Knowing God Series

In this powerful episode of the Open Eyes Podcast, Apostle Dan Jones launches a dynamic new series entitled “Knowing God.”

This message reveals that the believers of antiquity—men and women of great faith—were able to experience the deliverance and miracles of God because they possessed a true knowing of Him. Their relationship with God went beyond tradition, beyond information, and beyond ritual—it was rooted in revelation and intimacy.

Through this deep knowing, they developed a supernatural confidence that enabled them to trust God even in the most dangerous and uncertain situations. Whether facing opposition, persecution, or impossible circumstances, their confidence was anchored in who God is—not just what He can do.

This episode will challenge you to move beyond surface-level faith and pursue a deeper, experiential knowledge of God that produces boldness, trust, and unwavering faith.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Ann Jones, and I want to thank you for joining me today. This is a space where we challenge the limits of tradition, awaken in your understanding, and bring clarity to the things that help me get in in plain sight. The purpose of this podcast is simple: to open your eyes spiritually, mentally, and practically so you can walk in the fullness of your call, purpose, and your divine design. Here we don't just talk church, we talk kingdom. We don't just inform, we transform, and we don't just hear what we see. So wherever you are right now, I want you to lean in, stay focused, and prepare yourself because what you're about to hear, like shit, do see everything. Holy Ghost, we invite you now. In the mighty name of Jesus, let's begin.

SPEAKER_01 0:59

Knowing God is everything for the believer. Sin has separated us and we'll separate us from a deep and intimate relationship with God. This is part of the larger issue with humanity. Man does not truly know God. Many churches and ministries teach us about him, but far fewer lead people into truly knowing him. When you really study the word, one of the things you find in the beginning of the Baba is God disclosing himself, revealing himself to his creation. And man's vague understanding of who he is. Even up to today, people still don't really know him. They really don't know that much about him. Jesus said, You are following him because of the fish and the loaves. Well, people didn't have no interest, even in Jesus' days of not getting to know him. They just wanted to know of, you know, the benefits of being saved, getting food, being delivered, and being set free. If we are to fully enjoy the benefits of God, his power, blessing, glory, salvation, and majesty, and so much more, we must pursue a life that's centered on knowing him personally. Name dropping doesn't work in the kingdom of God. Only relationship does. Let me say that again. Name dropping this El Shaddai, Jehovah Jar, Jehovah Nisi, all this name dropping stuff, it sounds good. And it is power, you know, in it. But the people that actually spoke those words of in ancient times, the reason why they spoke them is because they came to a place where they began to know him. And by knowing him, they was able to say, Jehovah Java, God is my provider, because they knew and they understood that God will provide in that situation, in that circumstances, and his person and the person of who he was, a man, that he was God Almighty. He was the provider, he was the healer, he was the batter. They understood, came to the place that they knew that God would deliver in those days. We're living in days now. We got wars going on, rumors of war, diseases, we got murders, killings, uh, we got famine, we got inflation, we got diseases, we got all types of things, amen. That you know what? We really need to get to the place where we know God. And you know, one of the things that really bothers me is that a lot of ministers, a lot of churches, they don't know God. They really don't. They don't know him. You know, they know of him. They teach, and a lot of people teach what he said, but can't tell you very little bit of what he's saying. And the reason why we, if we can't teach what he's saying today, and and the only thing we can teach what he's saying is because we fail to know him. We don't have that intimate relationship, we're not spending time, we're not getting in this word, we don't have no motivation and desire to come to that place where we know God. So we need to change the our purpose, you know, when we go into prayer. What are we going to pray for? Really, we're going in there to know him. Why are we going to church so we know him? Why are we going to serve to know him? You know, we're going to go into our relationship with him with too many false pretexts. And a lot of it are religious in nature. It's really religious in nature. So we can't just drop names, especially in the kingdom of God. Yeah, you can drop names in the world. You can drop names in your circles or in circles you have been in, and some of your experience and stuff like that. It might work. Amen. But, you know, you remember the the in the Bible and it talks in the book of Acts, the songs of Cedar, because they were name-dropping. And the demon asked you, uh, asked, or made the statement, Jesus, I know, Paul I know, but who are you? These guys were name-dropping and expected the power of God to work for