TOPIC: THE ART OF SEEKING THE LORD
TEXT: Psalms 63:1, Proverbs 8:17, Isaiah 26:9, Jer 29:13 INTRODUCTION
Through the teachings of our Parents, the Life of a believer has been summed up as a great Spirit-aided adventure of seeking the Lord, with the hope of finding Him. This study is an imperative response to the burden in the heart of our Pastors, Pastor Olayide and Pastor Rose Olaniyan to awaken in us a devotion to living the life of constant searching premised on a fervent love for the Lord Jesus. The aim of this study is to impart in us, by the Holy Ghost, an incurable hunger that would reflect in our prayer life, devotion to the law of God and ultimately in our entire conversation as believers.
The dearth of hunger and the delusion of knowing God enough (Prov. 27:7, Matt 5:6, Psalms 63:1, Psalms 143:6)
True hunger for God is a very scarce commodity in the church today. Satan has deceived many out of hunger and rather handed them a pseudo satisfaction from everything else but an active Holy Ghost-inspired pursuit of God. On one end, hunger has been sapped by the adversary’s contention against the truth of the gospel in some quarters, causing believers to rather hunger for and settle for promises lesser than the promise of Eternal Life (Isaiah 55:2). On the other end, where there has been an abundance of gospel truth, the adversary’s strategy is to make people content with how much they already know about God, rather than being daily consumed with a fervent desire to be closer to Him. This often results in complacency, which is a deadly foe of all Spiritual growth. The true profiting of knowledge is not in our mental agreement or the ability to parrot the same things that have been taught. The true profiting is reflected in the conversation of life that turns at every reproof of revealed light and then yearns for more of God. It is a valid truth that a diligent seeker must be given to diligent hearing but a hearer may not necessarily be a seeker, especially if the reason for hearing is not spurred by an intrinsic hunger to live out the revealed life.
Seeking God both in scarcity and in abundance (Phil. 4: 12-13, Deut 8:3, 1 Tim 6: 5-6, Luke 12:15, Psalms 30:6, Psalms 63:1)
The soul of man was originally designed to be poor and needy and this has no connection to the lack of worldly goods or the abundance of it. Gain is not godliness, and neither is lack. There is a longing and deep yearning that God put in the core of every soul which can only be satisfied by God Himself (Ecc 3:11). Thus, the need to seek God is not about what we have or we don’t have, it is about who God is. Hunger fueled by scarcity of worldly goods or the abundance of it is in danger of waning at the slightest change in circumstance. As believers, our natural estate is subject to change, according to the economy of Heaven over us, but that change in estate or the lack of it must not affect our hunger.
Seeking to do His pleasure and His will (John 4:34, Col 1:9, Deut 29:29)
As we journey in faith, we begin to understand more and more that nothing pleases God like the doing of His will. The will of God encompasses everything from our day-to-day decisions to larger life choices. True seekers are true will-doers and ultimately true pleasure beings. Unlike angels who are naturally wired to do God’s pleasure, the doing of will for believers is premised on a well cultivated relationship with the Lord. Consequently, as we pant for God and grow in our relationship with Him, the better we are able to discern and understand His will for our lives. However, it is not just about knowing what God wants for us; it’s about genuinely wanting it for ourselves.
Seeking God daily through His word (Matt 4:4, 2 Tim 3:16, Prov 30:5, Psalms 119:105)
The Lord designed man to live by every word that proceeds from His mouth. God has so much to say to us but our Bibles are closed. The word is “Proceeds” and not “proceeded” and thus gives infers that our life sustenance is hinged on the present outflow from God. To have lived in a day, is to have overcome the evil the day was ladened with. We can’t truly escape and
overcome the temptations of sin outside of the fresh supply of God’s word that we must constantly hunger for (Psa 119:9, 11, Psa 19: 9-11). We must cultivate a daily devotion to God’s word, as the teachings of grace in order for denial of ungodliness and wordly lusts in order live in this present world will not be outside the word of God. Much more than our quest for knowledge of the Bible, our searching will open us to daily access into the depths of the riches of wisdom trapped in the God of the Bible. Seeking God daily through His word also sharpens our ability to walk better by the leading of the Spirit which is the key to not fulfilling the lust of the flesh.
