…So David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?” The Lord answered him, “Go…” 2 Samuel 5:19
A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions. Proverbs 18:2
Why does our relationship with God seem so one-sided at times? We are told that we speak to God in prayer and he speaks to us through his word, his Spirit within us, friends, etc. But why does the later part of that equation sometimes seem so forced? We may be speaking to God but it doesn’t seem like he is speaking to us.
On a human level, we all know people who talk too much. What becomes apparent over time is that there is no desire to gain wisdom from another person. I know of one older women who, when challenged as to what younger women she could disciple, rightly observed that no younger women had ever approached her. She felt awkward giving insight and wisdom because she was never asked.
Similarly, an e-newsletter I receive has been urging Christians to seek out mentors and actively ask them questions. When interviewing successful people, the researcher was surprised at how few growing, fruitful Christians had been interviewed for their wisdom and insight.
If this is true in the physical realm, how much more in the spiritual realm. Could it be that the Spirit longs to give us wisdom, insight, direction and understanding into problems or opportunities we have? Could it be he limits himself to what we ask of him? Could the reason we struggle with hearing from God is that we never ask him questions?
A life of not asking questions is a sign of independence and pride. Only the broken realize that apart from him I can do nothing. I need to find out what pleases the Lord and I do this with a teachable, inquiring spirit like David’s.
What area are you perplexed about? What questions would you ask of Jesus if he was available every morning for five minutes? What questions should you ask of his Spirit?
He’s available. Ask some questions.
