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Inquiring of the Lord

Post date: 2007-10-25
Autor:

Inquiring of the Lord

To Cardinals and Bishops of the Catholic Church

Venerable fathers of the Church,

hereby we present to You a description of a biblical practice for the benefit of the Church.

we are to do the will of God, it is necessary that we know this will of His concretely. It is not enough to know just God’s commandments, which generally show what is good and what is evil. I need to know what in a particular situation is God’s will for me, providing that I am to choose between two or more good and permitted possibilities.

How am I to receive and actualize in the right spirit the individual statements of the Scripture? God speaks to us in a hidden way through His Word as well as through different events. God is the same, His demands upon us are the same – we are to love Him with all our heart, with all our soul and with all our strength. To love Him means to do His will. However, in order to do it we need to know it concretely. In general, it is revealed to us in the Decalogue and in the evangelical precepts; however, in spite of that there still remains a large space for decisions in concrete life – whether in the given time we should do this or that thing, when both seem to us good and useful.

We face here the question of seeking the concrete will of God through so-called inquiring of the Lord. It is a very simple method which can be used by everyone. However, supposing that we are to act according to “a measure of faith” (cf. Rom 12:3), it is necessary that we have absolutely clear principles in this matter.

What the Holy Scripture says about inquiring

The biblical practice was to inquire of the Lord by the prophets (1Kings 14:18; 16:7.12…), by lots, by Urim and Thummim (Ex 28:30;Lev 8:8…), by an asked-for sign (Jdg 6:36-40).

The high priest inquired of the Lord by sacred lots Urim and Thummim. It is not exactly known how they were used. For in inquiring this is not essential at all. The essential thing is whether the one who is inquiring is internally purified, whether he is united with God through complete renouncement of his own will, and next, whether he has a sincere desire to know the concrete will of God so that he may also concretely accomplish it out of his love to God. For the fact is that even pagan priests inquired of their deities – demons – by similar practices (lot, dreams…). Certain practices are neutral (e.g. lot), they may serve this or that spirit – the Spirit of God but also the demonic spirit; therefore the means one uses for inquiring plays no part, but what is so much important is the attitude of heart and the intention of pure love to God. Practices that are connected with spiritism and with the form and spirit of divination are explicitly forbidden and they are a mortal sin.

How did Moses inquire of the Lord? He entered the tabernacle of meeting and there the Lord spoke to him. But before he stood before the Lord, he made a process of purification from sin. God spoke to Moses in the tabernacle of meeting. In front of this tabernacle the priest made an offering to the Lord. Blood from a killed animal, most often a lamb, was poured under the altar and thereafter its fat was burnt in fire. Jesus, the Lamb of God, shed His blood for our sins and sacrificed His life for our sake! The inner fire of zealousness, lit by self-denial and humiliation, is to burn – sacrifice to the Lord – the fat which covers our old heart so that due to its fatness we are unable to hear God’s voice. This fatness is not only our pride which makes us deaf and blind to God (cf. Mt 13:15) but also our unmortified lusts of the flesh which prefer pleasure and delight rather than God and His will! The fire of pure love to God should burn in our inward in front of the tabernacle of meeting with God, too, this tabernacle being the new heart in us! That is the place where God speaks to us and where we can enter into communion with Him and inquire of Him upon His will! Blood and fat also symbolize perpetually being delivered to Christ’s death (cf. 2Cor 4:10f), being crucified with Him and dying with Him! So they symbolize the death of our old self! If God is to speak, our old self must be in death! If it is active and alive, it naturally seeks only its own will, following its own logic, its own truth and its own good. Man is thus under the power of deceit.

We need to know these basic principles supposing that we want God to reveal His will to us not only through His laws (in the Bible) but through inquiring as well. If we omit these elementals and use only the external mechanisms (lot, sign…), all will be abused! For the diviners also use lots and signs; however, it is not the Lord who stands behind them, but the spirit of lie and death (they do not inquire of the Lord but of the spirit of lie and death) which is behind the false spirituality of paganism and occultism.

