Seeking Means?

Seeking – Means What?  (Luke 11:9-10)

Seek –  g: zētéō.   –    Luke 11: 9-10 –  ⁹And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ¹⁰For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. ^[1]

Here Jesus encourages his disciples to develop their relationship with God, but He gives that encouragement to us His followers today.  We will find Jesus to be loving and ready to help, however, we have to ask to receive his help.  Thus, Jesus inspires us to “ASK” and His father is anxious to send His Holy Spirit to assist.

‘Seek’ as a word means:

1.       1^st seeking what is lost with a view to saving it.

a.       Our car keys

b.      Our youth

c.       Our closeness to our spouse

d.      Our fruit of the spirit

2.       Most of all seeking the father

3.       Could refer to God’s requiring much from those to whom much is given.

Luke 12:48 (ESV)  – ⁴⁸But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.

True worship from the righteous ones… John 4:23 – John 4:23 (ESV)

²³But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.

It is comforting to realize that God seeks us.  We just need to respond when He does. 

Seeking God’s Kingdom and Righteousness:  Matthew 6:32–33 (ESV)

³²For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. ³³But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

The meaning of the Greek Word:  2212.  ζητέωzētĕō, dzay-teh´-o; of uncert. affin.; to seek (lit. or fig.); spec. (by Heb.) to worship (God), or (in a bad sense) to plot (against life):—be (go) about, desire, endeavour, enquire (for), require, (× will) seek (after, for, means). comp. 4441.^[2]

Seek and feel one’s way toward Him.:

Acts 17:27(ESV)
²⁷that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 

There is a desire to seek God by the Christian:

Ps. 78:29 For He gave them their own desire:People of true faith will seek God’s will and respond in grateful praise. Self-centered people will simply complain and suffer the result.^[3]

God has purposed that we seek after Him.  Doing so requires action on our part.  It is our action toward Him that insights His Spirit to help us. 

What do you do if that desire is weak?  Take little steps toward searching out God’s directives.  One obvious way is to regularly be in the ‘house of worship’ on Sundays.  This is God’s means of directing His people and helping them stay on track. 

This word broken down has these meaning according to D. W. Arndt:

I.                   try to find someth.,seek, look for in order to find

Matthew 28:5 (ESV)  – ⁵But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.

Luke 15:8 (ESV) –The Parable of the Lost Coin – ⁸“Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it?

II.                to seek information,investigate, examine, consider, deliberate

John 16:19 (ESV) – ¹⁹Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’?

III.             to devote serious effort to realize one’s desire or objective,strive for, aim (at), try to obtain, desire, wish (for)^[4]

Matthew 6:33 (ESV) – ³³But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Luke 12:31 (ESV) – ³¹Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

IV.             ask for, request, demand

2 Corinthians 13:3 (ESV) – ³since you seek proof that Christ is speaking in me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among you.

The three things told by Jesus was to:  ask, seek, knock   thus for us, the ability to live for God is only a prayer away.  Since this is in ‘present tense’ it would mean that one needs to keep doing the three things. 

Matthew 7:8 (ESV)  – ⁸For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

Repeated again in Luke 11:10 –  ¹⁰For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

WHAT A PROMISE! 

Source: Notes from a Pastor Odle’s sermon  – LW