Pray In 2017- Day 2: Seeking the Lord
O you who hear prayer, to you shall all flesh come. (Psalm 65:2 ESV)
Yesterday we committed this year to the Lord. If you missed that and want to go back to the beginning, here is a link:
Day 1: Commit the Year to Jesus
- I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me. (Proverbs 8:17 ESV)
Choosing to begin 2017 with prayer means we are seeking the Lord, something Scripture repeatedly admonishes us to do. When I seek God, I search relentlessly for His will, I hunt doggedly for clues to His plans, and I turn His Word inside out to reveal His directions.
The act of seeking brings me face to face with Jesus.
- O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. (Psalm 63:1 ESV)
Seeking God is a daily activity requiring me to press into Him, instead of marching off in my own direction. And it is fueled by the realization that He is the only satisfaction for which my souls thirsts.
- You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13 ESV)
No matter the circumstance or difficulty, when I seek for Jesus right in the middle of it, I will find Him.
- … observe and seek out all the commandments of the LORD your God, that you may possess this good land and leave it for an inheritance to your children after you forever. (1 Chronicles 28:8 ESV)
All that I need to follow Him is in His Word. As I seek out His commandments, fruitfulness will follow.
As we pray today, we are seeking a God Who WANTS to be found! We don't have to make sacrifices or prove our love. We just need to open our hearts and draw near. 2017 is a year I want to seek the Lord every single day.
Day 2 Prayer
- "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." (Matthew 7:7 ESV)
Jesus, thank you for promising that when I seek You I will find You. You are like no other god. I do not have to earn my way to You. Instead, You promise that if I will see, I will find.
But I confess, often it is hard to continue seeking. When troubles arise, I pursue my own wisdom rather than seek You. When challenges come, I strain and work and attempt fixes rather than seek You. When relationships struggle, I cry and complain and compare, rather than seek You.
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
And when I sin, I try to hide- the opposite of seeking.
Please forgive me for all the times I run from You instead of toward You.
I desire to seek You and Your way every day of 2017. I don’t want to FORGET You. I want to REMEMBER You every moment and place You first in my heart and before my eyes.
Please help me to seek You this year. And when I forget, and start to go my own way, please prick my heart so I will turn back and run into Your arms.
You are my way and my hope. You are my resolution of 2017. May You be glorified as I seek You.
Amen.
Have a blessed day and keep praying! Tomorrow we will take time to thank God for all of last year, something we need to do even if last year felt horrible! See you tomorrow.
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. (Colossians 3:1 ESV)
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