them in a situation or circumstances where they didn't really know God. They didn't really, really know Jesus. They hadn't sought him. They hadn't invited him into their lives and established a personal relationship. Because when you go back to the Bible, the Bible, what God is doing, it's all about after after man fell, in the third chapter of Genesis, we start seeing, we start seeing God reconciling men back into his relationship into a right relationship with him. The story in the Bible is about redemption. By coming to know the God of creation, and then the whole entire story after then, after creation, amen, is about God restoring us back into the right relationship. I tell people, you know, when you study the tabernacle, oh Moses tabernacle, amen. It's all about you coming back into the right relationship, God, the most holy of holies, the holy place, you being back in the presence, you being like Adam, you begin to walk with him, having an intimate relationship in the cool of your day, where you come to the place that you know him. Knowing God is everything to the believer. It's everything. The Hebrew boys, amen, you know, we're gonna talk about them in a few minutes, but the Hebrew boys, amen, they encountered God. And one reason why they was easily able to go into the lion's den, because they knew that God was gonna be there. The Hebrew boys didn't have a problem going into the fiery furnace because they knew they weren't crazy. They knew that fire was hot. They saw the people getting killed trying to put them in. Amen. I'm quite sure Daniel saw the lion's teeth and heard his roar. They wasn't crazy. They went in because they knew God. They knew God. Hey, our scripture, listen to this scripture right here, one of my favorite ones. This is one of my theme ones. Amen. This is the most important thing that I'm trying to impart in people and impart in leaders. Daniel 1132, many of you already know it. But it says the people who know their gods to be strong and carry out great exploits. Why do we not have the great exploits today? Why when we pray people not getting healed? Why are we not seeing the signs, the wonders, and the miracles that we see in the Bible? Why are many of the things that's going on in the world unchecked? Sin unchecked, violence unchecked, poverty unchecked, lack unchecked. Why are these things going with ease in the world, in our nations, in our communities, in our cities, in our family? Why are these things going seemly unchecked? Because we got too many people that don't know God, especially in the body of Christ. Amen. Because what happened is, you know, in most cases, man, we've produced a lot of fruitless people. We've built a lot, you know, we built a lot of churches, a lot of ministries. Amen. Led a lot of people to the place, amen, that is almost like a come to God because he's a sugar daddy. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. So that and one of his main purposes of him sending his son, one of his main purposes is to bring you back into a right relationship with God the Father. And his name shall be called Emmanuel. God is with you. Another purpose to bring you back to a close, knowing relationship with God, to the place that you know him. This is how you go out and witness. This is how you go out in power because you know that the God of creation, amen. He that never sleeps nor slumber, he that never lost, never can fail, is bagging you up. You know him. You can drop his name because you know him. In the mighty name of Jesus, you can drop his name. You can set up a word. You can reach heaven, you can have an open heaven above you, around you, and through you in the mighty name of Jesus. It's time out for this religious stuff. You know, we're just going to church. We're chanting the bond. We're on a weekly pilgrimage, amen. Well, we're going to circle around the things of God, amen. We're going to places that don't evoke the presence of God. Don't invite him in. Don't invite God the Father. Don't invite God the Son, that doesn't invite God the Holy Spirit in. No power. While our world is dying around us, and the one reason why is because we don't know him. We don't know him. Man, if we ever get into the uh into the presence of God, oh my goodness. If we ever come to a place that we truly, truly know him, like our life will be ever changed. Our world would be changed. Our families would be changed. Our destiny, our purpose be changed. This is the reason why we're supposed to be going to church, coming to that place that we know him. So that when our fiery furnaces, when our trials, our tribulations come, we can respond to these things with the knowing of God. That's the reason why we study to show ourselves approved. That's the reason why we go to church so we can know him, not so we can feel good, not so we can go get a golden ticket that we use somewhere in that, somewhere in the future, so that we can know God. How do we come to the place that we fortify our knowing of him? Growing in the knowledge of God is intentional. It is a pursuit. It requires consistency and desire. I'm going to give you a few foundational ways to build and strengthen that relationship. But before I do that, I want to harp on this for a minute. Growing in the knowledge of God is intentional. You have to, once you give your life to Christ, you have to study. Because it's a new culture, it's