God Seeker – Seeking God With All Your Heart

There appears to be a distinct difference between a “nominal” Christian and a true God seeker — the one who pursues God with all his or her heart! This passionate pursuit of God’s heart and His Presence forms an umbilical cord powerfully nurturing life to those who seek Him with diligence. 

Becoming a God seeker requires tenacity. We can effectively do any number of Christian activities without major disturbance. Begin to prayerfully seek God and life turns into a battle ground!

First, there is an unexpected knock at the door. Then the phone rings, random thoughts flash rapidly through your mind, the kids fight, the dog needs to be let out, the smoke detector beeps, hunger pangs grip, and on it goes.

Have you been there? It can feel like a game of “Hide-and-Seek”, except God isn’t hiding and few people are seriously seeking. 

Finding God

“Then you will call on me
and come and pray to me
and I will listen to you.
You will seek me and find me
when you seek me with all your heart.
I will be found by you,” declares the LORD.
Jeremiah 29:12-14

It can be fun playing Hide-and-Seek with young children. One can’t miss the blanket hump that giggles, the plump statue-like body behind the pole lamp, or curled bundle under the table. 

Does God “hide” from us in similar fashion? Whispering our name, He invites us to find him while He “hides” in plain sight. Yet, complacency quickly turns wasted days into years of neither “seeking” nor “finding” the One who begs to be found by us.

God’s promise remains! If we seek Him “with all (our) heart, (He) will be found!”

“Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.”
Isaiah 55:6

But why is seeking so important?

God Seeker

Suzanna Wesley is a remarkable example of a God seeker. She was the mother of 19 children, although ten died in early childhood. She was largely unsupported by her husband.

Suzanna took every responsibility seriously! Homeschooling her children included far more history and mathematics. She laid a biblical foundation in the lives of each of her children. In her spare time, Suzanna gave leadership to a small congregation of about 200 others. 

How did Suzanna carry such a heavy load? She consistently pushed aside every distraction, spending a minimum of two hours daily in prayer. On a chair into the middle of her kitchen she sat with apron over her head. No one dared interrupt! Momma Wesley talked with God. God spoke to Momma Wesley!

Susanna, a true God seeker, is recognized as the mother of the Methodist Movement, with four of her sons becoming pastors.

In Suzanna’s dedicated time with God, her spiritual senses were awakened, giving her divine insight, biblical understanding, and practical strategies to equip her children and hundreds of others to live victorious, godly lives.

“Seek the LORD, all who are humble,
and follow his commands.
Seek to do what is right and to live humbly.”
Zephaniah 2:3

The Choice

Such God focused seeking prayer comes with promise! Not only does God guarantee He will “be found”, 

“and (I) will bring you back from captivity.
I will gather you from all the nations and places
where I have banished you,” declares the LORD,
and will bring you back to the place
from which I carried you into exile.”
Jeremiah 29:14-15

God welcomes back His wayward sons and daughters — prodigals whose disobedience had drawn them far from Him. They were refugees — slaves held captive in a far-off land!

Such bondage may not be as literal in our lives, but real nonetheless! Without God, we are all wanderers gone astray in a lost world. 

“I love those who love me,
and those who seek me find me.”
Proverbs 8:17

Our cry is never too far from His hearing. The choice is ours! Will we turn back to the God who loves us?

Time with God is never wasted! Here we gain wisdom and understanding, see our own waywardness and rebellion and discover the path of grace to find our way home.

Love and Goodness

God’s promises are all inclusive! When we choose to seek His face, we will find Him. He will “gather” us and “bring” us “home”. Back to His Presence! Back to the place of love! God is ready to welcome us, restoring us to freedom, security, and purpose.

“God did this so that they would seek him
and perhaps reach out for him and find him,
though he is not far from any one of us.
‘For in him we live and move
and have our being.'”
Acts 17:27-28

Unfortunately, God’s desire for relationship with us is much more intense that our craving to connect with Him. Our seeking ranks lethargic! His pursuing intentional!

“He is not far from any one of us!” 

Let the reality of those words sink in! “He is not far!“

God has not moved! Each step we take toward Him reveals another attribute of His character and awe of His being. It is in those quiet times of His Presence that we find a greater sense of His love and goodness. His promises await those who choose to seek.

Intimacy

Scripture tells us that David was a “man after God’s own heart”. His psalms reveal his seeking heart:

“One thing I ask from the LORD,
this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the LORD
and to seek him in his temple.”
Psalm 27:4

David desired one thing — God’s Presence!  What about me? What one thing would I long for? Am I like David or am I distracted by lesser things.

“One thing above all else,” David declared, “the one thing I desire is You, Lord!” God met David in his seeking.

David hungered for a divine intimacy found only with God. No other relationship compared! In the seeking and finding, bearing himself in raw transparency before Holy God, David developed a deep childlike trust, an unquestionable knowing that he was welcome and accepted.

The door of intimacy remains open for each of us, too.

One Thing

God seekers are “one thing” people!

“You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
where there is no water.
I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.”
Psalm 63:1-2

There is power in the Presence of the All-Powerful One. However, displays of power never satisfy a God seeker. Miracles, signs, and wonders reveal God’s glory, but are cheap substitutes for one moment with Him. 

God continuously provided for David’s needs, fulfilled every promise spoken, and brought him supernatural victories in battle. Yet, nothing compared to time with God.

Like David, Suzanna and generations of others, it is essential to purposely set aside time, ignore distractions, and seek after God. It will require a heart fully devoted to “finding” Him!

Indescribable unlimited benefits abound!

“But may all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you…”
Psalm 70:4

Seek and Find

I am no better at “hiding” from God, than my grandchildren are at hiding from me. Even when I see them clearly. I keep “searching”, waiting for them to make noise or movement to draw me close. Patiently, I allow them to hide as long as they want. 

The game with my grandchildren always ends with giggles and exuberant cheers! The “lost” is found! My “little ones” have ceased from hiding! 

God’s welcoming embrace awaits those who delight in both seeking Him and being found by Him. In the seeking and finding, man with God in prayer, God with man in whispered invitation, is reciprocated joy! Here alone dwells abiding peace and security!

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Further Reading:

The Prodigal Returns, Prayer Answered! Running no More!