SERMON BY DR. MENSAH OTABIL (GENERAL OVERSEER OF INTERNATIONAL CENTRAL GOSPEL CHURCH (ICGC) ACCRA GHANA
TOPIC: THE POWER OF SEEKING GOD BEFORE EVERY DECISION
BIBLE TEXT: 1 SAMUEL 30:7-8; 2 SAMUEL 2:1, 5:17-19.
Today, I want to talk briefly about: “The Power of Seeking God before every Decision”.
I will be reading three (3) Bible Texts: 1 Samuel 30:7-8; 2 Samuel 2:1 and 2 Samuel 5:17-19.
I am going to read them sequentially;
1 Samuel 30:7-8;
7 And David said to Abiathar the priest, Ahimelech’s son, I pray thee, bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought thither the ephod to David.
8 And David enquired at the LORD, saying, Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them? And he answered him, Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all.
2 Samuel 2:1
And it came to pass after this, that David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah? And the LORD said unto him, Go up. And David said, Whither shall I go up? And he said, Unto Hebron.
2 Samuel 5:17-19;
17 But when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines came up to seek David; and David heard of it, and went down to the hold.
18 The Philistines also came and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim.
19 And David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up to the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into mine hand? And the LORD said unto David, Go up: for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand.
One word runs through all these three (3) Bible Passages and the word is “Inquire.”
What does it mean to Inquire?
It means several things but I’ll give you three (3) of them.
- It means to raise a question or to investigate something.
To interrogate a matter.
And we see in David’s example that he interrogates the Lord:
- He investigates;
- He makes an inquiry.
- He raises a question, “Shall I go up?”
So to inquire means, to raise a question.
- To Inquire means to seek for answers.
When you need answers, you go to the one who has answers.
When we make an inquiry or when we inquire, we are looking for answers – We want somebody who knows the answers to tell us the answers.
In this sense, David knew that God had the answers and so, he asked Him for the answers.
So when we Inquire;
- We raise a question.
- We seek answers.
- To Inquire means to Plead for help.
Thirdly, when we Inquire, we are asking or pleading for help – It involves Prayer.
In Hebrew, the word that is translated for us in the English as Inquire is used many times for people who presented their request before the Lord.
- So, Inquire also means to Pray;
- To ask for help.
- Or to seek God’s Guidance.
When we Inquire of the Lord, it means we address our questions to the Lord and we seek answers from Him. And we seek for His help.
In all the three (3) Passages that we read, we note that David inquired of the Lord.
And these are not the only verses where David inquired of the Lord. I only choose three (3).
But he did it very frequently – David inquired of the Lord.
Throughout the Life of David, he inquired of the Lord – He sought for God’s direction.
Why? And how was he able to do that?
How could David, who was not a Priest, inquire of the Lord?
Because David had a Personal Relationship with God – He knew the Lord and spent a lot of time in God’s Presence.
If we’re going to inquire of the Lord, we must know him Personally – Not to know Him from Somebody.
David had a Personal Relationship with God;
And David was also able to Inquire of the Lord because he sought for God’s Mind when he was making a decision.
Unlike King Saul who acted impulsively, David didn’t act impulsively; he always sought for the Mind of God.
And that’s the reason why he won all his battles.
Throughout David’s reign, he never lost a battle.
Why? Because he didn’t just go fighting, he fought the battles that God asked him to fight.
And there are times that God would tell him not to fight some battles and he would not fight them.
And so he had hundred Percent (100%) success because he inquired of the Lord.
It wasn’t just because he was a good Soldier, but because he sought for God’s Mind in his decision making.
And not only did he know how to ask God questions, he also knew how to hear from God.
… David developed the ability to hear from God.
In the Old Testament, People depended mainly on two (2) Sources for direction – The Priests and the Prophets.
There were times the Prophets spoke to David; and there were times the Priests spoke to David.
But in a lot of the inquiries he made, it wasn’t from a Prophet or from a Priest, He spoke directly to God, and God spoke directly to him.
Even under the Old Testament, David knew how to hear from God.
And for those of us who are in the New Testament, we better know how to hear from God if we’re going to inquire of the Lord.
And then when David had inquired of the Lord, he followed God’s leading Faithfully.
Once he knew the Mind of God, he followed!
He didn’t just seek for God’s Mind and God’s Will for fun, he was a doer of God’s Will.
How was David able to do that?
What was his Methodology?
What was the Process?
What did he do when he was making an inquiry of the Lord?
Well, in his Psalms (one Particularly), he gives us a certain clue – In Psalm 27:4-5, David gives us a certain Process and it reads:
One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my Life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his Temple. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his Pavilion: in the secret of his Tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
The three (3) things I want you to Note:
- Abiding in God’s Presence.
