DAVID CHOSE 5 SMOOTH STONES:

1 Samuel 17:40"Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine." 

Even though David had absolute faith that God would deliver him, he was also highly realistic and practical. Taking multiple stones was simply smart, tactical backup planning. 
David was PROACTIVE-UPBEAT & BRISK! Though everyone else were paralyzed by fear, David took immediate, bold initiative. He did not wait for someone to tell him what to do; his faith drove him to be intensely proactive. Anybody listening? Great learning for each one of us….

Having umpteen degree certificates tucked with you but still if you are lackadaisical then everything is vain and it renders all academic credentials useless.  Execution and passion ultimately determine success!

Illustration: When I was working for a multinational bank, I would print enormous number of slides also ready for presentation, so that it can be displayed on OHP just in case the computer fails.  I remember working the whole night for my boss for the next day presentation.  He was not taking any chance….better to do hard work and have a back-up rather than look dumb and silly when plan A fails.  

Illustration 2 : I would also like to give another illustration of how we should prepare before we approach God for a great breakthrough, for instance praying for cancer healing or saving a marriage from divorce.  I would like to give a personal example of how I used ‘5 smooth stones for the Living Water’ to save the marriage of my friend with a 6 year old son:

When the giant came in the form of an extra-marital affair with a ‘girlfriend’, I used 5 smooth stones to prepare my friend for spiritual battle:
PRAYER/FAITH: I took her with me to our home to attend weekend prayer, made her attend night prayer also.  Both of us would travel back in our scooters every weekend for this warfare.

BIBLE: I bought her a Bible and taught her to read meticulously and diligently.
FASTING: Taught her to fast and I also fasted along with her.

CHURCH FELLOWSHIP: Identified a church fellowship for her and made her attend every Sunday.

PUT GOD FIRST: I TAUGHT HER TITHING and money management.

The good news, my friend obediently followed all the above points very quickly and wholeheartedly, the result was quick too, after a year of all this spiritual training, her husband came back to her on his own and they started their journey together again and had a daughter. Hallelujah!!!