“Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.” Isaiah 55:6
“…those who seek me diligently find me.” Proverbs 8:17
“…seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” Matthew 6:33
Seek isn’t a word that slips easily into our English vocabulary. We don’t seek a bargain; we shop for one. Rarely do we seek for misplaced keys; we look for them. But this fascinating word is used, in one form or another, over 240 times in the Bible and it has a meaning we should seriously consider. Dr. Skip Moen defines the word as deliberately striving for and desiring something as an act of the will, putting your whole life at the disposal of God’s rule and will so that nothing takes greater priority.
Do I desperately seek after God or do my attempts wither when He seems distant, not answering my prayers, when I don’t feel His presence? What would it look like to stay in my quiet corner seeking after God with the same determination as the persistent widow in the story Jesus told? And then there is Jacob wrestling with the angel of God: “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” Both the woman and Jacob put their whole lives at the disposal of God so that nothing took greater priority.
I want these words from ‘A Guide to Prayer’ to be mine each morning:
“Lord, you have promised to meet those who seek your face. Come now and reveal your presence to me as I make myself present to you.”
Father, it’s much easier to just skim through a few Bible verses each morning, content with doing what seems part of the “formula” for following you. Don’t let me be so easily satisfied; help me pant after you as a deer pants for water.
by Marilyn Ehle
Used by Permission
FURTHER READING
• Yes I Will – A Devotional by Doug Lim
• FIRST PLACE – by Karen Huffaker
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