Tag Archives: seeking God’s Face

June 9, 2022 · 5:30 AM

Getting In God’s Face

My son is competitive like most kids. He wants to be first everywhere we go. The problem is that he doesn’t always know where we are going. Sometimes when he gets a few steps ahead, I turn and he keeps going straight. I’ll usually make a noise to let him notice. He then runs over and tries to stay in front. With each turn, I remind him that I’m the one who knows where we are going, and that he should follow.

There are other times when he’s just trying to keep my attention. If I’m trying to do something, he’ll get in my face. If I direct my attention elsewhere, he moves to try to stay in my face. Sometimes it makes me laugh how hard he tries to get and keep my attention. The truth is that it’s a picture of how we are to be with God. Sometimes we forget to be like children, which is what Jesus told us to be like.

I believe God is looking for us to be in His presence. He’s not wanting us to be out in front of Him trying to guess where He’s leading us, and He’s not just wanting us to be somewhere in His vicinity. He wants us to go get in His face, and to be where He is looking. Psalm 116:9 says, “I walk in the Lord’s presence as I live here on earth!” (NLT) The Psalmist understood what God desires from each of us, and that is to walk in His presence.

The word “presence” in its original meaning, is the word for face. So to walk in the Lord’s presence is to walk where He’s facing. In order to do that, we need to be constantly looking at Him to make sure we are going the same way He is. We have to spend time in prayer throughout the day constantly grabbing His face and attention. It’s what children who love their parents do. God is not annoyed by us in trying to do this. He is honored when we walk in His presence.

Photo by Szilvia Basso on Unsplash

Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.

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March 11, 2022 · 5:38 AM

Prioritize Seeking God

I’ve heard it said that God has put enough of Himself in creation that those who are looking for Him can find Him, and those that aren’t might miss Him. God wants to be found. To be sought after, but we have to get past all the distractions around us in order to do it. Each of us need to daily look for Him in the midst of the chaos of our day. It takes a conscious effort to make sure we’re looking for Him. The Bible tells us over and over to seek Him, and that He rewards those who do. There are several of these rewards listed. We just need to make seeking Him a priority.

Here are some Bible verses on seeking God.

1. But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul.

Deuteronomy 4:29 AMP

2. You will seek me, and you will find me because you will seek me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29:13 GNT

3. Seek God while he’s here to be found, pray to him while he’s close at hand. Let the wicked abandon their way of life and the evil their way of thinking. Let them come back to God, who is merciful, come back to our God, who is lavish with forgiveness.

Isaiah 55:6-7 MSG

4. Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14 NLT

5. What joy overwhelms everyone who keeps the ways of God, those who seek him as their heart’s passion!

Psalms 119:2 TPT

Photo by Jametlene Reskp on Unsplash

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November 16, 2020 · 4:57 AM

Seeking God

When I was younger, I would go to the library and check out “Where’s Waldo” books. It provided page after page of hard searches. I would spend lots of time scouring the pages to see if I could find him with that red and white striped beanie. There were always distractions and decoys to throw me off. When I couldn’t find him, I would start at the top left and work across to the right, looking at every face in there going from top to bottom. Sometimes it was easy to find him, and other times I really had to search. There were even times when I required the help of others to make my search successful. It taught me to seek and to search and to not give up when it didn’t happen right away.

The Bible tells us over and over to seek God’s face. Sometimes it can feel like a Where’s Waldo book. How can I seek the face of God when I can’t see Him? But there’s a promise in Jeremiah 29:13. It says, “You will seek me, and you will find me because you will seek me with all your heart” (GNT). When I can’t seem to find Him in my seeking, I wonder if I gave up too early or of I searched for Waldo longer than I searched for God. Unlike Waldo, God wants to be found. He reveals Himself to us, but we must seek Him with all of our heart. Our desire to find Him, to know Him and to hear from Him has to be stronger than our desire to do other things. God is able to be found when we’re seeking Him wholeheartedly.

