A Solomon-like Prayer

"Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?"

- 1 Kings 3:7-9

This prayer from Solomon as he became king sounds a lot like my internal dialogue in the opportunities God puts in front of me. Who am I to do this, God? To care for these people? To work in a church? Help me, God! However, for me this usually remains as internal dialogue. Rarely do I turn it into prayer like Solomon did. Solomon was given power, prestige, and influence, and what did he do? He prayed. He acknowledged his inadequacy without God's help. And he didn't ask for the answers or what he should do, he asked for a discerning heart.

The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So Go said to him, "Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be."

- 1 Kings 3:10-12

As leaders, (and we are all leaders in some way) what would it look like if we started our days by asking God to equip us to carry out His work for the day? How might we have a greater impact on our family, jobs, relationships, church, and community? As I think more about this concept, it makes sense that if we start our day by centering our hearts in Christ and asking Him to guide us in our thoughts and actions we can be more effective in living out the purpose He's set before us. I too often approach my day and all that comes with it as something I can tackle if I just focus enough and work hard. It's kind of funny actually - that I sometimes think I can do God's work without consulting Him. No wonder we work so hard and stress ourselves out.

God never intended for us to do anything apart from Him. He wants to help us and we need Him to help us. Since processing this verse I've also been intentional about spending time in silence first thing in the morning, simply listening for God to speak, and then praying for what is to come in the day ahead - a Solomon-like prayer for a discerning heart for whatever I will encounter. This helps me to put the control back in God's hands because it's His anyways. That's quite a burden off of my shoulders that shouldn't have been there in the first place!