The first step in seeking God is asking Him to be part of our lives. If God did not want to be “found”, then believe me…no one would find Him. Fortunately, however, He desires fellowship with us and promised that those who seek Him will find Him.
The Asking Part
There are several things in particular to remember when we want to petition the LORD.
#1) Whenever we ask, we must do so in prayer and believe He will meet our expressed needs.
Matthew 21:22 says “…whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”
Therefore, if we are seeking the LORD and want to find Him, then we must pray to Him and have faith that He will respond. It makes no sense to pray without believing.
#2) We must put ourselves in the right position to receive.
As believers, this means that we should be following the LORD, not the world. Let’s refer to John 15:7 which says “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” That is a conditional promise. If we choose to follow after God, then His blessings and promises are available to us. For those who wonder why things are not working out for them no matter how much they pray, it would be worthwhile to examine their daily walk with Him.
#3) We must ask in the name of Jesus.
John chapter 14 verses 13 and 14 say “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” I used to wonder why believers stamp their prayers with the phrase “in the name of Jesus” or something to that effect. Then I came across various scriptures that explained the relationship between Jesus and the everlasting God…scriptures such as John 1:1 which explains that Jesus was in the beginning with God and was God, Phillippians 2:6 which explains that He didn’t see sameness with our glorious Father in Heaven as something He should hold fast to while mankind was in a state of despair, and John 14:6 where Jesus states He is the way to the Father. No one has access to the Holy Spirit of God without Jesus. After all, He came to this world to reconcile mankind to God and became our bridge to the eternal Father.
#4) As we seek fellowship with God and ask things of Him, let us keep in mind that He answers those who are steadfast.
Being steadfast means being consistent and committed. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says that we should pray without ceasing. Obviously human beings cannot pray incessantly. We must eat, sleep, work, etc.. Therefore, the passage does not imply that we literally pray around the clock, but that we maintain our fellowship with the LORD. A relationship with God is fundamentally like any other. Sure its benefits easily outmatch all others, but regular communication is no less important.
If a family member, for instance, only reached out once in a blue moon in times of need or want, one might not feel as inclined or ready to help them. However, if they kept the relationship alive through frequent communication, their needs and wants would be more readily met.
Praying incessantly means committing to both the desired outcome, and to one’s relationship with God. It connotes making persistent efforts as opposed to half-hearted attempts. He who prays incessantly does not give up and say to himself, God’s not listening, or there’s no point. Rather, the steadfast prayer warrior understands that we don’t move spiritual objects through physical action nor fight spiritual battles with physical weapons. Rather, we partner with God and commit our hearts, spirit, and faith to the result we want to see.
The terms and conditions
There are some terms and conditions we must agree to before we can harness the power of prayer and truly benefit from the presence of God. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says “If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” This covenant is clearly conditional. It should be noted that all covenants are conditional. While His love for us in unconditional, God rewards those who meet His terms and c o n d i t i o n s. That is how covenants work. In 2 Chronicles 7:14, God said that if His people would humbly commit to seeking Him and keeping their eyes on Him while turning their backs to sin, He will be merciful.
Seeking God involves searching with true effort and intent. To do this, we must search with all our hearts. Many wonder why God is absent from their lives, or why their friends, family, and much of the world are unable to put their faith in Him. That’s because we are often searching with our “brains” and not our hearts. We try to find a God who makes sense to us based on what we see and falsely recognize as reality. Since we live in a tangible world, we accept as real that which we can see, feel, and touch. Therefore, the God we halfheartedly search for (on occasion) is one who we expect to find with our eyes.
…BUT…
The scripture teaches ‘God is spirit’ meaning we cannot seek Him with our eyes. In order to vibe with Him, we must be tuned in to His spiritual frequency. The beauty of the human being is its dual nature. Man is part spirit and part flesh. Therefore, we can interact with both the material and spiritual world.
We are born into flesh, but whenever someone is born again in Christ, he or she is reborn as a powerful “conscious” spirit who happens to inhabit flesh. This is the true reality, that we are in the world, but our essense is not of the world. We interact with the world, but we are more than mere creatures who were born to follow lust and instinct. We were created to seek out the only thing that can truly complete us—a genuine relationship with our Creator. Sadly many do not discover this in time.
In seeking the LORD, we must do so with all of the following:
- respect
- determination
- desperation
Imagine knocking on someone’s door. The act of knocking is intentional. It shows a desire to enter a space or meet with someone without intruding. In this case, the space that we wish to enter is God’s presence and in His presence there is peace, joy, strength, blessing, etc.
I’m sure we already know that God is omnipresent. That’s great news for us! We don’t have to wait for certain stars to align. We simply have to seek Him with all our hearts. It’s how He separates those who really desire a relationship from those who don’t, those who are desperate from those who don’t care. So when we truly want to find Him, we will.
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SOUL HAVEN 