Let us pray. O Lord, please give me strength, for I am weak. And what we know not teach us, what we have not give us, and what we are not make us. For Christ's sake. Amen. There's an ancient Greek race which goes by the name of something that I have a difficulty or a difficult time pronouncing. Let's see if I can do this again. Lampa de Dromia. Probably should only try that once. I don't know where the emphasis lays in that word, but it was an ancient relay race, which the point of which was not merely to be the first to finish, but to finish well with a torch still lit, which was lit from the outset. And I'm sure it's probably not exclusive to Greek culture. Others probably have something similar. We see a derivative of it at the beginning of the Olympics, which we had recently, with someone carrying a lit torch on a global relay to the host city and to light some form of bigger flame. This image came to my mind as I was thinking on and studying this first reading from the first book of Kings, where we are told of Solomon's prayer for wisdom. If you know anything about the kings of Israel, recorded for us here in 1st and 2 Kings and elsewhere, you know that many of the kings, even relatively speaking, the good ones, started well but finished poorly, Solomon included. It has been noted that if you read uh the history of Solomon's reign, which gets a fair amount of treatment, actually, uh in relation to others, that one of the observations over time is you begin to notice that the wisdom that was granted here in the beginning is slowly and increasingly uh diminished and replaced by references to wealth and power and uh status. There's an exchange going on here, which the author is trying to tell us it's not a worthwhile exchange. But that said, wisdom uh Solomon started well. And we know that because we are told that when Solomon asked for wisdom from God, which the details of which are very interesting, God showed up to Solomon in a dream and said, What would you like? What an opportunity, wouldn't you like that? And Solomon asks for something that God finds very pleasing. He says so himself. This was pleasing to the Lord that Solomon asked for wisdom because it wasn't selfish or self-serving, uh, but it was a good thing for him to ask for. And it had me, it got me wondering, what is it about this prayer for wisdom, just prayer in general, that is pleasing to God? And what might we in our own prayer lives have to learn from Solomon's example of praying to God for wisdom? And I want to simply offer some observations for you that I think would we would do well to be informed by in our own prayers, for we can have assurance too that our prayers are not only heard, but also found to be pleasing to the Lord. First, notice that Solomon asked for something that he truly needed. Not merely what he wanted, but what he really truly needed. Having been made king, if Solomon was going to have a fighting chance or hope at all to be able to govern and lead the people well as their king, he was going to need to be equipped with wisdom, discernment, judgment, the ability to make wise decisions on behalf of the people. And of course God knew this. This is no surprise to God, but God was very pleased to see or to hear that Solomon showed evidence of knowing this too. Which leads me to just say very uh as uh simply that even if we don't know our needs, we can still come to God and pray, asking him to grant us our needs. You don't have to exactly know what you have need of before you can pray. But just like we did last Sunday in our weekly collect, which is a wonderful collect, would have been good for today, we acknowledge that we do not approach God and ask or plead with him on behalf of our worthiness, but rather oftentimes in our ignorance of not even knowing our needs, we still come before him and say, Lord, please provide for my need, not as I see it, but as you see it. But sometimes you may know your needs and you may put a fine point to it and say, God, this is what I need. Please provide, and that's also fine too. But one of the things that we struggle with, and I speak as just one example here, and I imagine I'm not alone, is we struggle to know the difference or to accurately discern the difference between our needs and our wants. And even if we do know the difference, do we not easily pay much more attention to our wants over our needs? Doesn't that kind of come naturally to you? It does for me. Just ask, experiment and ask yourself or ask someone else, what do you think your needs are in God's eyes? What do you think that you truly need? And you may be met with a period of silence trying to think about that. Well, I don't actually know. What do I really need? Ask yourself or someone else what they want, and you will hear a swift response of a prearranged list and order of priorities. These are my wants, and I know those without any pause or hesitation. Sometimes in our own lives and in our own prayer life, we simply need to be called back to recall and to remember back to the basics. What do we simply need, truly, first and foremost? And I have found that our Lord's prayer, which could also be referred to as a prayer of daily needs, is a wonderful tool for assisting us in assessing our needs. Just consider some of the elements of that prayer that Jesus taught his disciples. First, we address God as Father. Right there. The most important need we have is to be in relationship with God. Not in some on some distant terms, but in relationship like with God as our Father. That's what we need. And as we go on, we acknowledge that it is his kingdom that needs to come. We need God's kingdom to come, as we've seen allusions to in the gospel reading about the kingdom of heaven, because we know, just take a look around, and history has taught us time and time again, the earthly kingdoms, our worldly kingdoms, do not last. And they do not meet our needs ultimately, even though God can use them in many good ways. Thy will be done. We need God's will done over our will. That's pretty simple and straightforward. Forgiveness of sins. How easily do we begin to treat God as a little a supporter on the sidelines? I've said that before, that we come to God for a little boost here and there, a little guidance, a little direction. But what about forgiveness? Fundamentally, we need to be washed, cleansed, forgiven, declared clean. We of course need daily bread. We know that. We may take it for granted, but we know that on some level. We also need to protection and deliverance from evil. In Solomon's case, Solomon's want of wisdom aligned with God's assessment of his need for wisdom. And God was very, very pleased to provide it. Maybe a word about when God doesn't seem to meet our needs as we may perceive them. It's not uncommon to know