Mensa Otabil - David's Inquiry
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Welcome to day number six of our 40 days of power. 1st Samuel chapter 30, verse 8. So David inquired of the Lord, saying, «Lord, shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?» And he answered him, «Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.»
The phrase I want you to pay attention to is: David inquired of the Lord. This is King David. He needed to make a decision, and he said, «Lord, should I go ahead and do this? Should I go against these enemies that have attacked my people?» And God said, «Yes, go ahead.» But God could also have said, «Don’t go.» So inquiring of the Lord means that we’re ready to go wherever he tells us. If he says go, we go. If he says don’t go, we don’t go.
Now, one of the big influences of my early Christian life, when I was a teenager, was a book I read called The Cross and the Switchblade. The Cross and the Switchblade talks about the ministry of a man named David Wilkerson and how it impacted so many young people in New York, transforming people from drug addicts to preachers. People who were gang members, who were murderers, people in jail — people that nobody would give a chance-found that the grace of God reached them. God reached out to these young men, brought them into the kingdom, and used them profoundly.
How did God use David Wilkerson so much to transform so many people? It started very simply in his room. He was a small-town preacher, and according to his account, he said he was very dissatisfied with himself. Things were going well in the church. The church he pastored was thriving, building buildings-everything was fine-but he was very unhappy, so he decided to spend time praying to seek God’s face. «Why am I not happy? What’s going on? What does God want me to do?»
The time he had to pray was at night, but he had a habit of watching TV during that time, so he did something very radical. He took his TV set, sold it, and decided to use that time for prayer. As he prayed, God began to place a burden on him. One day, the Lord led him to go to New York to rescue some young men and bring the gospel to them. He took the bold step. He didn’t know anybody; he went as God led him. So many people were transformed; so many lives were changed. Some of these drug addicts became pastors, and a powerful ministry was birthed. It was birthed because a small-town preacher inquired of the Lord.
Just like King David, this David Wilkerson also inquired of the Lord. From that story, I learned that sometimes inquiring of the Lord requires putting aside something so you can focus on him. Something that occupies too much of your time, something that occupies too much of your attention, may have to be moved out of the way so you can spend time with God and hear from him. For David Wilkerson, he put away his TV and used that TV time for prayer. Could it be that maybe your football time could also become prayer time if you genuinely want to know the will of God? Could it be some other time you spend that God says, «Why don’t you use this time for me? Why don’t you seek me? Why don’t you inquire of me?»
Many times, we say, «Oh, I want God to speak to me. I want to know the will of God. I want God to direct me. " But we’ve crowded our lives, pushed God out of our lives, and we don’t make room for him. If you want God to speak to you, make time for him. Make room for him. It may be that you must sacrifice something. It could be a habit, but whatever it is, turn away from something so you can turn towards God.
God wants to guide you; make time for him. Make room for him. Create the space, create the atmosphere so that you can spend quality time with the Lord. Hear his voice; inquire of him so he will guide you. There is something great that God wants to birth in your life, but it has to be birthed through his direction. It has to come forth through his guidance as you make time for him. Are you ready to make more time for God? I trust the Lord will give you the strength to do that.
Let’s pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, lead me into the right pursuits. Turn my heart and attention to the path that is right for me in Jesus' name. Amen. And amen.