RUN LIKE A CHAMPION

When I walked into church that Sunday evening, I wasn’t seeking God, but His Spirit was pursuing me. My only motivation for going to church was to be with my girlfriend. Her father said if I didn’t go to church, I couldn’t see his daughter. That was an easy choice. I went to church. So I was taken by surprise when something began to stir in my heart. I became convinced of my guilt and shame before a holy God, and I was drawn to seek forgiveness through Jesus.
After coming to Christ and experiencing His grace being applied to my heart, I was consumed with a desire to know Him more. I began to seek after Christ. The very fact that I wanted to know Him was a result of His initial pursuit. This illustrates a great truth for the Christian: Our pursuit of God is simply the fruit of His pursuit of us. We must never forget that the only reason we desire to know Him is because He first loved us and gave Himself for us. We seek Him because He sought us.
Our victory is an extension of His victory achieved in our hearts. But to walk in that victory and maintain it, we must earnestly pursue God. Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Matthew 7:7). The Greek verb tense connotes a continuous asking and seeking. In other words, we are to pursue God. There ought to be an intense desire to know God intimately.
There are two ways we need to pursue God. First, we need to pursue Him in prayer. It’s in the intimate, quiet moments alone with Him that we ought to “ask, seek, and knock.” This part of Matthew 7 is a prayer passage. We are asking, seeking, and knocking when we come into His presence in prayer. Many Christians only ask for handouts when they pray. They are not interested in seeking God’s face; they are more interested in seeking His hand. The hand of God is wonderful. But nothing can compare with the face of God.
When we seek the hand of God, we are wanting Him to do something for us. But when we seek His face, we are desiring to get to know Him. This desire to know Him intimately is the pursuit of God. Our heart’s desire and top priority in prayer ought to be fellowship with God. Sadly, few Christians approach prayer in this manner.