Ask for Wisdom (1 Kings 3:12)

In this episode of Pray the Word on 1 Kings 3:12, David Platt calls us to pray for wisdom and to trust God to provide it faithfully.

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Pray the word with David Platt is a resource from radical dot net. First Kings chapter three verse twelve. Behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you, and none like you shall arise after you. That is an amazing verse. This is God speaking to Solomon in response to a prayer of Solomon for wisdom, for discernment. And I just want to camp out on two things here that will lead us to pray. First, God says, Behold, I now do according to your word. Just let that soak in. God says to Solomon, who just prayed to him, I will do what you have asked. Just think about that, that God would respond to your prayers or my prayers this way, that he would do according to what we ask. Oh, pray with confidence, especially as the whole point of this podcast is we pray according to God's word. We can know God will give us what we ask when we pray specifically according to his word, which leads to the next part. God says, I will give you a wise and discerning mind. This is something that God wanted to give to Solomon. Solomon asked for it, and God says, Yes, I will give that to you. And this isn't just Solomon's story. This is the promise that we read in James for every follower of Jesus. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault. And when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man is a double-minded man, unstable in all that he does. The promise in James chapter one is that when you and I ask for wisdom, for discernment, God will give it to us. God will do according to not just his word, God will do according to our word when we ask for wisdom. So I just want you to think about your life today. And what areas, facets of your life, relationships, decisions, and what ways in your life do you need wisdom today? And I want to encourage you as we pray right now to ask for it and believe. Don't doubt. Trust that God will give you the wisdom you need. What a promise in prayer. So, yes, God, we pray right now, just as Solomon prayed in 1 Kings chapter 3, in an even greater way, because we are praying through the finished work of Jesus on the cross for us, that it made the way open for us to come directly into your presence by his blood to ask you, oh God, for wisdom. We praise you as the all-wise God. All wisdom belongs to you. You are infinitely wise, and you have told us that you will give wisdom generously to us when we ask. So we ask according to your word, with confidence in your word, God, that you would give each of us wisdom. In every way we need wisdom today. We pray for discernment to know what is good and right and pleasing to you. Good for us, good for others, glorifying to your name. God, we pray for wisdom that comes from your spirit, not the wisdom of this world. God, we pray that you would deliver us from the wisdom of this world, as James 3 talks about, and grant us today and all day long in different decisions we make and different interactions we have and everything we think and desire and do. Please, oh God, give us wisdom. And I just pray particularly over people who are walking through a variety of different challenges. God, that you would faithfully, generously pour out your wisdom today on them. And we trust you will do according to our words. Oh God, we praise you for your promises to us, your word to us. God, we pray for people who don't know you like this, who've never heard the good news of access before you, the all-wise God, for everything they need, all the wisdom they need for life. God, we pray for the Bajao people of Indonesia, this nomadic people group of 350,000 and Silawesi and Sumatra and different islands in Indonesia coastal areas. God, we pray for the Bajiao people to be reached with the good news of your love for them, your generosity, your grace, your gospel that opens the door to relationship with you, the all-wise God, to walk with you. God, we pray that over the Bajao people of Indonesia. Even as we pray that you'd help us to walk in your wisdom today. Save us from ourselves, save us from foolishness all day long, and help us to be wise and discerning in everything we do. We pray this according to your word in 1 Kings chapter 3, verse 12. In Jesus' name. Amen.