Seeking His Face

“My heart has heard You say, ‘seek My face.’  Your face, oh God, will I seek.”  Psalm 27:8

A few years ago I went to India to train pastors, but the Sunday before we began, I was asked to preach in a church that met in an orphanage.  Kids of all ages joined us and sat up front.

The message was about who God is, His face, verses what He can do for us, His hand.  My point was that the higher calling is to seek His face, and that sometimes God calls us, right in the midst of our needs, to seek His face.  This Psalm is written while David is being chased by Saul and has a whole army at the door.  He desperately needed God’s hand, but God spoke to his heart about seeking His face instead.

After I closed with a general prayer for those who wanted to say “yes” to God’s invitation, the pastor came up and encouraged people to be prayed for individually.  No one came for their needs but only for greater devotion to seek God’s face.

At some point while I was praying for people, I told the pastor to invite those who needed healing to come forward.  The first lady explained through an interpreter that she had horrible pain throughout her body.  I prayed a brief prayer, and she turned around to leave.  I called her back.  “Tell us how you’re feeling?” I asked.  She said, “I’m healed; the pain is gone.”  I said, “Do you mean you’re in less pain?”  She insisted, “No, I am completely healed!”

It was then I noticed something; my hands were burning.  I told the pastor to tell the people my hands were burning, and if they needed healing they should come right now.  I prayed for all ages for the next hour, and everyone I prayed for felt the pain immediately leave their bodies.  I prayed for the sick the rest of the time in India but never saw the power repeated that was present that Sunday morning.

I think God’s heart was touched by the devotion of these orphans.  If we would seek His face in the midst of our great needs, He wanted us to know, we would also have His generous hand!