How to Seek God’s Face

How shall a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word (Ps. 119:9).

The word of the Lord is proven (Ps. 18:30).

Jesus cited God’s Word when tempted by Satan in Matthew 4.

And that since childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise unto salvation through the faith that is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:15-17).

Fasting

Have you ever become so lost in conversation with someone that you lost track of time? Imagine losing track of time for 40 days, even forgetting to eat, drink or sleep? It appears that Moses was not worried about food and water when he was communing with God on Mount Sinai. According to Exodus 34:28, Moses was with the Lord for “forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water.” It could have been this experience along with God’s provision of manna in the wilderness that prompted him to declare to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 8:3: “Man does not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.”

We need to keep this Scripture verse in mind when we fast. Fasting demonstrates dependence on God. We recognize that we need God more than food and water, more than the very basic human needs required for survival in the physical realm. Jesus reminds us: “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who remains in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit. For without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Apart from God, we can do nothing and we are nothing. God is our lifeline, and in Christ, we can live life to the fullest. As you seek God’s face, engage in times of fasting. Allow this experience to draw you closer to God as you tell Him that you recognize He is all you need. 

Meditation

During his experience with God on Mount Sinai, Moses experienced tunnel vision. His focus was exclusively on God. Unfortunately the busyness of today’s world has made it difficult for many of us to spend regular quality time with God. Daily meditation on God and His Word allows us to enjoy moments with God during any time of day. Meditation simply means to think deeply and consistently on something. In the biblical sense, it does not mean emptying your mind of everything but rather thinking regularly about and ruminating on God’s Word. When you are seeking God’s face, you think about Him constantly. Dwell on His Word. Contemplate what God is telling you and how He wants you to respond.

Moses’ desire was to please God and find favor with Him. He actively thought about what it meant to honor God and serve Him well. Psalm 19:14 says, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.” What does your heart meditate on the most? Does it meditate on the worries of this world or the promises found in God’s Word? Do you find your mind focusing on everyday problems or thinking about what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable—anything excellent or praiseworthy that comes from God?[1]

A Greater Experience than Mt. Sinai

As we seek God’s face, are we willing to listen when He speaks? What is God telling you today? What part of this message is God impressing on you the most? Does God want you to respond by embarking on a journey to read the Bible in a year? Or maybe God is challenging you to pray at least five minutes a day instead of just praying for your food. Perhaps God is impressing you to meditate on His Word daily or to begin a fast. Listen to what the Holy Spirit is leading you to do. As you seek Him, your encounter with Him will lead to an even greater transformation than the one experienced by Moses. Our experience is contrasted with that of Moses in 2 Corinthians 3:7-8:

If the ministry that brought death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, the glory which was to fade away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?

As exceptional as the prophet Moses was, his experience with God was limited because of the limitations of the Law he lived by. We however, are beneficiaries of the New Covenant. We have the opportunity to have an uninhibited encounter with God because we have direct access to the Father through Christ via the ministry of the Spirit. This access provides complete freedom to experience the fullness of the glory of God today. This experience brings transformation.

We are assured in 2 Corinthians 3:18 that “we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” As you seek Him, be encouraged that He will reveal Himself to you and you will never be the same.

[1] See Philippians 4:8

Reprinted with permission from White Wing Messenger, published by the Church of God of Prophecy. Michael Hernandez—@hello2uwwjd—is a licensed counselor and minister currently serving as coordinator of the World Language Department of the Church of God of Prophecy. He is a graduate of both Lee University and the Pentecostal Theological Seminary and resides in Cleveland, Tennessee with his wife, Kara.