Ten More Minutes on Solomon & Wisdom

God asks Solomon a dangerous question: “What do you want me to give you?” Most of us can name a dozen “practical” answers in a heartbeat. Solomon doesn’t reach for power, success, long life, or wealth. He asks for an understanding heart, and that single request forces us to look at our own desires and the kind of prayers we’ve been repeating on autopilot.

Ryan Ritchie and Pastor Michael Buffaloe dig into 1 Kings 3 and connect it to Psalm 37:4, where delight in the Lord comes before the desires of the heart. We talk about why that verse is deeper than a feel-good promise, how time in God’s Word reshapes what we want, and why biblical wisdom is more than information. Along the way, we wrestle with Jesus’ promise about asking in his name (John 14 and 16) and the tension we feel when God doesn’t give the outcome we requested.

We also get practical: how to pray for things God already delights to say “yes” to, how to pray God’s words back to God, and how to wait without trying to manufacture our own answers. We compare “urgent vs important” prayers, and we challenge the habit of plugging into every other voice for wisdom while getting unplugged from the Lord. The question we leave on the table is simple and convicting: what has become your greatest pursuit?

If you’ve ever felt stuck in a prayer rut or unsure what to ask God for, press play, then share this with a friend and leave a review so more people can find it. What’s one desire you want God to realign this week?

Transcript

Why Solomon Asked For Wisdom

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Hey, welcome back to 10 More Minutes. This is a podcast from Cross Point Church where we just keep discovering that some conversations need to take a little bit longer where we can keep discovering what God has for us. I'm Ryan Ritchie. I'm joined again by Pastor Michael Buffalo. Michael, uh, this past Sunday you took us to 1 Kings 3, and we moved into one of these fascinating moments where God asks Solomon for what he wishes, and Solomon could have asked for success or power or long life, but he doesn't. He asks for wisdom. And what a really neat conversation to get into. Honestly, it raises some pretty revealing questions about our life and the desires of our hearts and the things that matter most to us. And so let's dig into it. Let's slow down a little bit. Let's come back to your message from Sunday and take 10 more minutes. All right, we're back again. Michael, thanks for joining us. You did a great job on Sunday. What a fun week that it was. We had the kids up singing with us too, just kind of the devotional song that I thought was really um poignant for the Sunday. And so uh I just look back on it with fond memories. That's one of those that I bookmark in my head and sort of share with our family. It was a really neat one.

SPEAKER_00 1:13

I love to see it. Anytime I can see um parents and children serving together, and that's an incredible blessing. You know, and we see it all over the church. You know, I see guys standing with their dads on the safety team and stuff like that. It's just incredible. Girls, you know, serving with their moms and serving coffee and all sorts of different, you know, fun things like that.

SPEAKER_02 1:32

Yeah, yeah. One of our great leaders, Brett McElrith, sometimes brings his son down the aisle to do usher with him as they collect and help people and always need to see stuff like that. And uh thinking back to the message, 1 Kings 3, Solomon, kind of this gift of wisdom that's granted to him. Every time we preach, there's always some things that get left on the cutting floor. So give us some thoughts, maybe what didn't make it into Sunday if you had 10 more minutes.

SPEAKER_00 1:55

Yeah, that's a great question. I think um, you know, the the big one for me was um Psalm 374 is is the one that comes to mind. And I actually

Delight First Then Desire

SPEAKER_00 2:05

um had that passage in my closing, and uh I said I didn't leave it out. The Lord left it out for whatever reason, he just um you know took that that thought or exactly where I wanted to go there. And I think some of that was because Psalm 37.4 is a fantastic passage. It's um um, but it's also um, you know, uh that's a passage that probably deserves its own sermon, you know. Yeah and um and so I I I think I just was taken away from that too, so that I didn't dive too much into that subject of, you know, uh just so we know Psalm 37.4 says, Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart, which is a great direction to go uh there. And um, but I think sometimes when we read that passage, we sort of equate God to like Amazon Prime, you know. So if we spend time with God, our package will arrive in two to three days. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:56

Or like, let me put a few things on my wait list, and then while I pursue God, he's gonna give me the things on my wait list.

