The week’s memory verse is Matthew 7:7-12. Write the verse down.

Keep this verse in front of you this week. Place it where you can read and recite it as the week progresses. Maybe print the verse out on a piece of paper and hang it in a hallway in your home. Each time you pass by the verse, work on putting the words to memory.

God is omnipresent, which means His divine presence encompasses the entirety of the universe. In simple terms, it means He is everywhere all the time. There is nowhere that is void of the presence of God.

Psalm 139:7-8 says, Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

Though God’s Presence is everywhere, we must be active in recognizing He is with us and at work in us. Search (the next step on the Journey Tool) is not a passive activity. Seeking God requires action on our part. Contemplate what it means to seek God as you read the verses below:

Deuteronomy 4:29: But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.

1 Chronicles 16:10-11: Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice! Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!

1 Chronicles 22:19a: Now set your mind and heart to seek the LORD your God.

Psalm 105:4: Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!

Jeremiah 29:13: You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

Seeking God requires action on our part, but remember, anytime we add something new to our life--a pattern, behavior, or new way of thinking as we are doing during Renewal--it usually requires us to remove something. In Week One of Renewal, we asked you to consider letting go of something during Lent. Did you know that by participating in Renewal you are seeking God? You are creating more space and time for God in your life, a practical step of search. Be encouraged! You are actively seeking God by participating in Renewal.

Pray this prayer by St. Augustine "O Lord my God, I believe in you, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Insofar as I can, insofar as you have given me the power, I have sought you. I became weary and I labored. O Lord my God, my sole hope, help me to believe and never to cease seeking you. Grant that I may always and ardently seek out your countenance. Give me the strength to seek you, for you help me to find you and you have more and more given me the hope of finding you. Here I am before you with my firmness and my infirmity. Preserve the first and heal the second. Here I am before you with my strength and my ignorance. Where you have opened the door to me, welcome me at the entrance; where you have closed the door to me, open to my cry; enable me to remember you, to understand you, and to love you. Amen."