Intimacy with God: A Practical Guide in Our Struggles

by John D. Hannah

A Christian believes that God’s Holy Spirit indwells them, and that through Christ they have a relationship with God. But for many of us the experience of that relationship varies in intensity, our devotion seemingly affected by the external factors that make up our life. In this book John D. Hannah examines the nature of the spiritual life, and argues that while our Christian walk is bound to traverse peaks and valleys, there is a lifestyle we can put into practice that allows us to focus on the faithfulness of God’s promises. This does not entail relying on one’s own strength but emphasises God’s Word, prayer and the church family as blessings through which to cultivate intimacy with God.

Genres: Christian Living

172 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 6, 2020

Reviews

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

You will have to take my review with a grain of salt because I adore Dr. Hannah. I was privileged to take a few classes with him at DTS. Some of the best parts of those classes would be him chasing rabbits explaining his thoughts on faith. Dr. Hannah is someone who exudes intimacy with God. He is a small short unassuming man who does not appear like someone who has taught for over 40 years at DTS.

That is all to say that I read this book with the ability to know the man behind the book. I could hear his voice and even his bizarre laugh. I knew that I would like the book because of my connection to the author, but did not expect it to be that great. However, it is well written and engaging. Despite being under a 200 pages it packs a punch.

His main refrain over and over is that the Christian life is long and intimacy with God does not come immediately. This is a not a typical Christian living book, but it is not overly academic. He simply gives his best advice while acknowledging that even the spiritual disciplines will not work for everyone. This is an honest yet encouraging book.

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Hannah was a favorite professor of mine in seminary, as well as a popular conference speaker at our church. Here he gives a wonderful and succinct summary of the spiritual life of the Christian. His language may be a bit different for some readers, and he makes good use of the theology of John Owen and Jonathan Edwards, so it may be slow reading for you at times. That's okay, just read it again and think more about it.

[Nick birri · Rating 5 out of 5]

The idea of this book on spiritual disciplines is a progressive increase in spiritual activity. John D Hannah explains how you can continue to grow and increase the effectiveness of your prayer life, your private devotional, your corporate worship, etc. I don’t know how much I agree with the thesis but he makes a dang good point and I would get smacked down if I tried to argue against it.