What does it mean to “seek” the Lord?
It’s a form of prayer, but it’s way beyond ‘just prayer’. The NLT says “I prayed to the Lord”, which greatly understates what this means.

The Heb. word here occurs 164X and means “to resort to, seek, seek with care, enquire, require.”

Isaiah the prophet declared, “Seek the Lord while He may be found,
Call upon Him while He is near.” (Isa. 55:6)

This is why we come to God when He calls, not when we decide to get around to it. We may find our hearts are hardened then, and the Holy Spirit is not drawing us.

There are two extremes people hold when it comes to seeking God:
- He can never really be found – just throw up a bunch of prayers and hope some of them stick.

- He is at our beck and call. It shouldn’t take that much effort, because it’s all by grace. If nothing happens when we seek God, it “must not be His will.” This can be either bad theology or laziness.

As silver or gold
This passage in Proverbs 2 has helped me a lot:
Proverbs 2:1-7 "My son, if you receive my words, And treasure my commands within you, 2 So that you incline your ear to wisdom, And apply your heart to understanding; 3 Yes, if you cry out for discernment, And lift up your voice for understanding, 4 If you seek her as silver, And search for her as for hidden treasures; 5 Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, And find the knowledge of God. 6 For the Lord gives wisdom; From His mouth come knowledge and understanding; 7 He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk uprightly;"

The One who has all knowledge and wisdom is willing to share it with us! But, according to this, it does not come to the casual inquirer.

“incline your ear, apply your heart, cry out, lift up your voice”
“seek her as silver”
- How do we look for silver? Every day, sometimes with great effort.
- How much would you want to help someone who wouldn’t consistently apply themselves (“seek silver”)?

The genius of the marketplace is that you have to get better to succeed.

Jer. 29:11-13 "11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart."

God has reminded me of this several times. If I’m not ‘finding Him’, I’m not yet ‘seeking Him with all my heart.’ We too easily quit. I normally hear God in my regular prayer time. Many times I will pray through the “model prayer” – we have a prayer card I’ve written on this if you some guidance on this. Sometimes I have to block out more time in prayer. Sometimes I have to fast. Whatever it takes.

The sin of humanity is that they do not seek Him

Psalm 14:2,3 – "2 The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God. 3 They have all turned aside, They have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one."

Rom. 3:10,11 - "10 As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one;11There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God."

Notice how God defines both understanding and righteousness – seeking God.

Real faith is to seek God
Heb. 11:6 - "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."

Matt 7:7 - "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."

What happens when you seek the Lord?
4 I sought the Lord, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my fears.

Notice, in verse 6, God says He delivers us from all our troubles.
6 This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, And saved him out of all his troubles.

But, first, before He delivers us from our troubles, we have to be delivered from our fears. If not, we will constantly be bound by fear!
5 They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces were not ashamed.

God, You are my source!
Some of you need to decide today not to quit.

Discussion
1. Why do you think people don’t seek God more?
2. How would you define the difference between seeking the Lord and your regular prayer life?
3. Can you think of a time where you had to seek God more than usual about something? What was the result?