It can be easy to lose sight of how much God loves you, especially when things are going wrong. We may find ourselves feeling as if we have been abandoned by God and alone in a dark abyss. But this is not true! As Christians, it is our responsibility to seek the Lord with all of our heart and he will never hide from us. Seeking the Lord through prayer for direction and clarity is one of many things we can do to seek him wholeheartedly. In this article about how to seek God, we’re going to explore 7 pillars for seeking God that has helped me personally on my journey back to God when I find myself astray.
God doesn’t leave you or forsake you
It is important to recognize that when you find yourself apart from God, he is not the one who deserted you. Deuteronomy 31:6 says I will never leave you or forsake you.
God doesn’t want to abandon you. He longs for you to seek Him with all of your heart. If you find you are no longer in God’s presence, let the 7 pillars below guide you back.
7 Pillars for How to Seek God
1.) Humble yourself and repent of sin
The first step to looking for God is to realize that you are not God yourself. Too often, we revert back to our sinful nature and look to solve all of our problems ourselves.
Even starting this article, I failed to pray for direction and clarity. I thought I had a plan and I needed to work through it. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to seek God’s advice, but I wasn’t intentional in searching for it.
Once I realized my pride and the need to humble myself, I stopped and prayed to seek God.
2.) Prayer and fasting
This pillar almost seems to be a no-brainer. How can you seek God without praying to Him?
Some argue the value of fasting, but Jesus says in Matthew 25 that there are certain powers you can only achieve by prayer and fasting.
It is important to note that several health concerns when undertaking a fast. Consult your doctor and your preacher before beginning your first fast. You should also study scripture regarding fasting so that you don’t merely perform a ritual, but truly seek God’s heart.
3.) Study God’s Word and memorize scripture
I cannot understate how important it is to study God’s Word, the Holy Bible. It is the manual for life, it is God’s love letter to His creation, and it is truly the only way to learn who He is.
I realize that he has personally revealed himself to many people throughout time, and some of these have been recorded in the Bible. But to know whether it is genuinely God who is revealing Himself to you, you should know who he is, and the Bible is the best source to gain that knowledge.
The Bible also reveals God’s plans and his direction for our lives. When we commit scripture to memory, it helps us know how to truly seek God in every instance of our lives, no matter our circumstance.
4.) Obey God’s commands and practice them daily
Salvation is more than a fire insurance policy. The process of sanctification is a multi-stage system God uses to make us more like His Son, Jesus Christ our living hope.
You didn’t build up all of your rebellion and sinful habits in a day, and God won’t always remove them in a day. To prepare you to live in Heaven, he has to systematically remove sin from your life.
It is important to note that this is a process though. You will still sin during this process. You will fail, sometimes repeatedly. We are our own worst critics. Know that your Father loves you and provides grace to you during this time.
5.) Realize you are not perfect and in need of God’s grace.
Perfection is unachievable in our mortal bodies. If it were, Jesus’ sacrifice would not have been necessary.
On your own power, you cannot keep the 10 Commandments. If we work within the spirit of the two commands Jesus gives (love God with all your heart, love others as self) you cannot stay faithful to these two 100% of the time.
It is when these periods of rebellion occur that we should again humble ourselves and often seek the counsel of other believers.
6.) Meet with other believers regularly to discuss life and the Lord
Meeting with other believers is what I feel like God designed us for. We were built with needs and the inability to provide for all of those needs on our own.
Whether it is for counsel, works, or any number of specific needs, God requires us to work with one another to accomplish His goals. Remember that unity among believers was one of the ways Jesus said you would know who His followers were.
There are a number of ways to meet including meals, events, and even one on one interactions. Perhaps the most frequently used way is through church service, where we collectively worship God.
7.) Worship the Lord with words and in song
The last pillar is not last because it is the least important but because you need the others to prepare your heart for worshipping the Creator of the universe.
Worship is more than the music we sing at church, it is the position of the heart to lay down all of our wants and desires at the cross. We sacrifice our own covetousness to achieve God’s perfect and god plans.
When we corporately read the Bible, listen to God’s word through a preacher, priest, or bishop, we also worship.
Let nothing keep you from seeking God
Trust and obey, there is no other way. God requires us to sacrifice our own selfish wants and desires to become available to increase our faith and be used by Him.
Anything that comes between us and God is an idol. The word worship literally means weight in Greek. This means whatever in our lives we give weight to, we worship. People worship many things: success, possessions, family, children. Some of these things are not evil, but can be when we desire them above God in our lives.
Christian, I pray that you let nothing keep you from your search in God. May you find the strength to cast off any idol you may be worshipping and focus solely on doing the work the Lord has set for you to do.