Key scripture- “David inquired of God, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? And will You give them into my hand?” Then the Lord said to him, “Go up, for I will give them into your hand.” 1 Chronicles 14:10).

Have you ever thought, “I wish God would just come down and walk me through what it takes to win the battles in my life.” Well, you don’t have to wish any longer because you can get the direction that you need from God. In order to understand this better, we need to study what David did in order to get a breakthrough from God regarding his problems.

David was a man who always longed to be in touch with God. He wanted to make sure that what he wanted was what God wanted, and that what was in his heart was God’s heart. So David pursued the heart of God, and by doing that it helped clarify what David wanted, because he ended up wanting the same thing as God. That is why God said this about David, “‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My will.’” (Acts 13:22b).

An example of how David pursued the heart of God is found in 1 Chronicles 14:2. When David’s star had begun to rise, he “realized that it was the Lord who established him as king over Israel. And that his kingdom was highly exalted for the sake of His people, Israel.” David knew that the only reason this former shepherd boy had became king was because God had established him. That he was only where he was because of the goodness of God.

So the starting place for your breakthrough is to understand that you are where you are by the grace of God. You are not all that you want to be or can be, but right now, you are where you are because of the grace of God. David started with the understanding that God was his source. That was the beginning of the process of establishing David because he recognized that while he did some things, God was overseeing this process. He had a view of God that did not make God an extra, like having a spare tire in case you go flat, instead David understood that God was his source because God had brought him to this place.

The story in 1 Chronicles starts out with The Philistines coming up against David. “When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, all the Philistines went up in search of David; and David heard of it and went out against them.
(1 Chronicles 14:8). David had beaten the Philistines before when he fought and killed Goliath. So when David heard that they were coming up against him he did not run from his problem, instead he went to face his problem head-on even though it was a big problem.

When David heard that the “Philistines had come and made a raid in the valley of Rephaim,” (1 Chronicles 14:9), look at what David did before he did anything in response to the Philistines, he inquired of God. “David inquired of God, saying, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? And will You give them into my hand?” Then the Lord said to him, “Go up, for I will give them into your hand.” 1 Chronicles 14:10).That is very important because that means that David did not depend on his past victories against the Philistines for present success. David didn’t look back and say, “I beat them before so they will be no problem this time.” He did not do that because that was yesterday’s problem and yesterday’s victory and this was a new problem for today. David knew that he needed something fresh from God. He needed a fresh word for a new situation. He needed a contemporary word for a contemporary problem. One of the reasons why we don’t see more breakthroughs in our problems is because we’re living in the past. There is no fresh word from God because we are living on stale word, which is word that pertained to yesterday’s problem not today’s problem.

David would not move without divine approval, because he’s a man after God’s own heart. In other words, David was asking God, “I need to know what you are gonna do about the situation, so that I know what I am supposed to do.” The Lord told David, “Go up, for I will give them into your hands.” Now that shows us the confidence of David, first of all he would not move without hearing from the Lord; and secondly when he heard from God he did exactly what the Lord said to do. Once David got divine approval he was able to move forward in faith.

One of the reasons why many of us are unable to move forward in faith is because we have not yet heard a clear word from God. Therefore, since we’re not sure what God is going to do we are not sure what we should do. When heaven is silent, earth is in a predicament.

It says that David inquired, when you inquire it means that you ask. David said, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? And will You give them into my hand?” He asked God, “Should I go, if so, will you go, and if we go, will there be a victory”. God answers him and says, “Go, I’m going with you, and there will be victory.”

Think about this, if God came to you about the thing that you are facing this year and He told you, “Yes, go ahead, I’m with you and you will have victory”. You would definitely move forward in this year with confidence, and the reason why is because you heard a Word from God about your situation. If you want to hear from God about what to do in any situation in your life, the first thing you need to do is what David did, inquire of God. Ask Him, “What do you want me to do? What am I supposed to do about this?” This is critical because God has told us that He won’t automatically intervene unless He is asked to do it. There are many scriptures in the Bible that say if you call I will answer. For example, in Matthew 7:7-11, Jesus told us; “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!” If you are wondering, “Why doesn’t God just intervene and overrule on His own?” Because God will only intervene where He is wanted. When you inquire of Him you are saying to God,” I have issues here on earth that I want heaven to intervene in. I do not want the natural course of events to continue like they’re going. I want heaven to interfere and overrule earth’s events.”

The reason why you’ve got to go to God on the issues of life where you need a breakthrough is because God’s got all the information. Everyone else has only limited information. David knew that and that is why David inquires of the Lord. By asking, David got his breakthrough. If you have never had a breakthrough, then you need to inquire of God, you need to go before God and seek guidance from Him regarding your particular situation.

Look what happened in Verse 13, “The Philistines made yet another raid in the valley.” Now wait a minute, I thought David just beat them. I thought he had just defeated that problem. He did, but it looks like they’re coming back again. So David inquired again with the Lord. David didn’t say, “I know how to beat you because I already prayed about this before, therefore, I already know what God’s going to do.” Even though it was the same people, David had a new problem, a new situation, and he knew that he needed new information from God. He could’ve said, “I dealt with this same problem last week in church. I know exactly what to do. So let me go up there and fight them, this will be easy I know exactly what to do to defeat them.”

David did not do that because he understood that God never changes, He is the same yesterday, today, and forever but God does change the methods and strategies that He uses to deal with and defeat problems. God’s Being is never changing, but His methods and strategies are always changing. They are always in motion and always moving. So the reason why you must have an ongoing relationship with God is because you need to find out what He is up to right now, and what method and strategy He wants to use to defeat your problem.

