So here we go, let's have a look at some keys. Here's the first key. Now this is one of the simplest ones, yet the hardest one, and here it is: number one, if you want to develop intimacy with the Holy Spirit, number one, slow down! Slow down! The faster the boat goes, the shallower it gets in the water, and some of you are going at high speeds, and you're very shallow, so there's no substance or depth in your life and relationships. Anyone who's been married a while will realise, you can have no true sexual intimacy without taking time. Isn't that true? Some are like: I don't know what he's talking about here! [Laughter] I know you don't know what I'm talking about! Okay, well we could talk about that next year too, that'd be a good thing to get on wouldn't it aye? Be a good subject wouldn't it? I can already feel the nervousness.
Okay, let's go back into Luke Chapter 10, and it says - notice here, I'll just pick up a couple of thoughts out of this. Notice it said in Verse 38: it came to pass as they went into a certain village a certain woman named Martha welcomed Jesus into her house. She had a sister called Mary, who also - so she made Him welcome - but she also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. Martha was distracted with much serving, so she came up to Jesus and said: Lord, don't You care that my sister has left me alone? You tell her to help me. Jesus said: Martha, Martha, you're troubled and worried about many things, but there's one thing is necessary, and Mary has chosen that good part, and I'm not going to take it away from her. Now if you're going to create awareness of what is going on in your inner life, you have to slow down. That doesn't mean you stop altogether, or lazily sit around. If you're going to develop sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, you have to slow down.
If we're going to love the Lord our God with all our heart, there have to be times we slow down, because if you don't slow down, you find you can't become conscious of the presence of God. One of the biggest issues in being conscious of the presence of God, is slowing down the busyness of your soul, and enabling yourself to become quiet enough to hear His voice. Notice with Mary, she was busy, she was pressured, she had lots of: I have to get this done! I've got to do this! I've got to do that! She was driven by the demands of the tasks, and there's nothing wrong with having a great list of tasks. That's wonderful to have a great list of things to do. In fact, if you're walking in the call of God, you should be a very busy person. Jesus said: be busy until I come; but this is a matter of prioritising, so our busyness flows out of our being in the presence of God. So Martha's issue was this - you notice she said: Lord, don't You care that my sister left me alone, and now I've got to do all this work? Why don't You tell her what to do? You tell her. Why didn't she just say: I need some help?
So you see the pressures of having to do so much, caused her to be unable to rest and enjoy a special moment; and so she was troubled, anxious. Notice what happened, she's begun to accuse the Lord, You don't seem to care about me, and her sister, well I'm resentful about her, and she's left me alone. I'm feeling all alone. Notice the loneliness and disconnection that's in her life, because she's chosen, or hasn't prioritised her life right. So Mary, in contrast, was seizing the opportunity. She made Jesus welcome. There was an opportunity to enjoy Him, to enjoy Him and to listen to Him, and she chose it. Now that's what intimacy is about - it's making the choice to enjoy the presence of God, and to listen to Him personally. That's what intimacy's about. It doesn't have to be a big long prayer time, it's about making the choice to slow down, enjoy the presence and become conscious of His presence, and listen to what He has to say. That's what intimacy is about. It's not a very big thing is it? Hard to do though. How many find that hard to do? Hard to do because it's so much pressure on you, every demand, the demand. So we have to actually practice slowing down.