SPEAKER_00 3:01

Exactly, exactly. And and and um, but I obviously there's a lot more depth to it than that. And so in that closing moment, I think um he sort of took that away. But, you know, just as we talk about that and spend some time about that, I think I love the priority of this passage, delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Delight first, yeah, desire second, you know. And um, and it really is for uh you know, for us as believers, it it helps us to understand that we need to draw near to God, and it's not just okay, draw near to God, and then you'll get that red Ferrari, you know. But but what we what we begin to understand as we draw near to God that our desires change, you know, and actually our desires are changed by by God, you know. And so there's this amazing sort of interaction between those two, between, you know, um, delight and desire, and I love that.

SPEAKER_02 3:54

Well, I think it's really neat when you come to this passage that it just seems like those things are are aligned in this passage for Solomon.

SPEAKER_00 4:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:03

It just so happens that the thing that God really wanted to grant Solomon is the exact thing that he asked for that Solomon asks for. Yeah. You come to this and and God basically says, Hey, ask whatever that I want to give to you, right? And Solomon asks for the very thing that God delights to give him. And I love what God says. He says, I have done according to your words.

SPEAKER_00 4:25

That's right.

SPEAKER_02 4:26

Man, what an interesting phrase that is for God to say. So many times in our lives, we're attempting to do according to his words. Yeah. And that's the command of scripture. And here God says, I have done according to your words. And it's not just any words, it's done according to your words because now your words have aligned with mine. Yeah. You know, and I wonder like, how do we get more of that? How do we get more of the right alignment? Because something really awesome can happen in the life of the believer when our desire is aligned with God's. Like that's the unlocking of some really need direction that God wants to take us down. How do we get more of that?

SPEAKER_00 5:04

Well, you know, I think for me, um we always say, you know, and I even asked the question on Sunday, right? We always say we think of Solomon and what word comes to mind, wisdom, right? He asked for wisdom. Um, but he didn't ask for wisdom. If you, you know, the the exact thing that he asked for was an understanding heart, you know, and and I think that that there is that's a distinction with a significant difference, you know, not to say that ultimately that was wisdom, right? So, um, but but you know, we understand that bim biblical wisdom is not just information, you know, and and uh it's it's transformation. You know, there's something that that comes from that. And so um, you know, I think even um even Solomon understood as he's asking for this understanding heart, he's not asking for more information or data collection, you know. He's asking for, you know, when he says an understanding heart, he's realizing that all of this all of this comes from the heart, you know. So I think that's how we do it, you know. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:05

You know, there's another passage that stands out to me, very similar to this uh from John 14 and 16.

How To Get A Yes From God

SPEAKER_02 6:11

Jesus says, Whatever you ask in my Father's name, I will give to you. And uh that's another one that has this very confusing ring to it when we read it at face value. We think, right, well, that means that whatever I ask, right, you know, I will receive. Right. And and and you know, of course, I don't know that that's exactly Jesus' words, but um I remember preaching on John 16, maybe last year, a little bit earlier, and I kind of got to a segment where I said, Well, how do we get this yes answer from God that it seems like Jesus is promising here? You know, how do we get God to say yes? A lot of times in our prayer lives, um, there's things that we naturally pray for. I want to come back to that in a minute, of the things that fill our prayer life. But then sometimes we are discouraged that our prayer life doesn't go the direction that we had hoped that it would. Right. You know, we're praying for restoration and God chooses not to do that. Well, how do we then reconcile those requests, right? And uh, you know, it's it's this idea of how do we get this yes answer from God? I had three points I wanted to come back to because I think these are interesting. Okay, and they might seem um elementary, but I want to say them anyway. Sure. How do we get a yes answer from God? I think the first thing is we have to learn to pray some things that God would say yes to.

SPEAKER_00 7:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:25

You know, uh, it's the fun game that I play with my kids sometimes that are at still a young age where they ask for so many things. Questions are the things that drive me nuts in my children. Just and I'm trying to ask them sometimes, can you guys just stop asking me so many dad gum questions? You know, but they just love to ask me a ton of questions. And oftentimes it's things that they know I'm gonna say no to. Right. They know the answer to this already. It's nine o'clock, it's bedtime. Can we go to Culver's and get some ice cream? Absolutely not. You know the answer to that before you've even asked it. And so you recognize immediately that your desire does not align with my desire because the request doesn't align with something you know I would say yes to. That's right. Right. And so we have scriptures in front of us where God has given us his heart on display for us. He's filled every page with the love that he has for us and the beautiful design of life that he's given to us. And so there's all sorts of things that he already has granted us that we know he'll say yes to if we pray for it and if we seek his face. And so we need to fill our hearts and our prayer lives with some things that God would say yes to. Things like, God, would you grant me an opportunity to share your message with someone today? We know that he would say yes to that because that's what he's already designed us to do. That's right. Things like, God, would you forgive me for the way that I've transgressed you today? We know he'll say yes to that because he's already said that he would. Let's fill our prayer life maybe with more things that we know he'll say yes to. Absolutely. What do you think about that?

