Most Generous Lord, You have given Yourself and many of Your good gifts to me which I do not deserve. You have given so much and asked for so little in return. If You asked me “What do you want?” My answer would probably be selfish or self-centered. I’m sure You would hope for the kind of response that Soloman gave You. You said to him, “Ask whatever you want me to give you?” His response was, “So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong.” Solomon in humility asked for wisdom so he could make good decisions. He asked for wisdom to do his job and he did not ask You to do it for him. What I need to focus on is what You want to do through me. I need Godly wisdom so I will know what to do and the courage and faith to do it. Help me resist asking for personal blessings instead of seeking Your will and the abilities required to carry it out.
To ask for a discerning heart is to ask to be able to see my circumstances through Your eyes. Wisdom is both the ability to discern what is my best course of action and the strength of character to act upon that knowledge. James tells me that “If any of you lack wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” Godly wisdom leads to putting You in the right place, having a meaningful life, and increasing my ability to tell right from wrong. I will never receive the wisdom I ask for if my motives are self-centered instead of God-centered. To be wise I must read Your Word regularly, meditate on it and seek guidance on how to obey it. I must then go about doing it. If I follow these steps, my actions will be right, meaningful, and beneficial. When I answer Your question “What do you want?” with a request for wisdom, I know I will get an enthusiastic endorsement.
The good news is that as a Christian I have been given the mind of Christ. It just needs to be activated by the Holy Spirit. By acting against my fallen, fleshly thinking causes me to be renewed in my mind and begin to act as You would. I believe that You have a good, pleasing, and perfect plan for my life. You want to see my life transformed so I will become compliant with Your directives. Because You want what is best for me and because You have made a new life possible for me, I should be elated and willing to offer myself as a living sacrifice. When my life is filled with You, I can be assured that I am doing the right things. I need help in discerning good from evil because bad choices seem to always turn my life upside down. If I live in accordance with Your will, I know that my life will prosper. All I am sure of is that I want more of You and I want to be more like You. And it’s in Jesus’ name I pray. AMEN!!
Philippians 2:5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.