Search Me, God: How to Get the Life You Really Want

Taught by Pastor Brandon Sereg, Lead Pastor of Vibrant Church in Davie, FL.

Watch This Message

Most of us don’t build the life we want on purpose — we back into it by accident, then wonder why it doesn’t fit. In this message from the Live a Better Story series, Pastor Brandon Sereg walks through Nehemiah’s rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls to show what it actually takes to get the life you really want: an honest, prayerful look at five walls in your life, and focused effort on the one that matters most right now.

Nehemiah Rebuilt in 52 Days — and It Started With a Prayer

When Nehemiah set out to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, he had no tractors, no heavy machinery — just sheer willpower and muscle. And yet the walls and gates were rebuilt in 52 days. But before Nehemiah ever picked up a strategy, he prayed. He set his heart in alignment with God first. He was honest about his people’s failure, and he found hope in what God had already promised: that even though the failure was real, it was not stronger than God’s promise.

Two Dangerous Prayers: “Search Me” and “Test Me”

Brandon pointed to a prayer that’s easy to quote and hard to actually pray: “Search me, God, and know my heart.” We say it casually — “God knows my heart” — without letting it search anything. The second half is even more dangerous: “Test me and know my anxious thoughts, see if there’s any offensive way in me.” That prayer is the first step toward the life you really want, because you can’t rebuild what you won’t honestly look at.

The Five Walls You Need to Examine

Brandon laid out five walls worth a prayerful, honest inventory this week: your relationship with God, your relationships with people, your finances, your health and fitness, and your work. The instruction wasn’t to rush in and fix anything — it was to take 30 minutes, put the phone away, and pray over each one. And get specific. Don’t write “my marriage is bad” — write “we haven’t had an honest conversation in months.” Don’t write “money’s tight” — name the debt and admit there’s no plan. Don’t write “I’m not healthy” — write “I’m exhausted, not active, and avoiding the appointment I know I should have made months ago.” Brandon was candid that part of his own plan has included getting help from others — he sees a Christian therapist regularly, even as a pastor who loves God and prays.

Choose the Wall That Matters Most

Once you’ve walked all five walls, Brandon said the real question is: “What is the one thing that if it got better, would make everything better?” Most of us don’t lack effort — we lack concentrated effort. We work on the budget Monday, go on a date Tuesday, spend time with God on Sunday, and stay scattered the rest of the week. Circle the one wall that matters most, and put your energy there first.

Choose the Next Brick

For the wall that matters most, Brandon gave a simple next step: choose the next brick. What’s one action you can repeat daily or weekly? Put it on the calendar — if the wall matters, your best time can’t stay unassigned. Remove a distraction that’s competing for that time. And invite the right help: who needs to know what you’re rebuilding? That last one, Brandon said, is where the series picks up next week.

Where This Lands

The ask this week isn’t to fix everything at once. It’s to take 30 minutes, walk through the five walls honestly in prayer, and be specific about what’s healthy, cracked, or burned. Then circle the one wall that matters most, and choose a next brick you can actually repeat. As Brandon put it, you’re going to choose your hard either way — hard is working on your marriage, or hard is living far from the person you married. Choose your hard.

This message is part of the Live a Better Story series. Next week picks up with who needs to know what you’re rebuilding.

Keep Going

If this message stirred something, a few next steps that might help: start with our guide to prayer if the “search me, test me” prayer is new to you, look at our page on finding your purpose if you’re not sure which wall matters most, and check out next steps for ways to get help — including a Connect Group where you’re not rebuilding alone.

New to Vibrant Church? We meet Sundays at 10:00 and 11:30 AM at Indian Ridge Middle School in Davie. Plan Your Visit