Going One on One with God

"You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart." – Jeremiah 29:13

Going one on one with God is not something to be considered lightly.

Jacob went one on one with God when he wrestled with the angel. His cry was, "I won’t let you go until you bless me." Moses went one on one with God when he pled for the people he was leading.

Going one on one with God isn’t what a soldier does in a foxhole when he says, "God, let’s make a deal. If you spare my life, I’ll go to church when I get back home." God doesn’t bargain, no matter how you weigh the odds in His favor. But here is what it does mean.

It means, first of all, that you come to Him in simplicity and, in all candor, throw yourself completely on His mercy. Isaiah 64:6 says, "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away."

The Bible says that sooner or later, every man bends his knees in surrender. When you go one on one with God, you are completely honest, remembering that God knows the thoughts of your heart. He knows your strengths and weaknesses but He delights in hearing you confess your weaknesses as you throw yourself on His mercy.

It also means that you stand on the promises of God’s Word, which tells us that whoever comes to God will not be rejected. And because of the promises of Scripture, you ask God in simple faith to meet you and to prove Himself to you. More than a few times in Scripture we read of God doing something big and important so that people will know He is God. He’s still doing it.

Finally, when you go one on one with God, you determine that you will rise from your knees in surrender and obedience. Going one on one with God is a Gethsemane experience. It is an encounter with the Almighty, not a party game or religious experiment. It’s heavy stuff. And it is the only way that you will ever encounter the mighty power of God (brought to bear) on your personal life. Once you have been there, like Jacob, you bear the mark and there is no going back.

Long ago, God promised, "You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13). God has always honored His promise through Jeremiah as men and women stop playing church and really seek God.

Resource Reading: 1 Chronicles 21

* * *

Tomorrow Begins Today is available in bookstores nationwide. For more information, write to Guidelines Philippines, Box 4000, 1284 Makati City or e-mail [email protected]. Visit our website www.guidelines.org.