Belief Is Not Enough
Simply believing in God, call it trust or faith, is not enough for the disciple. God can be too much like a concept, idea or philosophy. No, the disciple wants a living, breathing relationship with God, one that is personal and intimate. We don’t want to follow at a distance but rather walk hand in hand with our Lord.
For myself, I want to cultivate something of a lover’s passion for my God so that I am lonely without him, yearn for his company, daily think his thoughts, run to him for comfort and with him celebrate the joys that I experience in life.
When I approach my home after being away I look forward to being with my wife. I want to experience that same attraction when I go to God’s house, or open his word, or enter into my den of prayer. I desire to have that desire. But even more I long to feel that God is always near, beside and within me through his Spirit.
So I will search and pray for that assurance. I am too easily pleased with things done well and not superbly. I pray for the fervor of knowing my Savior and my God.
Grace Matters 
“God is a concept by which we measure our pain.” For some reason that lyric of John Lennon’s immediately popped into my head when reading your comment about how some might think of God (Yahweh) as a concept. In the America of today, I’m suspicious that particular depiction of God may be truer than ever. Admittedly, it is hard to be personal and intimate with someone or something that cannot be physically seen and touched. That isn’t meant to be an excuse. On the contrary, more of an admission of weakness for an inability to immerse oneself in an all-out effort to make that relationship with God both personal and intimate. The world always seems to get in the way. One would think that living in this world would drive one closer to God. Be that as it may, the goal of achieving extreme proximity to the Creator is worth striving for.
A great addition to the original comment. Thank you Dave.