How to Know God: Moving From Hearing to Experiencing

This is a part of the Experiencing God Personally series. We started with the Filet Mignon Fallacy.

If you want to taste that world-class filet mignon we talked about, eventually, you have to leave the café and go to the restaurant. You have to place an order. You have to pick up the fork and send the steak into your mouth.

The same is true for our spiritual lives. Moving from “hearing” to “experiencing” requires a transition from the spectator stands to the kitchen. How to know God isn’t a secret reserved for the selected few; it is a practical process of engagement. Let us go through some simple steps.

1. Engage the Primary Source

Many of us spend more time reading books about the Bible than we do reading the Bible itself. If you want a first-hand experience, you must go to the primary source. Commentaries help but read the Bible first.

Don’t just read for data or knowledge so you can impress others. Read for dialogue. Instead of only asking, “What does this mean?” try asking, “Lord, what are You saying to me through this today?”

You wouldn’t try to get to know a new friend by only reading their LinkedIn profile. You’d sit down and talk to them. Have coffee. Or, filet mignon.

2. The Power of “Waiting Rooms”

In our instant culture, we want the experience without the wait. But personal encounter often happens in the silence.

Waiting on God is not passive – it’s an active, alert silence. It’s sitting in His presence without a shopping list of requests, allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to you, to re-align your purpose to His, to transform your life.

God often speaks in whispers, so we have to turn down the world’s volume to hear Him. Do not let the noise of the world drown the small still voice. And do not let God raise his voice. You do not want that.

3. Obedience: The Ultimate Taste Test

You truly taste God’s faithfulness when you put His words into action. You cannot live on other’s people’s faith.

You cannot know God as the Comforter until you are hurting and choose to lean on Him. You cannot know God as the Prince of Peace until you grief over your late wife so much you cling to Him every day. You cannot know Him as a Provider until you choose to give generously even when you do not have enough.

Do this. Identify one small thing God has been nudging you to do. Do it this week. Obedience is the bridge between a “concept” of God and the “reality” of God. I pray that you will experience the latter.

Stop Being a “Fan”

I have never heard that God has grandchildren; He only has children. There is no such thing as a second-hand inheritance in the Kingdom. You cannot live off the “scraps” of your pastor’s or your friend’s spiritual life and expect to be healthy. Do this. Pick a specific time this week – even just for 15 minutes – to put away your phone, close the “devotional” book, and open the Word of God directly. Ask Him to show you something new.

In the next post, we will explore the Honey in the Rock.