We see that when David inquired of the Lord when the Philistines came back again, the Lord gave him different instructions. “David inquired again of God, and God said to him, “You shall not go up after them; circle around behind them and come at them in front of the balsam trees. It shall be when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then you shall go out to battle, for God will have gone out before you to strike the army of the Philistines.” (1 Chronicles 14:14-15).

This time God gives specific details regarding what He wants David to do. The Lord said, “David, don’t go up after them because I want you to implement another type of strategy.” God not only gave David the strategy but He tells him the specific location where He wants David to be.

Then the Lord tells him “When you hear the sound of the marching in the tops of the balsam trees. Then you shall go out to battle and strike the army of the Philistines.” So God is saying, “Now pay attention to me David, go out and circle around the back then come in front of the balsam trees, because I’m going to whip through there with the wind and when I do it’s going to create a marching sound in the trees that it is going to confuse the Philistines, because it’s going to sound like an army, and they will think that they are under attack. When they get all confused you will then attack and defeat them. Why, because I will already have gone in front of you.”

Think about what would have happened if David would not have inquired of the Lord a second time. He would have been operating by yesterday’s plans in today’s situation. He would not have known the heart of God, which means he would not have had the plans of God. That is why your relationship with God has got to be up-to-date and current not just historical.

David got a Rhema Word from God, and like David, If you want a breakthrough you need a Rhema Word. You need the application of God’s Word in your life and in your situation. Look at it this way, the sermon you hear on Sunday may give you the global concept, it gives you guidance and direction, but it won’t give you the specifics of how it applies to your life and what God wants to do. So what you need is, you need to inquire of God specifically about your situation so that He can give you a Rhema word. He will give you a specific application for your life and your situation.

David was successful again against the Philistines because he did just what God said to do. “David did just as God had commanded him, and they struck down the army of the Philistines from Gibeon even as far as Gezer.” (1 Chronicles 14:16).

I know what you’re thinking, I don’t get the kind of details from God that David got. Well the reason why you’re not getting them is either: (1) you are not inquiring of God; or (2) if you are inquiring you’re not listening. The same God who spoke to David and spoke to all the others in the Old Testament speaks to all the New Testament people, the Christians.

The Bible tells us that the way God gives us details is through the Holy Spirit, who is the still small voice that speaks to us about our situation. But if you are not listening you will not hear it. It’s like somebody coming up to you and whispering something in your ear. The only person who is going to hear what is being said is you. That is how God talks to us.

In the Bible we all get the information that is available to everybody, but God will give His children specific details about their problems which are unique to them. You literally have the ability to hear the voice of God with regard to your specific problem, and get details on how to handle it that are so unique to you that another Christian asking about the same breakthrough will get different instructions regarding their situation. God does not work the same with everybody. He handles different situations in different ways for different people. We all operate under the Bible, but with regard to how it is applied in each one of our lives it’s different depending on what the situation is.

But if you don’t inquire of the Lord and you don’t drown out the sound of the world you’ll never hear the still small voice of God. Which means you will never hear the solution to your problem, because you are not listening for God, instead you are listening to the world. God not only wants to tell you what your answer is, He wants to tell you the strategy that you need to use in order to get your answer.

A lot of people say, “I know God talks to people in the Bible, but how will He talk to me?” The key to your breakthrough is to get quiet before God, inquire of him and then listen. It happens when you are reading the Bible and all of a sudden it’s like a verse just jumps off the page and really gets your attention, then an idea, a thought, starts forming in your head so your thought is now applied to your situation from God’s Word. All of a sudden God is now real for you because you are hearing his voice through His Word. You are not dependent on somebody else’s story, you have experienced God for yourself and He has given you the application that is specific for your life. People can give you the principles that are in God’s Word but you need to know how God wants you to apply them to your situation.

I does not matter what kind of problem you are facing, I want you to know today that no matter what is going on here on earth the Lord can change it and turn it around. It does not matter what his been declared on earth because it if it is not validated in heaven it can be overruled. The Lord can give you a breakthrough in your situation no matter what it looks like and no matter what is going on. Heaven can give you a breakthrough and do the impossible. I don’t know what you need from God today, I don’t know what you need from God this year, I do not care what earth has declared about your situation, God can turn it all around, God can change whatever is going on down here on earth. I know the devil has come on to your home territory and said, “I’m running the show” but if you let God have it, if you inquire of Him, He will turn it around, change it and flip everything upside down. He will make it brand-new and bring glory to His name. God will show up and show out.

Pray this – Our Precious Heavenly Father, it is so comforting to me that You are the same yesterday, today and forever, and that the methods that You use to solve our problems are so creative and beyond what we can imagine or think. This message today really hits home because I am so inclined to just run out ahead with what I think is the solution to my problem and all that I end up doing is making it worse. Father, forgive me for doing that and give me the wisdom to turn to You immediately for direction on what to do with all my problems, even if I am facing the same problem from the same enemy like David did. I want my relationship with You to be alive and active, and I know in order to do that I need to meet with You on a daily basis, read and mediate on Your Word, listen for Your direction, and stay in contact with You throughout the day. I do not want to run my life. I truly want to trust in You with all my heart, I do not want to lean on my own understanding, I want to acknowledge You in all my ways and all my decisions, and I know that You will straighten my crooked paths and show me the way to go. Teach me how to stop and listen for that still small voice. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.