SPEAKER_00 8:53

Yeah, absolutely. I think um, you know, so often aligning our prayer life, you know, um with the Lord, I I think it's kind of starts with staying in his word. Yeah. Right. You know, the uh I there's something powerful. The scripture, you know, has a way of of realigning, you know, um our desires with with him. Uh and and even in that Psalm 37, 4, you know, all the context around that passage is wanting to spend time with God. You know, this is David talking about desiring to spend time with God, and you know, and and the more time we spend with him, the more, you know, his thoughts become our thoughts and his ways become our ways. And and um, but yeah, I think absolutely praying honest prayers, you know. Um, and and and and I think also I think of it like this in the same way that the the demon-possessed, uh, you know, the father uh who had a son who was demon-possessed, he and he went to Jesus and asked him, he said, you know, um, can you heal my son? And and uh, you know, uh, and and then Jesus' response was about belief, and he says, I believe, Lord, help my unbelief. Yeah, you know, and I think that's a big part of it too. Sometimes our our request just needs to be, and this is another one that he'll gladly say yes to, is, you know, help me want the right things. Yeah, you know, it just just I help my unbelief. I want the right things, help me to know what those things are and to ask for, you know. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 10:20

I've got two more. Sure. So, how do we get a yes answer from God? Okay. The second one is let's pray God's words back to God. Okay, we see examples of this all throughout scripture, but one of the most famous ones that I remember is Moses goes up on the mountain and has this mountaintop experience with God. And while he's receiving the law on Mount Sinai, God's people are down below building an idol, right? Uh, that they're not supposed to be doing. They get a little weary and they get a little tired and confused, and they can't remember where Moses went and what happened. So they give build for themselves an idol, and Moses comes back down, and God has this great moment with Moses where he says, Your people have done some really not great things, you know, while you've been up here, and uh, and so I'm gonna destroy all of them. Basically, just says, I'm gonna wipe them all out. And Moses prays back to God. He says, God, um, you know, you wanted to do this great nation. Your name is to be renowned. This is your people. Would you not do this? You know, can we can we can we not do this? And he kind of praised God's words back to God. There's a mission that you've set us on, and your name is you know connected with our name in this sense. And so, you know, can we can we can we have a different way? And uh and and God begins to relent, it says in that passage. And so uh I don't know that that's you know the best interpretation that I've given of this, but anyway, essentially just that Moses prays back to God, his own words, his own desires, and his own prayers. And uh, I think there's times where we can look at God's word, just like you've described for us there, and then we can pray God's word back to him. You know, God, I know that your word says this, I know that you've promised this, and so Lord, help me to see more of your word in my life. And God, help this to be the direction and the plan for how you'd like me to move forward here. And the more that we can kind of fill ourselves with God's word, and the more that our prayer life becomes infiltrated with God's word, uh, the more that I I think we'll begin to see that God's yes becomes uh a possibility for us.

SPEAKER_00 12:23

Absolutely. I think it, you know, so often, you know, and what what I don't want people to hear when we say this is don't come to God with your your requests and your petitions and your needs, right? That God clearly tells us to to commands us to do that, but that can't be the only thing that it's about. You know, it has to be about more than just our requests and just our petitions and just our our needs or our desires, you know. Um, and and unless your desire is to be changed by him. You know, sometimes it's not the object uh that's the problem sometimes. It's not what we're asking for, it's the order that we're asking for it sometimes. It's you know that we our needs above or ahead of his desires for us, you know.

