How can I know God intimately and personally?

First of all, God has made it possible to know Him intimately and personally.

Second, He has revealed to us in His Word about how to do exactly that.

Third, there is no set formula since God has created each of us differently.

There are many places in the Bible, in fact, the whole Bible is geared toward drawing us into His presence, but I will focus on one particularly verse that continually challenges me.

"You will seek me and find me when you see me with all your heart." ~ Jeremiah 29:13

God will not ever force you to know Him or force Himself upon anyone. He waits for you to respond to His Holy Spirit's urging. When you, through the Holy Spirit, line up your desires with His, He will fulfill your desires to overflowing time and time again.

There will always be ups and downs. Look at the Israelites. Nevertheless, as Toby Mac says in "Get Back Up":

We lose our way, we get back up again
It's never too late to get back up again
And one day you gonna' shine again
You may be knocked down, but not out forever

You may ask, "But how do I seek God with all my heart?"

There are many ways to seek God. Prayer, Bible study, and music name just a few, but the list is endless. The important thing is to be in the presence of God, whether that is by praise, thanksgiving, singing, writing, creating, painting, driving, hiking, traveling, performing, listening, teaching, or by some other way.

The key is to focus on God.

I will conclude with a statement by A. W. Tozer in the The Pursuit of God, "The impulse to pursue God originates with God, but the outworking of that impulse is our following hard after Him" (p. 12).