Most people believe that God exists, yet some are unsure how to find him. Because God is invisible and doesn’t often speak audibly to people, finding him isn’t clear to some seekers. Where should people look for God? Where should people listen for him? How can people know where he is moving and acting?
The main way that God has revealed himself to the world is in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus said when people find him, they find the Father (John 14:9). People can also read about God in the Bible, as the Holy Spirit inspired the writers. Thankfully, God isn’t hiding. He has made himself known.
Can people find God in nature? How can people find God through Jesus of Nazareth? Can people find God through prayer? What exactly does the Bible say about finding God? Keep reading to learn the answers to these questions and others.
Also see How To Meditate On God to learn more.
Can people find God in nature?
People can find God in nature, but only to a certain extent. The natural order, including oceans and rivers, valleys and mountains, and eagles and lions, reveal certain attributes of God.
What can people learn about God through the natural order? First, the natural order informs people that there is a God. Second, creation demonstrates God’s power and wisdom, as well as his creativity and diversity (Rom. 1:18-20). The natural order can convince people they are lost if they realize they don’t know the Creator — their Creator.
Psalm 6:1-3 reads, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.” (ESV)
What can people not know about God through the natural order? The natural order can’t tell people how to know God. God knew that people would need more than oceans and eagles if they were going to find him. Rather than hiding himself from people forever, God became a human being in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.
| General Revelation | Special Revelation |
|---|---|
| Broad teaching to all people | Particular teaching to specific people |
| Example: observing nature, the conscience | Example: Jesus Christ, reading Scripture |
| Reveals people’s need for God | Satisfies people’s need for God |
| Insufficient to save from sin | Sufficient to save from sin |
Also see Is There Anything Too Hard For God? to learn more.
How can people find God through Jesus of Nazareth?
People can read about Jesus in the Bible. The first four books of the New Testament, which are the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, are biographies of Jesus told from different perspectives. The Old Testament looks forward to Jesus’ arrival and the rest of the New Testament, outside of the Gospels, tells about the first people that decided to follow Jesus.
Can people find God through prayer? Yes. Prayer is a great way to apply what a person reads in the Bible. For example, Jesus taught people how to pray (Matt. 6:9-13). Also, when a verse says that people should confess their sin to God, a Bible reader can pray to acknowledge their sin and ask for forgiveness (1 John 1:9).
“For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.” ~ Romans 1:18-20, ESV, emphasis added
What does Paul mean when he says people “are without excuse”? Paul means that the revelation God has given to people through the created order is enough to hold them accountable regarding his existence and certain aspects of his nature. Because of the created order, people can neither say that God hasn’t communicated nor that they don’t know anything about him.
Does the created order only reveal condemnation? The created order alone isn’t sufficient to save people from sin. However, it doesn’t only reveal God’s wrath. The created order also reveals God’s caring provision for people. Acts 14:17 reads, “Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.”
Also see How To Hear From God to learn more.
Jesus of Nazareth is God’s supreme revelation to people
John 14:9 reads, “Jesus said to him, Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father?'”
- Jesus’ acts reveal God: “This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.” (John 2:11)
- Jesus’ teachings reveal God: “And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” (Matt. 16:17)
“Every time we open the Scriptures, we should expect a personal encounter with the God-breathed Spirit of the living Word. This is reading at its very best.” ~ Author David McKenna
10 powerful Bible verses about finding God
- Acts 17:27, “That 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.”
- Jeremiah 29:13, “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”
- Proverbs 8:17, “I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.”
- Deuteronomy 4:29, “But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.”
- Matthew 7:7-8, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”
- Jeremiah 33:3, “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.”
- Ephesians 5:8, “For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.”
- John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
- Luke 15:24, “For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.”
- Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Also see How Does God Speak To Us? to learn more.
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