Experiencing God

I have heard people over the years make a statement that hurts my heart for them - especially when it is someone close to me. I have heard people say, “I just haven’t experienced God in my life. I have heard all about Him at church and from other people, but He just hasn’t been real to me.” God is so real, and I have experienced Him so much in my life, that I hurt for them because I know all that they are missing out on.

There is a verse in the Bible that tells these people exactly how they can experience God personally in their lives.

Jeremiah 29:13

Then you will seek Me, inquire for, and require Me [as a vital necessity] and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

Some people grew up in church, or in a family that taught them about God. They kind of had their time with God spoon fed to them like a toddler getting fed from his parents. But, there comes a time when we grow up and we have to go to the refrigerator and grab the fixings for a meal ourselves.

It would be completely silly for an adult to say that they are just going to starve to death because the food is not finding its way to them. No, adults realize that they have to make an effort to get to what their body needs to live. Why do some people do that with their spirit, then? We feel the deep longing in our spirit, and we just roll over and play dead. We say, “Well, I just haven’t experienced God like some people have…”

This verse in Jeremiah says we have to seek out God if we want to experience Him. We have to require Him as a vital necessity! Our body needs food to live, but our spirit needs the living God as its vital necessity. We can’t casually hope our spiritual condition improves. We need to actively search for the life that is only found in a continued relationship with our heavenly Father.

This is God’s promise to us: If we search for Him with all our heart, we will find Him. As we require Him in our life to even live and function day to day, He will show up in more powerful ways than we could ever imagine. He will be real to us, and we will experience Him.

Lord God, I need You. I require You as my most vital necessity. I need You more than the food I eat and much more than the possessions I own. I’m sorry for spending more time seeking out selfish ambitions than I even spend searching for You. I believe that You are true to Your Word. I believe that as I continually spend time requiring You for my spiritual life, You will reveal Yourself to me and I will get to know You in a way I never have before.

#knowingGod