Seek God’s Presence, Not His Presents

One of the greatest lessons I ever learned is that we should always seek God for who He is and not merely for what He can do for us.

As a young Christian, I constantly asked God to give me worldly goods and do things for me or bless me in certain ways. I wanted my ministry to be large and successful, and at the time I was teaching a small home Bible study group. I wanted my husband, Dave, to change and be more like I was. I wanted my children to be little angels who always pleased me in all their ways. I wanted and wanted and wanted—and was frustrated and discontent most of the time.

I loved the Lord, but not fully as He desired for me to love Him.

As we continue seeking God, we grow spiritually and learn what is truly important. In my life, a time came when God revealed to me that I was unhappy because I was seeking the wrong things. My eyes were suddenly opened to the discontentment I felt.

I realized that even though I spent time in prayer regularly, most of my prayers were selfish and materialistic. This was a turning point in my walk with God, and my joy increased greatly when I finally focused on praying for the things for which God wanted me to pray.

In Psalm 27, David desired “one thing.” All he sought was to dwell in God’s presence and see His beauty “all the days” of his life (Psalm 27:4 ESV). One thing! Truly, there is only one thing that can keep us content, which is to keep God first in all we do, all the time. If and when we put Him first, all the other aspects of our lives work themselves out. They may not work out exactly as we hope, but eventually we realize that God’s ways are always better than ours.

I recall God challenging me not to ask Him for anything other than more of Himself until He released me to do so. Each time I started to ask for a “thing,” the words stuck in my throat and I would say, “Never mind, Lord, I just need more of You.” This lasted for about six months. By then, my heart had been changed drastically. And since that point, I have seen God provide for me and my family in amazing ways because I sought His presence, not His presents.

James 4:2 says that we have not because we ask not, so it is certainly good to ask God for anything we want or need, but more frequently we should ask for more of Him. Praise should outweigh petition, and our prayers should be filled with thanksgiving.

Matthew 6:33 says, But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well (NIV). When you genuinely seek God for who He is and focus on developing your relationship with Him, He will fill your life with incredible joy…and all of the other “things” will come along with it.

_{Adapted from the book The Power of Thank You by Joyce Meyer. Copyright 2022 by Joyce Meyer. Published by Hachette Book Group, Inc. All rights reserved.}