“Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will harken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart” (KJV, Jer. 29:12-13).
“Then shall ye”
Father, through Your Word, I am keenly aware that You have called me to action. While there are things that You must do for me to grow in grace, there are things that I must do as well. This makes me think of the story of Jesus and Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus climbed into a tree to see Jesus. There is a path in which Your grace travels, and I must align myself with where You walk.
I cannot live however I want and expect to find You. You have told me that I must read Your Word. In Your Word, You communicate to me. You tell me of Your love and Your commands. You tell me about Jesus and Your Holy Spirit. I must ensure that I am reading Your Word if I want to grow in my relationship with You.
“call upon me”
In Jeremiah 29:12-13 I am told that I must also call upon You. I cannot expect my silence to produce fruit. Surely there are times when You have called me to wait upon You and be still and know that You are God. However, if my spiritual life lacks prayer and a habit of calling on Your name, I must never believe I will become like Jesus.
Your Word tells me to work out my salvation. I also see the many commands I am given. Thus You have informed me of my responsibility as a Christian. While I must always depend on You, this does not equate to a lack of effort.
“and ye shall go”
Yet again, Your Word points to my need for action. It says, “and ye shall go.” May I always go in the direction You have called me to go? Before Jesus left the earth, He told His disciples to “go” into the earth and make disciples of the nations. He told them to baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and to teach the new converts to obey Your commands. But first and foremost, He told them to “go.”
Going constitutes action. Help me heed Your command to go and realize that there is work for me. I know works do not save me, but You have prepared works for me to glorify You through them.
“and pray unto me”
Here I made aware of what You have called me to do based on the present verse. You tell me to go and pray unto You. Burden my heart for prayer. Help me realize my need to look to You and call out for Your help. Sometimes I can believe the lie that I do not need to pray. When I do not see direct connections between my prayer life and victorious Christian living, I am tempted to believe that prayer is not important.
However, please change my heart on this matter. May I never believe the lie that I can progress as a Christian without praying? As a car needs gas, so I need Your assistance. Jesus tells me that if His words abide in me and I in Him, whatever I ask in prayer will be granted to me. Jesus says elsewhere that whatever I ask in prayer if I believe I have received it, it will be mine. Help me to pray according to Your will and in faith that You will give me what I ask.
“and I will”
Finally, I am told that You will move based on my action. While there are matters that I must consider and do, there are also elements in my Christian walk that You must do. Father, I am delighted that You would desire to work with me and help me grow as a Christian. Although Your Word tells me that I must work out my salvation, it also tells me that You work in me to will and to do for Your good pleasure.
I am also reminded of the book of Ezekiel. You have said, “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: for all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them” (Ez. 36:25-27). Here I see that You are the One Who cleanses me, gives me a new heart, gives me a new spirit, takes out my heart of stone, and causes me to walk in Your ways. Thank You, Lord, for not leaving me to myself.
“harken unto you”
Thank You also for listening to me when I pray. It is a blessing to know that I can call upon Your name each day and that You will hear me. It is also a blessing that I can worship You in Spirit and truth. No matter where I am, I can turn to You in prayer.
You are my Father, and You have adopted me as Your son. You have drawn me close to You and will never let me go. Thank You for delighting in my prayers and desiring to spend time with me.
“And ye shall seek me”
Yet again, I am told that I must be seeking You. I cannot live idly and expect to thrive in my relationship with You. You have told me I can seek Your face through Your Word. You have revealed Yourself to me in Your Word and promised that You will reward me when I seek Your face.
You have also made it clear that I can seek You in prayer. Your Word and prayer are like a two-way street. I can hear Your voice through Your Word and talk back to You in prayer. May I always avail myself of such a lofty privilege?
“and find me”
Father, here I see the outcome of my searching. When I seek Your face, I will find You. If I would seek the world, I will find it too. The question is not, “Will I find You if I seek you?” Instead, the question is, “What am I seeking?” Search my heart and help me to realize there is more to this life than seeking worldly things.
Help me to seek You and Your kingdom first, realizing that You will take care of my needs when I do.
“when ye shall search for me”
I am told for the final time of the necessity of my searching. This short verse has made me aware that I must seek You. I must call upon Your name. I cannot expect You to move if I remain stagnant. James tells me that there are things I do not have because I have not prayed for them. I am also told that the one who sows sparingly will reap sparingly, but the one who sows bountifully will reap bountifully. Therefore, teach me to devote myself to seeking You.
“with all your heart”
As the verse closes, I am met with a high calling. Am I seeking You with all my heart? Are You my portion? Do I genuinely want more of You? Father, would Your Holy Spirit help me to put sin to death? Would He increase in my life and cause me to decrease? I need Your help to seek You in the way Your Word speaks. I am willing for You to help me increase my desire to seek You with all my heart. So help me, Lord, I pray.
You have told me that I must guard my heart, for it is the wellspring of life. Elsewhere I am told that my mouth will speak out of the abundance of my heart. Therefore, help me to guard my heart and cultivate a godly disposition. In Jesus’ name, Amen.