ASKING AND SEEKING IN THE KINGDOM: by Roger Roth Sr.

ASKING AND SEEKING IN THE KINGDOM by Roger Roth Sr.

This letter is meant to give an understanding of the Bible by looking at it 1) as a parable and 2) as metaphoric to your life, and consider an aspect of prayer as it was lived out in the lives of our spiritual ancestors. We’ll study how the story of David and Goliath related to what has happened or is happening within us and within the Church.

The Philistines gather together at Shocho in Judah, meaning the defense or tent of praise. This is where this battle for our freedom takes place in us and in our world; at the place of our praise. Will we defend our dwelling place of praise or allow that which is of self to control our expression of love.

Goliath has come to mean a giant or colossal opposition. David means beloved. These are the two natures within us and within the Body and within the world. Goliath was a Philistine. The word Philistine means to wallow in the dust or to be consumed with self. This was the nation (the collective nature) of the people Goliath was fighting for. Israel means to have power with God.

So the people of the power are lined up against the people consumed with self. The place the Philistines encamped was Ephesdammin meaning the end, boundary or effusion of blood. Also called Pasdammin meaning the portion or diminishing of blood. The battle for our freedom is a battle of blood.

Now Goliath, a giant carnal nature inside that increasingly manifests itself in society in what might be called “worldly” pursuits and pleasures, is a force that means to destroy our David or our love connection with God, ourselves and each other. Wallowing in self will always blunt our praise of God and what He has, is and will do in, through and for us.

Goliath put fear in Israel, the people of God who have the power of God. This giant didn’t destroy Israel but put fear in Israel so that they were bound in constant combat, constant struggle within. This giant that comes against us must be destroyed but how? All of Israel is camped in fear. They hear the daily charges and humiliations voiced by Goliath but fear holds them back.

The enemy makes the shout and controls the praise and the language, and the people of God hide in fear.

Then David comes along. He has not heard the attacks for he has been caring for sheep and writing psalms and praising God. He was a man after or desirous of God. He has brought food for his brothers and when He hears Goliath defy the armies (heavenly host) of his God his righteousness and relation with God moves him to take action. Goliath defied the armies of God (the heavenly hosts) so that Israel’s fear made it impossible for the host of heaven to act on its behalf. In the battle his brothers and kinsmen have lost heart and lost their praise (which is a form of prayer). But David comes from a love relationship with his God not from a position of fear.

There is much in this story that has a mighty message for us but for our purpose is to see that praise and prayer don’t just happen, but have to be cultivated, and when they are they will destroy all that would come against us. This is what allowed David the courage and strength to take the rock (Jesus) and lodge it in the temple of the enemy. This is what happens within us and what we do in the world when we, in the power of praise and Kingdom prayer, destroy the thinking of carnality and the fear it produces.

Then and only then can we take the enemies sword and cut off the head of this gigantic opponent and free ourselves and this world from its thinking. After this, all Israel broke into praise, King “Saul killed his thousands but David his ten thousands.” Our victories in the world are not always received with joy from our brethren even when they are for their blessing and benefit. Even within us a certain pride can desire the praise to come to us rather than to our God. This too must be destroyed.

The name Saul means to ask insistently and if done with fear or wrong motive can be a form of begging and thus the name Saul is often associated with being beggarly. Remember when Jesus laid out the progression of prayer in Luke? “Ask and it shall be given, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened.” This is the progression of prayer and each comes with a certain answer. When we ask, we receive. But secret things are hidden in secret places and they require more than just asking, they require a search. We seek for things that are hidden or lost. This is where Saul and David come into the picture.

Saul was the first of the three great Kings of Israel before the Kingdom was divided. He did things like, usurping the position of the priesthood, that caused him and Israel much trouble and was chastened for it. Yet David did similar things and instead of being chastened was blessed for it. Why? It is because David sought or searched for God; “seek and you shall find.” His authority was not from a position of asking but from knowing.

Much of the church is bound in an asking mentality. This is not to say that we should not ask for things, we should. However, when we try to bend God to our will and insist that He must heed to our requests because we make them in “faith” or in positive profession or whatever, like Saul, we can try to manipulate the things of God, and then we become frustrated when not answered or worse, not understanding if it is God or not. This is the error of the ‘name it and claim it’ mentality. It is the mentality of beggars. It is the nature of Saul. We can’t make God do anything, but we can see what He is doing and participate in it.

Kingdom prayer sees what God had sanctioned in the heavens and allows us to be the participants that bring it to pass in the earth. David relationship with God went into another dimension. All Israel was asking God for deliverance over the Philistines, but David saw the deliverance and became God’s instrument.

Now when the women began to praise God at their deliverance from the Philistines, they sing the song, “Saul killed his thousands but David his ten thousands,” or 10 times as much. ‘Asking’ prayer is the tithe or the down payment on Kingdom prayer, but it is not Kingdom prayer. So when Saul hears this, he got angry and jealous, and at times tries to destroy David. You can see that our prayer must progress to become Kingdom prayer, or our ignorance will harm us.

How often do we pray for things not knowing if it is God’s will or not. We just pray them because we think we should, or it is a good idea, or a nice thing to do. So we ask, which is ok, but there comes a time when we need to progress to be wise to know what the will of the Lord is and pray from this dimension; the seeing dimension. David searched for God and God found him.

When Saul tried to kill David, what was David’s response? “I will not touch the Lord’s anointed”. Saul had an anointing. When we are in a higher dimension, we do not wish ill on our brothers who don’t understand, even when they mean us harm. We’ve learned some secrets and have authority in a different realm. We see from the Kingdom. Saul will die and his head will be cut off, not by David, but by the world.

Our position, like David’s, is to prepare and dwell in “the secret place of the most high” so that in God’s time He may raise us to Kingship. And that time is soon approaching, indeed even at the door. So we don’t have to pray in fear or beg God or demand from God, but we can pray from the Kingdom. We pray God’s will because we know God’s will. … Father keep us in this hour that is coming upon the earth. Father we know all the things the gentiles seek after are already given to us. Father in you is no fear. Father you have given us all things and called us to rule and reign. Father we are not beggars but Kings with authority and Priests who are able to deliver our brothers from the bondage of religion.

Father’s we are sons of David, sons of the Father’s love. Progress us and teach us to pray from the Kingdom. Teach us to become the prayer as David became the answer to Israel’s prayer and unleashed the power of the Philistines, (that which wallows or is controlled by self) from over them. “How great you are, how magnificent in all your splendor and wise in all your ways.”