Everyone wants to have a closer relationship with the persons they love so much, and God also wants to have such kind of more intimate relationship with His people. It is impossible to know about someone without having a relationship with them, and the same goes with Jesus as it is impossible to know His heart and His desires without being close to Him. Many times we miss this closeness with God by relying on our self or shifting our closeness to someone other than Jesus Christ. Jesus says in James 4:8: “If you draw closer to me I will draw near to you” The more we step into to know and live for Him, the more closer He is with us. 

Apostle Paul, who had a close relationship with God throughout his life after the incident of Damascus said in Philippians 3:8-9 “Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.” Regardless of where we are in our relationship, we can always draw nearer to God and have an intimate relationship with Him. The more we get closer the more we can know about God and His majesty. 

To have a closer relationship, God expects these things: 

• The first thing we could do to have an intimate relationship with God is to confess our sins and ask forgiveness through repentance. God expects such kind of daily routines in our life because sin is the barrier which stands between God and us. A stainless and repented life takes one much closer to God. The psalmist David said, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Psalm 51:17).
• The second foremost thing to get closer with the Lord is to listen. God has given His expectation, principles and His teachings through the living word “Bible” 2 Timothy 3:17 says “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” One has to take time in His word of God and meditate in order to listen to God. Hearing God is one of the vital characters which one needs to seek to reach the closeness with God. 
• The third thing is prioritizing God when compared to other things in our life. Prioritizing God really honors Him and it reveals our humility and trust over God.
• The fourth thing we possess to have an intimate relationship with the Lord is to speak to God through prayer. If reading the Scripture is listening to God, talk to us, speaking to God is attainable through prayer. Gospels show us Jesus Himself took time to have fellowship with Father in prayer. Prayer is not about informing God what we need or want; its about knowing His heart and desire, and it would reveal only through a prayerful life.
• Lastly, to have drawn closer with God is to build upon a life of obedience. Obeying God is not an easy task. Jesus, when speaking to His disciples, said, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching” (John 14:23). Obedience comes out of a person only when he/she loves God. We don’t earn salvation through our obedience; rather, it is the way we show our love and gratitude towards God.

 So, through confession, Bible study, prayer, prioritizing, and obedience, we can develop a closer relationship with God.