Yet there too you shall seek the LORD, your God; and you shall indeed find him when you search after him with your whole heart and your whole soul. (Deuteronomy 4:29)
The powerful grow poor and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. (Psalm 34:11)
Glory in his holy name; rejoice, O hearts that seek the LORD! (Psalm 105:3)
With all my heart I seek you; do not let me stray from your commands. (Psalm 118:10)
Yes, when you seek me with all your heart, you will find me with you, says the LORD, and I will change your lot. (Jeremiah 29:13,14)
All of us as Catholic men have our own areas of emptiness and disorder as fallen human beings. The question is: how should we deal with them? Where can we turn to fill that inner emptiness and disorder? To the Lord, of course, in prayer! Unfortunately, so often, our prayer revolves around us and our needs-healing, favor, release from patterns of sin, etc. These are all important things to ask for, but we also need to seek the Lord just for his own sake, and concentrate on his greatness.
The next time you pray, decide to put God’s agenda first. Find a time when you won’t be interrupted. Clear away as best you can all your worries and needs, and focus your heart and mind on your heavenly Father. You might try singing a worship song or listening to some sacred music-whatever draws you closer to God’s presence. One of my favorite songs has this verse in it: “It’s not about me. It’s all about you.”
During your prayer, consider reading a Scripture passage about his mercy, majesty, and power (see Psalm 23, 62, or Isaiah 43). Then just be with the Lord — sitting, standing, kneeling, even lying down, in whatever posture is comfortable and frees you from thinking about yourself.
The important point is to focus on God. It’s never time wasted, although it might be difficult at first to convince our production-oriented brains that seeking and listening to the Lord is doing something valuable. Whenever we approach the Lord like this, he will meet us and draw us more deeply into his life. He wants us to have a living, deepening relationship with him, so that we can become more like him. So let him make you his disciple-from the inside out!
“Lord Jesus, I seek you with all my heart and soul. I want to know you more. Pour more of your life into me today and change me. I want to be like you.”
Maurice Blumberg is on the Board of Directors of the National Fellowship of Catholic Men (http://www.catholicmensresources.org//) and Chairmen of the Board of The Word Among Us (http://www.wau.org/).
[Many thanks to The Word Among Us for allowing us to adapt material from daily meditations in their monthly devotional magazine. Used with permission.]
Questions for Reflection/Discussion by Catholic Men
1. Take a few minutes to read and meditate on the Scriptures above on seeking the Lord. What do you think God is trying to say to you through them?
2. How would you characterize your times of prayer? Does it primarily focus on you and your needs or on seeking the Lord? What steps can you take to make your prayers more focused on the Lord?
3. How important is it to you to deepen your relationship with the Lord? What role can your times of prayer play in this?
4. In the article, we hear these words: “He wants us to have a living, deepening relationship with him, so that we can become more like him.” Why is this so?
