: Seek and you shall find

31 October 2012

Opening Prayer/Worship

Hymn: Abide with me

Theme: Be filled with the Holy Spirit

Topic: Seek and you shall find

Reading: Mark 10:46-52

They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. ⁴⁷When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ ⁴⁸Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ ⁴⁹Jesus stood still and said, ‘Call him here.’ And they called the blind man, saying to him, ‘Take heart; get up, he is calling you.’ ⁵⁰So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. ⁵¹Then Jesus said to him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ The blind man said to him, ‘My teacher,^* let me see again.’ ⁵²Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your faith has made you well.’ Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.

Introduction

We live at a time when believing that God hears and answers prayer seem difficult.  Knowledge and desire for acquiring knowledge are increasing exponentially, daily.  It appears that discoveries in Science and teachings in Arts can explain all life situations.  But when you compare the things that are inexplicable to the known, you will begin to wonder at how much we really neither know nor understand- they are simply enormous and unimaginable.  It is only God that knows all things; He knows the end from the beginning, for before time He already exists.  God desires that we seek Him daily; and when we do, we find Him.  When we call upon Him, He hears, answers, heals and delivers us.  There are numerous ways through which we seek the Lord- prayer, Scripture, Holy Communion, fellowship, praises, worship and so on; and when we seek Him in humility and in faith, He answers and fills us with His Spirit.  In today’s study, our focus will be on seeking the Lord.

Questions/Discussion

1. What does it mean to seek the Lord? 

Deuteronomy 4:15-31

Since you saw no form when the Lord spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire, take care and watch yourselves closely, ¹⁶so that you do not act corruptly by making an idol for yourselves, in the form of any figure—the likeness of male or female, ¹⁷the likeness of any animal that is on the earth, the likeness of any winged bird that flies in the air, ¹⁸the likeness of anything that creeps on the ground, the likeness of any fish that is in the water under the earth. ¹⁹And when you look up to the heavens and see the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the host of heaven, do not be led astray and bow down to them and serve them, things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples everywhere under heaven. ²⁰But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron-smelter, out of Egypt, to become a people of his very own possession, as you are now. ²¹ The Lord was angry with me because of you, and he vowed that I should not cross the Jordan and that I should not enter the good land that the Lord your God is giving for your possession. ²²For I am going to die in this land without crossing over the Jordan, but you are going to cross over to take possession of that good land. ²³So be careful not to forget the covenant that the Lord your God made with you, and not to make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything that the Lord your God has forbidden you. ²⁴For the Lord your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God. ²⁵ When you have had children and children’s children, and become complacent in the land, if you act corruptly by making an idol in the form of anything, thus doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, and provoking him to anger, ²⁶I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to occupy; you will not live long on it, but will be utterly destroyed. ²⁷The Lord will scatter you among the peoples; only a few of you will be left among the nations where the Lord will lead you. ²⁸There you will serve other gods made by human hands, objects of wood and stone that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. ²⁹From there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find him if you search after him with all your heart and soul. ³⁰In your distress, when all these things have happened to you in time to come, you will return to the Lord your God and heed him. ³¹Because the Lord your God is a merciful God, he will neither abandon you nor destroy you; he will not forget the covenant with your ancestors that he swore to them.

1 Chronicles 28:8-10

Now therefore in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the Lord, and in the hearing of our God, observe and search out all the commandments of the Lord your God; that you may possess this good land, and leave it for an inheritance to your children after you for ever. ⁹ ‘And you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve him with single mind and willing heart; for the Lord searches every mind, and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will abandon you for ever. ¹⁰Take heed now, for the Lord has chosen you to build a house as the sanctuary; be strong, and act.’

2 Chronicles 7:11-22

Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king’s house; all that Solomon had planned to do in the house of the Lord and in his own house he successfully accomplished. ¹² Then the Lord appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: ‘I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice. ¹³When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people, ¹⁴if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. ¹⁵Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place. ¹⁶For now I have chosen and consecrated this house so that my name may be there for ever; my eyes and my heart will be there for all time. ¹⁷As for you, if you walk before me, as your father David walked, doing according to all that I have commanded you and keeping my statutes and my ordinances, ¹⁸then I will establish your royal throne, as I made covenant with your father David saying, “You shall never lack a successor to rule over Israel.” ¹⁹ ‘But if you^* turn aside and forsake my statutes and my commandments that I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, ²⁰then I will pluck you^* up from the land that I have given you;^* and this house, which I have consecrated for my name, I will cast out of my sight, and will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. ²¹And regarding this house, now exalted, everyone passing by will be astonished, and say, “Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this house?” ²²Then they will say, “Because they abandoned the Lord the God of their ancestors who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and they adopted other gods, and worshipped them and served them; therefore he has brought all this calamity upon them.” ’

Jeremiah 29:10-14

For thus says the Lord: Only when Babylon’s seventy years are completed will I visit you, and I will fulfil to you my promise and bring you back to this place. ¹¹For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. ¹²Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. ¹³When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, ¹⁴I will let you find me, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.

