1 Kings 3:5 (NKJV)
“At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, ‘Ask! What shall I give you?’”

One of the biggest blessings we have is the privilege of asking whatever we want of the Living God. He says we should ask and we would receive. This opportunity is given to all of God’s people. But what if God granted you a more special honor than that?

What if God came to you specially and asked you directly to ask Him for anything you wanted? What if this request came out of an encounter with God that was designed just for you? What would you ask for?

Today, we won’t be looking at what to ask, but at what to do before you ask. Before making a request to the Lord, there are two important precursors. Let’s try to remember and practice these two things each time we are asking God for something.

The first is to review God’s faithfulness to you. Review your journey with God. Look back and see how God has been working in you and your pilgrimage up to the present time. Reviewing creates an atmosphere of thanksgiving and appreciation.

Thankfulness is truly thankfulness when a personal, honest assessment happens. Often, we give God thanks in general but never with specificity. While God will appreciate any thanksgiving, specificity adds great value to our thanksgiving.

Secondly, review yourself. Look at yourself candidly vis where you currently are, what is expected of you in life, and where you sense God is taking you. This assessment, if truly done, will reveal your incapacities and inability to execute God’s vision for you.

The truth is that we often think of ourselves more highly than we really are. Part of human nature fears admitting weakness or need, and therefore, we often amplify our strength to make us feel worthy and able. But this is not a good way of approaching life.

Look at Solomon. When God gave him the “blank check” to ask for anything he wanted, he first went on a journey of thanksgiving, going back to mentioning God’s faithfulness to his father David even before God’s faithfulness to him (v.6). He stopped to review.

And then he went on to review his own weaknesses, pointing out that he was only a “little child who doesn’t know his way around” (v.7 NLT). Remember that Solomon was already the king, yet he admitted he didn’t know what to do. This was brutal honesty.

Before making any requests, let’s first approach God with honest thanksgiving and sincere confession of our weaknesses. This attitude will create the right environment for making our requests and drawing God closer to us.

@ChineduOranye
RestlessPilgrim.org