Last year I felt compelled to intently ask the Lord for more wisdom and knowledge of the Word of God, a prayer that I still continue. I desired to be able to read and study the Word on my own without beginning with outside sources, trusting that whatever He showed me came directly from Him through reading only the Word. I love outside Bible study resources and read them constantly, especially to confirm whatever I feel the Lord showing me. But I wanted to know God more personally first, rather than know what other people say about Him.
In her book Waymaker, Ann Voskamp writes:
“Now Adam knew [yada] Eve his wife” (Genesis 4:1 NKJV).
Voskamp, Ann. Waymaker. Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2022, p. 74-75.
There is a knowing that is information, and there is a knowing that is intimacy. There is a knowness that is an intellectual knowness of acknowledgement, and there is an intimate yada-knowness of attachment. Yada is “an act involving concern, inner engagement, dedication, or attachment to a person.” There is a knowing that is surface level, and there is a knowing that is skin to skin, soul to soul.
In coming to yada-know God, this is how we recognize the sound of His voice, to hear Him calling to us like God called to Adam and Eve in the garden. This is the Way to the Source of everything we long for, the Way to everything we seek—a knowing and being known.
As author Susie Larson tweeted yesterday, “When you’re faithful to know God’s voice and take to heart what He says, He will impart ever-increasing measures of revelation and understanding.”
Just as His Word promised, over this past year, He has provided me with His knowledge and insight, giving me words to write and messages to teach. I wrote my first book in less than 2 months and started receiving material to teach for upcoming speaking engagements. It seemed like heaven just opened up to me, and I was delighted to receive His wisdom like rain!
With more speaking engagements coming these next two months, I’ll be listening just as intently. Proverbs 3:1-4 TPT reiterates the need for us not only to ask for greater revelation, but also to sincerely take it to heart:
My child, if you truly want a long and satisfying life,
never forget the things that I’ve taught you.
Follow closely every truth that I’ve given you.
Then you will have a full, rewarding life.
Hold on to loyal love and don’t let go,
and be faithful to all that you’ve been taught.
Let your life be shaped by integrity,
with truth written upon your heart.
That’s how you will find favor and understanding
with both God and men—
you will gain the reputation of living life well.
His Truth must be “written upon” our hearts, stored up for a time when it is needed. Matthew 15:18 TPT says that “what comes out of your mouth reveals the core of your heart.” We have the free will to choose what we allow to enter our hearts; if it’s not the Word of God pouring into our hearts, then it’s something that is not holy and perfect, as God the Author is. When difficult times come, the heart will speak from what we have allowed to take over inside us.
If what we desire is to “gain the reputation of living life well,” then we must actively choose that which enters our souls by way of our senses. We are called to let our lives “be shaped by integrity.” Integrity is defined as “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness,” but it is also defined as “the state of being whole and undivided” (Oxford Dictionary).
We have divided hearts if we let both light and darkness into our souls. This may require sacrificing things like certain TV shows, certain movies, certain songs, certain company we keep, certain places we go. We are tasked with uniting all aspects of who we are in order to fulfill this command.
There is still a promise attached to such sacrifices, however; we are promised a “full, rewarding life.” There is no emptiness when we make sacrifices in order to be obedient to God’s instructions. Instead of hollowness or lack, we find a “long and satisfying life.”
Only God can fill the God-size voids in our souls; only He who is perfect in every way can shut out the darkness if it should try to access our souls again. So we must remain in the Word, constantly filling all of our senses with it.
God’s favor falls on those who have His Truth inside their hearts, are ready to act on it, and live it out in every area of their lives. Walking hand in hand with Jesus, with a yada-knowing, is the only Way to do that. “Know the Way, and you know the Way.”[1] People can tell when you do!
[1] Voskamp, Ann. Waymaker. Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2022, p. 84.
The Art of Choosing True Life 