And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them (Mark 9:2 KJV)

Believers may experience three different levels of intimacy with God. When we receive Jesus at salvation, we are all made God’s children, and brought into an intimate relationship with Him; however, we will experience different levels of intimacy with Him from a practical day-to-day standpoint.

By definition, intimacy with God describes the degree of personal experience, consecration, dedication, devotion, and relationship a believer has with Him. While we are all children of God as believers, we are each dedicated, or devoted, to Him differently. God does not choose which of His children will be closest to Him each day. We do.

We see these levels of intimacy amongst Jesus’ disciples. In the midst of many that followed Him, few truly believed Jesus was the Messiah. Jesus had a larger group of 70 who were close to Him, yet not so close. Then He had a group of 12 who were closer to Him but still were not the closest. The scriptures give us their names, and we call them Apostles today. However, amongst these 12, there were 3 of them who knew Jesus better than the rest. These three formed the innermost circles and were Peter, James, and John. Jesus often selected them for special events, such as the transfiguration above.

I am often asked the question “how long should my prayer time be?”. Well, God has not defined any duration for you to pray. It depends on what you want, that is, the circle of intimacy you live in. Desire to be in the innermost circle of intimacy with the Lord.

Read more: How to yield to the Holy Spirit.

Who makes the decision regarding what circle of intimacy you are in today as a child of God?

Apply the Word

Move from the 70, to the 12, and then to the 3. Get closer to the Father!

Tell the Lord that you want to be more intimate with Him from today.

Read more

Building intimacy with the Holy Spirit through fellowship.

Three dimensions of prayer to explore.

Highly recommended: What is a devotional?

View all Deshen Daily devotionals including today’s devotional.

Free Mini E-book: From Spiritual Dryness to Flourishing