Are you a seeker of God?

“And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13)

     We read about Dr. Richard Harvey in a previous post. He was a pastor in the Christian and Missionary Alliance church for many years. In his autobiography he tells the story of a man he once met who lived in Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) in Africa. When he was a young man of 21 this man went before the elders of his village, dumped out all his religious paraphernalia and fetishes and proclaimed: “I have no confidence in any of these. There is someone up there (pointing to the sky) who made the sun, moon, stars, trees and animals. And He made me and I want to worship Him. No one had told me about Him, but I am sure He is up there.”

   Thus for ten years, he would go each morning into the tall grass outside the village and lift his hands to the sky and say, “ Oh You up there, whoever You are, I worship You.” Eventually a Muslim teacher heard about him and came to tell him about Allah and to read to him from the Koran. After a time, the man turned to the teacher and said, “You can leave. This Allah you are praying to is not the Man in the sky I am praying to.” After a few more years a Catholic priest came and told him about the God who had created the universe and Jesus who had died on the cross for our sins. The man liked the story of Jesus coming into the world and the words of the Bible but after two weeks with the priest he said. “Somehow I believe it may be true but I don’t like the things you do, things I would not do, if I believed in the Man of the Book as you say you do.”

    Five more years went by until a missionary from Pastor Harvey’s denomination came by and told him about how Jesus had died on the cross for our sins and was resurrected on the third day. The man asked, “Oh, this Man in the sky is alive now?” The missionary replied yes, and went on to explain the ascension and His promise to return. A few days later the seeker of God for many years opened his life to Jesus Christ.

   When Dr. Harvey met him he was very old, partially blind, and he was sitting out in front of his hut on a mat with a roof of banana leaves to protect him from the sun. He pulled Dr. Harvey down close to him and placed his hands on Dr. Harvey’s head. Then he began pray and Dr. Harvey said, “Never have I felt God’s power so real as when this elderly African saint prayed for me. There seemed to be a current flowing from his body into mine.” (70 Years of Miracles by Richard Harvey)

“And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search with all your heart.” (Jer. 29:13)

Am I seeking God today? Do I have a burning desire to know the King of the universe intimately? He knows you already and He is just waiting for you to know Him better.  

 Pray:

1.     God help me to spend more time with you today and every day. Give me the desire to spend time with you in a special and intimate way just like this African saint.

2.     God You are all I need. You are my one desire today and for the days to come. Help me to be more faithful in spending time with you.

3.     Lord Jesus use me in any way that you choose today. Help me to be sensitive to the needs of those around me and to have compassion for others as you do.

Lord continue to help our pastor and staff to be the spiritual leaders of our church and to be with them daily as we prepare for the future you have designed for us.