that God is a loving, relational being who wants his creation to know him. Thus, to understand relationships with others, we must understand the nature of God’s relationship with us.

If God is knowable, the greatest regret we can ever have in life is to not take advantage of this opportunity.

So, How Do I Get to Know God?

This might sound strange, but start with your desires. Can you honestly echo the words of Psalm 42:1 and say, “As a deer longs for flowing streams, so I long for you, God.”

The difference between souls that spend eternity with God and those that spend eternity in hell is desire. As C.S. Lewis famously said, “The doors of hell are locked on the inside.”[1]

So even in those moments you don’t feel God, ask yourself, “Do I desire him?” This gives me so much comfort, especially in those moments when I'm tempted to beat myself up for not being a better Christian. The soul who feels lost but desires God is infinitely better off than the soul who feels spiritually confident but has little desire for him.  

Desires tell us a lot about ourselves. Trevor Hudson writes, “As we pay attention to our many different desires and sift through them carefully, God tenderly leads us beneath our surface-level desires to what our heart most truly yearns for: firsthand relationship with that boundless, creative, and loving Mystery whom we call God.”^[2]

If you have little desire for God, ask him to increase your desire. But if you desire him and still feel distant, ask him to increase your awareness of him. Carve out more time to sit with him. Limit distractions like social media, TV, and busyness, and slow down so you can begin to hear his voice.

Confront the deepest desires of your heart. Do you long to escape your boring existence? Do you fantasize about what it would be like to do something “important?” Do you long for the moment you will finally get the respect from others you deserve?

Everyone has thoughts like these. The key is to confront your internal selfish desires and ask God to replace these with a desire for him. Be proactive and prioritize your friendship with God as the most important relationship in your life.

Make your deepest desires to know him more. Then, as Hudson writes, “Imagine what your life would be like if you were living in harmony with the deepest desires of your heart.”^[3]

[1] C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain (Horizon Ridge Publishing, Kindle Edition), 107.

[2] Trevor Hudson, Seeking God: Finding Another Kind of Life with St. Ignatius and Dallas Willard (The Navigators, 2022), 95.

[3] Trevor Hudson, Seeking God: Finding Another Kind of Life with St. Ignatius and Dallas Willard (The Navigators, 2022), 73.