2. Discuss some of the practical ways we seek the Lord, individually and/or communally.

Psalm 105:1-15

1 O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name,    make known his deeds among the peoples. 2 Sing to him, sing praises to him;    tell of all his wonderful works. 3 Glory in his holy name;    let the hearts of those who seek    the Lord rejoice. 4 Seek the Lord and his strength;    seek his presence continually. 5 Remember the wonderful works he has done,    his miracles, and the judgements    he has uttered, 6 O offspring of his servant Abraham,*    children of Jacob, his chosen ones. 7 He is the Lord our God;    his judgements are in all the earth. 8 He is mindful of his covenant for ever,    of the word that he commanded,    for a thousand generations,

9 the covenant that he made with Abraham,    his sworn promise to Isaac, 10 which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,    to Israel as an everlasting covenant, 11 saying, ‘To you I will give the land of Canaan    as your portion for an inheritance.’ 12 When they were few in number,    of little account, and strangers in it, 13 wandering from nation to nation,    from one kingdom to another people, 14 he allowed no one to oppress them;    he rebuked kings on their account, 15 saying, ‘Do not touch my anointed ones;    do my prophets no harm.’

Psalm 119:1-2, 9-16

¹ Happy are those whose way is blameless,
   who walk in the law of the Lord. ² Happy are those who keep his decrees,
   who seek him with their whole heart, ⁹ How can young people keep their way pure?
   By guarding it according to your word. ¹⁰ With my whole heart I seek you;
   do not let me stray from your commandments. ¹¹ I treasure your word in my heart,
   so that I may not sin against you. ¹² Blessed are you, O Lord;
   teach me your statutes. ¹³ With my lips I declare
   all the ordinances of your mouth. ¹⁴ I delight in the way of your decrees
   as much as in all riches. ¹⁵ I will meditate on your precepts,
   and fix my eyes on your ways. ¹⁶ I will delight in your statutes;
   I will not forget your word.

Isaiah 55:6-11

6 Seek the Lord while he may be found,    call upon him while he is near; 7 let the wicked forsake their way,    and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them,    and to our God,    for he will abundantly pardon. 8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,    nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,    so are my ways higher than your ways    and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10 For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth,    making it bring forth and sprout,    giving seed to the sower    and bread to the eater, 11 so shall my word be that goes out    from my mouth;    it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,    and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Matthew 7:7-12

Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. ⁸For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. ⁹Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for bread, will give a stone? ¹⁰Or if the child asks for a fish, will give a snake? ¹¹If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him! ¹² ‘In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.

3. What are the benefits of seeking the Lord in terms of the process and the blessings thereof?

Psalm 34:4-7 4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me,    and delivered me from all my fears. 5 Look to him, and be radiant;    so your* faces shall never be ashamed. 6 This poor soul cried,    and was heard by the Lord,    and was saved from every trouble. 7 The angel of the Lord encamps    around those who fear him,    and delivers them.

Psalm 119:57-64 57 The Lord is my portion;    I promise to keep your words. 58 I implore your favour with all my heart;    be gracious to me    according to your promise. 59 When I think of your ways,    I turn my feet to your decrees; 60 I hurry and do not delay    to keep your commandments. 61 Though the cords of the wicked ensnare me,    I do not forget your law. 62 At midnight I rise to praise you,    because of your righteous ordinances. 63 I am a companion of all who fear you,    of those who keep your precepts. 64 The earth, O Lord, is full of your    steadfast love;    teach me your statutes.

Proverbs 8:12-21

¹² I, wisdom, live with prudence,^*
   and I attain knowledge and discretion. ¹³ The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil.
Pride and arrogance and the way of evil
   and perverted speech I hate. ¹⁴ I have good advice and sound wisdom;
   I have insight, I have strength. ¹⁵ By me kings reign,
   and rulers decree what is just; ¹⁶ by me rulers rule,
   and nobles, all who govern rightly. ¹⁷ I love those who love me,
   and those who seek me diligently find me. ¹⁸ Riches and honour are with me,
   enduring wealth and prosperity. ¹⁹ My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold,
   and my yield than choice silver. ²⁰ I walk in the way of righteousness,
   along the paths of justice, ²¹ endowing with wealth those who love me,
   and filling their treasuries.

Hebrews 11:6

⁶And without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Intercession/Worship

Conclusion

The Lord tells us in His Scripture to seek Him in faith and we shall find Him.  Let us seek Him always, with all our heart, mind and strength; then we will find Him, and He will continually fill us with His Holy Spirit.

Closing Prayer

We thank You Lord for the call to seek You.  Grant us hearts that will earnestly seek You all the days of our lives.  We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.