Text: 2 Chronicles 15:12

It's the privilege of all the children of God to seek him with all their heart, soul, mind and strength. The Lord Jesus Christ, when he was asked which is the most important commandment, Jesus answered him, The first and most important Commandment is, "Hear 0 Israel, The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God out of and with your whole heart and out of and with all your soul (your life) and out of and with all your mind (your faculty of thought and your moral understanding) and out of and with all your strength. This is the first and principle commandment. The Amplified Bible.

To seek God is an act of humility and grace. If a person yearns for God, he will be satisfied. If a person hungers after God, he will be fed. If a person is thirsty for God, God will quench him. If a person seeks after God, he will find him.

God is found by those who seek him
Deut 4:29
"But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. (NKJ)

We are to set our hearts on his word
Deut 32:46-47
and He said to them: "Set your hearts on all the words which I testify among you today, which you shall command your children to be careful to observe-- all the words of this law. 47 "For it is not a futile thing for you, because it is your life, and by this word you shall prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess." (NKJ)

To seek the Lord is to find his strength and see his face
1 Chr 16:11
Seek the LORD and His strength; seek His face evermore! (NKJ)

There are six things we can learn from King David in his instructions to Solomon
1. Know the God of our fathers (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob).
2. Serve God with a loyal heart and a willing mind
3. If we seek God we will find him.
4. If we abandon God he will cast us off.
5. The Lord searches the heart's of man.
6. The Lord understands the intent of the thoughts


1 Chr 28:9
"As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever. (NKJ)

Trouble is a calling to seek God
2 Chr 20:3
And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.

David had a hunger to be in God's presence
David had a five-fold destiny with God.
1. He had a steadfast petition before God (He had a desire of the Lord).
2. He wanted to seek God continually. (He had a perpetual hunger for God).
3. He wanted to dwell in the house of the Lord. (All the days of his life).
4. He wanted to see the beauty of the Lord. (He wanted to see his face).
5. He wanted to speak with God. (To have a perpetual conversation).

Ps 27:4
One thing I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple. (NKJ)

In the book of Acts we see three things that will help us and motivate us to seek God. And they are as follows:
1. Arise.
2. Be baptized.
3. Wash away your sins by calling on Jesus' name.

Acts 22:16
And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.' (NKJ)

The Lord admonishes us to return to him
If we are to receive the blessing of his presence in our lives, we must be willing to put away everything that is not of God's character and repent from our sins.

The book of Samuel teaches us four valuable principles that we can learn to prepare us for seeking God. And they are as follows:
1. We must be willing to return to the Lord wholeheartedly.
2. We must be willing to put away sin from among us.
3. We must be willing to prepare our hearts before him.
4. We must be willing to serve him.


1 Sam 7:3
Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, "If you return to the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths from among you, and prepare your hearts for the LORD, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines." (NKJ)

ASHTAROTH
A pagan goddess. <1 Samuel 31:10> connects her with the Philistines, and <1 Kings 11:5> connects her with the Sidonians. She was often considered the companion or partner of the male god BAAL <Judg. 2:13>.

Apparently the worship of these goddesses was practiced by the Israelites from time to time. Solomon compromised his faith by worshipping at the altar of Ashtaroth <1 Kin. 11:5,33>. Along with the Baalim (the plural of Baal), the Ashtaroth were thought by the Philistines to be responsible for fertility and the growth of crops and herds.

The Ashtaroth were worshipped by other people under such as (Phoenicians and Canaanites), (Sumerians), (Babylonians), (Greeks), and Venus (Romans). All these were goddesses of sensual love and fertility.

If we return to God, we will burn for God

King Hezekiah serves as an example
In the book of 2 Chronicles we learn four principles that we can apply to our lives pertaining to seeking God. And they are as follows:
1. We must do what is good, right and true before the Lord.
2. We should do service in the house of God.
3. We must be good students of the law and of the commandments
4. We must be willing to search God out.

2 Chr 31:20-21
20 Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah, and he did what was good and right and true before the LORD his God. 21 And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, in the law and in the commandment, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart. So he prospered. (NKJ)

Get rid of Paganism
1. A follower of a false god or a heathen religion;
2. one who delights in sensual pleasures and material goods.

After the return from the captivity, Ezra and Nehemiah carried on a vigorous campaign against the practice of marriage between Israelites and the pagan women of the land <Ezra 10:2,10-18,44; Neh. 13:26-27,30>. READ EZRA 10:1-4

Seek God and live
Amos 5:4
For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel: "Seek Me and live; (NKJ)


Seek good not evil
Amos 5:14
Seek good and not evil, that you may live; so the LORD God of hosts will be with you, as you have spoken. (NKJ)

If we seek God, we will reap God

GOD CALLING HIS PEOPLE TO PRAY
2 Chr 7:14
14 "if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. (NKJ)

There is one condition to the Blessing of God
IF
3665 kana` (kaw-nah');
a primitive root; properly, to bend the knee; hence, to humiliate, vanquish:
KJV-- bring down (low), into subjection, under, subdue.

Deut 30:1-6
1 "Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God drives you,
2 "and you return to the LORD your God and obey His voice, according to all that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and with all your soul,
3 "that the LORD your God will bring you back from captivity, and have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the LORD your God has scattered you.
4 "If any of you are driven out to the farthest parts under heaven, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there He will bring you.
5 "Then the LORD your God will bring you to the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it. He will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers.
6 "And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. (NKJ)

MY PEOPLE
5971 `am (am);
a people (as a congregated unit); specifically, a tribe (as those of Israel); hence (collectively) troops or attendants; figuratively, a flock:

PRAY
6419 palal (paw-lal');
a primitive root; to judge (officially or mentally); by extension, to intercede, pray:
KJV-- intreat, judge (-ment), (make) pray (-er, -ing), make supplication.


AND SEEK
1245 baqash (baw-kash');
a primitive root; to search out (by any method, specifically in worship or prayer); by implication, to strive after:
KJV-- ask, beg, beseech, desire, enquire, get, make inquisition, procure, (make) request, require, seek (for).

AND TURN
7725 shuwb (shoob);
a primitive root;
1. to turn back (hence, away) to retreat
2 break
3. build
4. circumcise
5. do anything,
6. convert
7. deny
8. draw back
9.pull in again
10. recall,

TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS
Prov 28:13
He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. (NKJ)

Isa 55:6-7
6 Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. (NKJ)

Isa 59:20
"The Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from transgression in Jacob," says the LORD. (NKJ)

Ezek 18:27-30
27 "Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive.
28 "Because he considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die.
29 "Yet the house of Israel says, `The way of the Lord is not fair.' O house of Israel, is it not My ways which are fair, and your ways which are not fair?
30 "Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways," says the Lord GOD. "Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. (NKJ)

HEAL THEIR LAND

Jer 33:6
`Behold, I will bring it health and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth. (NKJ)
READ DEUT. 28:8-14

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