Have you heard or read the phrase, “Until God opens a door, stand in the hallway and praise”? Praise is an important part of the waiting during the journey of loving and praying for a prodigal, because praise puts us in God’s presence, since God inhabits praise (Psalm 22:3).

While we don’t praise God to receive good from Him but to lift Him up, good comes to us when we give the Lord the praise due Him. Not only does it put Him in His rightful place on the throne of our lives, but it builds our faith and gives us hope by reminding us of who He is and is not, and what He will do and will not do.

Praise is one way we seek the face of God, as are prayer, fasting, and worship. We are to “Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face evermore!” (1 Chronicles 16:11; Psalm 105:4). The importance of seeking God’s face is emphasized by the exclamation point after this verse as well as it’s being found written exactly the same way in two different places in the Bible.

The Bible also gives us many other clues about being in God’s presence. Here are three:

• “Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill? He who walks uprightly, And works righteousness” (Psalm 15:1-2).
• “Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, Nor sworn deceitfully: (Psalm 24:3–4).
• “Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).

We can’t be in His presence if we lift up our souls to idols (not just carved ones); or without walking uprightly, working righteousness, having clean hands and a pure heart, pursuing peace with all people, or living holy lives. That sounds like a rather tough line-up, and many more are given in God’s Word, but He doesn’t ask us to do these things without His help.

Psalm 42:5 tells us a benefit of seeking God’s face, a perspective we can really use while waiting of our prodigals to be saved: “Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him For the help of His countenance” (NKJV). Seeing His countenance—His face—helps us, putting us in close contact with Him, comforting us, and giving us peace.

Have you ever thought about how our faces often reflect the emotions and expressions of a person with whom we are face to face? When we are face to face with God Almighty, our faces reflect His face! This happened to Moses: “So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (Exodus 33:11). “Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses’ hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him” (34:29). It happens to us with our Lord!

2 Chronicles 7:14 tells us yet another benefit of our seeking His face: “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” Yes, Lord!

When we seek our Lord’s face:

• We see who He really is.
• We have His attention.
• We receive help, mercy, grace, peace, comfort, blessings, anointing, and strength.
• He will keep us.
• He will hear us from heaven, forgive our sin, and heal our land.
• We reflect the face of the Lord to others, including our prodigals.

Now, that is a line-up we can truly live with!

Numerous times the Bible says: “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). If we seek His face, we will find Him. Seeing our Lord’s face with the love for us that is there as well as His compassion and longsuffering for our prodigals will help us through anything we face with them.

Let me bless you with the same blessing Aaron and his sons were instructed to use to bless the children of Israel: “‘“The Lord bless you, and keep you; The Lord cause His face to shine on you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His face to you, And give you peace”’” (Numbers 6:25-26).

PRAYER: “‘Your face, Lord, I will seek.’ Do not hide Your face from me; Do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; Do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation” (Psalm 27:8–9). Let everything I do bring a praise to You, my Lord. In Jesus’ name I pray.