“Give me now wisdom and knowledge to go out and come in before this people, for who can govern this people of yours, which is so great? God answered Solomon, “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked for possessions, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, and have not even asked for long life, but have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may govern my people over whom I have made you king, wisdom and knowledge are granted to you. I will also give you riches, possessions, and honor, such as none of the kings had who were before you, and none after you shall have the like.”
-2 Chronicles 1:10–12
This is a parallel passage to 1 Kings chapter three, and it’s one of the most famous parts of Solomon’s life. When at the beginning of his leadership as king, he asked for one thing from God: for wisdom and knowledge to govern his people well. Out of all the things he could have asked. Imagine you are entrusted with leadership of an entire kingdom, and you have one thing that you ask for. Is this what you would ask for? It’s what Solomon asked for, and it is pleasing to God.
We pray that you’d be pleased and honored in our desire for it, and you would answer us, for not just to our sake, but for the sake of those around us, whose lives we affect.
God says, “Because this was in your heart, and not for more possessions or wealth or honor, or the life of those who hate you. You’ve not even asked for long life for yourself, but you’ve asked for wisdom and knowledge for the good of others, I’m going to give you that and more.” Even when I think about reading recently in James chapter one, just brings this passage right into our laps. Because God tells us in the New Testament that he will give wisdom to everyone who asks. He will give it generously to us if we just trust him to give it to us.
And so it’s a no brainer, we pray right now, today, oh God. Out of all the things we could ask for, we pray today for this one thing. And we pray that you’d be pleased and honored in our desire for it, and you would answer us, for not just to our sake, but for the sake of those around us, whose lives we affect. God, we pray for wisdom. We pray for knowledge. We pray for discernment in each of our lives. And we praise you for your promise to give it. We look at all that’s in our lives, on our plates today, and we say, “We can do nothing without you, and we don’t want to do anything without you.” We need your wisdom in our lives, in every decision we make. God, deliver us from ourselves, from our foolishness.
God, we pray for wisdom in every interaction we have, and every decision we make, and every thought we have, and every desire. God, we pray for wisdom. Lord, help us to live today with wisdom. Help us to lead others according to your wisdom. We pray for your wisdom in our lives for the good of others, just as you gave Solomon wisdom for the good of those he would lead.
God, even as we pray that, we pray for leaders around us. We pray that you would give them wisdom. God, we pray for leaders in our countries. We pray for leaders in our states or provinces, God, for leaders in our communities. God, we pray for leaders in our churches. God, they all need wisdom from you. We pray for wisdom from you, and God, we praise you as the generous giver of wisdom. So we pray that you would lead us today by your wisdom in us, by your spirit, the spirit of wisdom in us.
God, help us to live and lead today with knowledge and discernment, with discretion, with understanding, with wisdom that comes from you. Not with the wisdom of this world, but with the wisdom that comes from your spirit, according to your word. We pray for this today. We pray for this, in Jesus’ name, according to 2 Chronicles, chapter one. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