This is the first thing that helped David to know the Will of God.
He says, “One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my Life.”
One of the Pursuits of David was to be in God’s Presence, to dwell in the house of the Lord.
In the Old Covenant, which is the Covenant that David lived under, the Presence of the Lord was in the Temple, because that’s where the Ark of the Lord was.
So when People wanted to be in the Presence of God, they will go to the Temple.
And David did it many times – He would sometimes go to the Temple and just sit down. He would just sit before the Lord; wait on the Lord and be in His Presence.
If you’re going to inquire of the Lord, you better love the Presence of God.
- You must love the Presence of God.
- You must be happy when you are where God is; Abiding in God’s Presence.
And whilst we are Praying and Fasting, that is part of what we are doing. We are learning to abide in the Presence of the Lord. And that is the place where inquiry is made.
If we’re going to inquire of the Lord, we must abide in the Presence of the Lord.
David said that’s one thing he did.
- And not only that, he says that when he was in the Presence of the Lord;
He beheld the Beauty of the Lord.
He observed the Beauty of the Lord, he saw God in His Majesty. And he called the Majesty of the Lord, “The Beauty of the Lord.’
In the Presence of the Lord, David thought about the works of the Lord, the ways of the Lord. He saw how God had put all things beautifully together, “Beholding the beauty of the Lord.”
You know, many times we look at Life in silos; “This is happening there, that is happening there.” And we never see the hand of the Lord in the events of Life.
Sometimes we even see our Life and we think our Life is confused. “I don’t even know what I’m going through. Everything is just confused. Everything is berserk.
But when you behold the beauty of the Lord, you’ll see that He’s making all things work together for your good.
You see His beauty, you see His plan, you see His design and you see that God is a God of Beauty; He’s a God of Order; He’s a God of Design.
Nothing happening in your Liife is by accident.
And David said, “I saw that in the Temple of the Lord, I beheld the beauty of the Lord – That God is working in my Life.”
Have you taken time to admire the works of God?
Yes, we can admire the work of God in Creation. We see the Mountains and we say, “Oh, how beautiful the work of God!”
But I am asking:
Have you taken time to look at your Life and see the beauty of the Lord?
Have you seen the beauty of the Lord in whom He allowed to be your Parents?
Have you seen the beauty of the Lord in all the things you have gone through in this world?
Have you seen the beauty of the Lord in whom He allowed you to marry?
Have you see the beauty of the Lord in your children?
Have you see the beauty of the Lord in what has been happening in your Life since COVID broke out?
Because when you look and see the beauty of the Lord, then you can see that nothing is an accident!
And that’s what David said.
His Life was not all sweet and nice, and honey, his Life had a lot of bitterness.
But he said, “When I go to the Temple, all I see is God’s beauty.”
I see Him working my Life together.
I see Him moving things together.
I see Him making all things work together for my good.
I see the beauty of the Lord!
- I will Inquire of the Lord.
And then he said because of that, I will Inquire of the Lord – Seeking God’s Will and Guidance.
David inquired of the Lord while he beheld the beauty of the Lord in an Atmosphere of Worship.
If you can’t see God’s hand orchestrating all the events of your Life, you cannot trust Him enough to ask for His Will.
I used to have a lot of struggle Praying for God’s Will – I used to have a lot of struggle.
And I’ve said it before, that Hymn:
Take my Life and let it be
Consecrated Lord, to Thee
Take my moments and my days
Let them flow in ceaseless Praise.
When we get to the stanza that says, “Take my hands and let them move…”; I wouldn’t sing, because my Mind couldn’t see that I can trust God with my hands: “What if He breaks them?”
I say, “God take my leg” He knocks it out. “Take my heart” He breaks it.
Because sometimes you can go through some bitterness in your Life – And that happened when I had lost both of my Parents as a Teenager in one year.
And I said I can’t trust God:
What if I trust Him and He kills me?
What if I say, “Lord, take my Life” and He says, thank you, and He takes it?
Because I couldn’t see the beauty of the Lord in the chaos of my Life.
But now I can look at everything that happened to me and see the beauty of the Lord in His Temple.
And so I can Inquire of the Lord because I know what I saw as chaos was God working out His Plans and Purposes in my Life.
It is only when you see the beauty of the Lord in your Life that you can say Lord, show me Your Will.
Because you know whatever He leads you, it will be good.
So David tells us the sequence – He doesn’t just go to the Presence of the Lord and say; Lord, I need money. Lord, what should I do? Lord, whom should I marry? Lord, tell me what to do. No!
