Studies on Prayer: Vol. 1Sample

We have massive amounts of information in our culture, driven and provided by a worldwide network and available to us in the time it takes to type a thought on a search line. Knowledge is important, but wisdom is needed to know how to process knowledge into the answers we need. Proverbs 4:7 says, “The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it costs all you have, get understanding.”

Scripture teaches us to pray for God’s wisdom, knowing that His answers are always the perfect understanding for the information we have accumulated.

King Solomon was the second son of King David and Bathsheba. He found favor with his father and with God. Israel reached the highest point in its history under Solomon’s leadership. It took Solomon seven years to build the temple on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem, and it became one of the wonders of the ancient world. He also built an impressive palace, gardens, roads and other important cultural institutions. He amassed a large army and increased trade with other nations. King Solomon became the wealthiest king in the world but achieved his position at the expense of his fellow Jews and by occasionally compromising godly principles. It is sobering to consider how the history of Israel would have been altered if Solomon had always remained faithful to seek God’s wisdom rather than trusting his own, or the wisdom of others.

We pray knowing God’s ideas are perfect, but we also pray knowing that God’s ideas don’t always seem perfect. It is often necessary to lay down our best logic to pursue God’s wisdom instead. God told Noah to build an ark. God told Joshua to cross into the Promised Land when the Jordan River was at flood stage. God told David to leave Saul’s armor behind. God told Gideon to send most of his troops home. Scripture is full of these stories of faith, none of which are stories of human logic.

That’s why we pray. God’s wisdom transcends our ability to process information. His answers are perfect and we pray so that we won’t choose to settle for less than His wisdom. Pray for that wisdom before you proceed with the lesson.

1. Why did Solomon find favor with God? What behaviors would God oppose? (1 Kings 3:1–3)

2. When, where and why do you seek God’s presence and expect Him to speak to you?

4. . King Solomon died a wealthy, successful king but came to understand, in his later years, that he had misused his blessings. Read Ecclesiastes 12:11–14. What would King Solomon teach us today about how to pray and how to be faithful stewards of our answered prayers?

“The Divine wisdom has given us prayer, not as a means whereby to obtain the good things of earth, but as a means whereby we learn to do without them; not as a means whereby we escape evil, but as a means whereby we become strong to meet it.” —Frederick William Robertson