Who is God? I want to know Him. The most innate desire of the human soul is to know God. God infused in everyone’s souls, at our creation, the desire to know, love and serve Him. However, due to the effects of original sin that desire has been tainted. Everyone still possesses that desire to some degree, but many don’t know how to go about finding God since they are dead in their transgressions (cf. Eph 2:1). Some go their entire lives never having a “real” encounter with Our Lord, which results in many of them not believing in God altogether, and then their souls ends up deserving of eternal damnation, which is something everyone should be striving to escape from with all their strength (cf. 2 Thes 1:9).
Our Omnibenevolent (all loving) God, who desires for everyone to be saved, is constantly calling us towards Him; yet so many never discover Him. Why? Well, that answer is quite simple: sin (cf. Gen 4:7). Our sin keeps us from opening up our hearts to receive God’s Spirit into our souls (cf. Ez 11:19-21). God keeps on knocking on our door, and we just can't hear Him because of sin.
Sin hurts, and can also destroy, our relationship with God (cf. 1 Jn 5:15; Eph 4:30). Sin keeps us from wanting to know God to the fullest and becoming united with Him (cf. 1 Cor 6:17). A person must first desire to know God to find Him. Persons suffering from grave sins can have a very hard time finding God, especially if their souls are lacking sanctifying grace (the grace required for salvation) (cf. Gal 2:19; 1 Pt 3:18). Amazingly, Our Lord with His infinite love is always calling us and giving us--especially great sinners—a way to His Sacred Heart (cf. Mk 2:17).
God isn’t going to force His love upon anyone. We have a free will to choose Him or not…to accept Heaven or Hell. It is up to us. God doesn’t want to reward eternal life to anyone who doesn’t want to be with Him. Nonetheless, as long as we are living, we have the opportunity to save our souls and to find Jesus, so the promise of eternal happiness, and the ability to give praise and glory to God in Heaven, will be ours (cf. Rom 6:23).
Will someone know their neighbor if they don’t talk with him? No! Well, it’s the same way with God. If someone spends only a minute speaking with God each day, then they will hardly know him at all. If someone doesn’t open up their heart and spend time with God, they most likely aren’t going to feel His love. God’s mercy is endless, and He desires to flood the contrite (sorrowful) heart with great gifts. Our Lord said, “and whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith” (Mat 21:22). All a soul needs to do is pray with faith and continue to pray, trusting that God hears them, and then wait patiently for their heart to be opened up enough to finally experience the true presence of God when Our Lord wills it. The Lord said, “I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me” (Prv 8:17).
After building a relationship with God through prayer—starting with 30 seconds for Jesus and growing into consistent prayer, works—loving all of God's children especially those unkind to us, and living God’s Word—obey His commands especially the hard ones, one shouldn’t stop seeking Our Lord. Once someone stops working on their relationship, or reduces their prayer time, that’s when Satan creeps back into their life, and before they know it, the relationship they built with God will be gone (cf.Col 4:2). Since we are all called to holiness—and to grow in holiness—one should never be complacent with the relationship they have with God, and should always strive to grow and grow every day to know, love and serve Our Lord more fully (cf. 1 Thes 5:17-27).