1 Chronicles 22:19, NIV
Now devote your heart and soul to seeking the Lord your God.
Jeremiah 29:13, NIV
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
1 Chronicles 28:9, NIV
“And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.”
Psalm 105:4, NIV
Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.
Daniel 9:3, ESV
Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.
Exodus 33:1-3, NIV
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites,
Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.”
Exodus 33:4-6, NIV
When the people heard these distressing words, they began to mourn and no one put on any ornaments. For the Lord had said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people. If I were to go with you even for a moment, I might destroy you. Now take off your ornaments and I will decide what to do with you.’” So the Israelites stripped off their ornaments at Mount Horeb.
1. Entering God’s Presence Requires Repentance
Psalm 24:3-4, NIV
Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god.
Exodus 33:7-9, NIV
Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the “tent of meeting.” Anyone inquiring of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the Lord spoke with Moses.
2. Accessing God’s Presence Requires A Mediator
Hebrews 10:11-12, NLT
Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins. But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand.
Hebrews 10:14, NLT
For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy.
2 Timothy 2:5-6, NIV
5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all people.
Exodus 33:12-17, NIV
Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.” The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”
3. Having God’s Presence Is Vital
Exodus 33:18-19, NIV
Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
4. There Is Life In The Presence Of God
Psalm 34:4-5, NIV
4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. 5 Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.
Amos 5:4, NIV
This is what the Lord says to Israel: “Seek me and live…
Psalm 16:11, NLT
You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Acts 3:19, NIV
Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.
Jude 24, NLT
Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy…
Psalm 10:4, NIV
In his pride the wicked man does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.
Romans 3:10-11, NIV
As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.
Isaiah 55:6-7, NIV
Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
Luke 19:10, NIV
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.