Seeking God's Face

My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek.                 Psalm 27:8 NIV

    We are all born with a hunger  to seek God’s face.  It’s what the early church father, St. Augustine was describing when he said, “Oh God, you have made our hearts and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.”

    Everyone feels this hunger, but not everyone understands that only God can satisfy it.  Many try to satisfy this hunger by seeking the approval of others, some form of comfort or any of a multitude of other things.  Time spent seeking satisfaction from other sources only builds up our resistance to seeking God.

   It’s important to note that God calls us to seek his FACE.  Why his face?  It’s because knowing the face of someone is a description of a personal relationship.  We often spend time seeking God’s hand, which indicates we are more interested in what God can give us more than we are interested in having a relationship with him.

   How do we seek God’s face?  God gives us instructions for this, too, and it starts with praising him.  When we praise God, and do this not just as a means to butter him up so we can get what we really want, we are focusing on his goodness, greatness and love.  This week, set aside some time to praise God without asking for anything from him.  Don’t even expect a certain feeling or experience.  Simply praise him with a sincere heart.  As you pray, contemplate the meaning of what you are praying.  What does it mean that God is faithful, patient, good or kind?  Think as you pray.  As you do, you will be satisfying your deep hunger to know God.