Lead by Seeking First: Giving God Your Full Attention

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13 (NIV)

Giving someone your attention is arguably the greatest gift I can give them. Why? Because my time is my life.

When I turn my face to someone and focus my eyes on them, it shows that I genuinely care and are interested in what they have to say.

I can do this with God—I can turn my face to him in prayer. Just look up! Show him that I'm checking in and ready to talk. Even though it’s a good way to pray, there's nothing in the Bible that says I have to close my eyes or bow my head. I can pray out loud and look up, it will give me a physical reminder that I’m focusing my attention on God.

Daniel did this when he needed God’s help and wisdom: “So I gave my attention to the Lord God, to seek Him by prayer” (Daniel 9:3 NASB).

God wants me to seek him—and the Bible is filled with promises for those who do:

“Seek me and live” (Amos 5:4 NIV). As I persistently seek God, I'll start learning how to really live.

“I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me” (Proverbs 8:17 NIV). If I'm having trouble finding God, make sure I'm seeking him with the right motives—wanting to know him and not just wanting to get something from him.

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13 NIV). I'm going to find God when I make spending time with him a priority—when I see it as critical to my daily life, not just something I might get around to in my spare time.

“God . . . rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6 NIV). Would I like God to reward my business, finances, relationships, and my future? Then seek him.

“Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need” (Luke 12:31 NLT). When I pursue God first, the stresses and worries of the world will lessen their hold on me.

So give God my attention. Turn my face to him, and show him that he has first place in my life.

In summary:

The greatest gift I can give anyone—including God—is my attention, because my time is my life. Just as turning my face and focusing on someone shows genuine care, I can turn my attention toward God in prayer, seeking him with sincerity and priority. The Bible promises that those who earnestly seek God will find him, experience true life, receive his rewards, and see their needs met. Seeking God with all my heart means making time with him essential, not optional. When I give God first place in my life, I discover his presence, wisdom, and provision in every area.

Bottom Line:

When I give God my full attention and seek Him with all my heart, He promises that I will find Him—and in doing so, He provides what I truly need.

Next wisest steps:

Build a short, intentional daily rhythm of seeking God first—each morning of prayer and Scripture before emails, business, or planning. This will keep my leadership and relationships grounded in God’s wisdom and presence.

Step by Step with Purpose

“I have not yet reached my goal, and I am not perfect. But Christ has taken hold of me. So I keep on running and struggling to take hold of the prize.” Philippians 3:12 (CEV)

Here are three more reasons why goal setting matters.

I need to set goals because they give me the hope I need to keep moving.
Job says, “What strength do I have left that I can go on hoping? What goal do I have that I would want to prolong my life?” (Job 6:11 GW). To keep moving forward, I need to have a goal.

A goal doesn’t have to be big to motivate me. For instance, if I had surgery, my first goal in recovery could be to sit up in bed. Then I might work toward standing up and then later walking down the hallway.

Each of those goals is very small, but they’re all important—because getting from where I am to where I want to be isn’t one big leap. It’s many small steps. A goal doesn’t have to be big to be important—it just has to encourage me to carry on.

I need to set goals because they build my character.
The greatest benefit to my life will not be my accomplishments but rather what happens inside me while I'm moving toward my goal.

God is more interested in my character than he is in my accomplishments. While I'm working on my goal, God is working on me. He is building my character, and that’s what’s going to last for eternity.

That’s why Paul says in Philippians 3:12, “I keep on running and struggling to take hold of the prize” (CEV). It takes energy, effort, and focus to reach a goal, and the result is that I become more like Christ.

I need to set goals because good goals will be rewarded.
Proverbs 11:27 says, “If your goals are good, you will be respected” (GNT). When I give my life to a good goal, it brings honor and builds a legacy on earth.

But the real reward in setting good goals will come in eternity. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 9:25-26, “All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step” (NLT).

Paul was a purpose-driven goal setter. I need to be that, as well, so that I can win the prize that God has prepared for me in heaven.

In summary:

Setting goals is essential for spiritual growth because they provide motivation, build character, and lead to eternal rewards. Even small goals can help me keep moving forward, especially during tough seasons, by giving me hope and direction. As I pursue meaningful goals, God uses the process to shape my character, making me more like Christ. Philippians 3:12 reminds me that reaching my goals takes effort, but it’s through that struggle that transformation happens. Good goals not only earn respect here on earth but also lead to eternal rewards, as I live with purpose and pursue the prize God has prepared for me in heaven.

Three Truths to Remember as I Walk Through the Valley

In Psalm 23:4 I read, “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.” (NIV)

While I may not be in the valley of the shadow of death right now, I may be in another valley. Valleys are the hard places on a journey, where it’s easy to doubt or overlook God’s goodness. But I’m learning that I can always trust that God is walking through the valleys with me. And he’s promised to bring me through to the other side.

Psalm 23:4 says, “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me” (NIV).

