From what I understand, we don’t possess the ability on our own to seek God. My understanding comes from the Bible.

To begin with, it says our minds are naturally antagonistic toward God and His ways. I’ll even go so far as to say we hate Him because that’s the essence of our sin nature. Hatred is what causes us to rebel against what God stands for. So no, we don’t, and can’t, naturally seek Him (Romans 8: 7).

Some may disagree. That would probably be those who don’t consider themselves sinful—people who are kind, generous, sacrificing, spiritually acclimated souls. What they fail to realize, though, is that there are different degrees of sin. Some are less sinful than others, but the fact remains that we all are sinners and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3: 23).

Reinforcing that, scripture says that the Lord sees that all of mankind has turned away, all have become corrupt; there is not even one who does good (Psalm 14: 2, 3).

Another thing too to keep in mind is the strength from which we act. In our own power, apart from God’s, when we seem to do godly things, we’re still acting from our human nature; sinful nature trying to do good. It may be perceived by us that the results look holy, but because the effort comes from a bad place, it is looked at from God as being stained and un-pure (Isaiah 64: 6).

Furthermore – and this is so clear about the disability of our nature – the Bible says, “There is no one who seeks God.” Romans 3: 10-12.

What does that mean—nobody seeks God? There are people all around us who are doing just that. And most have even found Him. How did that happen if they weren’t looking for Him?

The Bible speaks truth, though. We aren’t naturally righteous, as has been explained. We don’t naturally seek God. Goodness, itself, doesn’t dwell in our nature and we naturally rebuff the idea that there is an absolute goodness by which we can be measured.

God knows that, thank goodness (pun intended), and is both sympathetic and empathetic to our plight. He knows that, left alone, we are imprisoned by sin. So, because we don’t and can’t seek Him, He seeks us (Luke 19: 10).

Let us not forget that every good thing comes from God (James 1: 17). It is the Holy Spirit who moves our hearts, convicting us of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16: 8). Even when we repent, it is God initiating the action (Acts 5: 31).

That means the desire to seek God comes from God.

It is only when we embrace God’s advances toward us that we begin to look for Him. And as promised, we will find Him when searching for Him with all our heart (Jeremiah 29: 13).

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Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them” (John 6: 44)