3 Principles of Intimacy

In this special excerpt, Sean Smith shared insights into intimacy with Holy Spirit. 

Below are some notes from our Partners-only Monthly Mentoring Session. These sessions have been recorded and you can access them by becoming a Partner today! Find out more at DougAddison.com/TimeOff.

#1 Principle of Intimacy: The Principle of Separation

You don’t have intimacy with someone if they are separate from you. Sean mentioned that if all he ever did was spend time with his wife at church, they would have a very poor relationship. 

It’s important to have a room and a place where you separate yourself to Holy Spirit.

There’s no formula for your quiet time. It’s like making a cake. Everyone might make a cake a little differently, but you’re pretty much going to have the same ingredients.

Our ingredients for intimacy are worship, the Word, and petition.

Sometimes in the “cake mix of intimacy” people can leave out waiting upon Holy Spirit.

When you wait on someone, it humbles you, right? Just think about waiting on someone when they’re late. It’s humbling and it will mess with your pride. We are normally in such a hustle … We race past everybody like blurred scenery on the freeway. It’s just race, race, race, and we’ve got to slow down. 

Sometimes you  just need to put your iPhone on mute or put it in a different room altogether.

If you’re going to develop intimacy with Holy Spirit and receive major revelation, it’s going to stretch you.

#2 Principal of Intimacy: The Principle of Time

If you’re going to develop intimacy with someone, you’ve got to spend time. You’re either disingenuous or you’re deceived if you think you could have intimacy and never spend long periods of time with a person.  

If you spent as much time with your human friends as you did with Holy Spirit, would you have good relationships with your friends? Sean mentioned that he’s not trying to guilt people here, it’s just something to think about. 

The average Christian thinks they have a relationship with Holy Spirit, but they don’t spend the time. 

Brother Lawrence wrote a book about practicing the presence of God. As he was washing dishes, he would talk to Holy Spirit. He would be practicing the presence of God during everyday events. 

There are times when maybe you’re not locked away in your prayer room. Maybe you’re driving, in the shower, putting on your makeup or combing your hair or whatever … You can invite Holy Spirit in with you on those everyday things.

Sean mentioned that he rides his bike a lot and one of the things he loves to do is just say, “Holy Spirit, talk to me. What are You feeling today? What’s on Your heart?” When Sean prays that simple prayer, Holy Spirit speaks.

#3 Principle of Intimacy: The Principle of Communication

To achieve intimacy you have to talk. But you also have to listen!

Sean asked the Partners to think about talk shows. He said that we don’t tune in to talk shows for monologues, we tune in for dialogue! The guest star sits on the couch, and you want to find out something about their life. And to do that, it’s a back-and-forth conversation.

Sean then gave this challenge to the Partners: Don’t end your quiet time talking. End your quiet time listening.

Be still and know that He is God!

Some people tell Sean that they struggle hearing the voice of God. But Sean tells them that they just need to be still, and He will speak.

So, the struggle is not in hearing God speak, the struggle is in quieting yourself, shutting out the noise and being still. If you do this, the inner volume of God’s spirit begins to rise!

InLight Connection thanks Sean Smith for sharing his heart with us!

P.S. Thank you to all of those who partner with InLight Connection and give on a regular basis. You are holding their arms up in the spirit right now, and they are truly grateful. For those who have not yet given or it’s been a while, please consider giving now (or partnering monthly) … to help, just click HERE. Becoming a Partner will give you access to the upcoming guest speaker events. These meetings are going to be POWERFUL!

Doug Addison is the founder and president of InLight Connection. Doug is a prophetic speaker, author and coach. He is known for his Daily Prophetic Words, Spirit Connection podcast and blog. He and his wife Linda live in Los Angeles, California where they are impacting the arts, entertainment and media industries.