1 Kings 3

When God’s asks

At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask! What shall I give you?” ~ 1 Kings 3:5

If God appeared to you tonight and said, “Ask Me for anything,” what would you say? Be honest. Would you ask for financial security? A bigger house? A better job? A problem to disappear? Maybe a winning lottery ticket would slip into the conversation somewhere?

Solomon was given that exact opportunity. God appeared to him in a dream and invited him to ask for whatever he wanted. Solomon could have asked for long life, riches, victory over his enemies, or almost anything else he desired. Instead, he asked for wisdom.

That tells us something about Solomon’s heart at that moment. He understood that the responsibility God had given him was bigger than his ability to handle it on his own. He needed God’s wisdom more than he needed God’s blessings.

What if that’s the kind of prayer God wants to develop in us too? We often ask God to change our circumstances, but sometimes the greater prayer is, “God, change me so I know how to walk through these circumstances.”

Here are three points about asking God for wisdom, recognizing what matters most, and trusting Him with the decisions we face every day.

1. Ask God for wisdom before asking Him to change your circumstances.

Solomon recognized that leading God’s people was a responsibility he couldn’t handle by himself. He didn’t ask God to make the job easier. He asked God to give him the wisdom to do it well. That’s a powerful distinction.

Sometimes our prayers sound like, “God, get me out of this.” But perhaps God wants us to pray, “God, show me how to walk through this.”

Maybe you’re dealing with a difficult person at work. You could pray for God to move them to another department, which, let’s be honest, might be the answer you prefer. But you could also ask God for wisdom to know how to respond with patience, truth, love and grace.

Maybe you’re trying to make a major financial decision. Instead of simply asking God to bless whichever choice you already want to make, ask Him to give you wisdom to know what choice honors Him.

Or maybe you’re parenting a child who is making difficult choices. Ask God for wisdom to know when to speak, when to listen, when to establish boundaries, and when to simply pray. God doesn’t promise to remove every difficult situation, but He promises to give wisdom to those who ask Him.

Start making this a daily prayer: “Lord, give me wisdom for what I’m facing today.”

2. What you value reveals what you really want.

When God gave Solomon the opportunity to ask for anything, Solomon’s request revealed what mattered most to him. He wanted wisdom to lead God’s people well. That makes me wonder what my prayers reveal about my priorities.

There’s nothing wrong with asking God for provision, healing, protection, opportunities, or blessings. God cares about those things. But if most of our prayers are about getting more while very few are about becoming more like Him, we may need to take another look at what we’re pursuing.

Imagine if we began praying: “God, make me more patient.” “Give me wisdom before I speak.” “Help me recognize Your voice.” “Teach me to handle money faithfully.” “Help me love difficult people.” “Show me where I’m wrong.”

That last one might be the hardest prayer of all. We often want God to give us what we want, but wisdom asks God to shape what we want. This week, pay attention to your prayers. What are you asking God for most often? Then ask Him to help you want what matters to Him.

3. Wisdom isn’t just knowing what to do, it’s knowing how to do it.

The story of the two women who came before Solomon is one of the most fascinating examples of wisdom in Scripture. Both women claimed the same baby was theirs, and there were no witnesses to settle the matter.

Solomon needed more than information. He needed discernment. God gave him wisdom to see beyond the surface of the situation and recognize the heart of the true mother.

We need that kind of wisdom today. We live in a world filled with information. We can search almost anything in seconds. We can get opinions from thousands of people before breakfast. We can watch a tutorial on how to fix almost anything, except perhaps the mysterious noise coming from the washing machine.

But information isn’t the same as wisdom. Wisdom asks questions like: “What is really happening here?” “What is motivating me?” “What does God’s Word say?” “What response would honor God?” “What are the consequences of this decision?”

When you’re facing an important decision, don’t just gather more information. Ask God for discernment. Before sending that emotional email, pray. Before making that major purchase, pray. Before responding to criticism, pray. Before making a relationship decision, pray. Before saying yes to another commitment when your calendar already looks like a game of Tetris, pray. God’s wisdom can help you recognize not only what is right, but when and how to respond.

Solomon’s request pleased God because he asked for something that would help him fulfill the responsibility God had given him. That challenges us to consider our own prayers. What if instead of asking God primarily for a more comfortable life, we began asking Him for greater wisdom to live the life He’s already given us?

God cares about the decisions you make today. He cares about your relationships, your work, your family, your finances, your ministry, and the private choices nobody else sees. You don’t have to figure everything out by yourself.

Today I want to encourage you to make wisdom one of your most consistent prayers. Before you ask God to change your circumstances, ask Him to give you wisdom for how to walk through them. Before you make a decision, invite Him into it. Before you respond from emotion, pause and ask what would honor Him. God isn’t irritated by your questions or tired of your need for direction. He wants you to come to Him. You may not always receive an immediate answer, but as you continue seeking Him through His Word and prayer, He will teach you how to recognize His wisdom. You don’t have to know everything. You just need to know the One who does.

Today’s scripture reading: 1 Kings 3

1 Now Solomon made a treaty with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and married Pharaoh’s daughter; then he brought her to the City of David until he had finished building his own house, and the house of the Lord, and the wall all around Jerusalem. 

2 Meanwhile the people sacrificed at the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the Lord until those days. 

3 And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places.

4 Now the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place: Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 

5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask! What shall I give you?”

6 And Solomon said: “You have shown great mercy to Your servant David my father, because he walked before You in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You; You have continued this great kindness for him, and You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. 

7 Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. 

8 And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted. 

9 Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?”

10 The speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. 

11 Then God said to him: “Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, 

12 behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you. 

13 And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days. 

14 So if you walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”

15 Then Solomon awoke; and indeed it had been a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, offered up burnt offerings, offered peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants.

16 Now two women who were harlots came to the king, and stood before him. 

17 And one woman said, “O my lord, this woman and I dwell in the same house; and I gave birth while she was in the house. 

18 Then it happened, the third day after I had given birth, that this woman also gave birth. And we were together; no one was with us in the house, except the two of us in the house. 

19 And this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him. 

20 So she arose in the middle of the night and took my son from my side, while your maidservant slept, and laid him in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. 

21 And when I rose in the morning to nurse my son, there he was, dead. But when I had examined him in the morning, indeed, he was not my son whom I had borne.”

22 Then the other woman said, “No! But the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son.”

And the first woman said, “No! But the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son.”

Thus they spoke before the king.

23 And the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son, who lives, and your son is the dead one’; and the other says, ‘No! But your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.’ ” 

24 Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king. 

25 And the king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to one, and half to the other.”

26 Then the woman whose son was living spoke to the king, for she yearned with compassion for her son; and she said, “O my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him!”

But the other said, “Let him be neither mine nor yours, but divide him.”

27 So the king answered and said, “Give the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him; she is his mother.”

28 And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had rendered; and they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.

Journal:

• If God asked me today, “What do you want Me to give you?” what would I honestly ask for?
• What does the way I pray reveal about what I value most?
• What situation in my life right now requires God’s wisdom?
• Am I asking God primarily to change my circumstances, or am I also asking Him to change and prepare me?
• What is one decision I need to stop trying to figure out on my own and intentionally bring before God this week?