God does not use formulas to meet our needs or solve our problems
By Dean Collins
I hate to break it to you, but God does not use formulas to meet our needs or help us solve problems.
I’ve heard plenty of preachers and other believers suggest he does, but in my experience and in God’s Word, there isn’t an appendix with all the formulas or recipes you need to succeed in life. Yes, we are called to believe, to have faith, to repent, to follow Jesus in baptism, to stand firm, to pray without ceasing, and more. However, if you read the stories of the saints in both the Old and New Testaments, you’ll see that God is always full of surprises and doesn’t always do what is expected. Often he does the opposite, and sometimes he told his prophets and kings as much.
David’s path to the throne
Consider David in 2 Samuel 5 as an example. Saul had died in a battle, and David left his hiding in caves to be anointed as king. And by the way, hiding in caves was David’s path to the throne, but it wasn’t the typical formula God used to choose kings or other leaders. David’s trust in God through good times and hard times might be as close as we get to an example to follow or formula for success!
David had secured Jerusalem and was becoming greater by the day. Hiram, the king of Tyre, sent crews and supplies to build a house suitable for King David. His wealth, power, and family continued to expand. But there would be opposition. The Philistines heard of David’s new headquarters and success and decided to make a run at the capital city.
David’s prayer when faced with an enemy
David had defeated Goliath years ago, but the Philistines kept coming back. Maybe they were wanting personal revenge on David. He had been wishy-washy with his loyalty to his own people and to them. It wasn’t that long ago he had been fighting with, instead of against, the Philistines as a mercenary (1 Samuel 27-29). The Philistines wanted to put an end to David.
David knew of Saul’s many flaws and repeated mistakes and wisely chose to ask God about his course of action as the enemy camped outside Jerusalem. “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand ?“ These were David’s direct questions of the Lord. And God sent a direct answer: “Go up, for I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand.”
Wouldn’t it be great if that was the formula we could use? You ask God for a specific thing, and he answers you clearly, preferably audibly. Then, like David, we would charge full steam ahead with no question or concern. I’m not suggesting that God doesn’t answer specific prayers. We’ve all seen and experienced God’s answers to our prayers. Maybe it’s just me, but I bet it’s you , too, who hasn’t always experienced answers like David received. David gave credit to God, and the Philistines ran in defeat, leaving their idols behind.
David’s decision when the problem came back
But hard times and enemies sometimes come back. And the Philistines regrouped and returned to the valley of Rephaim for another round. David again asked the Lord whether he should go up in battle. Why not assume you should just do the same thing as last time? I suspect many of us are guilty of having our prayers answered and then, if we face a similar situation, just assuming we can handle it like last time and forgetting to ask God for his wisdom and guidance.
When the Philistines came back, God told David not to go up, but to go around behind and hide. When they heard the rustling of the wind in the trees they should then attack, because the Lord will have gone out before them and secured victory. Their job was to finish off what God had already begun.
Some scholars speculate that the rustling of trees was God’s angels going into battle. That’s possible, but no one knows. We do know that God’s Spirit is described as a wind that blows where it will. Maybe it was God’s Spirit blowing. We don’t know that either. What we know is that David prayed. God answered differently the second time. And both times God proved himself faithful.
Our prayers and God’s purposes
There don’t appear to be any exact and repeated formulas for prayer or life other than we should pray without ceasing and always trust God to show up. He won’t always come with the same answer, but he will always prove to be faithful in accomplishing his purposes.
Your time with God’sWord
2 Samuel 5:19-25 ESV
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