Key Scriptures: Jeremiah 29:12-14, Psalm 27:4
Jeremiah 29:12-14, Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”
Psalm 27:4 One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.
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Lesson One: Seek God’s face more than his hand.
• If you only seek God’s hand, you will miss his face…but if you seek his face—you will get his hand also
Psalm 27:8 My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek.
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Lesson Two: Make a shift from the Word of God to the God of the Word.
• Shift from simply looking at words on a page—to the author of the Word who is with me
1 Corinthians 2:12–14, Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God…The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God… because they are spiritually discerned.
John 14:26, But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
Luke 24:45, Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
Hebrews 4:12, For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword… discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
2 Timothy 3:16–17, All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
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Lesson Three: Embrace the greatest promise of God.
• The most landscape changing promise for our lives is that God is with us
Isaiah 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Matthew 28:18-20 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
Exodus 3:10-12, So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”
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Lesson Four: Constantly acknowledge him.
• God welcomes, invites, and commands us to come to him at all times
Jeremiah 29:12–13, Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
Matthew 7:7–8,Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives…
Hebrews 4:16,Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Psalm 50:15,Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.
Psalm 62:8,Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.
Psalm 145:18,The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.
“We should fix ourselves firmly in the presence of God by conversing all the time with him…we should feed our soul with a lofty conception of God, and from that—derive great joy in being his.”Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God
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Lesson Five: Give your cares and dreams to him.
Psalm 37:3–5, Trust in the LORD, and do good…Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.
Proverbs 3:5–6, Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
Psalm 55:22,Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.
Romans 12:1–2, Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
1 Peter 5:7, Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
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Lesson Six: Affirm his character by faith in every moment.
• I remember the characteristics of God—and praise him at all times, in all things
Psalm 27:4,One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.
Psalm 16:8, I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
Psalm 34:1–3, I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!
Psalm 63:3–6,Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands… when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night.
Psalm 104:1–2, 33–34, Bless the LORD, O my soul! O LORD my God, you are very great! You are clothed with splendor and majesty…I will sing to the LORD as long as I live…may my meditation be pleasing to him.
Psalm 145:1–5,I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever…on the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate.