by Rex Rouis
The only requirement for finding God is that you look for Him with all your heart. All your heart is the full measure of your heart.
‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13
Search for Him in the Heavens. Search for Him in the Bible. Search for Him in deep prayer. But wherever you search for Him, do it with everything you have. Whether we find God or not is not determined by Him, it is determined by us. The obstacle to finding God is not His hiddenness but our limitations of heart. Our hearts decide what we are willing to do. He is not hiding from us at all. He is standing in the open, in clear sight of anyone who seeks Him with all their heart.
There is a huge difference between the phrase, “Do a hundred things,” and, “Do all that you can.” To some a hundred is a huge number, to others, not so much. But ‘all that you can’ is the same for all. It is a way of measuring one’s heart. And the measure of our heart for God is determined by the hunger of our heart for God. Hunger determines persistence. Yes, this is a test, a test to show God what lies within our hearts. And yes, He knows everything already, He is God? But He still desires to see it.
Want to know how to find God? Find out what ‘all your heart’ means and do it. He has always been found by those who were willing to give their all to find Him. He is always close enough to be found by the true seeker.
The following are the scriptures in the Bible that refer to all your heart:
But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul. Deuteronomy 4:29
You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. Deuteronomy 6:5
Now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require from you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, Deuteronomy 10:12
It shall come about, if you listen obediently to my commandments, which I am commanding you today, to love the LORD your God and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul, Deuteronomy 11:13
You shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you to find out if you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Deuteronomy 13:3
“This day the LORD your God commands you to do these statutes and ordinances. You shall therefore be careful to do them with all your heart and with all your soul. Deuteronomy 26:16
And you return to the LORD your God and obey Him with all your heart and soul according to all that I command you today, you and your sons, … “Moreover 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, so that you may live. … if you obey the LORD your God to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this book of the law, if you turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and soul. Deuteronomy 30:2, 6, 10
All your heart is the full measure of your heart.
Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the LORD commanded you, to love the LORD your God and walk in all His ways and keep His commandments and hold fast to Him and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul. Joshua 22:5
Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you return to the LORD with all your heart, remove the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your hearts to the LORD and serve Him alone; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.” 1 Samuel 7:3
Samuel said to the people, “Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. … “Only fear the LORD and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. 1 Samuel 12:20, 24
He is standing out in the open in clear sight of anyone who seeks Him with all their heart.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart. And do not lean on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5
You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13
“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping and mourning; Joel 2:12
Shout for joy, O daughter of Zion! Shout in triumph, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! Zephaniah 3:14
And He said to him, “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.” Matthew 22:37
AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH. Mark 12:30
And he answered, “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” Luke 10:27
And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” Acts 8:37
Comments
Scott – I totally agree. I may change the article title to The Guaranteed Way to Hear from God. It is not the only way to find and hear from God. And it is surely not the only way God can speak to us, but it is guaranteed that if you ask, seek, and keep knocking you will get His attention and you will get His answer. It is the determined diligent perseverant faith way. Thanks, God bless you. Rex
I am blessed by this message. Please if I can get this kind every week I will be very happy
Not sure this is correct. You are using Bible quotes from the wrong dispensation Rex. All, except Acts 8:37, are Old Covenant, when mankind had an Old Covenant approach & relationship to God.
Jesus told His disciples, “You did not find Me, I found you.”. Also, the verse from Acts talks about “Believing” NOT “Seeking” God. That “Believing” is a gift, the “Faith that comes by hearing” is freely offered by God & notice “It comes”. It will come to all mankind at some time in their lives & simply needs to be received & accepted. This is how God can judge all people equally & on the same basis.
Understanding the different dispensations is key to getting this in context.
I hope you can see this Rex.
God Bless.
Howdy Nick, good to hear from you. Here are my responses to your comments:
Not sure this is correct. You are using Bible quotes from the wrong dispensation Rex. All, except Acts 8:37, are Old Covenant, when mankind had an Old Covenant approach & relationship to God.
Yes, these are Old Covenant verses and we are now operating under a better covenant based on better promises, but I thought the concept of ‘all our heart’ would carry beautifully on to the New Covenant. I cannot imagine Jesus not wanting, and expecting, all our hearts today. He wants all of us, including all our heart.
I have been thinking a lot lately about seeking and hearing. They are huge in the Kingdom of God and necessary in the hearing of faith. I think the things of God are free but not cheap. I think this is what the Writer of Hebrews would refer to as those who ‘diligently seek’ Him.
The big thing that we are missing today is hearing and that is because we are missing proper seeking – with all our heart. That to me is center of the road New Testament thought. Not works but obedience.
Jesus told His disciples, “You did not find Me, I found you.”
I agree. I thought this would be an issue with some and I almost wrote a little disclaimer at the end of the article for it. Yes He sought us, and He will draw all men unto Himself. But James also tells us to draw close to Him.
But again, here is my point – if we need to hear from God we will need to seek Him ‘with our whole heart.’ Nothing short of that will do. It did not work in the Old Covenant and I do not think it will work now. I actually think God expects more out of us now because we have the new nature within us. We have to do what our new nature is. I believe that is the meaning of Matthew 5:3 – 20. He came to fulfill the law in His sacrifice on the Cross, and, in our new nature ‘wanting’ to do the things of the ‘law written in our hearts.’
Also, the verse from Acts talks about “Believing” NOT “Seeking” God. That “Believing” is a gift, the “Faith that comes by hearing” is freely offered by God & notice “It comes”. It will come to all mankind at some time in their lives & simply needs to be received & accepted. This is how God can judge all people equally & on the same basis.
