The Prayer of Enquiry

I have touched briefly on this in the previous lesson, but it is of such importance that I want to look at it more closely. Joshua, a godly leader who habitually sought the Lord, found himself in trouble on one occasion because he trusted to his senses and did not enquire of the Lord. The Gibeonites, who lived in Canaan, pretended that they were strangers in the land, showing Joshua stale provisions which they said were the result of the long journey they had made. Joshua therefore made a covenant with them that he had no right to make. However once made, it needed to be honoured (Joshua Ch. 9)..

Joshua had been told to meditate on the word of God day and night if he wanted to be successful (Joshua 1:8). The key to wisdom and success is always the word of the Lord.  That word is only given as we seek it, as we enquire of HIm.

David

David, the newly anointed king of Israel, was challenged by the Philistines. This is a biblical pattern, after anointing comes challenge; look at Jesus after his own baptism (Luke 4). David didn’t just assume that because he was anointed king he was invincible, he humbly enquired of the Lord.

'When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. But David heard of it and went down to the stronghold. Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim. And David enquired of the Lord, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand?” And the Lord said to David, “Go up, for I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand” '(2 Samuel 5:17-19).

Again the Philistines attacked. David could have thought, ‘I’ll just do what God told me last time ... it’s the same enemy.’  However, again he enquired of the Lord.  This time God gave him a different strategy ...

'You shall not go up; go round to their rear, and come against them opposite the balsam trees. And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then rouse yourself, for then the Lord has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines' (2 Samuel 5:23-24).

The Ephod

How did people like Joshua and David enquire of the Lord? It is very likely that he used the means of the Ephod that the high priest wore. We read about the Ephod in Exodus 28 There is a breastpiece given to the high priest for making decisions. A little while ago I felt overwhelmed by decisions I had to make. I cried out to the Lord saying that I wished I had such a breastpiece. He told me that I have something infinitely more precious and more effective - the witness of the Holy Spirit. 

However, this breastpiece gives us a simple picture of the Holy Spirit’s ministry during the prayer of enquiry. Let’s look at it. It is a gift of God. It is beautiful, not heavy, being made mainly of woven cloth with jewels set in gold filigree. There are onyx stones set into it's shoulders, each having the names of six tribes inscribed on them. The twelve jewels on the front again represent each tribe of Israel. The priest did not come before God on behalf of himself, or his family, or even his tribe, but of the nation.

Within the breastpiece were put two stones, the Urim and the Thummin. Urim means ‘lights’, and begins with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, Aleph (equivalent to the Greek Alpha). Thummin means ‘perfection’, and starts with the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, Taw (Greek Omega). Whenever the high priest enquired of the Lord he would pray and then pull out one of the stones. One would mean a ‘yes’ from the Lord, the other a ‘no’. All the decisions of the Lord are lights and perfection and nothing is out of his range.  He is the Alpha and Omega.

So the priest would by this means have a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer from the Lord. How then would David get his strategy?  How did he know he was to set an ambush? The only answer would be that he kept on enquiring. ‘OK, Lord, you want me to attack, do I go straight down against them?’  ‘No’.  ‘Do I wait until next week?’  ‘No’.  And so on until, by searching for the witness in his own spirit, David found the right question. ‘I know Lord, you want me to set an ambush don’t you?’  ‘Yes!’

Why does God make this prayer such hard work?  Why can’t He just come out and tell us from the beginning?  I believe it is because the Lord wants us to understand His heart. He wants to share with us not only what he does but also why He does things. He could command us from the sky and we could obey, but he has chosen a more intimate way of communicating with us. He has put his Holy Spirit within us.  He witnesses with what the Father and the Son are doing, and so he allows us to do it with them.  So we can ask him, ‘Father, do you want me to do this?’  Witness, ‘Yes’.  ‘How should I go about it?  Should I do it this way?  In this time?  With such and such a person?’ So the prayer of enquiry begins to develop the larger picture, and not only do we know what to do, but because of the communion with the Holy Spirit we are beginning to sense something of why we are to do it.

The prayer of enquiry will lead to a prayer of faith. When the picture is full enough we can describe what we are praying for, or the outcome of what we are to do, and we speak it out in faith. David could say to his men, ‘Attack the Philistines, the Lord has given us victory’, before the battle took place. So we can speak out in faith what will be, after we have enquired of the Lord and waited for his answer.

Jesus our high priest

Under the New Covenant Jesus is our great high priest. He carries not only the tribes of Israel over His heart, but the nations of the world. Each nation and tribe a different jewel, treasured and precious. We as His royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9) have a breastplate that Jesus has given us, the breastplate of righteousness (Ephesians 6:14). As we come into covenant with Him, we are not only cleansed, we are commissioned to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). With Him we too are called to carry the nations on our heart. We can't cope with every nation, but as we open ourselves to the Holy Spirit, He will show us our part.

We too carry a beautiful breastpiece in prayer and in action. Not many of us are of the tribe of Levi, but our right to priesthood comes from a more permanent order that the Father commissioned with an oath to His Son

'The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind,
“You are a priest for ever
after the order of Melchizedek”' (Psalm 110:4).

Hence our priesthood is royal, because our High Priest is the King of Kings. Melchizedek, that mysterious character that appears briefly in Genesis 14 is himself a king and a priest. He is King of Salem (Peace), later to become Jerusalem, and priest of the Most High God. His name means King of Righteousness. It is likely that this King of Righteousness and Peace is an appearing of Jesus Himself. It is significant that just outside what was to become Jerusalem, He gave Abraham bread and wine. Did they meet on Calvary's hill?

We are called to be like Him, and Revelation speaks of us as kings and priests too (Rev 1:6, Rev 5:9-10 KJV). Priests intercede on behalf of the people, Kings make decrees that will benefit the people. As we hear what our High Priest is saying, we can speak His words after Him, and they become mighty decrees that can move mountains!

Corporate prayer

The more we enquire, the more we will hear. In corporate prayer the principle of enquiring and listening together is so important. Skill needs to be developed as an enquiry is made, to test the witness in our hearts. Is it the equivalent of the Urim or the Thummin, God’s yes or no?  In corporate prayer, when the group is working together in the unity the Spirit gives there is tremendous strength and confidence as a picture of God’s purpose for a certain situation begins to be understood. One prays, another has a witness with that prayer and builds on it.  ‘Is this what you are saying Lord?’  ‘I think that is right, and what about this Lord?’  Or maybe, “That doesn’t sound right, what about this?” Each member of the group exercises the spiritual discernment the Lord has given them under the direction of the Holy Spirit. In time they will come to the prayer of faith. The whole group can agree and speak out with great authority what the Lord has promised them on their prayer journey together.

Assessment: 

Gather in small groups and decide what you need answer from the Lord on. Make one or two things personal, but at least one other thing to do with another nation. Enquire together for those things in the coming week using the principles you have learned. Be prepared to share your findings with the wider group.