1 Samuel 23: 1-4; 7-8; 10-13

One day news came to David that the Philistines were at Keilah stealing grain from the threshing floors. 2 David asked the Lord, “Should I go and attack them?” “Yes, go and save Keilah,” the Lord told him. 3 But David’s men said, “We’re afraid even here in Judah. We certainly don’t want to go to Keilah to fight the whole Philistine army!” 4 So David asked the Lord again, and again the Lord replied, “Go down to Keilah, for I will help you conquer the Philistines.”  7 Saul soon learned that David was at Keilah. “Good!” he exclaimed. “We’ve got him now! God has handed him over to me, for he has trapped himself in a walled town!” 8 So Saul mobilized his entire army to march to Keilah and besiege David and his men. 10 Then David prayed, “O Lord, God of Israel, I have heard that Saul is planning to come and destroy Keilah because I am here. 11 Will the leaders of Keilah betray me to him?  And will Saul actually come as I have heard? O Lord, God of Israel, please tell me.” And the Lord said, “He will come.” 12 Again David asked, “Will the leaders of Keilah betray me and my men to Saul?” And the Lord replied, “Yes, they will betray you.” 13 So David and his men—about 600 of them now—left Keilah and began roaming the countryside. Word soon reached Saul that David had escaped, so he didn’t go to Keilah after all.

Where does prayer fit in your decision making process? David made multiple trips to his prayer closet and got “confirmations” from God before he launched out. There are many people that I know who daringly move forward saying, “I feel good about this” so I am going ahead with this marriage, job, purchase, decision. Who do you turn to for direction, the Father or your feelings? In the previous chapter Saul murdered 85 of the Lord’s priest and he is after David’s blood, David is shattered by the news. Now, the next scene (chapter) opens with the people approaching David: “Look, the Philistines are fighting against Keilah, and they are robbing the threshing floors.” Now, David did not send them back saying, “I’m upset and in no mood to help people” instead, David went to God in prayer, he made a decision to seek the Father over feelings. A true warrior of God does not react but interacts with God for his people! David does not react emotionally and impulsively but enquires of the Lord, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” The Lord said, “go”.

Now having been demoralized by the things of the past, David’s men responded by questioning this move, “Look, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more then, if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?”  Their reasoning was based on their past experiences not God’s spoken word so they used their own reasoning to determine their direction. Common sense would say “when we are not safe with our own guys, how much more against the enemies”. David could have listened to their advice and allowed it to direct his life but instead he again goes to the Lord in prayer and the Lord says, ‘Arise, go down to Keilah.’ Where do you go for direction, who do you listen to? Do you seeking the Lord first in prayer? Prayer keeps your focus on Him.

What followed was : “David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines, struck them with a mighty blow, and took away their livestock. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.”  Here we learn two things:

• Obedience to God’s direction for our lives brings victory

David didn’t just pray, David also obeyed, prayer is not just talking (asking) but it is also listening (hearing). When you hear from God do you obey? Victory for God’s people always starts with prayer.

• As David followed God so his men followed him.

The direction that we take doesn’t just affect our lives. The person that follows lust or liqueur, laziness or lying doesn’t just bring themselves to ruin but destroys their family also. Do you want victory or defeat, who has God called you to lead, what direction do you want them to go?

At this point in the story we are remind of what prayer really is and what it’s not, we are given a clear picture of fake prayer. Saul said, “God has delivered him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.” Notice that Saul is claiming to hear from God also, the evil and wicked man who has just slaughtered 85 priests of the Lord said that He heard God. Saul is saying that it is God’s will that he kills David! Many of us will say that we have heard from God simply because what we want lines up, so we try to use God to validate our plans. Prayer is not getting God to listen to you but us listening to Him.

David again prayed to God: “Will the men of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul come down?” The Lord replied: YES. Again there are two thing that we learn:

• God wants to reveal his plan and direction to us.

From the beginning God makes His ways crystal clear, David asks and God reveals.

• God’s direction can be trusted.

How do you think David felt when he heard that the people of Keilah, for whom he had fought against their enemies, would give him up and turn him over to the enemy? This is what you call being stabbed in the back. Get ready for betrayals and hurts when you follow the Lord whole-heartedly. David dusted off the pain of betrayal and rejection, two of the deepest hurts we can experience, and got ready to move. He understood that only God is completely faithful, people will fail us.