Psalm 27:8 says, “Lord, when you said to me, ‘Seek my face,’ my inner being responded, ‘I’m seeking your face with all my heart.’” God is worthy of us seeking Him with our whole heart. That means we cut out distractions, open His Word, spend quiet time in His presence and ask to see Him. I’m often guilty of seeking His hand to provide for my needs rather than His face so I can see Him. There’s a lot of debate about what does it mean to “seek God’s face”. I think it means to search for His recognizable attributes. If you seek those, you will discover more of who God is. He’s not hiding from those who seek Him, but He can only be found when we’re searching and looking for Him. He’s calling each of us to seek Him. Like the author of the Psalm, we must reply, “I’m seeking you with my whole heart.” Pray today that God would open your eyes to see Him as you seek Him.

Photo by mostafa meraji on Unsplash

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November 6, 2020 · 6:02 AM

Seeking Face Time

One of the things I like to collect is autographs. I don’t like to buy them unless the person has passed or doesn’t do public signings. I prefer buying a ticket, getting in line and then meeting the person I’m getting the autograph from. When Jeff Bagwell was inducted into the baseball Hall of Fame, I went to get his autograph. He was very introverted, which doesn’t work around me. I noticed he never looked up at anyone he was signing for. So when it was my turn, I put the ball on the table, got down on my knees and looked up at him from the floor. We made eye contact and he laughed. He asked what I was doing and I told him I just wanted to see him and say hello. We chatted for a few seconds and I was ushered away. I got a different experience than everyone else that day because I got in from of his face.

I believe approaching God is very similar. Many of us pray or go to church. We’re in His presence, but we don’t get in front of His face. We’re content to be in the same room, but we’re missing the personal encounter with Him. When the Bible uses the word presence referring to God, it’s talking about face time with Him. He’s omnipresent meaning He’s everywhere. You’re always in His presence, but we’re rarely in front of His face. That takes us getting on our knees, humbling ourselves, pressing in, being intentional or blocking everything else out to do. Being in His presence, seeking face time with Him, is something we should strive for each and every day. Don’t just be aware of God’s presence, be in it today and let it change you.

Here are some Bible verses on being in God’s presence.

1. Seek and deeply long for the LORD and His strength [His power, His might]; Seek and deeply long for His face and His presence continually.

Psalms 105:4 AMP

2. Because you are close to me and always available, my confidence will never be shaken, for I experience your wrap-around presence every moment.

Psalms 16:8 TPT

3. And so I walk in the presence of the Lord in the world of the living.

Psalm 116:9 GNT

4. Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face continually [longing to be in His presence].

1 Chronicles 16:11 AMP

5. When You said, “Seek My face [in prayer, require My presence as your greatest need],” my heart said to You, “Your face, O LORD, I will seek [on the authority of Your word].”

Psalms 27:8 AMP

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

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January 28, 2019 · 5:53 AM

Seeking God’s Face

One of the things I enjoy doing is going to sports shows to get autographs. There are tables set up all over the place with autographs from just about any athlete on just about anything. It’s cool to look at those and remember those players, but I rarely buy anything on that side of the building. On the other side is a series of tables with athletes sitting at them signing autographs. You have to get tickets months in advance if you’re going to meet the person and get their autograph. For me, that’s the way to go. I love being able to say, “I met Clyde Drexler,” or “I met Craig Biggio and got him to sign this right after he got into the Hall of Fame.” I want to be present and meet the people who’s autographs I have.

The same thing goes when it comes to God’s presence. I love hearing stories of revivals in the past and the miraculous things that happened. I love conversing with people about what God showed them in prayer, but to me, it’s like window shopping at the sports show. I don’t just want to hear about someone else’s experience, i want to meet with God and be in His presence too. There’s a fear many people have of being in God’s presence I think. It’s like the Israelites when they left Egypt. God invited them into His presence, but they sent Moses instead. You and I can’t live or fully grow off of someone else’s experiences. We must learn to get into God’s presence ourselves.

Psalm 27:8 says, “When You said, ‘Seek My face [in prayer, require My presence as your greatest need],’ my heart said to You, ‘Your face, O LORD, I will seek [on the authority of Your word]’” (AMP). God is asking us to seek His presence individually. There’s a cost associated with that. It’s going to cost you time that you could be doing something else. God wants to be first in our lives and to be our greatest need. Until each of us are willing to make Him our greatest need and are willing to pay the price, we’ll be window shopping off of other people’s experiences. Find time today to seek God. Put on some worship music, read your Bible, pray and listen. He’ll meet you there because if you seek, you will find.

Photo by Samuel Martins on Unsplash

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