OK, let me be the first.
I don't find God by going somewhere.
As you may or may not know, I was raised Catholic but left the Catholic church during my teen years. When I hit rock bottom some years later (and not the living on the streets, drug dealing kind of rock bottom, but definitely the end of myself) I started talking to God. Now, it was certainly not the kind of praying that I had been brought up doing, but just talking to Him as I would talk to another person. I did not at that time start going back to church, that came later.
But one day, when I just didn't know what else to do, I prayed and said to God "God, if you can straighten out this mess of a life of mine, you can have it. I'll do anything you want me to. I'll even become a missionary and go to Africa (The absolute most desperate thing I could think of), because I'd rather be happy doing what You want me to do than keep on going like I am."
Now, this was 35+ years ago and I still remember it like yesterday. And nothing immediately happened. No lightning bolts or anything, but things began to change. *I* began to change. I noticed a difference in my interests. I was no longer interested in going to bars with my friends, for example. Not cause I felt like I had to, but I it just didn't appeal to me any more.
My work situation changed and I ended up working with a very vocal Baptist who shared Christ with everyone he met. And while I had never heard anything like what he told me, I somehow *KNEW* that what he was telling me was true. (Looking back I can now see that as the Conviction of the Holy Spirit)
Finally he explained what *accepting Christ* was about, asking Him to come and live in your heart as an act of your will, that He wouldn't force His way in, and when I heard that I thought "THAT'S IT!!!!! That's what I want!"
Standing there, I prayed and said to Jesus, *I don't know what it means to *ask you into my heart as an act of my will, but I will You in.*
Not exactly your typical *sinner's prayer* but Christ came in that day and THAT change was dramatic and instantaneous.
I immediately thought, *I need to start going to church*, *I need to start giving*, *I need to buy a Bible*. Nobody told me I "had" to do those things, they just happened.
So I started going to church where I was raised. I went BACK to the Catholic church. And I went for months and the longer I went, and the more I read the Bible, the more dissatisfied I became with the Catholic church and the more discrepancy I found between Scripture and the teachings of the Bible.
After a while, another co-worker invited me to his Evangelical church and I went and was amazed at the difference I saw there, and vacillated between the two for a couple months and then finally made the break with the Catholic church.
And you know what? I still have not found a church which has doctrine with which I agree 100%, but that is not important, because church is not the bedrock of my relationship with Christ.
It's a great place to worship, hear good preaching and teaching, and enjoy the company of other believers for encouragement, but the foundation of my faith is Jesus, what I can learn about Him through Bible reading and study, and most importantly, prayer, simply spending time talking with Him.
Church plays a role in my life, but it is secondary at best. And it's going to do no good if I don't nourish that relationship MYSELF.
It would be no different than if I tried to survive by eating once a week. I need to do it every day, several times a day.
Christ in me, the hope of Glory. My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. I don't need to go somewhere to find God or meet Him. I can do it as I'm going for a walk, driving the car, waiting in the doctor's office, I can do it any time in the sanctuary of my heart and mind.
Amen! God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:16) and he promises that He WILL be found when we search for Him with all our heart (Deut. 4:29).