a new dimension, it's a new realm. You are a royal priesthood now. You are in the kingdom of God. You got a different language, you got a different currency, you got a different mindset. That's why your mind is being transformed and being renewed in Christ. Because now your culture, amen, your mindset, your citizenship, everything changes, and you have to study like you have to study to be a citizen in this country, to come to this country or any other country. Amen. It has to be intentional. You're intentional when you're trying to be a citizen here. You study so you can get your um your uh your papers to be a citizen of this country. With the same thing in the kingdom of God. We got too many people just walking there like it. It's old to them. And they never come to learn the God of this kingdom, his culture, his ways, his wonders, his will. And we wonder why we don't have no power. Because we don't know it. It's a pursuit. It's a pursuit. This whole entire kingdom, this whole entire relationship, this whole entire uh coming to know God only comes by pursuit. You have to be in hot pursuit to know him. You have to be like Moses. When Moses saw that burning bush, that thing, that thing captivated him. He had to go up and see what is this bush that's burning and not being consumed. You have to come to the place, amen, you have to pursue God's presence like that. God, I hear you, God, I see you, God, I believe you, I read your word, but I want to know more. And I'm gonna pursue you, it don't make no difference, amen. When I stumble, when I fumble, when I tumble, I'm still going to pursue you because I want to come to the place I know you, because knowing you is everything. You got to come to the place that you want him more, amen, than gold, precious stones, and all of the things that the world offer him, offer you. You got to want to pursue him, amen, more than that. More than anything. It was some Job that said, I sting you more than my necessary food. Do you have a sting for him like that? Do you have a desire? See, that's what that knowing does. That knowing makes you hungry for him. That knowing makes you, you know, you you you want to taste and see that it's good, not just one time, but over and over. It's a pursuit. It's not that you just see the bush burning. Okay, that was fantastic. No, no, that's not gonna get it. See, Moses never would have got anything. He'll never forget a revelation, he never forgot a tablets or stone or anything if he didn't pursuit. The pursuit was everything. It requires consistency and desire. And you have to be consistent with this. There's a lot of things of God that's not gonna work for people just because of consistency and desire. No consistency, it'll fall off. It'll wear off, quit your anointing, your grace, your motivation, your desire, your will, your your knowing, your desire to know him. It'll wear off without consistency. You got to be consistency in this walk. You got to be like in Psalms 111 said, you got to be like that tree that planted by the rivers of water. You got to decree and declare that I will not be moved. You got to get up daily and pray. You got to be in this word. You got to go and where do people meet, be there so you can meet God in that place. You got to be in prayer daily. Whether you're praying for someone someone else or you praying for yourself. Because it's God's form of communication and a place, a meeting place where he comes to meet you at, to fellowship, so you get to know him. You'll never know his force if you don't if you don't have no consistency and design. You don't know what your force sounds like because you don't know it. When you come to know God, you know what his force sounds like. So when you start hearing things in prayer or even hearing something outside of that, you know. Consistency. One of the first foundational ways to build and strengthen our relationship or our knowing of God is our encounters with God. That's moments where his presence become real and transformative. Can I tell you one of the most important things is you got to spend some quiet time with him. Turn on some worship music. And most of the time, music without words, just worship so the atmosphere can be set. Amen. So you can come into the presence of God and just begin to pray, just begin to seek his face, begin to seek his presence in the mighty name of Jesus. And stay there until it becomes real and transformative. You will experience, if you are consistently, consistent and have the desire, you will come to the place, hallelujah, where his presence become real and you begin to be transformed because of this presence. There's nothing a man can be in his presence and not be transformed. That bush would have burned if God wanted there. It would have been consumed. But because God was in, amen, because he revealed himself with this bush, because of this presence that was there, this thing was not consumed. But it became track, it became transformative in the sense, amen. That Moses was able to see God as he revealed himself in that manner. The second thing, you got to spend personal prayer time, honest, ongoing conversation with him. Again, consistency and desire play some role here. You got to get up in a time that is sacrificial. It's the best time. You got to get up in a sacrificial time. Amen. Wake up when you're sleepy. Wake up in the early morning hours and spend your time. Turn on your worship music and begin to pray. Just begin to seek it. And don't spend a lot of time in this time asking for something. Yes, you can intercede for one, uh, for uh other people, your nation, your leaders and stuff. But really, you want to spend time where it's transformative for you so you can personally get to know him. You know, I got this one-hour prayer time, 20, 20, 20, 320s equal to 60 minutes. 