Pray Differently.

Has it ever occurred to anyone that the fact that Israel needed a king was something kind of---miraculous?
Yeah, it hadn't occurred to me either.
 ; )

But think about it. For a while there we were wondering where in the world the son was? "WHERE WASTHE PROMISED SON?!" we yelled and raised our hands in the air in impatient angst! "There is no son! You said there would be a son!!"

We waited we waited we waited.
Still no son.

But then all of the sudden, there was a son.

And then there were more sons. And sons and daughters and daughters and grandsons and great-great-grandbabies.

God had done what he said he would do.

Sometimes that's where I think it ends: at the point that God fulfills his promise. As in, once the fulfillment comes then that situation is no more.

But then last night I was reading in I Kings. David has just passed away, Solomon has been placed on the throne. And one night God appears to Solomon in a dream and says to him, "Ask for whatever you want me to give you." (I Kings 3:5)
Solomon doesn't do what I fear I might do. He didn't pull out his laundry list of all he needed the Lord to do for him.
No.
And I am sure the list was long.
He was king of Israel, for crying out loud! What kind of king doesn't have a long list? Ok, who am I kidding, what kind of human doesn't have a long list?

But no.  He didn't give a slew of requests.
He answers the Lord with, "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?" (verses 7-9)

So there Solomon was. In charge. Wanting not money, power, possessions, comfort, etc. He wanted wisdom to govern.

But wait. What was he in charge of in the first place? What did he need all that wisdom for?

He was in charge of God's promises fulfilled. He was in charge of the tangible showings of God's faithfulness.

Whoa. Isn't that nuts?

As in, contrary to what I think I thought for so long, there are after-effects to fulfilled promises. Like, God promised there would be people to fill the nation. And he gave people. Solomon was in charge of those people.
But then, here's the catch---people need governing.

There is work to be done as you dwell in the faithfulness; in the fulfilled promise.

I think about those people I know who felt that God has promised them a child. And for years it was nothing nothing nothing. But then, one day, there is a child.
Praise the Lord!
Ah...but then the reality sets in: Now you have to be a parent. And you have to be faithful to parent and train and teach that child.
It didn't just end with the fulfillment of the baby coming. Now there is work to do as you dwell in the faithfulness.

Or what about when you pray for God to provide you with work, a house, a ministry, a circle of influence, a relationship? Did it occur to you (because it didn't really for me) that then you will have to work, tend the house, spend a lot of time ministering, really watch how you live now as people watch you, and put probably more work than anticipated into that relationship?

So here is the thought: God's faithfulness usually demands a faithfulness from us in return. Because it's not just once and done.

Solomon knew this and that's what he asked for: the ability to be faithful to what God's faithfulness had given.

"Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you have asked..." (verse 11-12a)

Whoa. Not only was God initially faithful (i.e. we finally saw the son!), God proved himself generous beyond measure.
Why?
Because Solomon had the right heart.

Sometimes I don't think I have the right heart.
Because, if I think about it, I probably don't ask for wisdom, for discernment, for faithfulness to God's numerous faithfulnesses.
Instead, I find myself praying for those end results.
I pray for him to provide, to bring work, to clear up relationship issues or to bring relationships, to heal, to exact justice.
And no, these things aren't wrong to pray for. Not at all. I could tell you countless scriptures plotting out how to pray about these things; telling you in fact to pray for these things.

But. But...
Do I ever pray for the tools to use in a situation, rather than just the desired outcome?
Because what happens when I get the desired outcome? And find that I still have work to do?
Won't I wish I had prayed not only for the promise to be fulfilled, but for the tools to be faithful to the situation when God finally does indeed fulfill the promise?
Because I don't want to drop the ball then. Especially not as I dwell in tangible showings of God's faithfulness. 

Anyway. It has me thinking. Rather than praying for end results, praying that I can be faithful to the areas of my life he has already been faithful.
Think about it, Wolfies. Do we need to start praying differently?