Seeking God’s Face

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

Strong’s Concordance translates the word “face” as “presence”. So what the writer of 2 Chronicles (many believe it was Ezra) is telling us is that God wants us to seek His presence. But how do we seek something we cannot even see?

When we seek God’s presence, we are seeking to learn who and what He is. Author and theologian G. Wood wrote, “[we are seeking to] … behold his glory, be made sensible of his majesty, holiness and loving kindness.  We come into his presence that we may present to him our adoration, praises, confessions, and prayers.

The Psalmist instructs us in Psalm 105:4 ~ “Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!”  Seeking is an action, and actions require effort. So what effort is necessary in this context?

So how do we put seeking his face into action?

  1.     Setting aside time each day for prayer, or “getting alone with God.”
  2.     Daily devotional time, or reading the Bible

The time we spend with God should not be treated as a task, but rather a joy.  When someone is important in our lives, our spouse, our children, a very dear friend, we long to spend time with them. The time we get to spend with them is precious. This is how we should view our time alone with God. Our relationship with Him should be the most important relationship in our lives.

We should feel like David did, that God is our greatest joy, and every moment we spend with Him is a blessing.  As he wrote in his psalm, Psalm 63:1-3 ~ 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. Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You.

We see several important points in David’s Psalm.  

1a O God, You are my God; 

David says “my God” signifying a personal relationship.

1b I shall seek You earnestly; 

The words “earnestly I seek You”, mean look for early in the morning, because David’s first waking thought is to get alone with God.

1c My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You, In a dry and weary land where there is no water.

This shows David’s need, he must have God to live.

2 Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. 

David knows what God is capable of.

3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise You. 

There’s nothing better than God’s love

Can we honestly say that God’s love is better than life?  The more we seek His face, the more we will truly understand how wonderful He is, the more we will grow to be like David. Loving Him more than life itself. And that love is in response to His love for us. A love so strong, a love better than life, that He sent His Son to die for us to show that love.

Romans 5:8 ~ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

It is clear in scripture that God wants us to know Him, and if we strive to know Him better, He will bless us.  Making this a priority in our lives should be an easy decision. But we get caught up in day to day pursuits and in feeding our fleshly desires.  We need to focus on the living God, as we read in James 4:8 ~ Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.

Of course, the greatest consequence of seeking God is His blessing of redemption.  Psalm 78:34-35 ~ Whenever God slew them, they would seek him; they eagerly turned to him again. They remembered that God was their Rock, that God Most High was their Redeemer.

So seeking God’s presence should be the joyful pursuit of every Christian.  The blessings that will come are worth it.

1 Chronicles 16:10 ~ Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.

~~ a befreeinChrist writing ~~