“As with any relationship, our relationship with God begins and is maintained via the process of attachment.”
Dr. Curt Thompson
Our secure attachment as children is developed when the child becomes aware and attuned to the awareness and attunement their parent has for them. This is why hearing God’s voice has had such an impact on deepening my intimacy with God. As I’ve become increasingly aware and attuned to God’s voice, the words He speaks to me are proof of His awareness and attunement to me. Listening to the voice of God secures and maintains my attachment and trust with Him. When God speaks, I feel fully known by Him. I feel seen, soothed, safe, and secure because of hearing His voice of grace.
Attachment to the Father lessens our attachment to other things. When our God-given appetites are met by God, then the need for our go-to gods, our idols, loses their grip on us. If we can discern what God-given hunger we’re trying to fill and attach ourselves to God to meet that need, then one by one our idols will disappear. If we’re finding comfort through our attachment to God, then we no longer need to allow our idolatry to give us relief. If our hope is in God, then we don’t need to find it in people, possessions, or our passions. “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure” (Hebrews 6:19a).
How do we deepen our attachment to the Lord? What steps can we take to increase our hold on God and lessen our grip on our idols? First, draw near to God. James 4:8a encourages us to “Come near to God and he will come near to you.” Feel free to go to God just as you are. Be real, transparent, and vulnerable with God. Pour out your heart to God, the good, the bad, and the ugly. God’s name, Immanuel, means God is with us and He desires to be with us as we face our shame and pain. Secondly, sit quietly before Him and listen for His whispers of grace. Ask Him to explain His delight in you and how He is head over heels in love with you.
God frequently asks me, “Do you trust Me?” The more securely I become attached to God, the greater my trust grows and the less my fears and idols control me.
In closing, I encourage you to pray this prayer. Lord, help me to become increasingly aware and attuned to Your awareness and attunement toward me. And cause that to deepen my attachment to You and trust in You. Amen.
“Moreover, secure attachment is the relational vehicle by which hope begins to form in us as children and continues to develop throughout our lives.”
Dr. Curt Thompson
Relevant Reflection:
How can you deepen your attachment to God?