The Heart of the Matter Study for February

How did last month go? Did you focus on keeping your heart dwelling on the right things? It was a great study for me and the Lord was so faithful to keep reminding my heart to dwell on things pleasing to Him! I know He had His work cut out for Him!

If you missed January’s Heart of the Matter Posts, you can click here


I’m really looking forward to this month and moving on to a different word concerning our hearts. I’ve prayed and asked the Lord what He would have me to work on next. Before I share with you the word for the month, I want you to think back with me.
Think of when you were about 4 years old. If you were anything like me you loved to play! Especially the game Hide-and-Go Seek! It was one of my favorites! I loved to be the hider, but I really loved to be the seeker! As I counted I would get so excited over the anticipation of finding my sisters! I would count quicker and quicker, ready to seek and not count! Then, I would holler, “Ready or not, here I come!” I would giggle as I would search in every corner and spot I could think of. I would run through the yard trying my very hardest to find everyone! I loved that game! As I read these verses in the Bible: “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with your whole heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13), and “…let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord.” (Psalm 105:3) my mind thought back to those times of Hide-and-Go Seek.

Have you figured out the word for this month? It’s SEEK. I looked up the seek/heart combo in the Bible and you can find them together in 21 verses! I want to have a heart that truly seeks after Christ and the things that He would have me to seek for! To Seek means to search out, strive after, ask, beg, desire, and to follow in pursuit.

So, here’s my question….How’s your heart doing when it comes to seeking Christ? Do you have a daily time of reading God’s Word and praying to Him? Are you faithful to have your devotions every morning, but then tend to forget about seeking God the rest of the day? Do you view your quiet time as a way to just check off one more thing off your list? I can be guilty of all of those things some days!

As I read God’s Word, I realize I need to have a heart seeking after Christ. We have His promise that if we seek for Him, we will find Him! Deuteronomy 4:29 says, “But if from thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.” We also have the promise that our heart will rejoice when it seeks Christ. “Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD” (I Chronicles 16:10) Who doesn’t want their heart to rejoice!? That’s an amazing promise!

So, we all know we’re supposed to seek Christ every day, right? Why can it sometimes be a struggle for us? I’ve thought of a few practical suggestions to help us this month to truly seek Christ with all of our heart.

1. Make it a Priority. Easier to type, I know! But, this is so vital in our Christian Walk! Make sure your time with the Lord happens. Don’t let other stuff come before Christ. Now, I know as a busy wife and mother there are times when your husband or children need you. Of course, the Lord doesn’t want us to put them off, they are our priority, too! But, if we’re honest with ourselves, we really do have more time in our day than we realize. If we were to make a chart of our minutes spent yesterday, I wonder how much time we would put down that we were seeking Christ, and how much time was spent on the computer/facebook/blog-hopping/pinterest (computers can be time robbers for sure!) or how much time was spent doing a hobby or craft or spent chatting on the phone, or texting? Let’s face it….we all have things in our life that probably get more time than they should. These things aren’t necessarily bad, we just need to make seeking Christ our priority and put the rest in its proper order.

2. Prepare. In the book of Ezra, Ezra talks about preparing his heart to seek Christ. With a busy day always looming over us, it’s easy to get “swept away” in all the things we have to do. If we don’t prepare to have that time alone with the Lord, it won’t happen! Here are some preparations you can make:
~If you’re like me, when the house is a wreck I can’t really concentrate on anything else! Before bed every night spend 3 quick minutes going around the house in lightning speed. Pick up the things that are most noticeable. (I like to have my kids pick up & put away 10 things that are not in their place before they go to bed.) In the morning it will be easier to have a quiet time with the Lord when a messy house isn’t calling for our attention.
~Have the coffee pot all ready to go, all you have to do is push the green button in the morning. I love to drink my coffee while reading God’s Word!
~Have your Bible and prayer list sitting at your special spot waiting for you in the morning. Going around looking for it gives up precious minutes that you could be spending with the Lord! ~Remind your hubby and older children that if they get up early to try and be extra quiet to keep the little ones asleep (I always try to get up earlier than the babies to make sure I have some quiet time.)

3. Plan. For me, my quiet times are best spent if I have them before anyone else is up, especially the children. I can truly tackle my day with God’s blessing when I start my day with Him. I use this time to ask for His guidance and help in the decisions to be made that day, and the influence I will have on my family. I need that time! It’s a great study to see what God’s Word has to say about seeking Him early. For me, this means my alarm goes off at 5:45am. Whew! I’m not a morning person, so it can be difficult! But, the more I do it, the easier it becomes. I’ve gotten to where I like to be there when the sun starts to rise. I like to hear the roosters waking up with me, and I love my quiet time. Does it always happen? Sadly, no. This morning in fact, I thought I hit the snooze, when actually I hit the stop button. I slept in and had a total of 15 seconds alone with the Lord when my little Silas came in ready for his chocolate milk and hug. Does this mean it’s a day that goes by and I can’t seek the Lord? No. Then, it’s time for plan B! I can read my Bible to my kiddos. I watch my Proverbs DVD while folding clothes, or listen to my Bible on CD while doing the dishes. Then, naptime becomes my quiet time. If I make it my priority, it will happen! We just have to be creative in a world full of duties and interruptions.

Are you ready to go to the next level of seeking Christ? I know I am, and need to! I don’t want to just seek Christ during my quiet time, but throughout the day. I’m praying for the Lord to show me how to do this, and He’s so good and already answering. Next week I’ll share with you some ideas about seeking the Lord throughout your day!