How much is to be learned from the prayer of Jehoshaphat: it is a prayer full of worship of the God of our ancestors, a prayer invoking the word of God Himself, and a call for help, for ‘If calamity comes upon us, (…) we will cry out to You in our distress, and You will hear us and save us’ (:9). ‘All the men of Judah, with their wives and children and little ones, stood there before the Lord’ (:13). After all, did God not dwell among His people, in the Most Holy Place? Out of the temple He would answer!
But something quite unexpected happened. God did not answer out of the temple build by humans, but the Spirit of the Lord came out of the open sky on the Levite Jahaziel. He stood and spoke in a loud voice: ‘This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s!’ Nobody asked who this man was, everyone expected an answer from God out of heaven. Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground, and all Judah followed his example. The Lord had answered! Then, suddenly, some men stood up - also Levites - and praised the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.
Worship and praise are the only possible answer to be spontaneously given when the Lord has heard our calling upon Him for help, and answers in His grace from His throne. So, inquiring the Lord means: to wait in worship for an answer from heaven, and then to receive it with praise… even if that answer is different from what we were expecting. Yes, usually God’s answer is surprising, but therefore it is liberating too.