2 Chronicles 12:14

"And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord."
2 Chronicles 12:14


This kind of jumped out at me today.  how do we prepare our hearts to seek the Lord?  obviously it is important, if we are "evil" when we don't... so, I have been thinking about that, and maybe the trick is being open to the Lord's influence.  To prepare for that, we have to be willing to listen to him.  Often, we close our minds to anything except what we want to hear... or we close our minds to anything that isn't familiar.  but it doesn't say just prepare our hearts to *listen* to the Lord, but to *seek* him... so it has to be more than that.  I think it is also a little dose of humility... recognizing our need for the Lord.  I mean, don't get me wrong... I like to be just as tough as the next person, and handle it all... but sometimes we need to recognize that we really can't handle everything, and that we need God's help.  So, when we actually realize that we need the Lord's help, and we are ready to listen to him... then we are probably prepared to seek him.  Not that I am saying all of that is easy.  Sometimes it is the biggest thing we have done in a very long time, to admit that we actually need something outside ourselves... to show our vulnerability in that way.  But unless we are missing something in our lives, why would we seek for anything?  We don't search the whole house for the car keys unless we need them... the same with God.  If we realize that we need him, then we will do some searching.  I think it is fascinating to think about this step.  usually we just skip to the seek step without thinking about preparing our hearts for it... maybe it is part of the whole sincerity / real intent thing.  Anyway... think about your heart today.  Is it prepared to seek the Lord?  What kinds of things need to change to get there?