According to Protestantism, how should Christians "seek" and "find" God?
score:3
And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. [Jeremiah 29:13 KJV]
John Calvin says the following on the above text :
This then is the reason why the Prophet employs many words on this subject. By the word seek, he means prayers and supplications, as mentioned in the last verse. And Christ also, exhorting his disciples to pray, says, “Seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you.” There is no doubt but that he speaks there of prayer; he yet adopted various modes of speaking, derived from the common habits of men. But to seek, when we feel the need of God’s grace, is nothing else than to pray. Hence the Prophet says, ye shall seek me and ye shall find me And though he addresses here the Israelites, yet this doctrine ought to be extended to the whole Church; for God testifies that he will be propitious to all who flee to him.
Calvin points out that Jesus re-iterates the words of Jeremiah when he says 'Seek and ye shall find'.
Jesus goes further and stresses that the seeking of God must be that above which all else is to be subservient.
'Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His Righteousness' he tells us, Matthew 6:13, KJV, and that even the thought of what one shall eat tomorrow is to be put out of the mind, that one may concentrate on what should be uppermost.
And we are not to seek our own righteousness, we are to seek God's kingdom and His Righteousness.
More could be said. Much more could be said. And more is said, sixty six whole books are given us (I speak of the Protestant canon, in context) which, summed up, are the seeking and finding of God himself.
As to the finding of God : the reward of finding God . . . is to find God.
I am thy shield and thine exceeding great reward [Genesis 15:1 KJV]
They who find God, know God.
That knowledge is experimental. It cannot be described.
It is to be experienced by every successful finder.
Upvote:1
A common theme emerges from these Protestant / Evangelical articles on "What Does it Mean to Seek God" from 4 well known sources: Christianity.com, Desiring God, gotquestions.org, Crosswalk.
My answer is based on those articles, primarily using John Piper's (Reformed) 2009 article What Does It Mean to Seek the Lord?
WHAT are we seeking? God's presence, a common translation of the Hebrew word "face", thus
Literally we are to seek his "face". .... To be before his face is to be in his presence.
WHY seek if God is omnipresent? Is God 'lost' like seeking a coin or a sheep?
- No, from God's point of view. Being omnipresent means: 1) he is always near, holds everything in being, and his power is sustaining and governing all things; 2) his keep his covenant commitment as in Matt 28:20: "Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
- Yes, from our point of view:
There are seasons when we become neglectful of God and give him no thought and do not put trust in him and we find him “unmanifested” — that is, unperceived as great and beautiful and valuable by the eyes of our hearts.
HOW do we seek, practically?
- Continually focus our mind's attention and our heart's affection on God (1 Chron 22:19, Col 3:1-2).
- Conscious choice as opposed to mental coasting although the effort is a gift from God (2 Thess 3:5).
- Calling / crying out, Isa 55:6, Job 8:5.
- Pleading: "O Lord, open my eyes. O Lord, pull back the curtain of my own blindness. Lord, have mercy and reveal yourself. I long to see your face."
What are common PRACTICES to seek God?
- Prayer
- Worship
What it MEANS to seek, practically?
... there is always something through which or around which we must go to meet him consciously. This going through or around is what seeking is. He is often hidden. Veiled. We must go through mediators and around obstacles.
The heavens are telling the glory of God. So we can seek him through that. He reveals himself in his word. So we can seek him through that. He shows himself to us in the evidences of grace in other people. So we can seek him through that. The seeking is the conscious effort to get through the natural means to God himself — to constantly set our minds toward God in all our experiences, to direct our minds and hearts toward him through the means of his revelation. This is what seeking God means.
What are some OBSTACLES for us to get around?
- Spiritually dulling activities that block our way.
- Pride. Ps 10:4: "In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him."
How do we know that we have FOUND him?
From the gotquestions.org article:
A person’s face reveals much about his or her character and personality. We see the inward emotions of a person expressed outwardly on the face. We recognize a person by looking at his or her face. In a sense, one’s face represents the whole person. For the writers of the Bible, the human face could represent the entire person.
From the above criteria we know we have "found" him when we have removed our blinders in perceiving God the way God can be objectively known by human beings, i.e. through a few things mentioned in the point # 5:
- glory "in the heavens" (i.e. the cosmos)
- his self-presentation in the Bible
- other people's grace to us
Note: the above articles are all Protestant / Evangelical. Catholicism adds a few more signs due to her spiritual theology's allowing more channels to perceive God through more types of experience (such as mysticism). But describing it will make this answer a lot longer. For a preview, see the table of contents of Allister McGrath's Christian Spirituality: An Introduction textbook.
Does God ENCOURAGE us to seek him? Yes:
- 2 Chron 7:14: "Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land."
- Ps. 105:4: "Search for the LORD and for his strength; continually seek him."
Does God PROMISE himself to be "found"? Yes:
- 1 Chron 28:9b: "If you seek him, you will find him. But if you forsake him, he will reject you forever."
- Heb 11:6b: "Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him."
More post
- 📝 What are the Twelve Tribes of Israel?
- 📝 What innovations in ethics occurred within Christendom during the 9th Century?
- 📝 What is the textual evidence from the Bible that the resurrection for believers happens in stages (a Dispensationalist View)?
