How to Develop Spiritual Intimacy
Making Your Ear Attentive To Skillful And godly Wisdom, And Inclining And Directing Your heart And Mind To Understanding [applying All your Powers To The Quest For It]. - Proverbs 2:2 (Amp.)
For The Lord Gives Skillful And Godly wisdom; From His Mouth Come Knowledge and Understanding. - Proverbs 2:6 (Amp.)
Some couples seem to be able to develop spiritual intimacy and others never do. What makes the difference? Spiritual intimacy has the opportunity to grow in a relationship that has a degree of stability.
When the two of you experience trust, honesty, open communication, and dependability, you are more willing to risk being vulnerable spiritually. Creating this dimension will increase the stability factor as well.
We hear about mismatched couples when one is a Christian and one isn’t. You can also have a mismatch when both are believers but one wants to grow and is growing, and the other doesn’t and isn’t!
A wonderful way to encourage spiritual intimacy is to share the history of your spiritual life.
Many couples know where their spouses are currently, but very little of how they came to that place.
Use the following questions to discover more about your partner’s faith:
1. What did your parents believe about God, Jesus, church, prayer, the Bible?
2. What was your definition of being
spiritually alive?
3. Which parent did you see as being spiritually alive?
4. What specifically did each teach you directly and indirectly about spiritual matters?
5. Where did you first learn about God? About Jesus? About the Holy Spirit? What age?
6. What was your best experience in church as a child? As a teen?
7. What was your worst experience in church as a child? As a teen?
8. Describe your conversion experience. When? Who was involved? Where?
9. If possible, describe your baptism. What did it mean to you?
10. Which Sunday School teacher influenced you the most? In what way?
11. Which minister influenced you the most? In what way?
12. What questions did you have as a child/teen about your faith? Who gave you any answers?
13. Was there any camp or special meetings that affected you spiritually?
14. Did you read the Bible as a teen?
15. Did you memorize any Scripture as a child or teen? Do you remember any now?
16. As a child, if you could have asked God any questions, what would they have been?
17. As a teen, if you could have asked God any questions, what would they have been?
18. If you could ask God any questions now, what would they be?
19. What would have helped you more spiritually when you were growing up?
20. Did anyone disappoint you spiritually as a child? If so, how has that impacted you as an adult?
21. When you went through difficult times as a child or teen, how did that affect your faith?
22. What has been the greatest spiritual experience of your life?
H. Norman Wright
H. Norman Wright is a licensed Family Counselor and child therapist and has taught in the Grad. Department of Biola University. He is the author of more than seventy books
