Jeremiah 29:13-14: “You will seek (baqash) me and find me when you seek (darash) me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity.”
As a former addict and alcoholic I spent a lot of time in 12 Step Meetings. One of the hardest hitting ideas in the Twelve Steps to me personally is step 11: “Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.”
CONSCIOUS CONTACT. When we look at the Word spoken through Jeremiah in the passage above we see that the Lord does not hide Himself from us – He isn’t hard to find – but it takes a sort of effort from our side.
Looking at the Hebrew words BAQASH and DARASH in this passage we find that the Lord requires two things of us.
“Baqash’ is also translated as ‘desire’, to ‘plead’ or ‘beg for’ and to ‘aim’.
‘Darash’ is to get up and go looking, to ‘ask’, to ‘study’, to ‘call’.
What God is saying is: “I WILL BE FOUND BY YOU when you DESIRE ME, set your sights on Me – HUNGER AND THIRST for Me – and then ACT ON THAT DESIRE by LOOKING, by ASKING, by STUDYING, by CALLING.”
Our ‘contact’ with God needs to be ‘conscious’ – born of desire and pursued with action. Our ‘contact’ or ‘finding God’ should be intentional – an exercise in mindfulness.
I would like to add the word ‘constant’ to the mix.
Scripture encourages us to ‘pray without ceasing’ (1 Thes. 5:16-18, Luke 18:1:), to pray about everything (Phil 4:6:), to meditate on His Word day and night (Joshua 1:8, Psalm 1:1-2:) – Scripture encourages us to be consistent in our efforts for ‘conscious contact’. Scripture calls for CONSTANT CONSCIOUS CONTACT.
The Psalmist in Psalm 116 proclaims: I will praise Him as long as I live – as long as I have breathe in my lungs – I will praise Him!
In Genesis 2:7: we read that God breathed life into Adam – and his lungs reacted – expanded, inhaled, exhaled…
If worship is our response to our Creator, our response to the goodness and glory of God (Psalm 116) then Adam’s response to his Creator was the first act of worship.
If we meditate on this a little bit we might come to realize that our worship, our prayer, our meditation – our seeking out the Lord should be as breathing to us.
Just like breath is life to the body, so also prayer, meditation, the study of His Word, and our worship is life to our souls.
God wants to dwell in our midst – He doesn’t want to come and visit once in a while. He doesn’t need a holiday home. He wants to tabernacle here among us. He wants to establish His throne here and now in our hearts and in our lives. He desires to be with us.
And all we have to do is breathe.
All we need to do is start being present in His presence. Being mindful of maintaining that constant conscious contact with the Lord.
Worship should become a lifestyle. Prayer should become a lifestyle. His presence should be the air we breathe. His Word should be the daily bread that feeds and sustains us.
God is not hiding. He is just waiting for you to make a move.
God is still breathing life into dry bones. It is time you let your lungs respond.
Prayer: Lord, right now I invite Your Holy Spirit to come and invade my life. Let Your love and presence flood my soul. Hear the longing and the thirsting of my heart as I acknowledge that I am lost without You. Bring water to dry places Lord, feed me and restore me. Give me the wisdom to seek You, and as I seek You let it become like breathing to me. Ignite a fire in my heart that burns for You – awaken and stir up a longing that desires You above all else – and as I seek You Lord, I know You are faithful. As I seek You Lord, do not hide Your face from me, but allow me to see and experience the beauty of Your presence in my life today. Amen.