What could be more important than finding God? Take a day, a week or a month and do nothing but seek Him, persisting until you find Him. He has promised, “You shall seek Me and find Me, when you shall search for Me with all your heart” (Jer. 29:13).
If we truly find Him, no one will have to tell us to be humble. No one need convince us our old natures are as filthy rags. As we truly find God, the things that are so highly esteemed among men will become detestable in our sight (Luke 16:15).
As you touch Him, something will come alive in you: something eternal, someone Almighty! Instead of looking down on people, you will seek to lift them up. You will dwell in the presence of God. And you will be holy, for He is holy.
There are certain times when the Lord calls us out of the routine of our daily lives. These are special seasons where His only command is, “Seek My face.” He has something precious and vitally important to give us that the familiar pattern of our daily devotions cannot accommodate. During such times, people are often delivered of sins that have plagued them for years; others discover a depth in their walk with God that leads to greater effectiveness in ministry and prayer; still others experience breakthroughs in their families and are used by God to see loved ones brought into the kingdom.
Yet we are not seeking God for things or even for other people. We are seeking God for Himself. Maturity starts as we break the cycle of seeking God only during hardship; holiness begins the moment we seek God for Himself. A touch from God is wonderful, but we are in pursuit of more than just an experience—more than “goose bumps and tears.” We are seeking to abide with Christ, where we are continually aware of His fullness within us, where His presence dwells in us in glory.
How do we enter this sacred place? If we study the life of Moses (and Jesus), we will see how he sought God and lived in fellowship with Him. He pitched a tent outside the camp, and he and everyone who sought the Lord went outside the camp to the tent of meeting (Ex. 33:7). We must pitch our tent a “good distance from the camp.” What camp is this? For Moses as well as for us, it is the “camp of familiarity.”
Is there anything inherently wrong or sinful with the things that are familiar? No, not in themselves, but you will remember that when Jesus told His disciples to follow Him, He called them to leave the familiar pattern of their lives for extended periods and be alone with him (Matt. 19:27; Luke 14:33). Why? Because He knew that men, by nature, are unconsciously governed by the familiar. If He would expand us to receive the eternal, He must rescue us from the limitations of the temporal.
This is not to say we neglect our families or that we become irresponsible as we seek God. No, God has given everyone enough time to seek Him. It is there, having done what love would have us do for our families, we simply say no to every other voice but God’s. We must redeem the time: Cancel hobbies, forsake television and put away the newspaper and magazines. Those who would find God find time.
Sadly, many Christians have no higher goal, no greater aspiration, than to become “normal.” Paul rebuked the church of Corinth because they walked “like mere men” (1 Cor. 3:3, KJV). God has more for us than merely becoming better people; He wants to flood our lives with the same power that raised Christ from the dead. We must understand: God does not merely want us “normal.” He wants us Christlike.
For the Holy Spirit to facilitate God’s purposes in our lives, He must redefine both our definition of reality and our priorities in life. Christlikeness must become our singular goal.
When we work all day only to come home, watch television, then collapse in bed, our lifestyle becomes a chain of bondage. These things may not necessarily trap us in sin as much as they keep us from God. Moses would leave what was familiar and pitch his tent “outside the camp,” where he would then seek the Lord. So also must we, at times, leave the camp of what seems normal and predictable and begin to seek after God.
This is one reason why Jesus said, “When you pray, go into your inner room, close your door and pray” (Matt. 6:6, NASB). Christ desires us to leave the familiar, distracting world of our senses and abide in the world of our hearts, bearing in mind that the highest goal of prayer is to find God.
Prayer Power for the Week of Sept. 15, 2019
This week, make it a priority to seek God in prayer and find Him. Open your heart to receive His Holy Spirit and let Him use the Word to renew your mind and transform you into the image of Christ. Thank Him that He desires to meet with you and allows you to find Him as He promised.
Continue to pray for deep repentance and revival in our churches, and that God would send out more laborers to reap a global harvest of souls and expand His kingdom. Thank Him for His protection over Israel, our own nation, our military and their families. Pray that our nation would seek to honor God once again, and that our government leaders would ask Him for wisdom when making decisions. Continue to pray for those recovering from the impact of Hurricane Dorian. Read: Jeremiah 29:13, Luke 16:33.