SPEAKER_02 13:06

Yeah. Well, that's another example that I have with my kids quite often is just the idea that uh, hey, I'm not gonna worry about what you want before you've worried about what I want. Right. You know, I think a lot of times it's it's also a refocusing of what is a need in our life. You know, there's a lot of times we pray for things that we really think are needs. I want to come back to this again in our next segment, but um it's reshaping what is really a need. I think when we can start with God's yes and start with his word, we begin to reshape and refocus what our needs and what are the things that we actually should be praying for. You know, absolutely. All right, last one. Ask it, right? But let God say yes to it. Okay. And there's there's a little portion of waiting that's involved sometimes in waiting for God's yes and trusting in God's heart. Yes, trusting in God's yes. And so uh sometimes uh we need the opportunity to relinquish the yes to him, right? It's uh it's his desire to do it for us. Scripture says uh that you care for your children, how much more so would God care for his children, right? And so we know that he is a good God that wants to bless us and wants good for our lives. That's right. And we need to relinquish the yes to him. Sometimes we pray for it, and then the next day, rather than waiting on God to provide the yes, we're like Abraham and Sarah that go out and try to form our own way of getting our yes, you know. We're strategizing our own way of how to accomplish it in advance of God, you know. And so if we're gonna relinquish it to God, let's let him provide the yes.

SPEAKER_00 14:36

Yeah, and I would add to that, like, you know, a no, uh oftentimes a no is is not punishment from God, it's it's preservation, it's it's mercy, you know, it's it's um, you know, it's his way of protecting us from something. You know, I've heard a saying before that says sometimes the you know, the the greatest punishment we can receive is receiving exactly what we ask for from the Lord, you know. And uh and so yeah, I think we have to be um you know waiting on the yes and be willing to wait as long as we need to for that yes. And if it's a no, we need to know that God is saying no, not because he hates us, but because he loves us, he cares about us, you know.

SPEAKER_02 15:15

Or it's a yes framed in a way that we never imagined would be possible, you know. Yes. And so those are things I think I don't know, we kind of have expanded on it a little bit in in the idea of thinking about what our prayer life is connected to this passage, but let's come back to this passage a little bit and back to the message.

Humility Starts The Path To Wisdom

SPEAKER_02 15:32

And you know, you did a really awesome job unpacking it on Sunday. A lot of great things we could go back to, but what what's maybe one part or one section that you would want to go back to and spend a little bit longer on?

SPEAKER_00 15:42

Um, you know, I think that uh if I it was the first, the first um part, and it's the simplest to understand. I think, you know, that that wisdom begins with humility. You know, Solomon's saying, I am but a little child, I do not know how to go out or to come in. You know, I I think that um, you know, one of the things that I kind of my eyes were open to, and because it's been I don't know how long since I've actually read and studied this passage. So that's what I love about you know sermon prep, especially when Pastor David invites me to preach, is it's not something I would like normally pick or choose to study. And so, but it opened my eyes so much to, you know, um, even at this young tender age of we don't know exactly, but probably his early 20s, you know, um, there was such a hum humble heart that that Solomon had, you know, and his there were there this moment where he understood that the assignment was bigger than his ability, you know, and uh and and and understanding, and this is the part that I would spend more time sort of unpacking, is that, and I think because it's directly in confrontation to the message of especially the American dream and and what we tend to teach here in Western culture, but that that weakness is not uh uh or excuse me, a lack of understanding or or a lack of um, you know, this idea that the assignment is bigger than our ability is not weakness, you know. That's um it's dependence. It's it's it teaches us dependence on uh the Lord. And so, you know, Solomon's hum humility wasn't a flaw, you know. It was uh um, as the quote from Spurgeon, you know, it was the doorway to the temple of wisdom, you know, and um, and so often we don't have that humble and contract spirit, you know. We have this, you know, roll our sleeves up and solve this problem. Even like you just said, you know, it's like we we we don't get that yes from the Lord, so we go out and try to figure out a way to do it, and all of a sudden we're hiring a midwife or something, you know. It's just crazy, you know. So yeah, I definitely would love to spend more time talking about that and drilling down. And we will, like in Life Group, you know, I mentioned, you know, that's uh one of the best times to spend more time on that is how often our dependency on God just falls short, you know.

SPEAKER_02 18:02

Well, and the humility of this request ends up being blessed with some great significance to us. Um, I think back to uh you know, God maybe desiring this for Solomon already. But we see now after this, Solomon is the author of much of the wisdom that we end up shaping our walk with Christ.