Aaron’s sons came before the Lord with a different kind of fire, whereupon fire blazed forth from the Lord and consumed them (see Lev 10:1-2). God’s fire fell down upon the word of the prophet Elijah three times, that it could serve as a sign as well as a judgement, and it brought death to several tens of enemy soldiers (cf. 1Kings 18:36-38; 2Kings 1:10.12).

When the king David inquired of the Lord, he used so-called ephod which he would put on.

When we inquire of the Lord, we are to put on Christ (“As many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” /Gal 3:27/). Through the living faith and sacrifice of our will we actualize again this putting on Christ – then we can come and stand before God’s throne!

“When David knew that Saul plotted evil against him, he said to Abiathar the priest: ‘Bring the ephod here.’ Then David said: ‘O LORD God of Israel, Your servant has certainly heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah to destroy the city for my sake. Will the men of Keilah deliver me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as Your servant has heard? O LORD God of Israel, I pray, tell Your servant.’ And the LORD said: ‘He will come down.’ Then David said: ‘Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul?’ And the LORD said: ‘They will deliver you.’ So David and his men arose and departed from Keilah.” (1 Sam 23:9-13)

“David inquired of the LORD, saying: ‘Shall I pursue this troop? Shall I overtake them?’ And He answered him: ‘Pursue, for you shall surely overtake them and without fail recover all.’” (1 Sam 30:8)

“It happened after this that David inquired of the LORD, saying: ‘Shall I go up to any of the cities of Judah?’ And the LORD said to him: ‘Go up.’ David said: ‘Where shall I go up?’ And He said: ‘To Hebron.’” (2 Sam 2:1)

“The Philistines also went and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim. So David inquired of the LORD, saying: ‘Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?’ And the LORD said to David: ‘Go up, for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into your hand.’ … And David defeated them there.” (2 Sam 5:18-20)

“Then the Philistines went up once again and deployed themselves in the Valley of Rephaim. Therefore David inquired of the LORD, and He said: ‘You shall not go up; circle around behind them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees…’ And David did so, as the LORD commanded him; and he drove back the Philistines.” (v. 22-23.25)

“And when Saul inquired of the LORD, the LORD did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets.” (1 Sam 28:6)

In this critical moment Saul used a means that was forbidden. “Then Saul said to his servants: ‘Find me a woman who has in her a divining spirit, that I may go to her and inquire of her.’” (v.7) For this deed Saul died a self-murderer the next day, and for his disobedience to God loss and punishment fell upon the whole nation!

“Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions, but they did not ask counsel of the LORD…” (they had been deceived) (Josh 9:14) Because they did not ask counsel from the Lord, it brought great harm.

“(The Apostles) proposed two: Joseph and Matthias. And they prayed and said: ‘You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.’ And they cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles.” (Acts 1:23-26)

Personal experience

I learned to look at problems from the angle of faith: How would the Lord Jesus decide if He was in my place? And if it was indecisive, I would pray: “My Lord Jesus, You know I want to do only Your will. In spirit I give the whole matter to You. I know that if I choose one thing, I will have to sacrifice the other! I want You to be glorified. Your will be done!” Before I cast the lot, through faith I entered the inward communion with Jesus and gave myself up to Him so that I could be entirely free towards both decisions. When I clung to one thing somehow in my heart or the other decision was disagreeable to me, when I felt some fear, I prayed and in the prayer I was giving my bias and fear to the Lord so long until I gained peace and freedom. It was then all one to me what would be the result of inquiring. I took this result with faith, I thanked God for a while that He let me know His will and that I may serve Him with this particular thing and act in the way He wanted. If it concerned a very serious decision and if there was time, I prayed and fasted with this intention several days. I prayed above all for the light to my reason. Many times directly in the prayer, when I had given the whole matter to the Lord Jesus, there came so bright light that it was clear to me what God wanted. I felt that in such case casting lot would rather mean tempting God. For this situation I could truly use the biblical term: “The Lord said to me”, or “The Lord spoke”.

Sometimes it happened that I was avoiding fairness and making myself believe that I was seeking God’s will; however, my object, in fact, was my will. The orientation is simple: whenever something smells of sin, God’s will is clear, it says: “No!” God’s will in elementary principles is revealed to us in the Scripture and above all in the Gospel.