- He starts with abiding in the Presence of the Lord;
- And then he beholds the beauty of the Lord;
- And after that he says Lord, by the way what should I do about that thing?
How should I handle that Problem? Should I deal with it directly? Should I fight that battle?
That Person fighting me in the office, should I reply him? Or should I just leave him alone?
And God will say, “Do this and don’t do that; Do this, do that.”
And then after David had done that he says, For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock (DMC NOTES: Psalm 27:5)
David says when we seek the Lord, inquire of Him, He will Protect us and Promote us, set is on a rock and hide us in a Pavilion.
There is a Place in God where although the enemy is wild outside, he cannot get you.
There is a Place in God where everything may be going wrong but in that Place there is comfort, there is safety, and there is security.
And when we inquire of the Lord, He takes us to that Place.
In the Old Testament, the Temple was God’s d
Dwelling Place – That’s where David went to inquire of the Lord.
But where do we go to today to inquire of the Lord?
Do we also go to a Temple, to a Church Building?
1 Corinthians 3:16 says, “Know ye not that ye are the Temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”
David had to go to a Temple to seek God.
We don’t have to go to a Temple to seek God because God’s Spirit dwells in us.
So how does God lead us?
The Spirit of God dwells within us, not in a remote Physical location.
Because when at night you need direction, you cannot get up and say, “Let me go to Christ Temple.”
If you live far away from the Church, or you live in another Country, how are you going to come here to inquire of the Lord?
But your body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit because God dwells in you.
To Inquire is not taking Place outside you, it’s taking Place inside you.
The Spirit of God speaks within us.
The Lord can and He does speak to us by the inward Witness: through Dreams, through Visions, through the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.
But all of that happens because His Spirit has taken residence in us – We are His Temple.
Unlike David who had to go to a Place, we have to be in a state – A state of Worship, a state of Contemplation, a state of Prayer.
God speaks to us and the Spirit of God leads from within us.
Sometimes God leads us without speaking to us – He simply holds our hands (so to speak) and walks with us. He just holds your hand and walks with you.
You say, “Lord, where are we going?” He says, “Just trust me.” And He just holds your hand and guides you.
You don’t hear His words and you don’t hear direction, but He will guide you.
Other times you don’t hear a voice, but there are times you hear a voice. And all of that comes because the Holy Spirit dwells within you.
PRAYER POINTS
This Morning we can also learn from David in our Prayer to Inquire of the Lord.
And I’m going to give us four (4) Prayer Points that we will Pray about today as we put into Practice what we have learned today.
Are you ready to Pray?
Alright, let us rise up together.
Do you want to Inquire of the Lord?
I don’t know what you want God to speak to you about:
Maybe you have something at home that you need God to give you Guidance with, or whatever decision you are making. But I believe God that He is going to speak to you, and you will hear His voice – Amen.
Even if you don’t hear His voice, you will feel His Guidance and His Direction – Amen.
- Say with me: Heavenly Father, You are my Dwelling Place. Thank You for drawing me into Your Presence – Your Presence is Heaven to me.
Now begin to Pray and Thank God for bringing you into His Presence.
Thank Him that the Holy Spirit lives inside you.
Thank You Father!
In Jesus’ Name – Amen.
- Say: Heavenly Father, I behold Your beauty. I see Your hand bringing everything in my Life into Your Perfect Will.
Even things that make you cry, see the beauty of the Lord in it – Your Life is not a mistake.
In Jesus’ Name – Amen.
- Say with me: Heavenly Father, lead me by Your Spirit, guide me by Your hand and order my steps into Your Will.
Why don’t you ask God to guide you? Not by fear or anxiety.
In Jesus’ Name – Amen.
- Says with me Heavenly Father:
What do you want me to do?
Where do You want me to go?
What should I stop doing?
Impress Your Will in our Hearts Lord. Let You Will be clear.
Now Inquire of the Lord. Ask Him specific questions.
In Jesus’ Name – Amen.
CLOSING PRAYER
Heavenly Father, we come before You this Morning.
You are our Guide, You are our Helper, You are our Strength, You are our Shield.
We behold Your beauty in all the events of our Life.
We see Your hand bringing order out of chaos.
We see You Lord, taking what was meant to be evil to work out Your Purposes.
We see You using our lives to manifest the Glory of God;
So that all would know that there is a God and His Ways are Perfect.
So Lord, we honour You this Morning.
And we Thank You for the direction You give to us.
And we Thank You for the Guidance.
In Jesus’ Name!
Amen and Amen.
Give the Lord Praise this morning.
Thank you so much for staying all through to read.
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