NDP 2026: Seek My Face

It is the 2026 National Day of Prayer, and this year's theme is: Glorify God Among the Nations, Seeking Him in All Generations."  The theme Scripture is from 1 Chronicles 16:24, which says, in the New American Standard: "Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples."

Following the completion of the Temple in Jerusalem, as well as his own house, the people of Israel observed a feast, then a solemn assembly, according to 2nd Chronicles chapter 7. We read in that chapter (ESV):
12 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him: “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house of sacrifice.
13 When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or send pestilence among my people,
14 if my people who are called by my name 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.

Today, I want to shine the light on a survey from the State of Discipleship survey from Lifeway Research.  The summary at the organization's website notes:

Seeking God is one of eight signposts that measure characteristics evident in believers progressing in spiritual maturity. The average churchgoer scores 78.5 out of 100 in seeking God, ranking it first among the signposts.

The summary goes on to relate: "Around 7 in 10 U.S. Protestant churchgoers (69%) say they set aside time for private worship, praise or thanksgiving to God at least a few times a week, with 40% doing so every day."

Furthermore, almost 8 in 10 in this group indicated that they pray "on the go;" again, 4 in 10 strongly agree with that.  The language of the article said: "praying at the spur of the moment."  So, it appears you have a minimum of an additional 10%, possibly higher, who are pray-ers, but perhaps don't do that in the context of a dedicated quiet time.  Make sense?

The survey summary goes on to say: "Whether intentional or impromptu, most churchgoers say they regularly, personally express praise and thanksgiving to God for who He is. Most (56%) say this is an everyday practice, while 22% do so a few times a week, 11% once a week, 6% a few times a month, 3% once a month and 2% rarely or never do so."

But, the practice of "seeking God" is at the top of the list of those eight characteristics in the overall survey.   So, you could reason that from that self-identified act of "seeking God," other characteristics don't necessarily trickle down.  Lifeway Research had reported on that list:

• seeking God (78.5)
• obeying God and denying self (75.1)
• serving God and others (73.1)
• exercising faith (71.6)
• Bible engagement (69.8)
• building relationships (64.0)
• and living unashamed (61.0)
• sharing Christ (54.8).

The headline for that article was "Lifeway Research Finds Discipleship Deficits Among U.S. Churchgoers."

So, we go back to 2nd Chronicles 7:14 - the four conditions for revival: humbling ourselves, pray, seeking God's face, and turning from our "wicked ways."  Faith will result in works - we need to be spending personal time with God, no doubt, but from that should flow a dedication to Christ, outward expressions of the inward work of Christ.  James taught in chapter one to be doers of the Word and not just hearers; in chapter 2, he wrote, "Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, 'You have faith, and I have works.' Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works."

We should be people who seek the face of God - regularly - intentionally - with a time set aside to be with Him, to sit at the feet of Jesus, to talk to Him and hear from Him through His Word and the direction of the Spirit.  From these practices, we come to know God better, we grow in the Lord, and we show the world who Jesus is.  Faith Radio is here to help you in your spiritual growth, but our Bible teaching and worshipful music is not a substitute for your one-on-one time in God through a consistent quiet time and your communication with Him throughout the day.  But, we can help you keep focused on the things of God, and we encourage you to listen in regularly.