The concrete seeking of God’s will – inquiring – is not temptation of God, but obedience and love to our Lord, whether by means of lot, or by opening the Scripture with faith, or by asking for His will in the community through the gift of interpretation or through the gift of prophecy. He said through the mouth of Samuel the prophet: “Obedience is far better than sacrifice.” (1Sam 15:22) However, in order to obey, we need to be clear in our soul. The opinions concerning the whole sphere of inquiring may differ; however, supposing that one seeks to serve God in earnest, sooner or later such person will recognize the need to use this biblical means.

Another vital condition when seeking God’s will is sincerity in relation to God as well as to brothers and sisters. Supposing that this quality is missing, neither the gift of interpretation nor the gift of prophecy might be of good service.

If you are sincere, you can also use the means of inquiring by lot. God’s Word says: “To the pure You show Yourself pure.” (Ps 18:27) I have had experience with it for almost 40 years. Only at some distance of time I am astonished how wonderfully God solved the affairs from the perspective of the future. At that time a lot of things were unclear to me, and if I had finally let my reason decide, it would actually not have been the reason that would decide, but my mood which tends to take control of reason. I was protected from a lot of great harms and unfavourable circumstances which would have logically developed in time if I had not sincerely sought the will of God and had decided otherwise. Many things were incomprehensible to me at that time, and I just thanked with faith and acted in faith. Only after longer time I cannot but wonder at how remarkably the Lord arranged everything. Many things showed their true colours only several years later, when He gave the inner light, and I realized how I would have come off if in an apparently indifferent matter I would have decided differently. For months or years I might have become stuck somewhere and stagnated and maybe I would have fallen into the slavery of some weakness or sin, which, however, I would have considered a trifle or something natural and normal.

It is quite clear that only the one may inquire of God who really wants to do God’s will. This inquiring helps man get out of his self, out of his will. For the Lord’s sake I am willing to renounce my will, I am willing to humble myself, for this or that person’s sake I would not do it, nor even for my own sake. If you walk this way of devoted love to God, maybe for this faithfulness in small things the Lord will once put you before a big decision when you will have to accept a serious task in the fight for God’s kingdom. Many will stand against you and that will be your cross. Then you will sincerely ask the Lord to put someone else in your place or in the fight you are facing, someone more humble and more courageous. When you come to see your weaknesses, your hidden conceit and subtle tinges of pride in God’s light, you will wish to retreat from the God-offered task. If even after consulting the people with the experience of walking God’s ways you will be uncertain whether you should really make the step of faith, then it is time to ask for a sign, similarly as it was done by Gideon when God intended to deliver the nation through him (cf. Jdg 6:36-40). If you learned to do God’s will in small things, you will obtain a grace from God even this time, that you may accept this offer – to do the will of God in a task which, as it seems, is beyond your strength. You will not disguise yourself by false humility behind which may be hidden cowardice or laziness. Then you will experience what it means to love God in truth.

St. Francis of Assisi – before he chose to follow Jesus in total poverty – opened with faith the Holy Scripture three times in the temple:

1) “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven.” (Mt 19:21)

2) “Whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.” (Lk 14:33)

3) “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself.” (Mt 16:24)

St. Francis did not doubt, did not speculate about it with his reason, but he took these words with faith and God converted him himself and through him brought a spiritual revival into the Church of the 13th century.

Remember, God’s will is revealed in the Decalogue and in the Gospel. If the result of your inquiring is something against the Decalogue and against the spirit of the Gospel, then it is not the will of God; you have committed an error, you should not have inquired upon such variant at all.

God also reveals His will through:

a) regular reading of or listening to the Holy Scripture

b) conscience

c) superiors

d) various events (accidents, disasters, death)

e) inspirations

f) signs etc.

How is it possible that we do not perceive God’s voice when He speaks to us in so many ways? The answer: The defect is in our receiver. Yes, human soul does not perceive the Divine wave-length unless it is awakened and revived by the Holy Spirit. It is tuned only to the low frequencies of this world. The defect consists in the fact that man is reserved and concentrated only on his ego and does not let in God’s voice. By turning into himself he is not turned to God; the higher capacities in his soul are thus blocked and he is unable to perceive God’s voice. The Scripture says: “He who is of God hears God’s words!” (Jn 8:47) It is necessary to remove the defect and gradually, by a life in God and by continual purification, to tune our whole being to God’s waves so that we will then live in God’s presence and perceive God in the most imperceptible trifles. A lot of saints set a pattern for us.