Oh, I love “Faith comes…” It comes by the rhema word of God to us personally. Many times a hard fought hearing from God it is. I am fasting now for the new year to hear from Him. It is not works but obedient spiritual hunger driven seeking.
I don’t believe faith ‘comes’ to those who do not diligently seek Him. There are, of course, exceptions because of God’s mercy. But outside of mercy, I do not think we can sit and watch TV and expect faith will just come when we need it or when God ‘chooses’ to give it. It comes (mostly) only to those who are hungry and are willing to seek Him for it.
By the way, if you are referring to Ephesians 2:8 in the “Believing” is a gift point. Grace is actually the gift in that verse and not faith. Word study experts mightier than I have shown that the gender of grace and gift agree, meaning that gift is related to grace and not the opposite gender word version of faith. Grace is the gift and faith is the channel through which it comes.
I enjoy this and I enjoy communicating with you. I hope you are doing well in Spain, or wherever you are now. God bless you and Pauline, Rex.
Hi Rex,
Thanks for your reply, which is much appreciated.
Just a very brief account of a man that I know, who was not “Walking with the Lord, some would say “Back-slidden” (I do not believe a Christian can back slide actually under this dispensation of Grace!). This man was used by God to raise a, well & truly, drowned man from the dead & his wife, subsequently, became a Believer. My point is that my friend was not seeking God & yet “Faith came” anyway. I believe that “Faith comes” to so many people, it is just the response to faith that may be different. God spoke to me this phrase, “Obedience FOLLOWS faith…………………….as does dis-obedience!”.
Also, for the unsaved, Jesus says, “Behold, I stand at the door & knock”, does that apply only to those who are seeking (I am just asking your thoughts).
All going well here in Spain. It’s hard work (at the moment we are having the pools tiled) in preparation for the coming season.
All the best Rex,
Nick & Pauline.
Just a very brief account of a man that I know, who was not “Walking with the Lord, some would say “Back-slidden” (I do not believe a Christian can back slide actually under this dispensation of Grace!).
I believe they can.
This man was used by God to raise a, well & truly, drowned man from the dead & his wife, subsequently, became a Believer. My point is that my friend was not seeking God & yet “Faith came” anyway.
Sure, I agree with it. God speaks plenty without our seeking, to both saint and sinner, and everything in between. But, that is not what I was talking about. The article is about when we are looking for Him or need His involvement in something. When you desperately need something from God, do you seek Him for it or do you just expect God to give it to you if He desires to? If you do seek God, do you do it with all your heart? I believe the guaranteed way for us to find Him is not half hearted but with all the heart. He can come to us anytime He wants and anyway He wants, but we can only go to Him one way – with all our heart.
Most of the people that received healing in the Gospels came to Jesus. Not all but most. And, they were pretty aggressive about it, even to the point of being rude (I have a great book on this). Jesus was fine with it. They came to Him all-in and would not be denied. He liked that. He respected that. I don’t like this passive, Jesus will come to me when He is ready stuff.
I believe that “Faith comes” to so many people, it is just the response to faith that may be different. God spoke to me this phrase, “Obedience FOLLOWS faith…………………….as does dis-obedience!”.
I can agree with a lot of that. The Bible has both – times when God sought the individual (Gideon) and times when the individual sought God with all their heart till they received the answer (Daniel). Those that are really hungry will really get it. God can give it freely if He wants to, but the hungry seekers are guaranteed an answer.
Also, for the unsaved, Jesus says, “Behold, I stand at the door & knock”, does that apply only to those who are seeking (I am just asking your thoughts).
No. He sought us before we ever thought of seeking Him. But once you have a desire to find Him, and are seeking Him, the way to do it is with all your heart. God bless.
Hi Rex,
Thanks again for the response. Clearly, there are a few things that we will agree the disagree over but “Seeking God with ALL your” is not something I disagree with you about, I just think that the term has a slightly different connotation under the New Covenant. I believe our response to the prompting of the Holy Spirit (Who, I believe, initiates, is all important). If we respond in obedience, we get blessed in order to be a blessing & God gets the glory (could that be deemed the same as “Seeking God…..”?). If we, as Believers, disobey (although I do not know why we would), no problem, there is no anger from God or punishment , He will simply use someone else for that particular purpose, someone who’s heart is “Open” (to use an alternative term) shall we say.
God spoke to me many years ago saying, in response to a question I asked Him about a revelation He gave me, “…………..& I want to give you a new way of thinking.”. He has been doing so ever since but I do not seek it, He opens eyes & ears &, as long as the heart is open, revelation is received. Then seek the Lord for confirmation. It seems to me that the “Seeking” part comes after He has spoken & imparted a blessing of some sort, then we respond according to our hearts.
Sorry no scripture references for you but this is just from my heart for you & anyone else who sees, to try to understand the huge difference between Old & New Covenant relationship with our “Daddy”, through Jesus Christ & the wonderful, perfect, complete & eternal work of the Cross. After all, if nothing changed, what was the point?
Matthew 7:7,8 Amplified
“Ask and keep on asking and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking and you will find; knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who keeps on asking receives, and he who keeps on seeking finds, and to him who keeps on knocking, it will be opened.”
So be it Lord Jesus!
It’s good to hear from you again, Faith Mechanic.
Andrew – And it is so good hearing from YOU. Thank you so much for your support. God is working here. We were doing a lot of work behind the scenes on the site, not necessarily the writing part. We are back to that. We are growing big time this year.
And I am through with my cancer stuff. It was a yearlong adventure but it is now in the past. I have been off medications for months. It is like it came quickly and left almost as quickly. Praise God. We love you and all you do. Thanks, Rex.