SPEAKER_00 18:24

That's right.

SPEAKER_02 18:24

You know, the the lens through which we shape our walk with Christ, uh, the the the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, much of the wisdom text, like we call it, yeah, comes from Solomon, and it's as if God already had that plan invested for him and and teed up for him. Yeah. And as he seeks the Lord and humbly requests this, you see God begin to bless that request and and and use him in a really powerful way and uh give him great purpose in life.

SPEAKER_00 18:51

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 18:52

Um, hey, one thing that touched me on Sunday is the connection between prayer and desire.

Beyond Health Money And Outcomes

SPEAKER_02 18:57

And we kind of already have gone in that direction a little bit, but just maybe spinning prayer in a different direction here. Um, a lot of times people will ask uh questions like, um, hey, how can I pray for you? Or we we do prayer requests and things like that. I'm curious, you know, you've you've probably had this as a pastor several times, but like somebody that just is a great member of a church, great prayer warrior in the church, and will email you or text you and just say, Michael, I'm praying for you. How can I pray for you? What typically fills that note when you get that request?

SPEAKER_00 19:29

Well, I think uh I definitely try not to make it like the laundry list of things that are right in front of my mind, you know, like and what I mean by that is like all those requests and petitions and you know, um, but but again, uh I I tend to um especially if I know someone that I know is a prayer warrior and they're gonna go speak to the Lord on my behalf, you know, I ask for transformation, you know, and um, you know, and formation, you know, I think um uh those are the things that I need the most in my life. Um I I'm by not even by a mile, you know, have it figured out. And so, you know, God is still transforming me and and making me into uh something new. So yeah, when people ask, that's that's usually the first thing I go to, you know.

SPEAKER_02 20:14

Yeah. I have a gentleman that's a pastor in Arkansas, and every month he texts me because I'm in his book, you know. And uh I think it's neat. I probably should start one of those. Right. Um, I haven't in my career so far, and that maybe it'sn't a bad sign for me, but I I I think it's so neat that that he does this, and he's very faithful to do it. His name is um Johnny Hutz Hutchinson. He's kind of a part of my family somewhere down the line, a second cousin married twice over. I don't know how that all works, but anyway, he is very faithful to pray for me. And every month I get a text from him that says, Hey, this is your morning. You know, what can I pray for you? And uh I it it scares me sometimes how empty my mind goes when that text comes my way to try and think of something that Johnny can pray for me. You know, now I I covet the prayers, but my mind often goes blank. And the one thing that does fill it most often is a prayer for humility. Worship ministry is one that's on display most of the time and can get carried away with whether or not my talents are enough and things like that. And so I definitely enjoy just a prayer for humility and for God to continue to be the focal point of my heart and desire. But but man, so often I'm kind of like, man, I don't even know what to pray for. And and and if I don't have something that's like a family member is sick or you know, the kids are going through something, or you know, then it's really hard for me to to think of that kind of thing. And that's often, I think, how our prayer life functions. We have a few very key things that are on the list.

SPEAKER_00 21:43

Right.

SPEAKER_02 21:44

And it's things like health and long life and financial needs.

SPEAKER_00 21:50

Right.

SPEAKER_02 21:50

And when we go to groups and ask for prayer requests, I can't tell you how often those are the only things we pray for. Right. Is health and long life. Life and financial needs. Right. Some sort of provision. Right. And when you look at this passage, it's those things that God says, thank you for not asking for asking for those things.

SPEAKER_00 22:13

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 22:14

That feels like a check to my spirit, like in a big way.

SPEAKER_00 22:19

Absolutely. Yeah, and I think when you think about you know, one of the most sobering thoughts for Solomon was that his wisdom, you know, did not remain forever. You know, uh, even as we talked about Sunday, you know, it's gotta be you have to be in a constant pursuit of wisdom. It's not a a gift that you just earn, but um, but yeah, it's uh it's it's a very sobering thought that that you could fall away or or never even ask for the right thing to begin with. Yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_02 22:48

Yeah, James chapter uh James chapter four, it says, you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly and you spend it on your own passions. That's right. And I think sometimes we are just so focused on the things that we think are needs in our lives, yeah, when really they're actually desires that are focusing us away from God. And when we don't receive those things, we're kind of confused why God's not blessing us when in reality God's saying, I want you to stop thinking and worrying about those things, trust me more and focus on me more, you know, because I have something better for you than all of these things that it is you're pursuing in life.

