Inquire Of The Lord
I.
Inquiring of the Lord
is the first step of faith, of authority, of the Kingdom of God in any
situation
A. The first thing we do in
any situation is we inquire of the Lord as to what He’d have us to say and what
He’d have us to do
1.
John
14:10,5:19,30-The Father showed Jesus what to do and what to say and when Jesus
did it and said it the Father in him did the works-That’s the Kingdom Process
B. Doing something “of
yourself” without inquiring of the Lord first, even something spiritual, will
lead to lack of fruitfulness and frustration
1.
John
5:19,30, 5:31 (AMP)-Anything you do of yourself is nothing
a. If you do something
without inquiring of the Lord first, then it’s just you and that’s why those
types of actions or endeavors will be unfruitful
b. That’s why Jesus didn’t
say anything of himself or do anything of himself because he knew it wouldn’t
be fruitful or effective
c. 1 Corinthians 13:1-You take God out of what you do and
there’ll be no power in what you do
2.
Inquiring of the Lord is
vital to your every endeavor if fruitfulness, success, and victory is what you
desire
a. The Kingdom Process
doesn’t run on good intentions; You can have good intentions, but if you act
without inquiring of the Lord first you’re in the wrong
C. Proverbs 4:7-Wisdom is the principle
thing in any situation or the FIRST thing
1.
Wisdom-Wisdom is doing the
right thing at the right time to get the result that you desire
a. To act wisely-You can
do something right and the wrong time and that’s not acting wisely
b. Discerning what is proper and useful
c. The right use of
knowledge
2.
We
need knowledge and wisdom
a. Many of us have acquired
spiritual knowledge (revelation of the Word), but without inquiring of the Lord
we won’t have the wisdom of how to apply the knowledge to get the result we
desire
b. It’s like having the
equipment and knowing how it works, but not knowing how to use it in a specific
situation to get the result you desire
3.
When
wisdom isn’t added to knowledge it leads to frustration
a. Some of been guilty of
not inquiring of the Lord and then just acting on knowledge they’ve acquired
and then the result doesn’t show up and it leads to frustration
b. Knowledge used improperly will leave you frustrated and cause
your desired result to allude you
D. Proverbs 8:17-Seek wisdom
and you’ll find it
1.
If
Jesus is getting wisdom and direction from the Father it’s because he’s seeking
Him for it-Pr8:17
2.
You
have to inquire of the Lord in each and every single situation that involves
your life
a. Don’t do things based on
the way you always have done them; A routine is not a leading
b. 1 Samuel 23:1-5, 30:8, 2
Samuel 5:19-He inquired of the Lord and heard the same answer
c. 2 Samuel 5:23-The
situation may look the same, but that doesn’t mean the answer will be the same
E. 1 Samuel 30:1-8-David is
in a situation where he needs victory and his first step was to inquire of the
Lord
1.
Inquire-To
ask (about), To consult (To check, to confer, to discuss, to refer), To seek
(for information)
2.
The first step is not to
speak to the mountain or do something in faith, the first step is to inquire
3.
David
encouraged himself in the Lord-You got to get in position to hear if you want
to hear; You won’t hear from God while your yielding to fear and discouragement
and unbelief
F. 2 Chronicles 20:1-The
first thing to do always is to inquire of the Lord,
1.
This
is a situation where they are outnumbered, outmatched and it looks like their
lives are about to end
2.
If
you want to hear from God it’s vital that you create and maintain an atmosphere
of faith
a. In fear you can’t hear;
in doubt you couldn’t hear God’s shout;
3.
You
can see the Kingdom Process here: We have no might against them, we don’t know
what to do, but our eyes are on you; The Battle is the Lord’s; Hearken do what
he shows you
4.
We
read this and see they put praisers on the front lines and then try to praise
our way through something and yet we missed the key issue – They inquired
of the Lord first
a. Their praising wasn’t the
foundation to their success it was their inquiring of the Lord
II.
Prayer becomes the key
issue in any situation
A. Prayer-Going to God and hearing
from Him concerning what to say and what to do
1.
Most
people would have you to believe the Kingdom Process is we get in troubled and
then go ask God to do something and He does it while we sit back and watch ---
WRONG
a. Jesus didn’t seek God to
do something because that’s not the Kingdom Process
b. We’re not just seeking
for God to do something, but seeking from God what to do
c. We’re not engaging in
effort based praying to get God to move (Exodus 14-God told Moses crying unto
Him won’t do them any good; what did them go was doing what they were told)
d. If you want God to move, inquire of him get is orders and
keep them and He’ll manifest-John14:21
2.
