Practical Ways to Pursue Knowing God

The theme of my summer Sunday morning messages at Calvary is Pursue Knowing God. Hosea the prophet called on the people of Israel to “pursue the knowledge of the Lord” (Hosea 6:3). The book of Hosea is the focus of our study. 

Last Sunday morning near the end of my message I shared some practical ways to pursue knowing God. I thought it would be helpful to provide them here. 

• Accept what He has promised and provided through His Son, Jesus Christ. (John 17:2-3)
  Jesus gives eternal life to those who believe in Him, and eternal life is knowing God.

• Intentionally (re)focus your heart on knowing God. (Philippians 3:10)
  The downward pull of our flesh and the busyness of life distract us from knowing God. We need to regularly choose to make knowing God the passionate pursuit of our lives. 

• Pray specifically for a growing knowledge of God. (Colossians 1:10)
  Paul prayed for the Christians in Colossae to increase in their knowledge of God. This is a scriptural prayer, one that God will surely answer. Pray the words of this verse for yourself.

• Read the Bible with purpose, looking for attributes and acts of God. (Proverbs 2:1-5)
  Good places to start doing this are the Psalms, the Gospels, and Genesis through Exodus.  Relate these to the circumstances of your life, thinking, “What do I know about my God?”  Journal these. Write them down – “God is ______” or “God is my ______”. Then pray them back to God. Write down how these encourage and help you in your daily life.

• Anticipate knowing Him fully forever.  (1 Corinthians 13:12)
  Our understanding of God is so very limited. There are many hindrances. But don’t be discouraged. Look forward to seeing Him face to face.