DAY 16

BUILDING FOUNDATIONS

JOHN MACDONALD, LEAD PASTOR, THE WOODS CHURCH

David inquired of the Lord... 1 Samuel 23:2

Throughout the account of David’s life in scripture, one phrase shows up again and again: “He inquired of the Lord.” The practice of these five simple words carries deep significance and changed everything for David. Whether David was watching sheep, facing giants, running from Saul, or sitting on the throne of Israel, he had a consistent practice—he paused, prayed, and asked God what to do.

David’s habit of inquiring of the Lord wasn’t just a religious routine. It was because he had a heart that wanted to walk with the Lord and honor Him in all things. He didn’t simply want God's help; He wanted God's presence. He didn’t just seek answers; He sought intimacy.

Even when David stumbled, like in the tragic episode with Bathsheba, it was the absence of prayer that led him into trouble. That single moment of not inquiring led to a cascade of brokenness. But his usual pattern was to stop, to wait, and to seek. That rhythm of inquiry became the foundation of David’s life.

During my first couple of years of college, I worked summers in landscaping. One of my favorite tasks was building stone walls. The most important part of building was laying the first row. Each stone had to be level—north, south, east, and west—on a packed, even foundation. If you rushed that first layer, every layer after it would be unstable.

That’s how obedience works in our lives too. Each day of surrender, prayer, and obedience is a stone. One day of seeking God may seem small, but when you consistently stack those days on top of each other, you’re building something strong, something beautiful. You are building an intimacy with the Lord that causes you to live as an overcomer. 

This intimacy and spiritual maturity doesn’t happen overnight. Like laying stone, it takes patience and attention to build a life aligned with God’s will. David's strength wasn’t his position or talent, it was the quiet, daily discipline of pausing to be with God.

I think it is important to recognize that David didn’t learn to inquire of the Lord after he became king. His prayer life started long before the crown. Out in the wilderness, tending sheep, he developed a heart of worship, dependence, and spiritual hunger.

Can you imagine how much this must have pleased the Lord? A young man, in obscurity, singing praises, writing psalms, and talking to God with sincerity while no one was watching.

Your title, job, or influence in life doesn’t determine your closeness to God. Your hunger does! David’s hunger for God didn’t change when he gained power. In fact, one of the first things he did as king was call all the leaders together and say:

Let us bring the ark of our God back to us, for we did not inquire of it during the reign of Saul. 1 Chronicles 13:3

Why the Ark? Because the Ark of the Covenant represented the very presence of God. David wanted the presence of God at the center of the kingdom, because it had always been the center of his life.

So many people approach prayer as a spiritual emergency tool. We wait until life gets hard or confusing, and only then do we cry out. But David didn’t treat prayer that way. For him, it wasn’t about getting a quick answer, it was about the deep intimacy with God that he had developed over years of pursuing Him. Even when David messes up big time with Bathsheba, you get a glimpse into David’s heart for intimacy with the Lord in his prayer of repentance which is the entirety of Psalm 51. Here are just a couple verses of his powerful prayer of repentance:

Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Psalm 51:9–12

Prayer isn’t primarily about outcomes though some outcomes are only achieved through prayer. Prayer is predominantly about His presence. When you pray, you are choosing God’s company over every other option. David acknowledges his desire for God’s presence in Psalm 27: 

One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord… Psalm 27:4

For David, prayer was more than a habit, it was a love relationship. It was the daily act of stepping into God’s presence and building a foundation of intimacy. If we want this same kind of intimate relationship with the Lord David had, then prayer can’t be an optional or occasional practice. It must be a daily rhythm. And when it becomes your rhythm, something powerful happens: your heart becomes attuned to God’s voice. When challenges arise, you don’t panic, you pause. You don’t react, you inquire. Because you’ve already been walking closely with Him, you’re sensitive to His leading.

After David brought the Ark back to Jerusalem, one of the first things he did was appoint Levites to minister before the Ark night and day:

He appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, to extol, thank, and praise the Lord, the God of Israel. 1 Chronicles 16:4

David didn’t just want a symbol of God’s presence, He wanted intimacy with God himself. This should be our desire as well. There’s one quality that will fuel this intimacy more than any other - hunger! You must develop a deep desire for the presence of God.

David said:

You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you… Psalm 63:1

Spiritual hunger isn’t automatic. It’s cultivated. And it grows each day as you give yourself to prayer and His presence. If you feed on distractions, your soul will hunger for noise. But if you feed on God’s Word and linger in His presence, your heart will begin to crave more of Him. Whatever you consistently feed your soul, that’s what it will hunger for more of.

David’s legacy wasn’t just as a warrior or poet. His legacy was becoming a man after God’s own heart. That pursuit began with a simple, daily choice: to inquire.

What if you began to do the same?

What if each day you made it your priority to build your intimacy with the Lord. What if before each decision, big or small, you paused. What if you prayed, and asked God: “What do You want me to do here?” Not only would this practice change your choices, it will change your heart! You would begin to live with a deeper sense of peace, direction, and intimacy.

PRAYER: Let’s start with prayers of worship and praise. When we pray, we begin with worship. Scripture tells us:

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise… Psalm 100:4

Jesus echoed this when He taught the disciples to pray:

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name… Luke 11:2

Starting your prayer time with adoration isn’t a formula, it’s alignment. It sets your heart in the right posture before God. It reminds you who He is: good, sovereign, powerful, and loving. When you begin your prayertime with praise, you’re not just seeking what God can do, you’re delighting in who He is.