Seek If You Have Not Found

The door is already open to the one who comes empty.

Devotional Credit: My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers
Photo Credit: Unsplash

Oswald Chambers challenges us to examine what drives our pursuit of God. He warns that if we’re seeking fulfillment from life rather than from God Himself, we may be chasing self-realization, not transformation. Such seeking leads us further from God, not closer.

The command to “seek and you will find” (Luke 11:9) is not a casual invitation—it’s a call to whole-hearted, undivided pursuit. Are we truly thirsty for God, or merely interested in a better experience? Spiritual experience, Chambers reminds us, is only a gateway to intimacy with God, not a resting place. If we stop at the experience, we risk becoming complacent, even smug—our faith becomes a monument instead of a living invitation.

Chambers points to the honest process of knocking: recognizing our unclean hands, grieving over our impure hearts, humbling ourselves at the threshold of God’s mercy. When we knock this way—not with self-pity, but with heartbroken amazement over our need—we join the crucified thief at the door of mercy. And that door, he says, will be opened.

✍🏼 Personalized Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture

I do not hide from the seeker who comes thirsty. I wait not with reluctance but with joy to receive the one who knocks in humility. But I know when you knock for My gifts while your heart remains far from Me. I know when you seek peace without the Prince of Peace.

I long for you to narrow your affections until I become your singular pursuit. When you bring Me your whole heart—not your performance, not your religious habits, not even your spiritual experiences—I meet you in that place. I do not reward striving; I embrace surrender.

You say you thirst. Then come. I am the living water. You say you knock. Then come empty-handed. I will cleanse you. I will purify your heart—not by your grief, but by My grace. You cannot give others what you have found, but when My life is seen in you, they will long for Me.

The door is not opened by eloquence, merit, or good intentions. It opens when you realize you have no key and come with nothing but need. That is when you find Me—not as a concept or feeling, but as the God who satisfies the heart.

Scriptures referenced: Luke 11:9; James 4:3, 4:8–10; Isaiah 55:1; Matthew 7:7–8; John 4:10

🧼 Real-Life Analogy

It’s like standing in front of a sensor-activated sink with dirty hands. You wave and flail, but the water doesn’t start because you're holding onto something—a bag, a phone, a rag. It’s only when you let go and open your palms that the water flows. Seeking God works the same way—you can’t receive cleansing while holding onto distractions. Let go. Open your hands. He will wash you.

🙏🏼 Prayer of Confidence

Father, I thank You that the door of Your heart is already open to those who come empty and yielded. I rest in the truth that You meet me not in performance but in surrender. I rejoice that I do not need to earn closeness with You—You are near to the humble, and You have made me new in Christ. I trust You to be found today, not because of how well I seek, but because You are always drawing me. I knock with confidence, knowing You are already on the other side.