The Knowing God Series: Press – How to Move From Knowing About God to Knowing Him Personally

So far in The Knowing God Series, we’ve walked through the first two steps of knowing God:

1. Cherish — cultivating the desire for Him

2. Abide — choosing to remain and stay with Him

   
   

Now we come to the third step: Press.

This word carries urgency, longing, determination, and love. And the best example we have is found in the heart of the Apostle Paul.

Paul’s Hunger to Know Christ

In Philippians 3, Paul opens his heart and shows us the posture of a man who is completely consumed with knowing God:

8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11 if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. (Philippians 3:8–15)

“I count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord…”

“…that I may know Him…”

“…I press on…”

“…forgetting those things which are behind…”

“…I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Do you see Paul’s heart?

Do you feel his passion for the One he loves?

Earlier in this chapter, Paul lists impressive credentials he could easily boast in—education, lineage, status, and reputation. By Jewish standards, Paul was a rock star. He had everything… except the one thing that actually mattered:

He didn’t truly know God.

He knew the rules.

He knew the traditions.

He knew the Scriptures.

He did works “for God.”

But he did not know God.

And when the revelation of Christ broke through his life, everything changed.

When God Becomes “Abstract”

In my own walk, I’ve been where Paul was. I was a Christian. I lived the life, I spoke the language, I checked the boxes—but I didn’t truly know God.

I’ll never forget a moment in prayer when God said to me:

“I am abstract to you.”

One definition of abstract is: Existing in thought or as an idea but not having a physical or concrete existence.

I didn’t have that definition at the time, but I knew exactly what He meant:

“You have an idea of Me, but I am not yet real to you.”

It struck me deeply.

Painfully.

Honestly.

So let me gently ask you the same question:

Is God real to you?

Do you know Him as a Person, or as a concept?

Do you know His personality?

His desires? His joys? His grief? His voice?

Because you cannot press into a relationship with a God who feels distant, theoretical, or imaginary.

Before you press in, you must first answer the question:

Who is God to you?

Pressing Requires Letting Go

Paul came to know God for himself—outside of tradition, outside of culture, outside of religious expectations.

To press into God, you must be willing to do the same. You must see everything you have achieved, everything people applaud, everything that seems valuable, as nothing in comparison to knowing Christ.

If I summarized Paul’s heart in these verses, it would be this:

“I want to know Christ, be found in Him, and become like Him—whatever it costs.”

That’s the essence of pressing.

“But I’m Not Like Paul…”

You may be thinking:

“I’m not an intense person.”

“I’m not Type A.”

“I’m not naturally driven like Paul.”

And I get it. I really do.

But consider this:

How aggressive is God’s love toward you?

From the moment sin separated us, God pursued us.

His love is relentless.

His mercy is insatiable.

His goodness is non-negotiable.

And that same love—His love—has been poured into your heart.

“The love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts…” - Romans 5:5

“We love Him because He first loved us.” – 1 John 4:19

You have the capacity to love God passionately because His love is already inside of you.

You simply have to lean into it.

Pressing is loving God with the love He gave you.

How to Lean Into This Love

Pressing in is not complicated, but it is intentional.

It begins with one decision:

1. Decide to love God wholeheartedly. Everything flows from this.

2. Spend time with Him. In His Word. In worship. In prayer.

3. Obey Him. Obedience is love expressed.

4. Listen for His voice.

5. Fast, seek solitude, and cultivate quiet.

6. Love what He loves and hate what He hates.

7. Turn off distractions.

Yes—sometimes the press is simply turning off the TV or putting down your phone to sit with Him.

Pressing in is not about perfection.

It’s about priority.

It’s about pursuit.

God Wants to Be Known

Understand this: God wants to be known.

The degree to which you know Him is directly tied to the degree you are willing to press in.

We see Paul’s heart, but we also get to see the fruit of his pressing—his revelation of Christ became the foundation of the New Testament church. No apostle revealed Christ more clearly than Paul.

And he leaves us with this encouragement:

“Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern”— Philippians 3:17

Paul is inviting you into his posture.

Into his pursuit.

Into his press.

Will you press in?

I love you,

Oyin.