How can I know Jesus more?
Recently, I had someone in our community ask me, “if I want to know Jesus’ more, what do I need to do?”
I love this question and don’t think he is the only one wondering about it.
Intuitively, I think most of know that if we want to get to know someone better, we need to spend time with them, interact with them, and participate in the things they care about, but how do we get to know someone we can’t see?
While shows like the Chosen or an even basic reading of the Gospels remind us that Jesus invited ordinary people to get to know Him personally and be part of His Kingdom movement, how do we get to know Him more….now?
Although the process might look a little bit different for everyone, I’ve found these 5 practices are a good place to start.
1. Admit
If we want to know Jesus more, we need to admit we need Him. Like other relationships in our life, vulnerability is the pathway to greater intimacy with God.
Jesus didn’t say, “Blessed are the self-sufficient, perfect, and polished, for theirs is the Kingdom of God….
He said the opposite, “Blessed are the poor in Spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of God” Matthew 5:3, NIV
If we want to know Jesus more, we need to give up pretending we are good enough on our own and let His Spirit into our brokenness.
Admitting our need for Jesus is not only the way into the Kingdom, but the way to greater intimacy with the King.
2. Ask
Jesus once said,
“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Luke 11:9-13, NIV
Since Jesus lived, died, rose again, and ascended to God’s throne in heaven, He now interacts with people through His Word and Holy Spirit.
Jesus isn’t up in heaven waiting until we do all the right things to pour out His Spirit on us, He is willing to pour His Spirit into the life of any person who asks Him to.
As Jon Tyson said poignantly this year at Passion, “the Lord comes where He is wanted.”
The words, “ask, seek, and knock” are not just one-time commands, they are a continual invitation to a deeper relationship. Jesus is inviting us to continue to ask to be filled with His Spirit, to seek His wisdom and guidance, and knock on the door of heaven to get to know Him better.
If you’ve never asked Him to fill you with His Spirit….what are you waiting for?
And if you are being led by the Spirit, how could you not want to know Him more?
“If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” Galatians 5:25, NIV
3. Arrange
If we want to know Jesus more, we can’t just fit Him neatly into our lives. We need to arrange our lives around knowing Him better. As Jesus said,
“Seek first the Kingdom of God and everything you need with be added to you.” Matthew 6:33
Seeking Jesus first isn’t just about reading the Bible and praying every day, it means re-orienting our life around Jesus as our most important relationship.
If we want to know Jesus more, we need to make spending time with Him our #1 priority so we can learn to trust and follow Him in the details of our lives.
One of the most practical ways to arrange our lives around Jesus is to start and end your day with God, beginning with a “quiet time with Jesus” in the morning.
If this is a new idea for you, a quiet time is simply a time you set aside to remove distractions and open your heart and mind to Jesus in God’s Word and prayer.
“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32, ESV
For me, this happens first thing in the morning with a strong cup of coffee, but the most important thing is finding a time, place, and plan that can be consistent for you. For years, I’ve tried to read at least a chapter a day of the Gospels to center my mind and life on Jesus and joined with the Moravian texts to read the Bible every 2 years.
But, Jesus doesn’t give His disciples a one size fits all plan to have a quiet time. He wants to awaken us to a hunger to spend time getting to know God more for ourselves.
“But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” Matthew 6:6, ESV
It’s important to note that having a daily quiet time is a great place to start getting to know Jesus more, but not the end of the journey.
We also need to find other people who we can open up our lives to and help us know Jesus’ more in ways we didn’t even realize. We are invited to know Jesus personally, but also in community. If we are going to know Jesus’ more, we are going to need to prioritize spending time with people who are farther along on the journey, who can encourage, guide, and disciple us to become more like Him.
Jesus didn’t just call individuals to know Him, He invited a community to know Him together and continue His movement by the power of His Spirit.
4. Abide
Jesus said,
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5-6, ESV
Just like a branch bears fruit by being connected to the vine, Jesus wants to have this intimate of a relationship with us.
He doesn’t want us to just know about Him, He wants us to know Him in a way that goes beyond words.
That’s why the word, “abide,” is so powerful. It is an invitation to make our emotional and spiritual home in Jesus, or to learn to live our life with Him as our closest friend.
Abiding in Jesus is another way of saying attaching to His loving presence at the center of our being. It means cultivating of an awareness of His Spirit with us as we go throughout our days.
It’s what Brother Lawrence called, “practicing His presence….”
I love the phrase, “practicing His presence,” because this is not something we are always going to get right. Learning to know Jesus more take practice just like anything else of value in our lives takes practice.
But, what is more important?
Practically, two ways I’ve learned to practice God’s presence are:
1. Review the day in prayer with Jesus before sleep.
Like rewinding a video tape. Rewind your day and ask the Holy Spirit to show you things like:
where you were in step and out of step with Him
where you saw Jesus moving and how you followed Him (or not)
what you want to thank God for and what you need to grieve
and if there is anything you need to surrender to receive His love afresh as you fall asleep.
2. Take time to pause and connect with Jesus throughout the day.
Before transitioning between things, ask God to help you abide in Him, make you aware of His presence, and to follow HIs leading to produce the fruit He wants you to. Take a deep breathe and remember how much Jesus loves you and thank Him for wanting to be with you. Don’t just be a robot, enjoy your relationship with Him.
“No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.” John 15:15-17, ESV
5. Act
Knowing Jesus more is not just about spiritual and emotional health, but seeing Him move in the lives of other people as we step out in faith.
Just like we get to know our friends more by being part of the things they care about, we get to know Jesus more by participating in His mission to a broken and hurting world.
As Jesus said,
“Whatever you did for the least of these, you did to me.” Matthew 25.
“Go and make disciples of all nations….” Matthew 28:18
One of the greatest barriers to knowing Jesus more is not acting on what He has already shown us. If we want to know Jesus more, then we need to be willing to do the things He tells us to do in HIs Word and to begin to step out in faith in the way His Spirit is leading us to love and share hope with others.
Knowing Jesus is an invitation to the endless adventure of what God wants to do in us and through us. There is no limit to the depth we can know Him and no end to the love we will experience from Him for all eternity.
“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. “ Ephesians 3:20-21, ESV