Key to Answered Prayer

"David sought the face of the Lord. " - 2 Samuel 21:1

There are times when we put forth tremendous effort in prayers without getting any answer from God, yet how seldom do we seek to discover why! For how can we expect God to answer prayers that are out of harmony with His mind? In all our praying we must first find the key. It was this David sought to do at the time of prolonged famine this chapter describes. He did not simply cry to God: 'This famine has lasted three years. Have mercy on us now and grant us a rich harvest this year.' No, He sought the face of the Lord. Had God something to say about it? To his direct question God gave a direct reply, and with it the key to answered prayer. Saul, it appears, by slaying some of the Gibeonites, had violated God's understanding with Israel to spare them. True, he had done it out of zeal for God; but he had sinned. God will not permit the breaking of a solemn vow. So there was something to be set right. 'And after that,' we read in verse 14, 'God was intreated for the land.' David had found the key.

A Table In the Wilderness (by Watchman Nee 主僕倪柝聲弟兄)

Read the Scriptures: 2 Samuel 21