SPEAKER_00 23:23

Well, and it it it checks out. I mean, you think about I I refer to it as the tyranny of the urgency, right? But there's this there's this chart that talk, you know, that kind of this talks about this intersection between urgent and important. And there is a just a difference, right, between things in our life that are urgent and important, you know. And oftentimes that those those things, those daily provision, those, you know, those are the things that um are urgent, you know, because they're right in the forefront of our mind. So that's why it, but that doesn't make it important, you know, and oftentimes they're not, you know, uh comparatively, they're not important. And so, you know, I think the idea of we need to stop asking only for better outcomes, but also asking just to be better disciples, you know, just um, and again, so it's not to say don't ask for, you know, outcomes, but but so often all we do is ask for outcomes.

Learning To Pray Like Scripture

SPEAKER_02 24:19

Well, and you're already answering the next question I had for you, which is just like, how can we begin to elevate our prayer life? Yeah, beyond what is just right in front of us and into something that actually affects our relationship with Christ and our desire to live for others. Uh and one of the things that I would suggest is a survey of all the prayers that we get the chance to witness in scripture.

SPEAKER_00 24:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:46

You know, if you go back and read some of the intros to Paul's letters, chapter one, you know, through three, in many of the letters that Paul writes, the beginning of his letters often start with prayers for that church. Right. You know, kind of his desire thanking God for them, but also praying, you know, some some prayers over them. And in some of the most awesome ones, like in Ephesians chapter three, we begin to see that his prayer doesn't include a prayer for health and strength and financial need and long life. It includes that they would understand the knowledge of the love of Jesus Christ to the fullest degree, that that they would be drawn to him, that they would confess their need for him. And these are things that should begin to fill our prayer life maybe a little more as we survey the prayers of scripture and try to model and mirror the way that uh that that God would have us to pray. You know, uh the Lord's prayer certainly includes our ability to pray for um the needs of the day, uh, but only after we've prayed, uh, you know, praising and thanking God for who He is, you know, uh praying that God's will would be the number one priority in our life, you know, and asking for forgiveness for the ways that we've transgressed him so that we can forgive other people in the same vein, you know. And and then when those things are completed in our prayer life, we can begin to say, God, there are some things that I also kind of need, but I don't need 10 years of them. I just need today. I don't that's right. And can you just help me through today?

SPEAKER_00 26:20

Well, think about the prayer that Jesus prayed for his disciples, you know, such a beautiful prayer that he asked his father in heaven that that we would have the same kind of relationship with each other and with with uh Jesus and with the Father in heaven that he has with the Father in heaven and with the Spirit of God, speaking to the Trinity, you know. Imagine like that, you know, that that's a powerful thing, you know, that the Lord is asking for on our behalf. That that, you know, and there's nothing about that prayer that says change our circumstances, yeah, you know, that says meet our needs or provide our, you know, uh everything about that says change us, you know, and strengthen our unity with each other, if our if our unity as believers in Christ, uh as families, um, uh even just our connection with um, you know, the Father in heaven, if if all of those things were just a tenth of what the what Jesus, you know, the Son, the Father, and the Holy Spirit experienced, man, what an incredible blessing that that that would be for all of us, you know.

SPEAKER_02 27:31

For sure, for sure.

What Has Become Your Greatest Pursuit

SPEAKER_02 27:33

Hey, let's come back to the application, the so what uh from this past Sunday and where we can leave people and and what we want them to uh to carry away with them this week.

SPEAKER_00 27:42

Yeah, I think um, excuse me, obviously I would um you know drill down on this idea of um what he didn't ask for, um, you know, but I think if you if there's a question that we want to carry with us, or the question that I've been trying to carry with me in preparation for this is what has become my greatest pursuit? And I really, as I thought about that question, that question, I think that question matters is not what is my greatest pursuit, but what has become my greatest. And and I thought about that in the context of this tragic, this tragic knowledge, knowing that that Solomon did have this incredible blessing and this incredible gift, and that he did fall away from it because of his lack of pursuit, you know. And so asking this question, what has become my greatest pursuit um really has challenged me. And I hope that this what a lot of people will take away because where that passage really took me was to that, you know, it's why you know, we tend to ask questions like, why am I making or am I making wise decisions? Am I wise? You know, but underneath those decisions are desires, you know, and and that's what leads us to that place where oftentimes we are led away from the Lord, you know, because we don't pursue wisdom. We don't pursue, and more importantly, a pursue a relationship with Christ. So, you know, what has become my greatest pursuit is is frankly a very has been a very uh convicting question for me.