20 minutes, I'm just spending time of worshiping him, glorify him, magnify his name. You know, just in the state of just thanksgiving. The next 20 minutes, amen, I might intercede. Began to lift up people, the sick, and going through and different situations, people and things stuffed that the Holy Ghost had placed on my mind, friends, family, praying for leaders in the nation and stuff, those types of things. The last 20 minutes, I'm sitting listening to the voice of God. Listening because it's not, it can't be all output. You can come into personal prayer time, so you can just output. Give me, give me, give me, give me, give me, give me. Yes, you can ask for things that you need too. But you don't want to spend your whole time prayer, even for other people, and personal time with God, you're not gonna come to the place that you knew him because you know you're spending all your time just asking, then you hang it up. You're going back to sleep. You cut the prayer off. You was only here to talk at him, not with him. No, this is different. This is personal prayer time, honest, ongoing conversation and with him. Now listen to this conversation, which is two-way with him. The next thing is time in his presence. Learning to sit, wait, and listen. Learning to sit and wait and listen in his presence. One of the most important things when you get to know him. Learning to sit and wait and Listen to him, just being still what he said, waiting on him to answer. Listen to his instructions next time in his word. Discovering his nature, his voice, and his ways. Discovering what he says, looking for illumination, revelation in God's word. Because the more time he's spending and you get to know him, you'll start knowing him. You know, the words begin to lift up off the pages. You'll come from, you could you'll go beyond this, hearing some stories about God, but God will begin to start revealing himself to you and his word, his purpose, his will, and his way. Next intentional, unwavering worship. Adore him not for what he gives, but for who he is. Intentional, unwavering worship. Come on, somebody. Because he is God. You have to give him the glory, you have to give him the honor. Adore him not for what he gives. Hallelujah. Too many people come to God because what he gives, but for who he is. I mean they worship him because he's God, God Almighty. He's the Alpha and the Mega. He's the beginning and the end. He is God. He's the God of disclosure, revealing who he is to you. Moses said, Well, I go to the people who should I say that sent me, telling that I am, that I am, sent you. God reveal who he was. Because there was a void in people knowing God. As you practice these, your knowledge of God move from information to revelation and from revelation to transformation. And as Daniel said, those that know God become strong. They do great exports. You begin to see yourself being strengthened because you know God. And the greatness of God, the miracles, the signs and the wonders, the things that Jesus are greater signs, wonders, and miracles that you're going to do. He began to proclaim that we're going to do greater. And the reason being is because we know God. Not because no magic. God don't do magic. So we thank you, amen, for joining us on our open eyes podcast. Amen. This is for now going to be a weekly, a weekly event that we're going to have. I'm going to share some words with you. I pray that it goes out in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen. And locate and find God's people and salvation come to their home, amen, to their jobs, to their neighborhoods, to their families, to their nations. In the mighty name of Jesus. May his salvation locate you. Today I pray, amen, that there's someone today, amen, that don't know Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. I just invite you right now to bow your head and say, Lord, Jesus, the day I received you, hallelujah, in my heart and in my life today. The day I opened up my mouth and I confess that Jesus Christ, Lord, amen. I confess, amen, that he died, amen, for my sins. And on the third day, he rose for my justification today. I thank you today that by his blood I have been healed, I have been saved, and that the salvation of God has found me. I receive the salvation of God in my life, in the mighty name of Jesus. Thank you for joining the OpenEyes Podcast. My prayers that the eyes of your understanding are now open and that you begin to see in higher dimensions and deeper realms in Christ. I invite you to follow us and join us at openeyespodcast.buzzsprout.com for weekly eye-opening revelations that will strengthen your walk and expand your vision. Our host Dan Jones has eight powerful books available on Amazon.com. Be sure to support the ministry and continue growing in wisdom and truth until the next time. May God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ always find you where He sends you. In Jesus' mighty name, amen.