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

1As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God – Psalm 42:1-2

Loving God with all our hearts means that we are intentionally pursuing his presence and making consistent effort to seek him. A.W. Tozer says, “We have almost forgotten that God is a Person and, as such, can be cultivated as any person can. It is inherent in personality to be able to know other personalities, but full knowledge of one personality by another cannot be achieved in one encounter. It is only after long and loving mental intercourse that the full possibilities of both can be explored.” I love this! God is a person! In other words, he can be known and desires to be close to us and have a relationship with us. But if we are going to truly have a relationship with him and be close to him, then it is not going to happen in one encounter. Like any strong relationship, there must be continual encounters or focused engagements. For example,  a man doesn’t build a strong relationship with his wife in one encounter. He has to engage her daily by serving her, spending time with her,  listening to her and talking to her. And this cannot be done in a manner where the husband is divided in his attention and distracted by other projects or tasks. This never works. There must be full, undivided attention. Over many years of doing this the marriage is fortified. It is the same with our relationship with God. There must be intentional, undivided pursuit.

Take time today to intentionally pursue the Lord. Place yourself in a posture of focus where you can be undivided in your pursuit. Here are some ways you can do this. Try praying for 5 min on your knees. Intentionally envision yourself pursuing God. Call out to him in desperation. If you are not in a place to get on your knees, walk to a quiet place and set your full attention on God for 5 min. Start by telling God, “Lord, I am here to listen to you.” Now wait for 2 min in silence and listen with expectation. After a couple of minutes respond back to what he has spoken to you.