What Are We Seeking?

We are restless. We long for something more and we unconsciously express this in many ways. Some people like to shop because it very temporarily fills that desire for something more, but it quickly fades. Some people seek success in work or sports or other competition because the accolades received from others fills that desire, but that too quickly fades. Others seek to fill that desire in relationships, sometimes good relationships, sometimes unhealthy relationships, and we still feel that empty.

What is it we seek? If we are really honest and dig deeply into that question, what we will find is that we seek love. We want to be truly and unconditionally loved and to truly and unconditionally love another. We want to experience a love that completely fills that hole within us. One that leaves no emptiness or hunger for more. A love that puts our restlessness to rest.

It is as if we were created for the purpose of entering into a deep love that we yearn for in innermost part of our being, yet it alludes us. And we feel this because that is precisely what we were created for.

Within the very essence of God, the Father gazes upon the Son with the perfection of love, and the Son returns that gaze of perfect love to the Father. This Love is so perfect, so unconditional, so passionate, so powerful, so amazing… that it is poured out and is the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity. This is why we learn in catechism class as young children that “God is Love.” It’s the very essence of His nature.

And God’s love doesn’t stop there. God doesn’t keep it to himself. God’s love is so intense that He needed to share it beyond Himself. This is why he created mankind. We are created for the purpose of entering into this intense love of the Godhead. That is our primary purpose for existence. We were designed, from the beginning, for relationship with God. This is precisely why we long for the perfection of Love. It is God, who is the perfection of Love, that we yearn for. This is what Augustine meant in his famous quote, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.”

So, what do we do? We need to seek God in prayer and we need to be consistent. Spend some time in prayer every day. Prayer from the heart. Below is just one way that you could begin to pray daily if you aren’t sure how to begin.

I-                 Find a quiet peaceful place to sit.

II-               Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in your time of prayer and to help you enter into this relationship of Love that God has created you for.

III-              Read a chapter of one of the Gospels. Continue in that Gospel each day. Maybe start with Mark.

IV-             When finished reading ask the Lord to come into your heart and to help you understand more deeply what you have read.

V-               Spend some time silently thinking about a part of the passage that stands out to you. 

VI-             Pray for any needs you have.

VII-            Give thanks for God for the time of Prayer and for things that you are grateful for.

This is not the only formula for prayer. Taylor it to work for you. But be consistent. Pray every day and make it a priority. Like any relationship it takes time.

Through seeking God in prayer, we can enter into that relationship with God that he has created us for and begin to know His love for us. We won’t find complete fulfillment in this life. That is Heaven. Growing in this this relationship with God is more like a path we travel down, daily growing closer and closer to the Divine Love, until one day we reach its fulfillment, enveloped in Love itself for all eternity.