What is the intimacy with the Holy Spirit?
Intimacy with the Holy Spirit simply means that you are close in relationship to Him similar to a best friend. It means you spend time in His presence daily, praying and worshipping God, allowing Holy Spirit to guide you through prayer.
Many people get hemmed up on the word “intimate” because they only associate that word with a marriage relationship. But intimacy is much more than physical.
Intimacy simply means that we open ourselves up to that other person. It’s a consistent action of trust to deepen the relationship.
I heard one person say that intimacy is “into me you see.” We speak to one another from the heart, we share life together; our accomplishments, failures, and things we’re trusting God for and striving for. We’re there for that person in times of trouble and in times of celebration. We do small things together as well as big things because we simply enjoy each other’s company.
If you look at your life I’m sure you can find at least one person you have this type of relationship with that was someone other than your spouse.
It is to be this way with God the Holy Spirit.
If you are a Christian and filled with the Holy Spirit that means the Holy Spirit is inside of you at all times. He is with you 24/7 and He’ll be with you 24/7 for the rest of eternity.
He is here to lead us into all truth, to show us things to come, to help us in prayer, to comfort us in the midst of persecution, to fill us with the fruits of righteousness, and endue us with power to be a witness.
Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus on the inside of us. Just like the 12 disciples walked with Jesus for 3 years and became extremely close friends with Him and were mentored by Him, so it should be with our relationship with the Holy Spirit.
How to have intimacy with the Holy Spirit
The key to having intimacy with the Holy Spirit is to spend time in His presence daily and to recognize that just as Jesus was with the apostles 24/7 for three years, so too Holy Spirit is with us 24/7 for the rest of eternity.
Key #1: Spend daily time in His presence
The Holy Spirit is the presence of God for He is God being present on the Earth. So if we want to have an intimate and close relationship with Him then we need to take time to be in His presence.
Similarly, if you wanted to have a close relationship with a friend or future spouse, you would need to spend time in their presence and get to know them through conversation. It is no different with God.
The Bible says that we are to have fellowship with the Holy Spirit.
“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.” (2 Coritnthians 13:14)
“Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy…” (Philippians 2:1)
Notice from both of these verses that the fellowship, or communion, with the Holy Spirit, is in the same class as the love of God, the grace of the Lord Jesus, the encouragement of Christ, and the comfort of love.
This tells us that having fellowship with the Spirit of God is meant to be a pillar in our walk with God just like love and grace is. (Related article: Can You Talk to the Holy Spirit? If so, How do I do it?).
This is the first key to having an intimate relationship with the Spirit of God, but how do we do it?
The best way is to schedule a daily time to get alone with God and spend time in His presence. Talk to Him, worship Him, thank Him, ask Him for things, ask Him questions, etc.
We are not only called into fellowship with the Holy Spirit, but also the Father and with the Son so when you come to be in God’s presence address each One.
Praise the Father for who He is, thank the Son for giving us an example and for dying for us, and thank Holy Spirit for continually leading you into all truth.
They are each God but they have different roles. And understanding these roles is key to knowing when to talk to who.
Key #2: Understand why He is inside of you
The Holy Spirit’s work inside of a believer is to transform us into the image of Jesus. Every role of the Holy Spirit revealed in scripture, is to bring us into His likeness. That is the goal of the Holy Spirit living inside of us.
And He does this through our relationship with Him. As we get to know Him through spending time with Him the Bible promises us that He will transform us back to the image of God (2 Corinthians 3:18) and that He will quicken our mortal bodies so that we can live free from the bondage of sin (Romans 8:11).
Jesus gave a description of His work in John chapters 14-17 with more detail.
The Holy Spirit is our helper, advocate, counselor, and comforter (John 14:16 & John 15:26).
He teaches us and reminds us of all things (John 14:26).
He guides us into all truth and shows us things to come (John 16:13).
He empowers us to do the same works that Jesus did (John 14:12).
He convicts the world of sin and judgment, but He convicts the believer of righteousness (John 16:8-11).
The Holy Spirit is amazing! And each one of these roles play an instrumental part in making us look more like Jesus on this earth.
Now that we understand this, it’ll be much easier to talk to Him because now we know His desires, His goals, and His role in our life.
So everything that we encounter that falls into these categories (which is basically everything, because everything is about following Jesus) then we can talk to Him about it.
Key #3: Understand He is with you at all times
Finally, the third key is that we should learn to recognize that He is inside of us at all times and that He is with us at all times.
“And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” (John 14:16-17)
We have an ever-present Helper and source of power resting upon us and dwelling within us. He is here for us at all times which means that we can engage with Him at all times.
If we truly belive this then we would take advantage of it and develop a habit of fellowship with Him.
We can talk to Him while we do this dishes, drive in the car, mow the lawn, take out the trash, sweep, fold laundry, etc. Every mundane task that doesn’t require a whole lot of thinking we can utilize.
