How do you know God?

Most Christians, especially pastors, claim they know God. But do you know what it takes to know God? God is our Father and we should desire to know Him every day. God wants us to know Him so we can serve Him better. He often reveals Himself to us in so many ways and forms.

It is common to hear so many pastors and preachers of the gospel claim that they know God.
They often cite success in one endeavour or the other as a justification for their knowledge of God. What they forget is that God knows them, even before they were formed in the womb. That may be the reason why they are being blessed and not because they have so much knowledge of the workings of God and His kingdom.

Do you really know God? What does it take to know God?

Paul the apostle admonished the Philippians;

"That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death;" - Philippians 3:10.

Paul, a great apostle who experienced the power of God greatly and could talk to God directly, admitted that he still didn't know God as much as he should. If Paul, with the great influence he had over the church in his day and even today, could admit that he didn't know God, who else can claim much knowledge of God?

God reveals Himself to us in different ways but we are often busy with our earthly lives that He goes unnoticed. God, therefore, allows suffering to befall us in order to know Him. Because of this, one person may know Him to be the Healer without knowing Him as the Great Provider. Another may know Him as the Great Provider without knowing Him as the Merciful.

Some people blaspheme about knowing God without having an experience of God's power in their lives. It takes a lot to know about God. It takes suffering, sickness, poverty, financial crisis, joblessness, broken relationships, barrenness, disappointment, rejection and much more to know God.

It doesn't take only regular church attendance to know God. Saul was an Antichrist before God revealed Himself to him on his way to do evil at Damascus. It also doesn't take a reading of scripture alone to know God. You need obedience and commitment.

The church is not a fashion show. What you wear to church has nothing to do with knowing God. God searches the heart and not the physical. Is your heart clean and free? A greedy heart and lustful eyes are neither clean nor free. Your financial contribution to the church means little to God. You can't bribe God with huge sums of money and gifts. Jesus admonished the rich young ruler;

"If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.”

So, don't feel too proud about anything. It's because God knows you. You're being blessed because God knows you, not because of your good works. You're healthy and everything seems to be going in your favour because God knows you. In all you do, say, and think, be guided by the one fact that it is because God knows you, not the other way round.