- 📝 According to Latter-day Saints, what are the strongest arguments for the credibility of the 3 & 8 witnesses to the golden plates?
- 📝 Which groups of Christians hold signs about Jesus or Christianity in public, and why?
- 📝 How can a particular trade of modern times get a patron saint?
- 📝 Is the Sacrament of Confirmation really necessary to complete baptism?
- 📝 How can a Pope be chosen from outside the conclave?
- 📝 What does it mean that Jesus was the "second Adam"?
- 📝 Are there any Christian sects that say salvation is based, in whole or in part, on your response to Jesus on Judgment Day?
- 📝 St. Peter Speaking on Behalf of All the Apostles
- 📝 Why did God relent on killing Moses when Zipporah circumcised their son?
- 📝 Is Thomas More's reading of "This is my body" a literal one by modern standards?
- 📝 The Aseity or Lack Thereof of the Son and the Holy Spirit with the Assumption of Classical Trinitarianism
- 📝 In which US states are Catholic dioceses being investigated for Sexual Abuse?
- 📝 How do Biblical Unitarians understand "the glory of the Father's own self" that Jesus claims he had before the world was?
- 📝 What are the rules or laws a Catholic must follow if he/she has a website or blog?
- 📝 What does catholicism say about inheritance?
- 📝 According to reformed theology, does Satan know who the elect are (during their time on earth?)
- 📝 Looking for a Complete, Preferably English (Latin OK), Public Domain Translation of Peter Lombard's "Four Books of Sentences"
- 📝 According to Trinitarians, did the human Jesus worship the divine Jesus?
- 📝 Why pray if God is omniscient?
- 📝 Was Paul's Relationship with Jewish Leadership Close Enough to Act as Their Agent?
- 📝 How should a Christian put a decision in God's hands if there is no logical answer?
- 📝 Why Christian Translator Translate Rhea as Neighbor?
- 📝 How do Protestants harmonize the creeds and confessions on anthropomorphism?
- 📝 What does "biblical Christianity" mean to evangelical Protestants?
- 📝 Can English people go to Greek Orthodox churches in England?
- 📝 Does the Bible give us any indication of why God created such a vast universe with so much stuff in it?
- 📝 How to adherents to Christian mortalism understand death and the human soul?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 According to Protestantism, how should Christians "seek" and "find" God?
- 📝 According to Catholicism, how should Christians "seek" and "find" God?
- 📝 According to the Bible, how should Christians meditate?
- 📝 According to LDS, do all non-LDS Christians lack the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and if so, how does this lack manifest itself in the lives of non-LDS?
- 📝 According to Catholicism, how should Christians react when an unbeliever dies?
- 📝 How should Christians participate in a democracy?
- 📝 How should Christians discipline their children today?
- 📝 How should Christians act toward non-Christians?
- 📝 How do Christians explain commonalities between their religion, other major faiths and obscure isolated tribal belief systems?
- 📝 How can Christians reconcile the request to prohibit same-sex marriage and the lawfulness of h*m*sexuality itself?
- 📝 How is the belief that Christians are both adopted and begotten sons of God reconciled?
- 📝 Is there any holy language for Christians according to words of Jesus Christ and the apostles?
- 📝 According to Calvinists, how could Adam and Eve fall? How could Satan fall?
- 📝 How does the Hebrew Roots movement handle Paul's statements which imply Christians should not be enslaved to the Jewish Law?
- 📝 According to adherents of 'soul sleep', how did Moses and Elijah appear to Jesus, Peter, James, and John?
- 📝 How do Christians rebut Matt Dillahunty's objection that the resurrection of Jesus is untestable, unfalsifiable and thus unreasonable to believe?
- 📝 How do Christians define knowledge and faith?
- 📝 How do Christians who adhere to the maxim “in essentials unity; in non-essentials liberty; and in all things charity” determine what is essential?
- 📝 How should other churches respond to a pastor and congregation who live contrary to the Gospel?
- 📝 According to Catholic Church tradition, where, when, how and by whom did the devotion of the Stations of the Cross begin?
- 📝 If marriage is not a sacrament, why should Christians care how the civil authorities define it?
- 📝 How did the early Christians and Apostles Get into the temple? Shouldn't they have been stoned by the Jews for preaching Jesus as God?
- 📝 According to Jehovah's Witnesses and Unitarians and all who deny that Jesus is the Almighty God, how can He be in you and live in you?
- 📝 What is an overview of how Christians interpret 2 Timothy 1:6-7 and apply it to their own lives?
- 📝 How do Christians who believe in current-day Apostles, Prophets and the 5-fold ministry interpret Ephesians 2:20?
- 📝 According to Reformed Theology how can we saved by Grace 'Alone' and Faith 'Alone'?
- 📝 How do Protestantism and the LDS Church differ as to what is required for a believer to attain salvation and eternal life?
- 📝 How do Christians who see Scripture as self-evidently inspired explain that Catholics, Protestants and Mormons have different sacred scriptures?
- 📝 How do Catholics and other Christians respond to the US Bishops' teaching that Matthew was not written by it supposed author?
- 📝 What is the meaning of "GNU" and how should it be displayed on a cremation urn?