SPEAKER_02 29:18

I love so uh self-eval evaluating questions. I didn't say that right. So I need to evaluate my speech pattern. I love self-evaluating questions and and ones like that that help us daily to really think about the reality of what's in front of us.

SPEAKER_00 29:32

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 29:32

Um do we really believe what we say we believe is really real? You know, and does our life actually reflect what we will vocally profession? And so, man, what has become my greatest pursuit? You know, I say I pursue Jesus, I say I want to be a follower of Christ, but am I actually pursuing it? You you said something on Sunday, I'm gonna quote you for a minute. Um you said, are we unplugged from God and plugging into other sources? Right. And uh, and I got this just vivid imagery of when people really seek wisdom today, some complicated thing going on, family problems, work problems, um, you know, uh whatever the the the issue is that's right in front of us. The majority of what we choose to do to seek wisdom is oftentimes to seek another podcast voice, right? Another personality, an influencer, another influencer, yeah, another maybe friend or somebody else that can add the voice. And those things can be fine supplements to the voice of God that leads us, but too often our number one thing is not to go, God, what are you trying to do here?

SPEAKER_00 30:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:46

You know, uh, we're trying to get advice from every other source, and we're so plugged into other sources that we're almost unplugged a little too much from what God is trying to teach us and how he's trying to lead us. I just got this very vivid imagery of that when you shared that. I thought that was really, really uh very wise.

SPEAKER_00 31:04

Well, thank you. I I feel like it, you know, the the the most common mistake that we make there is that we in our mind we feel like we have an uh an unlimited amount of connections, and we just don't. We are finite humans. We have only a finite amount of bandwidth, of, of brain, of heart, whatever you want to call it, um, to give away to to whatever it is, whatever the pursuit uh that we're in. And so far too often what happens is this thing that we're pursuing that's urgent but not important, you know, we we start out reallocating other resources that we were giving to the Lord and to attempt to time with him, and we start to give to those other things. So it's not just that we go after these things, we actually start to take away from our connection to God in pursuit of these things. And sometimes they're even good things, like you said, friends and you know, things like that, but but it takes the place of the ultimate source and the ultimate friendship.

SPEAKER_02 32:04

Yeah. Well, just bringing it back to uh Proverbs 9, Solomon's own words, you know, where he says, uh, you know, the the the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Yeah. And uh you said on on Sunday, you kind of rephrased it. You said, when God becomes the greatest desire for your life, wisdom follows. You know, yeah. And that's the pattern of pursuit when we're trying to think through uh problems in our life, needs that we have in our life, when we're trying to pursue uh knowledge and wisdom, you know, the idea is that it begins with a heart that's transformed by the grace of Christ and in pursuit of God, right? You know, with with Him as the number one goal. Uh wisdom's not a collection and an accumulation of knowledge. That's right. It's not even necessarily years or experiences in life. And you can go read the book of Ecclesiastes and find that in Solomon's life, all this accumulation of knowledge and years of experience, it doesn't create wisdom. Sometimes we think age creates wisdom, it doesn't always create wisdom. Experience doesn't always create wisdom. Pursuit of the Lord and his uh ways for us, that's really what does it. And so um it's it's about surrender before it's about strategy.

SPEAKER_00 33:12

Absolutely. Yeah, experience is experience. You know, information is information, experience is experience, but wisdom is ultimately equals relationship with God.

SPEAKER_02 33:21

Yeah. Hey, Michael, thanks for helping us slow down and spend some more time on it. This was a great message, a great passage to glean some things from. And so um, I hope that you've enjoyed slowing down and taking a few extra minutes to sit with it. And uh I would just pray that as you would listen to this, maybe you share it with somebody that's a friend that might need to hear this as well, and y'all spend some time together in your relationships this week, uh, talking about how God would like us to pray to Him, talking about how we can gain wisdom through His Word. And uh, we pray that you would enjoy taking 10 more minutes. We'll see you next time.