First Seek Your Face

IN THE MORNING LONG BEFORE SUNRISE JESUS WENT TO A PLACE WHERE HE COULD BE ALONE TO PRAY. Mark 1.35.

Have you heard people say, “I have so much to do tomorrow that I have to get up very early and leave home”. Perhaps that is the way you approach the busy and tough times that are on us! How different it was to men of faith, like Martin Luther and John Wesley! It was Luther they say, who made the famous remark, “I have much work to do tomorrow and I need to get up early and spend two extra hours with God!” Wesley was the same in his pursuit after God and His will. The men and women who have experienced their God personally and intimately know the importance of seeking God’s face before anything they do or even say!

The psalmist King David said, “O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water (Psa 63.1,2). Nehemiah, the cupbearer (like a confidant) for the Persian King Artaxerxes, looked sad one day and the king asked, “Why is your face sad?..What is it you want?" The Bible says, then Nehemiah prayed to the God of heaven and answered the king! (Neh 2.1-5).

Blessed are those who long for their God and seek Him early in the morning of each new day. Blessed are you, if we will look for Him diligently and enquire of Him before you set out to do things, small and great. That is what the Lord Jesus did while He was on earth as a man. He prayed alone to His Father early in the mornings for guidance, He prayed all day when He needed help and He prayed all night long when pressured by decisions.

Dear believer, how then could you begin your day without committing it to God? I dare not! There is no better way for me to impress on you the dire need to seek God each morning before you begin your day than to quote a poignant poem by an unknown believer:

I got up early one morning

And rushed right into the day;

I had so much to accomplish,

That I didn’t have time to pray.

Problems just tumbled about me,

And heavier came each task.

“Why doesn’t God help me?” I wondered.

He answered, “You didn’t ask!”

So I woke up early this morning

And paused before entering the day;

I had so much to accomplish

That I had to take time to pray.

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord Jesus, let me know the blessedness of committing my day to You before I begin. Teach me to seek Your face before I decide to do anything. Amen.