no one understands;
no one seeks for God. – Romans 3:11

We often hear people, believers and unbelievers alike talk about seeking God, especially in times of trouble. We have also heard of phrases like “seeker sensitive churches”. These are churches that plan their services to cater to reach those who they believe are not yet Christians but are seeking God.

But what does it mean to seek God?  We sometimes also see people who are in distress who begin to pray, go to church, and carry out activities that causes us to describe them as seeking God. But are they really seeking God?

In everyday conversations, when we talk about seeking a person or thing, we usually mean we are looking for that person or thing. They could be lost or just out of sight or place temporarily and we are trying to find them, so we say we are seeking them.

To seek God is to have a desire and a longing to know God, serve Him and obey Him.

Since God cannot be lost or temporarily unavailable, biblically speaking, we cannot on our own, initiate a search for Him. Seeking God is not going through some religious motions. To seek God is to have a desire and a longing to know God, serve Him and obey Him. That is how the Bible defines what it means to seek God

Psalm 42:1-2 makes that very clear “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?”

 According to the Bible, because of the fall, man in his natural state, is incapable of seeking God. 1 Corinthians 2:14 – The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

Biblically speaking, the only time it crosses our minds to seek God is when God first seeks us, finds us and brings us to Himself. No one can even love God unless God showers His love on them first. 1 John 4:19 – We love because he first loved us.    This means that no unsaved person is seeking, nor can seek God. This is the reason Jesus Christ came, to seek and save those who are lost. Luke 19:10 – For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.

You might be tempted to ask, what about the person who through a series of events in their lives decided to change their ways and begin to attend church, pray and attend Bible study in an attempt to draw close to God. Are they not seeking God?  Not unless the Holy Spirit has done a work in their heart, they are not seeking God. What they are seeking are the things they know only God can give, such as peace of mind, physical healing or a number of things, but they are not seeking God, because according to the Bible, as unbelievers, they are incapable of seeking God.

Like I said earlier, when we examine most of the scripture that speak about seeking God we learn that to seek God is to desire and long for God in order to know, serve and obey Him. Only the true believer, one who has been awakened by the Holy Spirit in the inner man has a desire to know, serve and obey God. We only begin to seek God, after He has first sought and brought us to Himself.

Soli Deo Gloria!