"Want A Blank Check? ...check It Out!”

“Want A Blank Check? ...Check It Out!”

1Kings 3:3-15

3- Solomon loved the Lord and followed all the decrees of his father, David, except that Solomon, too, offered sacrifices and burned incense at the local places of worship.

4- The most important of these places of worship was at Gibeon, so the king went there and sacrificed 1,000 burnt offerings.

5- That night the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, “What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!”

6- Solomon replied, “You showed great and faithful love to your servant my father, David, because he was honest and true and faithful to you. And you have continued to show this great and faithful love to him today by giving him a son to sit on his throne.

7- “Now, O Lord my God, you have made me king instead of my father, David, but I am like a little child who doesn’t know his way around.

8- And here I am in the midst of your own chosen people, a nation so great and numerous they cannot be counted!

9- Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great people of yours?”

10- The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for wisdom.

11- So God replied, “Because you have asked for wisdom in governing My people with justice and have not asked for a long life or wealth or the death of your enemies—

12- I will give you what you asked for! I will give you a wise and understanding heart such as no one else has had or ever will have!

13- And I will also give you what you did not ask for—riches and fame! No other king in all the world will be compared to you for the rest of your life!

14- And if you follow Me and obey My decrees and My commands as your father, David, did, I will give you a long life.”

15- Then Solomon woke up and realized it had been a dream. He returned to Jerusalem and stood before the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant, where he sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings. Then he invited all his officials to a great banquet. (NLT)

It’s a different kind of blank check the Lord will be giving us.... “I will give you what you asked for! And I will also give you what you did not ask for—riches and fame! No other king in all the world will be compared to you for the rest of your life! I will give you a long life.”

“What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!” v.5

WoW!

What a question and what an answer.

Asking God is our greatest Christian privilege but — we may as well admit — our greatest Christian failure. All of us need to learn to ask more and to ask better. But one of the reasons we don't ask better than we do, or any more than we do, is that we have questions about our asking itself. These questions cause us uncertainty. Then our uncertainty sometimes neutralizes us and we become hesitant about asking. I believe God isn’t just about asking what we need or giving us ‘things.' Those are no big deals to Him. What He wants to deal with is the state of our heart. Are we dependent on Him? or do we have all these other agendas or channels of provision and support? Our God does not exist to fulfill our every whim. As a matter of fact, if He gave us everything we ever wanted or thought we needed, we’d self-destruct. As we begin this newyear, what more important commitment could we make than to commit ourselves more to prayer and to asking? If we're going to have a breakthrough in our personal lives, impact our families, our nation, and our world in these critical days, the prayer of asking is where it begins. And asking begins with a blank check God is offering to each of us that is present this day. God is Offering us now A Blank Check. LET US ALL CHECK IT OUT! Are we qualified to receive such checks for this year? Then let’s check it out!

1- Check Your Devotion vv.3-5

"...showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the instructions given him by his father David,"

*devotion is a state of being devoted based on our love to the Lord. The demonstration of devotion can be seen in giving, in offering. by living. See how Solomon’s devotion is; he carried it in his sleep, and God appeared to him in a dream! And when God asked him? He is ready for his answer. He cared less of himself. He cared for the building of the Temple and how to govern “God’s people” according to what he had observed his father King David does it. He had seen how God prospered David and God’s kingdom. King Solomon is going after the jugular of his devotion to God. The bulls-eye of his passion.