Benefits of intimacy with the Holy Spirit
Each one of these benefits are benefits of walking in the Spirit, and since having intimacy with the Holy Spirit would cause us to walk in the Spirit, these benefits are lsited. [Related article: 26 Benefits of Walking in the Spirit (+ Consequences)].
- Freedom from condemnation and law. Romans 8:1 says that those who are in Christ Jesus and walk according to the Spirit will have no condemnation in their lives.
- Freedom from “the body of death”, which is the flesh. Romans 7:24 says that Christ Jesus delivers from “this body of death” which the context suggests that this body of death is our flesh and its desires. Immediately after he says this, he explains walking in the Spirit in Romans chapter 8.
- Able to bear the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, etc. (Galatians 5:22-23)
- Able to have a renewed mind. Walking in the Spirit is setting our minds on the things of the Spirit (Romans 8:5), which is the exact process that is required for us to renew our minds. [Related article: How to Walk/Live in the Spirit (Complete Guide)]
- Unbelief will be less prevalent in your life. When the disciples couldn’t heal a young boy and Jesus could, they asked Him why they couldn’t do it in Matthew 17:20-21. Jesus replied by first saying because of your unbelief, then after this, he explained to them that they need to consistently be in a place of fasting and prayer to rid unbelief in their lives. Fasting and prayer are activities that cause us to walk in the Spirit.
- Faith will grow. One of the fruits of the Spirit is faith (Galatians 5:22). Many people don’t know this because the translators translated pistis to “faithfulness”, but everywhere else in the Bible, it translates to faith.
- Walking in love becomes easier. The first fruit of the Spirit is love. The reason for this is to walk in the Spirit you have to be walking in a relationship with God, and God is love. So when we grow in knowing the God of love, loving people becomes easier.
- You will find good success. God told Joshua to meditate on the Word of God day and night then he will have success (Joshua 1:8). Meditating on the Word of God simply means to ponder over the word of God, this is an act of setting our minds on spiritual things, which is walking in the Spirit.
- You will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16)
- You will grow closer to God. Walking in the Spirit is the process of a relationship with God, for you cannot set your mind on the things of God without also knowing Him.
- You will be satisfied with long life. (1 Peter 3:10 and Psalm 91:16)
- You will have the fear of the Lord, thus producing wisdom. (Proverbs 9:10)
- You will be filled with the Spirit. As you walk in the Spirit you will also be obeying Ephesians 5:18-20. You will be singing to the Lord and thanking Him which causes you to be filled with the Spirit. (Related article: Filled with the Spirit: Does it Happen Once or Multiple Times?)
- You will be edified in the Spirit because praying in tongues is an aspect of walking in the Spirit. (Related article: Praying in the Spirit: What it is & How to do it).
- You will grow in the knowledge of God which gives you access to God’s Power (2 Peter 1:1-3).
- The gifts of the Spirit will flow through you more often because as you walk in the Spirit, His manifestations will begin to happen through you. (1 Corinthians 12:7) (Related article: How to receive/activate the gifts of the Spirit).
- You and your family will have divine health because you will be dwelling in Him (Psalm 91:10). (Related article: Dwelling in the Secret Place: What it is & How to do it)
- Your prayers will be answered. (John 15:7)
- Every need of yours will be supplied because walking in the Spirit produces love (Galatians 5:22), which in turn produces giving (1 John 3:17), and giving produces God’s supply for our needs (Philippians 4:19).
- You will be transformed into the image of God. (2 Corinthians 3:18)
- You will release a fragrance of Christ’s presence everywhere that you go. (2 Corinthians 2:14-16)
- You will have boldness to preach the Gospel. All the apostles and early disciples had boldness as they preached the Gospel (Acts 4:31). This was due to their consistent walk with Him and because of His power down inside of them.
- You will grow in the knowledge of the Bible. To walk in the Spirit is to set our minds on the things of the Spirit. The Bible is the most spiritual book out there. As you walk in the Spirit, you will read it and increase your knowledge of it.
- You will have a closer relationship with believers because love will begin to rule your conduct.
- You’ll have forgiveness for those who have wronged you so you will no longer carry the burden of unforgiveness. Since the first fruit of walking in the Spirit is love, you will have the desire to forgive those who have wronged you.
- You will be led by the Spirit of God to fulfill the calling of God on your life. Walking in the Spirit is used interchangeably with being led by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-18).
I hope you enjoyed this article and that it assisted you in your walk with God.
If you want to read more articles on the Holy Spirit you can do so by clicking on one of the titles below.
Baptism in the Holy Spirit (In-Depth Study)
Fruit vs. the Gifts of the Holy Spirit: What’s the Difference?
Are The Gifts Of The Holy Spirit For Today? (Objections Answered)
How to Increase the Anointing of the Holy Spirit (5 Keys)
God bless you all!