someone, or maybe you yourself have struggled with this, that you have brought before God a certain need that you perceived you had, or someone else has had. And how many people have struggled in their faith when that perceived need has not been provided for? Maybe in the case of illness or sickness, and you've prayed for someone to be healed, and God did not deliver according to that prayer, and faith has been hindered as a result. Well, we always need to fall back on the fact that God knows best. It's an opportunity for trust. Maybe God knows what I or someone else needs more than I do, even in the case of healing. I mean, ultimately, it's not it's not the physical healing that we need, it's the spiritual. And it may be time for someone to pass from this world and to be brought home to God. And in doing so, God is providing for them on a deeper level of need. Consider the Apostle Paul's thorn in his flesh. He prayed to God three times. Please, God, take this away from me. I have need for this to be removed. And what was God's response? No, you don't. You're gonna keep that thorn in the flesh. I want to keep that there for you, whatever that was, I don't know. Because you're gonna learn that in your weakness I am strong, and I'm gonna use that thorn to teach you things that you wouldn't learn without it. It's just a word of caution and warning. Be careful of thinking that you know what your needs are or someone else's needs are better than God does. God always knows better than we do, and we can always trust him that he will meet our needs. Secondly, Solomon asked for something that was good for him and good for others. This is really the other side of the coin that we've just talked about being provided for in your needs, but from another angle that it's that Solomon asked for something that would be good for him if God granted it. Our God is fundamentally good in nature, and it is because he is good that he is pleased to give us good things. Just survey the world and your life and think about good things from God, as basic as sunlight. That's a good thing to have sunlight, sleep to restore your body at nighttime, community, family, friends. That's a good thing to be blessed with. Safety or a job, to have a job, that's a good thing. Wisdom is no different, it's a good thing to possess. It's never bad for anyone to receive the gift of wisdom. I was just reminded of the way that the Proverbs speak of wisdom in such beautiful ways. Listen to this, Proverbs chapter 3. Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding. For the gain from her is better than gain from silver, and her profit better than gold. Wisdom is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand, and her left hand are riches and honor, her ways are ways of pleasantness and goodness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her, those who hold her fast are called blessed. It is because wisdom is good that God is pleased to give his children good gifts like wisdom. Jesus taught this in his Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapter seven, when he said, If you then, and this comes with a little bit of a punch, acknowledging our condition, if you then who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him? We have every indication, we have every encouragement from God to ask for such good things. And sometimes it can be good for us before we ask to simply stop and consider whether or not what we're asking for would actually be good for us to have. Would it be good for you to have more wealth? Maybe not. That's been the demise of many people, including Solomon. Wealth became a distraction to Solomon and overrided his gift of wisdom, or reputation, status, or fame. That might not be a good thing, actually, as it plays out over the long run. Or more practically, a decision that has to be made. Moving homes or jobs, would it be good for you to go and in that direction? You may have no idea, but you can trust God that he knows. And if he closes a door, he knows best. He's going to provide in a different direction. Thirdly, Solomon asked for something that would bring God glory, and that was pleasing to God. True wisdom always points and leads us closer towards God, to God. Again, the Proverbs say, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The first step in wisdom draws us to God, and every step thereafter draws us closer to God. And it is when God meets our needs with good gifts of his provision, like wisdom, that we are drawn to give thanks to him, and in giving thanks to him, we are glorifying him. As in this case with Solomon, God always gets the glory, not us, when we acknowledge that he is the giver and we are the receivers. We realize that we actually could not have contrived, we could not have created in our own creativity or ability to bring about the good things in our lives that we are thankful for. It's all a gift, everything from wisdom to sunlight. When you make a request of God in prayer, it can be helpful to ask this question Is God's glory in the field of view? If I were to receive this, how does God's glory fit into this frame? Does it? If it doesn't, there's reason for more questions about that request. The end of all of our requests from God is the glory of God. I was thinking about this in relation to church attendance and growth, especially in a society where we see the trend, which has been for a long, long time, in the decline. And of course, everyone wants to see that turnaround. And some people pray for the growth of the church, as do I, of as one. But why? It's helpful to maybe just think about that. Why? Because bigger is better. Well, that's how the way it is in Texas. I've been there. I can tell you that. Is it just to reassert our presence in society? Why do we actually want more people to come? The right answer is for God's glory. To call, to carry out the mission of reaching people and inviting them, not just into a social setting of community, but into relationship with God as their father. There's nothing more glorifying than that, than to call and reach and bring and invite and welcome people into the family of faith. In conclusion, I think it's interesting that Solomon was granted such a wonderful opportunity to ask God for anything. And we might think, oh, I wish I had that opportunity. Well, here's some good news. You do. As a child of God by faith, you have that very same opportunity made available to you, not just in a dream at night on occasion, but every single day. Jesus said so. John chapter 14. Ask anything in my name and it will be done for you. That's a wide open invitation, the same that Solomon received. Ask in my name and it will be done for you. Whatever those are, truly, for our good and for the good of others, ultimately, and for his glory. Amen.