Text: 1 Kings 2:10-12, 3:3-14                                                                            Calvary 081609
Title: “Prayer for Wisdom”

If I ask you this morning what would you like to have? Anything at all, what would be the first thing that comes to mind?
Bigger house / Car / Boat / Money / ……

Well whatever your answer may be, I bet non of our first choices would include wisdom or understanding or anything like that. It is more of our nature to think of things that have more of an immediate benefit or that we’re able to see and have right away.

Ask teens what do they want and their answer will be expensive sneakers, fancy cloths or electronics or if they’re a little older than perhaps a car.

Kids are probably even worse they want everything they see whether it’s food or toys.
They say that it’s good to give kids a choice at an early age to help develop their personality so I tried that with Eli the other day. (water and milk) and (mini and pigy)

This morning our text is about Solomon at the beginning of his reign as king over Israel. David died, and now Solomon at a young age has inherited this huge kingdom.

To everyone back then and now Solomon is known for his wisdom. But there is more to Solomon than just his wisdom. In the beginning verses of chapter 3 we see that Solomon loved the Lord and walked in his statutes but that he also wavered in his faith.
Solomon is very much like each and every one of us. He truly loved the lord but he also didn’t always live out that love. The text sais that he sacrificed at high places at Gibeon, when he should have been sacrificing before the arc of the covenant in Jerusalem. He made a deal with Egypt which was the enemy, and allowed others to worship foreign gods in God’s city. On top of that he built his palace first before building the temple.

Many times we talk about Solomon as a super person but he wasn’t, he was just like you and I. We clearly love the lord otherwise you wouldn’t be here, you’d be sleeping or watching sports but there is a genuine love for God in you that brought you out to worship this morning. Yet we also just like Solomon often waver in our faith. Our actions don’t always reflect this love that we have for God.

And so first we’re shown that Solomon was just an ordinary person just like each of us. So that when we get to the rest of the story we don’t think, well yea this is Solomon, but god wouldn’t do something like that for me.

Then the rest of the chapter is this conversation between God and Solomon which happens in a vision.

God appears to him and asks him “what would you like?”
Notice it was God who came to Solomon not the other way around. Despite his wavering faith, God took the initiative, and came to him in his sinfulness.
That is what God does for us. In Christ God comes to us while we are still sinners. Meets us wherever we may be with an open invitation and extended arms asking each of us what is your hears desire.

And Solomon responds, but before he makes his request. He acknowledges and recognizes:
He acknowledges God’s Grace vs 6
& recognizes his unworthiness vs 7

“you have shown great and steadfast love to your servant my father David, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you, and you have kept for him this great and steadfast love, and have given him a son to sit on his throne today.”

He recognized how gracious God has been to him and his father. How often to do we stop to think how blessed we are, and how much God has given us?
When I asked the question a few minutes ago “what would you like to have” did any of us even think to be thankful for what we already have?
Perhaps part of the reason for our struggle in the world today is that we aren’t thankful enough for what we already have. We spend most of our time thinking of what we want and hardly anytime thinking of how blessed we are for what has already been provided for us.
We need to take the time to thank God for our health, our families, our jobs, our communities, our churches and our country.  We need to acknowledge God’s grace.

Then just like Solomon we need to recognize our place in comparison with God.
Solomon said “I am only a little child, I do not know how to go out or come in” he wasn’t referring to his age, but to his knowledge and his understanding in comparison with the Lord. He had no great knowledge, no long life experience how would he decide the fate of an entire nation.

Many times we think more highly of ourselves than we aught to,
(story of pastor showing off) (kids at CVS)
we need to recognize our weakness and our limitations and be vulnerable before God who knows our hearts and our abilities.

Then he asks for wisdom, not for his own benefit but to be able to govern God’s people and be able to discern between good and evil. 
We have to recognize our unworthiness.

God in return not only grants his request but gives him all the other things that he didn’t ask for, He gave him riches and honor.

The movie “Bruce almighty” with Jim Carey

When we chose the Lord we are given so much more than we can imagine. When the most important thing in your life is walking with God, seeking a relationship with him and desiring for this relationship to grow stronger each day, God is faithful and just and promises to give wisdom and understanding to deal with all aspects of this life and in his grace he also promises peace, happiness and to take care of us and provide also for our physical and material needs.
CONCLUSION:
I love the words of Abraham Lincoln who said, “I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. Because my wisdom and that of those around me, seemed insufficient for the day.”
The Gospel of Matthew Chap. 6 says “seek first the kingdom of God and all else will be given/added to you.