Here are three truths that I need to keep in mind while I’m in the valley:

1. I am not alone. God is with me.

The shadows in my life are evidence of the presence of light. How can I deal with a shadow? I turn your back to the shadow and look at the light. Jesus said, “I am the light for the world! Follow me, and you won’t be walking in the dark. You will have the light that gives life” (John 8:12 CEV).

The Bible says that God is light and that in him there is no darkness at all. Given this I shouldn’t focus on the dark things that scare me: work, finances, or career. When I move my focus is off of fears, then I can focus on the Father.

2. God has a good purpose for my valley.

God cannot do evil. Even when I’m facing problems, conflict, grief, fear, or failure, God is at work, creating good from my valley.

Romans 5:3-5 says, “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (ESV).

3. The reward will last forever.

I’ll be rewarded for remaining faithful to Christ in the valley of failure, in the valley of fear, in the valley of conflict, in the valley of grief, and in the valley of trouble. I’ll be in heaven less than a minute before thinking, “Why did I complain so much? Why did I worry when I was going through those valleys? God was right there with me all the time, and he was good to me all the time.”

As the Bible says, “For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!” (2 Corinthians 4:17 NLT).

Death can cast a frightening shadow over me because I am entirely helpless in its presence. I can struggle with other enemies; pain, suffering, disease, and injury, but strength and courage cannot overcome death. It has the final word. Only one person can walk with me through death's dark valley and bring me safely to the other side; the God of life, my shepherd. Because life is uncertain, I should continue to follow this shepherd who offers me eternal comfort.  

Focus on the Future to Get Through Temporary Troubles

In review of Matthew 5:11-12 Jesus tells me, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

(NIV)

Jesus tells me to be happy when I'm persecuted for my faith. Persecution can be good because (1) it takes my eyes off earthly rewards, (2) it strips away superficial belief, (3) it strengthens my faith when I endure, and (4) my attitude through it serves as an example to others who follow. I can be comforted by knowing that God's greatest prophets were also persecuted. The very fact that I am being persecuted proves that I have been faithful; as a faithless person would go unnoticed. In the future God will reward my faithfulness by receiving me into his Kingdom, where there is no more persecution.

As I follow Jesus, I will face trouble. It’s guaranteed! I’ll be harassed, persecuted, rejected, and ridiculed because of my faith.

But that’s not the end of the story. The Bible says that Jesus endured the torture of the cross “for the joy set before him” (Hebrews 12:2 NIV).

I, too, must focus on my future reward if I want to get through my temporary troubles.

At the end of history and this life. Everyone will one day kneel before Jesus Christ. Everyone will say, “Jesus is Lord.” Some will praise him because they’ve done so all their lives. Others will praise him in judgment to themselves because they’ve denied him all their lives.

Every professor who ridiculed you because of your faith and every person who tried to convince me to abandon my faith will one day praise Jesus. Every entertainer who made a mockery of God’s name and every politician who opposed his ways will praise him (Philippians 2:9-11).

Everyone will one day bow before Jesus. At that time God will also reward me for staying true to him despite the harassment and criticism I faced for my faith.

Jesus said, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11-12 NIV).

Whenever I face persecution, I’m in the same category as Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Moses.

Just like those great prophets of old, I’ll one day experience an eternity with God, full of unimaginable joy. The harassment, persecution, rejection, and ridicule I may face now for Jesus’ sake won’t compare to the reward of eternity with God.

Therefore I put my hope in this truth so that when life gets tough, I can endure.

In summary, I'll be blessed when I’m insulted, persecuted and falsely speak evil against me because of my belief. When this happens, I can rejoice and be glad, because great will be my reward in heaven. When persecuted, (1) it takes my eyes off earthly rewards, (2) it strips away superficial belief, (3) it strengthens my faith as I endure, and (4) my attitude through it serves as an example to others. The very fact that I am being persecuted proves that I have been faithful; as a faithless person would go unnoticed. I will face trouble. It’s guaranteed! I’ll be harassed, persecuted, rejected, and ridiculed because of my faith. Jesus endured the torture of the cross “for the joy set before him” So I need to focus on my future reward if I want to get through my temporary troubles. God will also reward me for staying true to him despite the harassment and criticism I faced for my faith. I'll one day experience an eternity with God, full of unimaginable joy. Therefore I put my hope in this truth so that when life gets tough, I can endure.

I don’t face the same kind of physical persecution that those at the time of this writing were experiencing. My persecution comes more superficially, as I’m ridiculed, viewed as not cool and thought stupid for my belief and my faith. It’s ok to let being cool go. Instead of being in the background going unnoticed, it’s ok to let others know what I believe and have faith in. 

I pray this morning Father that with the help of the Holy Spirit, that I recognize the times where I would rather go unnoticed about my faith, that instead I embrace it and know what benefits I will and others will gain. While yesterday’s problem at work was not fun, and I felt pressure and disappointment from others in leadership, that you have a purpose in it. I ask you today for wisdom and guidance for my day, my activities, my leadership and my interaction with others. I pray this through your Son Jesus name, Amen.