Reading: 2 Chronicles 1:6-13
When Solomon became King, he gathered all Israel, their commanders, judges and leaders before the Lord at Gibeon to offer sacrifices and inquire from the Lord before he embarked on a journey to build the temple. He did not appear before God empty handed; he offered a thousand burnt offerings before the Lord. His unreserved giving touched the heart of God until God visited Him that very night and asked him what he wanted. In other words, Solomon received a blank cheque from the Lord. It would have been an opportune time to ask for riches and fame but he overlooked that. He had enemies too and this could have been the best time to pray ‘dangerous prayers’ against them but he chose not to. He had a big family; many wives, concubines and children and would have spoken on their behalf for God to prosper them but that too he put aside. This is because he saw something greater that was worth God’s attention. All he had in mind was the Purpose of God in his life. He understood that his life was not just about him, he was King over God’s people and he couldn’t imagine failing God by not fully executing his God-given assignment.
What he wanted from God was not just about him. He had caught the Purpose of God for his life and he was so persuaded that if he would succeed in becoming what God had ordained for him, then that was all that mattered. He chose God’s need over his own, that’s why as unrealistic as it may seem, he asked for wisdom and knowledge so that he could rule God’s people in the very best way. Solomon did not fall for material things that are temporal. He instead chose the unseen, invisible eternal things of God. His dream was big, he had bigger thoughts than just himself as a person and that is why God gave him bigger and greater things than he asked.
I pray that like Solomon you will begin to see the bigger picture of your life. May your prayer items be big enough to accommodate the purposes of God in them. Enlarge your scope and make God’s agenda a priority in your prayer list. If you can rise above the ‘me, myself and I mentality’ in prayer and begin to groan for the bigger purposes and agenda of God, then like Solomon you will find yourself enjoying blessings that you never prayed for; because God knows what exactly you need.
Remember,you can never prioritize Kingdom matters over your needs and get it wrong. You cannot labour to touch the lives of God’s people in vain. Until you accept to be selfless, re-structure your perception and make up your mind to seek the Kingdom first, you will never enjoy the blessing of all the other things added to you. (Matthew 6:33). Whereas there is nothing wrong with trusting God for your personal needs, there is a higher and better place in God where you can stand in the gap to make sure that the purposes and agenda of God move and then receive a package of the things you needed but overlooked and never prayed for even once!
If you all you see is you and your many needs, ask and you will receive. If you ask for the ordinary and temporal things, so you will receive; but if you want the big and the extra-ordinary then allow the Kingdom to come first. I assure you, it will not be long before you start counting your blessings one by one. This is because whenever God is given priority, and He knows how best to honour you and add to you all the other things He already knows you need in this life.
Be wise.