The next verses bring tears to my eyes because I can relate with David’s pain, the Bible says: “So David and his men, about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah and began roaming the countryside. After faithfully and consistently seeking direction from the Lord David finds himself on the run, homeless, the man of God had no place to rest! So what do we learn from prayer.

• Better to be homeless than directionless
• Better to wander in the desert than wonder about our Fathers will.
• Never be moved by flesh but in faith wait for His will
• Better to pray again and again than make wrong moves
• Don’t let other’s negative opinion derail you from God’s will
• There is victory in obedience
• Don’t bask in victory too long, be alert, the enemy will be planning their next attack
• God’s path may not always be a ‘comfort zone’ but it is always a ‘safety zone.’

Acts 4:29-31

29 And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. 30 Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.

With the dawning of a new year comes the planning and resolutions, all the things we say we want to do. Things like exercise more, spend more time with family, spend less money, get out of debt, deal with that addiction, the list could go on and on. Is prayer on your list, where does it rank? As we step into a new year and discover what God has for us why not put a bold prayer life at the top of the list? One of the boldest prayers in the Bible occurs in the fourth chapter of the book of Acts. Peter and John had been arrested after the dramatic healing of a lame beggar at the Gate Beautiful. This man had been lame from birth, for more than forty years he had begged and was known by those who frequented the Temple. His complete healing had caused a big stir and a large crowd gathered so Peter and John began to preach about Jesus. If the healing caused a ripple then the preaching caused waves, they were arrested and given a complimentary overnight stay in jail. The next morning they were questioned by the Jewish elders and high priests, the very men who had arranged for the crucifixion of Jesus, Peters response:

“Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel that he was healed by the powerful name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the man you crucified but whom God raised from the dead.” …. There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:10, 12)

Again he boldly preaches the truth and even though they were amazed at the boldness of Peter and John they were not really moved. They said among themselves; “What shall we do with these men? When they should have been saying “what shall we do with the truth of Jesus?” They couldn’t deny that a true miracle had taken place yet they had no problem denying the one who made the miracle possible, Jesus. So they commanded Peter and John not to speak or teach anymore in the name of Jesus and, threatening them, they released them because they were afraid of the people. They were more concerned with what people thought than what God did, it is a sad day when we are more afraid of people than God.

So Peter and John returned to the other believers and told them everything that had happened and the response was prayer. “When they heard the report, all the believers lifted their voices together in prayer to God” Acts 4:24. They ended their prayer with this:

29 And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. 30 Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

How different these disciples are from the ones that walked with Jesus, gone was their fear and trepidation. The fear had been replaced with fiery power and fierce boldness, what had happened? Everything changed on the morning of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit fell filling them to overflowing. Peter had preached with power then and he was still preaching, they were no longer cowering in the dark denying Christ. Now they were in the thick of things, healing the sick, preaching the gospel, adding to their numbers daily, turning their world upside down.

As I look at their prayer life I marvel at what they asked for and what they didn’t. They didn’t ask for protection or for God to remove the opposition, instead they requested greater courage and more boldness to speak God’s Word. Their antidote to threats was courage and boldness. Then they asked for two more things that would get them into even more trouble. They asked for more healings to occur and signs and wonders to take place. It was the healing of the lame beggar that got them arrested and yet they pray for more healings, why, because their prayer life wasn’t about them. It wasn’t about their comfort or convenience, it was about their concern for others. They were willing to be hurt so others could be healed.

God heard their prayers and His response was one that could be felt by all present. “After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.” Acts 4:31 God’s response to their prayer was an immediate and powerful endorsement, I wonder if the shaking was His applause? After their prayer meeting they rushed out into the world and threw themselves into God’s work with phenomenal results. Huge numbers of people were saved and many people were healed. They continued to get arrested, jailed, flogged, and even killed. They were persecuted terribly but they wanted the advancement of God’s kingdom more than they wanted their own safety. What is our prayer response, does prayer move us to go?  You don’t pray for courage so you can cower!

This is exciting stuff and the book of Acts goes on for 29 chapters filled with pure excitement, yet the other side of the prayer is counting the cost of courage. Satan is not going to sit idly by, there will be a fight but the early followers of Jesus thought it was worth it. Today there are still followers of Jesus throughout the world who think it is worth it, who are praying for power and paying whatever price they have to pay. Will you join the battle this year? If you have some fire in your belly and you don’t mind a good fight then pray the prayer. Pray because we need to be shaken out of our slumber and hear God’s applause, this world needs the results of prayer now more than ever.