Because we haven’t
understood co-laboring, our authority, and the way the Kingdom functions We’ve
been after the result when we should have been after the instructions; We’ve
been trying to get God to move instead of inquiring of him and finding out how
he wants us unto move
a. Immaturity says God do something, Faith says God say
something and show me what to do
b. Religion doesn’t realize that this is a co-laboring
3.
“We’re praying and
believing God” okay, but have you inquired of the Lord
B. Some people don’t inquire
of God and try to solve spiritual problems with natural solutions and that’s
them trying to be their own God
1.
It’s
man trying to meet his own needs without God; It’s man making himself his
source (It’s socialism, it’s the world’s system, it’s that Babylonian system)
a. It was the one of the
first things that happened to Adam after he sinned; He’s trying to make clothes
and work the land by the sweat of his brow --- He’s trying to get along without
God-Genesis 3:7
b. Matthew 6-Jesus is
dealing with it in these verses; It’s man trying to be his own provider by his
worrying and his toiling and Jesus told you the answer to getting your needs
met and the answer was to inquire of the Lord
c. It’s you having a
headache and taking Tylenol and not inquiring of the Lord; It’s you being in
financial trouble getting another job without inquiring of the Lord; It’s
having some problem with you kids and going to Google to find out what to do
d. The natural step you take
should have been ordained by him, but how would you know that if you didn’t inquire
of him
e. It’s not my job to do the works, the Father in me he does the
works (that’s grace), my job is to do what I’m told (that’s faith)
C. As believers we must stop
looking to other things as our source-James 4:1-4
1.
They
were in need, but didn’t inquire of the Lord and make God their source
a. They had unfilled desires
and they could not obtain what they were seeking; They were fighting and
warring, but they had not because they asked not, they didn’t inquire of the
Lord
b. They didn’t inquire of the Lord but rather they relied on the
world’s system
2.
He
wrote this to believers telling them that they cheated on God because they ran
out to the world to get their needs met; You can’t run with the rabbits and
hunt with the hounds
a. Hosea married a
prostitute to show Israel they were running out on God looking to the world
b. Psalm 119:128-“I esteem
all your precepts concerning all things to be right and I hate every false
way.”
3.
1
Chronicles 10:13-14-Not inquiring of the Lord, but rather inquiring of other
things will cause you to end up in a bad place
a. Saul got in trouble
because he didn’t do what the Lord showed him and because he didn’t inquire of
the Lord, but rather inquired of other things
D. Satan’s wants you to make
someone your source (Abraham and Sarah-Genesis 16)
1.
The
key to winning is inquiring and the key to inquiring is to get your eyes on the
right place
a. In 2 Chronicles 20 they
said our eyes are on you – They were looking to God
b. John 11:41-Jesus lifted
his eyes in front of Lazarus’ tomb
2.
Psalm
121:1-2-If your help comes from the Lord then why are you looking somewhere
else
a. Wherever your eyes are
that’s where you believe your help comes from
3.
The
enemy wants you to get your eyes off of God and He wants you to make someone
else your source
a. The principles is this;
In any area you truly make God your source you will never lack again-Ps23:1
b. Satan knows if you look
to God, inquire of him and do what he says, the Father will do the works-John
2:1-8
E. People go years with
things in their lives that clearly are not the will of God and never take the
time to inquire of the Lord to find out what to do about this situation
1.
If
you’ve failed in an area over and over again and tried many different things to
succeed, maybe the problem is you haven’t inquired of the Lord because you were
trying to obtain it in your own effort
III.
Our ability to inquire of
the Lord and hear from has to increase and become greater
A. Most believers aren’t
hearing from God; Most believers have no confidence in their ability to hear
from God and it is the result of three things 1) lack of understanding, 2) Lack
of faith 3) lack of practice
1.
John
10:27-“My sheep hear my voice.”
2.
John
16:13-The Holy Spirit will guide you and speak to you what he has heard
3.
Proverbs
3:5-He directs my paths as I acknowledge him
B. This is THE MOST
IMPORTANT thing you can do, so don’t rush past it, take the time to inquire of
the Lord and hear from Him and get his direction-James 1:19
1.
Spend
ample time at the beginning of a thing inquiring of the Lord
a. When
you’re not certain that what you’re doing you got from God it robs you of faith
and confidence that God will back you and therefore you undermine your own
authority
b. The
reason believers lack confidence in their authority is because they don’t spend
enough time with God to know without a doubt that He has sent them
2.
The value of wisdom
a. Proverbs
8:1-36-Wisdom is better than rubies and nothing you can desire can compare to
it
b. Proverbs
4:5-We are told to get it
C. If you really understand
and have revelation of and live by the Kingdom Process then inquiring of the
Lord is something that becomes second nature to you, that you do without
thinking because you know it’s the first part of the process and without you
don’t move
1.
This
should be second nature to us and it’s not