Seeking God consistently through prayers (1 Thess 5:17, Luke 18:1, 2Chron. 7:14)
Rev. Keneth E. Hagin of blessed memory, learnt in his walk with the Lord that prayer doesn’t change God, it changes us. For the holy seeker, prayer is more than an obligatory response to corporate expectations or even to the anxiety caused by troubling circumstances. Prayer is synonymous to breathing of the Christian Life. Even though it is a valid truth that God is the decisive keeper of our life, we still need to breathe. Thus, if we don’t have a daily and active prayer life, especially in our closet, we will never be able to attain God’s ultimate will for our lives. Interestingly, our closet prayer is a test of authenticity of our public prayer because God cannot be mocked. Our private prayer life not only shows who we are spiritually, it is very essential in healing the many places we find ourselves broken, needy, lacking and rebellious. Also, as a people who greatly enjoy God’s prerogative mercies especially in utterances and advent of light, we must not despise the place of prayers.
Rising a great while before day – The importance of discipline and avoiding distractions (Matt 14:23, Mark 1:35, Hebrews 12: 1, Col 3:2)
The present world we live in was strategically and deliberately designed by its prince to thrive on noise and distractions. A major concern of this generation is in our inability to focus, especially in the place of prayer and meditation on God’s word. Our Lord Jesus exemplified a life of great discipline in order for him to author and finish Faith. His life exploits of daily enduring the cross and despising the shame was rooted in His fixated gaze on the joy that was set before Him. Even though our Lord Jesus never knew sin, He knew the weight of fellowship with the Father and constantly sought this through prayer and devotion to the word. It is important to note that our adversary is a very focused being and he does so with negative everlasting strength. His attack on our focus and vigilance is an attempt at devouring us. Satan is not a victim of the things we are distracted by, but they are calculated weapons to ensure we run uncertainly and fight as people that beat the air (1cor 24-27).
Balancing following meetings, listening to messages and personal devotion in the word (1 Tim 4:13, 2 Tim 2:15, Acts 17: 11-12)
One thing that is evident for us in the community of the Word of Righteousness is that the Lord has mercifully blessed us with Parents who labour under God from meeting to meeting in order deliver the undiluted Truth of God’s revealed word. We must however understand that the desire of our parents is not just to overwhelm us with a plethora of meetings and messages that we breathlessly fail to catch up with. The devotion of our Parents to the Word is first in faithful response to the magnanimity of our Lord Jesus to flood us with Light. We must equally see this devotion as an example to us as to how much attention we must give to the Word. We cannot truly prosper with the word that is being preached if we are devoid of personal devotion to the word. The place of our Parents is to align under God for accurate unearthing and interpretation of scriptures which is now expected to aid our eyes as we go back to prayerfully study scriptures. Meetings and messages are not a replacement for personal devotion to the word, they are provisions of God to supply the much-needed fuel for us to grow more devoted to the Word.
Holy seekers and loving enquirers (Prov 8:17, Jer 29:13, Psalm 42:1-2, Matt 6:33)
In conclusion, the desire of Heaven is for us to stand in the fulfilment of Jane Lead’s prophecy to become holy seekers and
loving enquirers. Holy seekers are those who seek that which is Holy and Holy here is God. We must ensure that all our seeking is for God and God alone not what he can do or what we can gain. Being a loving enquirer is having a heart that enquirers about the mysteries (Col 2:2) that can give us the full redemption of God. It is not enough for us just be enquirers, but we must love it. Loving the enquiry of the mysteries is an exercise for the soul to treasure those mysteries. If we don’t love the enquiry, we won’t treasure it and won’t be able to commit to the rigor of learning the mysteries.