Rules of inquiring

1) It must be a serious matter and first I have to exhaust the natural means of knowledge.

2) Before inquiring, through a living faith I have to awake genuine contrition for my sins and to stand in truth before God. I give Him my sins and receive forgiveness through Jesus’ blood with faith. Then it is necessary to go through the second stage of purification: crucifixion with Christ, giving up everything and putting on Christ (ephod).

3) If I seek how to decide in accordance with the will of God, I have to abandon either possibility of choice, be indifferent. This is an act of living faith which will have force for all eternity. From this act a blessing will spring forth for the whole mankind as from the decision of faith made by Abraham. Before the very act of inquiring it is good to write down concrete questions so that one may avoid unnecessary confusion (did I put the question thus or otherwise?). The questions must be formulated clearly and concretely.

4) After inquiring it is necessary to fulfil in faith what God has shown me in that particular matter as His will. I inquire out of necessity not out of curiosity. It would be tempting of God to inquire upon something which I am not obliged to know (e.g. what the weather will be like next month).

5) If I am full of conflict and if I have not gone through the stage of first and second purification, it is not possible to inquire of the Lord upon His will. Mind! If the question is confused, the answer will be the same.

Nowadays one can see many pagan practices penetrate to us through taoism, hinduism as well as various magic practices that existed in ancient Egypt and Babylonia. It is necessary to have a clear and radical attitude towards occultism and not to call these “abilities” gifts of the Holy Spirit or charismata, when God calls them abominations. Behind the gifts, charismata, stands the Holy Spirit, and behind “special abilities”, which many artfully call talents, stands the spirit of darkness. Dishonest and disobedient man who does not want to condemn all forms of occultism or break with them should never even try to inquire of God, because this would be temptation!

6) Before a serious decision it is appropriate e.g. to fast one day and on that day to devote as much time as possible to prayer.

7) Sometimes it is good first to inquire: “Lord, do You want to speak to me now? May I inquire of You?” We put this question if we want to use the choice YES or NO, and we exclude the possibility that the Lord is silent.

We use this method e.g. when the place around us is busy and we are not sure whether the degree of our inward silence is sufficient for us to be able to inquire. Or it can be in such case when there may emerge such circumstances which can change the matter we are going to inquire upon so much that we are not sure whether it is necessary to wait for the further development of events or whether we are already to make a step of faith now.

8) Inquiring cannot be a means or a method how to formally end a conflict in the family or in the community. In a conflict situation the first thing necessary is repentance and mutual forgiveness. Only after we have come to internal unity, we can seek God’s will together by inquiring.

9) If I inquire upon a certain thing and thereafter I act on the strength of this inquiring, it does not release me from responsibility. Unless I am able to bear responsibility for the thing I inquire upon, I cannot inquire upon it. Inquiring thus is not a means of release from responsibility.

Renouncing our will (turning to the Lord Jesus)

Here it is good to use questions: “YES?” or: “NO?” One does not need here such level of inward silence and purification. You can do it many times a day: 1) during talk

2) during work

3) in free time

In principle, this refers to minor decisions. One only needs to learn a living look of faith at Jesus: “Jesus, from my love for You.” In this way we make it several times a day. In the act of faith it is good to give at the same time the whole matter to the Lord Jesus. We do it so for several reasons, above all: 1) we will get used to reckoning with Jesus in our daily concerns; 2) through these small things we want His glorification by renouncing our will. These short stops in God’s presence cannot even be called inquiring, though, in fact, it is inquiring. The level of inward silence, however, is not so deep and one can inquire in this way even amidst daily concerns. From experience it follows that scrupulous people should not inquire of the Lord, otherwise they will get into absurd situations and confusions. They should consult and obey wise and experienced people.

are a lot of methods and helps how to get into God’s presence, how to renounce one’s will and awaken a living faith before inquiring. If I do not inquire upon some serious thing, a few seconds of faith are sufficient.

Brief instructions

1) I pronounce quietly or in spirit: “The blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin.” (1Jn 1:7)