This is an excerpt from Dr. Ron’s book Kingdom Advancement.
This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face. (Psalm 24:6)
Something happens in verse six that is easy to miss but impossible to overstate. The psalm shifts from speaking about God to speaking to God. For five verses, David has been in declarative mode—the earth is the LORD’s, he shall receive blessing from the LORD. Third person. Legal. Positional.
And then: who seek Your face.
The psalm turns toward God and becomes intimate. That shift is the theological pivot of the entire passage. Before the gates are commanded, before the King of Glory is identified, before the ancient doors are addressed—there is a moment of face-to-face encounter.
The generation that advances the Kingdom is not identified
by what they have accomplished. It is identified by what they pursue.
I have taught on this distinction for many years because it is one of the most practically significant in the spiritual life, and it has everything to do with Kingdom advancement.
The hand of God represents what He does—provision, healing, miracle, intervention. There is nothing wrong with seeking the hand of God. Jesus told us to ask, seek, and knock. Petition is real, appropriate, and effective.
The face of God is something different. The face represents presence—the deep, mutual, intimate knowledge of the Father and the Son. To seek His face is not primarily to seek something from Him. It is to seek Him. That distinction sounds subtle. In practice, it is the difference between a relationship and a transaction. And Kingdom advancement that is built on a transaction rather than a relationship will eventually prove itself hollow.
Kingdom advancement that outlasts you—the kind that opens gates and shifts atmospheres and transforms territories for generations—flows from the overflow of genuine face-seeking. You cannot carry what you have not received. And you cannot receive what you have not pursued.
But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (Matthew 6:33)
It is not incidental that verse six identifies this generation as Jacob rather than Abraham, Moses, or David. Jacob is the one whose transformation—from self-sufficient manipulator to face-seeking prevailing servant—is most nakedly on display in the text. He most closely resembles the average believer: gifted, wanting the right things, but prone to manufacturing outcomes rather than receiving them, prone to wearing a false crown of self-sufficiency rather than the true crown of covenant authority.
The generation that advances the Kingdom has made the Jacob-to-Israel journey. Not through effort or self-improvement—but at the ford of Jabbok, in the moment of desperate encounter, when all personal resources are exhausted and the only thing left is the refusal to let go of the One who can change the name.
Mary of Bethany appears three times in the Gospels, and every time we find her in the same position: at the feet of Jesus. While Martha managed the household, Mary sat at the Lord’s feet listening to His word. While others prepared for Passover, Mary anointed Jesus with a year’s wages in perfume. Jesus’s verdict was unequivocal: Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken from her.
What that presence-seeking produced in Mary was remarkable—a level of prophetic understanding none of the disciples had attained. When she anointed Jesus six days before His crucifixion, He said she had prepared Him for burial. She had received revelation through face-seeking that organized Bible study and ministry activity had not produced in anyone else in the room. This is the fruit of Psalm 24:6. The generation that seeks His face carries Kingdom intelligence—prophetic insight, strategic discernment—that cannot be obtained any other way.
The most strategic thing you can do for your Kingdom assignment is not to create a better battle plan. It is to seek His face more consistently and more deeply. Every significant Kingdom advance I have observed—in ministry, in business, in family, in territory—had its genesis not in a strategy session but in an encounter.
The gate did not open because someone organized a better prayer meeting. The ancient door did not move because someone developed a more sophisticated spiritual warfare protocol. The breakthrough came when someone sought the face of God with the kind of desperation and surrender that produces genuine encounter—and then carried what they received into their assignment.
The advance begins in the secret place. Not strategically, in the sense of deliberate preparation. But organically, as the overflow of a life so full of the presence of the King that it cannot help but extend the boundaries of His Kingdom wherever it goes.
[This activation is designed as a regular discipline, not a one-time exercise. Commit to practicing it for thirty days.]
Set aside at least twenty minutes in an unhurried space. No agenda. No prayer list. No Bible reading plan. Just come.
Begin by stilling your soul—consciously setting aside the mental noise of the day, the ministry tasks, the pending decisions—then call your spirit forward. Speak quietly:
“Father, I am not here for what You can do. I am here for who You are. I set aside my agenda. I come to seek Your face. I instruct my soul to take a seat of rest, and I call my spirit forward.”
Wait. This is the most uncomfortable part for most believers trained in task-oriented prayer. Learn to sit in the discomfort of purposeful stillness. If your mind wanders, gently return it. You are practicing a posture, not achieving a performance.
When Holy Spirit begins to move—and He will—respond to what He brings, not to what you planned to say. This may be worship, tears, a Scripture, an impression, a name, a picture. Follow the movement of the Spirit rather than your agenda.
At the close of the time, ask:
“Father, what do You want me to carry from this place into my assignment today?”
Write down what you receive.
Track what shifts in your Kingdom effectiveness over the thirty days. Pay attention to the quality of your discernment, the clarity of your direction, and the boldness of your advance. The face-seeking will be measurable in the fruit.
“I am of the generation that seeks the face of God—not merely His hand.”
“I choose the good part—presence over performance, the seat at His feet over the management of outcomes.”
“I carry Kingdom intelligence from the secret place into my advance.”
“My assignment begins in encounter and flows from the overflow of presence.”
“I will not settle for a transactional relationship with the King when His face is available to me.”
