1 Kings 3: Praying for Wisdom

"Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?" 1 Kings 3:9

When's the last time you felt like you could use a little bit of wisdom? Perhaps you had to make a tough decision at work, school, or home, and you just didn't know which choice to make. What did you do in that moment? Did you plea to God for wisdom, or did you trust in your own discernment?

In 1 Kings 3, we see a great example of what it looks like to pray to God for wisdom. Solomon, David's son, has just been set up as king of Israel. The Lord comes to him in a dream, offering to give him one thing that he asked for, whatever that may be. Realizing his own inadequacy to rule the Israelites, Solomon asks the Lord for an "understanding mind" (also known as wisdom). The Lord grants his request, and even gives him a two-for-one deal by throwing riches and honor into the package because Solomon asked for such a noble thing in the beginning.

Many of you have heard this story before, but perhaps have never applied it to your lives at a deeper level than "we all ought to ask for wisdom from the Lord." However, there are many more applications that we can make from this text. Note the three following observations about Solomon's request:

1) Solomon remembered the Lord's faithfulness in his plea for wisdom. Before he requested anything from the Lord, he exclaimed of the Lord's great love to his father David, thus calling to mind the perfect character of the Lord.

2) Solomon realized his own weakness in his plea for wisdom. He did not merely ask for wisdom because he wanted a little more of it, he asked for wisdom because he felt inadaquate. He knew that he could not govern the people without the Lord's help, thus he called upon the Lord to help him.

3) Solomon asked for wisdom as a tool for glorifying God. Wisdom was not the end of Solomon's request, it was rather a means by which he could discern good and evil and thus glorify the Lord with his life. Wisdom was not the ends, it was a means to the ends of God's glory; wisdom was a tool for worshiping God aright.

Likewise, when we ask for wisdom (or anything for that matter), we ought to follow the pattern of Solomon by first recalling the great character of the Lord who is loving and gracious to all who call upon him, realizing our own inadequacies/weaknesses and bringing them to the Lord Almighty, and requesting things from God that we might use them as tools for his glory rather than for our own benefit.

So, when's the last time you asked for wisdom? Perhaps its been a while. Try asking the Lord for wisdom today, as you depend on him amidst your inadequacies. From this passage, we learn that God is a God of our weaknesses, that is, that he supplies our every need amidst them. Trust in this today, AMEN.