LIVING WORD DEVOTIONAL
By Pastor Mensa Otabil
Tuesday 1st July 2025
DAVID’S INQUIRY
Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 30:1-10
So David inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?” And He answered, “Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.” 1 Samuel 30:8
David inquired of the Lord. That means David asked the Lord for guidance concerning a decision he wanted to make. He wanted to pursue those who had come to ransack his township and take away his goods and family members. David’s normal instinct would have been to rush into battle, but as a man who knew the ways of the Lord, he first asked for God’s guidance.
One of the significant influences on my life is David Wilkerson, the author of The Cross and the Switchblade. I read his book in the mid-1970s, and it ignited a pursuit in my heart to follow God’s leading. The Lord gave Reverend Wilkerson a life-transforming ministry to teenagers in New York City who were on drugs and in violent gangs. Wilkerson had been a Pentecostal preacher in central Pennsylvania, and by his standards, he was doing quite well. The church had grown. And yet, he was discontented.
One day, David Wilkerson decided to spend the late evening hours praying instead of watching television. He sold his television after much hesitation and began to spend time with the Lord. He did this for some time. Eventually, out of these times of prayer, he was led to start his work, helping the youth caught up in drug addiction and delinquency in Manhattan. God led David Wilkerson, a minister from a small town, to bring transformation to lives in the big city in the most unlikely way.
Sometimes, to inquire of God, we must let go of a habit or something that occupies a big part of our time. As we turn aside from our pursuits, our spirits become open to the direction that the Lord wants us to follow.
Just as He did for King David and David Wilkerson, the Lord can lead us into the right pursuits. In directing us, sometimes, our Lord tells us to do what we have planned to do. Other times, He turns us in a totally different direction. The good news is that wherever the Lord turns us, we will find good pasture.
Prayer:
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.*_
