"YE SHALL SEEK ME AND FIND ME WHEN YE SHALL SEEK FOR ME WITH ALL YOUR HEART."

Meister Eckhart, the 13^th century Catholic priest and mystic, once wrote, "If a man goes seeking God and with God something else, he will not find God. But if one seeks only God and really so, he will never find only God, but along with God Himself, he will find all that God is capable of."

This is a commentary on an important scripture found in Jeremiah 29:13, "Ye shall seek me and find me when ye seek me with all your heart."

Seeking with all your heart means  seeking the presence of God without self importance and without  putting the fulfillment of personal desires and needs first. It  demands surrendering any confidence and investment in human  will so that only God's will and purpose for us can be fulfilled in and through us.

The question that occurs is how do we seek wholeheartedly instead of half heartedly or non heartedly.

Most of us first seek the fulfillment of our desires, wishes, wants and dreams and simply include God in a benediction or blessing on them. As Eckhart wrote, we will not find God that way.

To seek wholeheartedly requires prayerful discipline and the practice of humility. Humility is a spiritual strength that comes only with the willful surrender of all life experience to God. The humble person turns himself completely over to God and the fulfillment of God's will in every event and experience .

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The first step toward humility begins with the prayer of Jesus, "Thy will be done." That prayer is most often done when a soul has exhausted all choices and is tired of all the inner contradictions and illusions.  However, this prayer is always meant to be first in practice.

A simple way to begin to put God first is to begin each day with an affirmative intention; "God is first in my thoughts, my plans and my action this day, this hour and this minute."  Then pay attention through out the day  renewing   your commitment and claiming the power of God to strengthen and enable you  to do it. At the end of the day review and seek forgiveness for failures.

You cannot do this alone. And you are not alone.  God will assist you as you steadily depend on Him.  A yielded heart and faithful practice will draw you into a living, loving relationship with the Creator and Source of your life.  Remember that God honors intention and God honors your willingness toward His loving direction of your existence. His power will support you and His bounty will provide for you.

Continuous surrender to God's will ensure that God is first. His will for you to experience His Goodness far outweighs your will in putting your limited self interests first.  As always, prayer and practice are the keys to a transformed life.  The more of personal will you surrender, the more of God's will for Good shows up in daily living.