What will you ask for? | Pst. J.O. Lawal

Date: June 30, 2021 | Series: Youth for Jesus | Number: Vol. 4, No. 7

“The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”” (1Kings 3:4-5NIV)

Often people pray or wish that they would be connected someday to some great, influential, powerful or important person that will do something for them that will change their stories or lives forever. And nothing is wrong with that. But what many do not understand is that having our lives changed forever goes beyond meeting some great person in life; it also involves knowing what we need any great person that we are privileged to meet to do for us. I am saying this because there are people who meet everyday with certain persons that could be used by God to change their lives forever but who don’t just know how to use such meetings to better their lot in life.

For instance, there are people who sit down day after day to wine and dine with their rich or influential friends. These ones are satisfied with going from party to party or club to club with these people and have them buy all kinds of expensive food, drinks or cars for their enjoyment. But their brains have never opened for once to ask them to use the money being wasted on them to support them in some profitable ventures, which will take them away from the realm of being unduly dependent on others and make them become responsible persons too. And those brains may never open until that door of opportunity is closed against them. Then they will start saying, “I wish I had asked for something better when that person was still with me.”

So, it is not just about having access to individuals who could give you a serious lift in life; it is also about knowing how to legitimately use that access to benefit your life. Otherwise, even if God Himself should visit you, you would still not know what to make of that visit.

Look at King Solomon, for example. As we are shown in our opening bible text, there was a time God paid him an unexpected visit. And to his surprise, He asked him a very simple question, which was, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” That is like giving someone a blank cheque to fill. How much would he write on it? That, of course, would depend on what he knows about the worth of the person in question.

But we are dealing with God here, the creator and owner of all things. Therefore, when He asked Solomon to ask Him for anything he wanted, He knew that there was nothing he could ask for that would be too much or unavailable for Him to give. It was up to the man, then, to think carefully about what he needed from Him and to ask.

Now, as God would later say, Solomon could have asked for long life, wealth or the death of his enemies. And He would have granted his request. But if he had asked for any of those things, he would have wasted that very rare opportunity that God was giving him to change his life and story forever. Thankfully, he did not ask for any such thing. Instead, he asked for wisdom and a heart of discernment to make the most of his position at that time as king. (Cf. 1Kings 3:6-9)

Therefore, God not only commended him for asking for the right thing, He also told him that He would give him more than he had asked for. He was going to give him wealth and honour in addition to a wise and discerning heart, which he had asked for. And that was what changed the man’s life and story forever. Yes, that was what made his name become a household name, even centuries after he had lived and died.

Do you want your life and story to change too? Then learn to ask for the right things in life. Learn to ask for those things that will enable you to make the most of your current circumstances in life to rise and shine. And those things may not even be money, a car, a house of your own or the death of your enemies. What you need may just be an opening of your eyes to a job to do, a trade to take on, a skill to acquire or some course to study. Whatever it is, the only person that can make you know it is God Himself. So, pray to Him that He will enlighten your heart thoroughly about that very thing you need to do to change your life and story forever. And He will answer you. Then, when the opportunity of support to do it comes, you will know the right request to make.

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