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You Are Allowed to Ask God for Wisdom - 1 Kings 3:5–14 · If Bibles Could Talk

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Imagine someone slides a literal blank check across the table
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: to you. But it's not just for cash. It's the
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: blank check for your life. Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah. You
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: can write in absolutely anything you want. And I think
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: for a lot of us, the immediate instinct is to
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  Speaker 1: write down a bigger salary or a massive promotion, maybe
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: endless vacation days. Right.
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  Speaker 2: Totally understandable.
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  Speaker 1: Exactly. But that is exactly the scenario detailed in the
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: personal note we're doing a deep dive into today. It's
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  Speaker 1: a reflection on that ancient story of Solomon in 1 Kings.
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  Speaker 2: Right, 1 Kings chapter 3.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, verses 5 through 14. He was handed that exact
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: blank check. And his choice completely flips our modern instincts
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  Speaker 1: upside down. So, okay, let's unpack this.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: Well, the core lesson we're really extracting from this reflection
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  Speaker 2: is about making decisions with humility. Because historically and literarily,
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: Solomon was told he could ask for whatever he wanted, right?
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: And the note contrasts our typical wish list, so wealth, power,
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  Speaker 2: a long life, It contrasts that with what he actually requested,
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: which really sets up the entire premise of our discussion today.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, he bypasses wealth entirely. He doesn't even ask for
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  Speaker 1: like raw encyclopedic intelligence.
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  Speaker 2: No, he doesn't.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: The source actually specifies that he asked for an understanding
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  Speaker 1: heart to govern well. But let's pause right here because
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: I have to push back a little bit on this. Oh, okay.
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: Let's hear it.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: Well, it's incredibly easy to praise a vague concept like
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: an understanding heart when you aren't struggling, right?
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: That's a fair point.
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: If someone offers me a massive salary right now, why
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  Speaker 1: shouldn't I take that over some abstract concept of wisdom?
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: I mean, we all have bills, we have career goals, stress.
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: Why is wealth or power such a bad choice in
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: this context?
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  Speaker 2: It's not that wealth is inherently bad at all. It's
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  Speaker 2: rather how it functions compared to wisdom. You see, raw
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: intelligence or sudden wealth, they can actually be dangerous if
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  Speaker 2: you don't know how to use them.
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: Like winning the lottery and going broke a year later.
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: Exactly that. You can possess a lot of facts or
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  Speaker 2: a massive amount of money and still make terrible decisions.
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  Speaker 2: An understanding heart implies empathy, discernment, and humility.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, I see.
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  Speaker 2: It's the ability to weigh human factors and foresee consequences.
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  Speaker 2: You're not just relying on cold logic or a fat
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  Speaker 2: bank account.
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  Speaker 1: But what does this all mean for us then? When
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: I was reading through the notes list of things we
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: usually crave, like more money, recognition, influence, or opportunities, an
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  Speaker 1: analogy came to mind.
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: Oh, I love your analogies. What is it?
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  Speaker 1: Asking for those things is basically like asking for more fuel.
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: You're just pouring gas into the tank. But asking for
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: an understanding heart, that is like asking for a fundamentally
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  Speaker 1: better engine.
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: What's fascinating here is how that exact distinction explains why
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  Speaker 2: wisdom is inherently more valuable.
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  Speaker 1: How so?
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  Speaker 2: Because money, recognition, and influence are just fleeting outcomes. They
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  Speaker 2: are highly circumstantial. I mean, fuel is fantastic, obviously, but
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  Speaker 2: it eventually burns up.
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  Speaker 1: Right. The tank goes empty.
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  Speaker 2: Exactly. If you just have the fuel of wealth, you're
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: stranded the moment the tank goes empty. But making decisions
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  Speaker 2: with humility and an understanding heart, that gives you endurance.
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  Speaker 1: Because the engine dictates how far you can go. Yes.
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  Speaker 2: A highly tuned engine dictates your mileage, regardless of what
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  Speaker 2: road you're on or how steep the climb gets.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: Okay, so bringing this to your daily life, think about
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  Speaker 1: a real-world scenario when you're faced with a tough choice
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  Speaker 1: at work or at home. Say you land a massive
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  Speaker 1: budget for a new project.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, good example.
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  Speaker 1: That budget is your fuel. You can burn through it
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  Speaker 1: pretty fast to get quick results, maybe chase that short-term recognition.
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: Very fast, usually.
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  Speaker 1: Right. But if you lack the engine, like if you
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: don't have the empathy or humility to manage your team properly,
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  Speaker 1: the project still crashes.
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: Which is exactly why the original text doesn't just stop
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: at having a good engine for your own personal joyride.
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: The note specifically highlights that Solomon's request was for an
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: understanding heart to govern well.
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  Speaker 1: Oh, right.
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  Speaker 2: Governing. The wisdom had an external purpose. It wasn't just
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: about making his own life easier. It was about handling
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  Speaker 2: the heavy responsibility of leadership. Which brings us to a
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  Speaker 2: really provocative question to walk away with today.
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  Speaker 1: Let's hear it.
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  Speaker 2: Does true wisdom require you to view your own daily
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  Speaker 2: choices as an act of governing your life? Wow.
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  Speaker 1: Governing your life. Right.
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  Speaker 2: That places a much heavier leadership level weight on our
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  Speaker 2: personal responsibility. We aren't just reacting to our circumstances anymore.
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  Speaker 2: We are actively governing our time, our resources, our relationships.
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  Speaker 1: That really reframes everything. When you view your choices as
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: governing rather than just surviving day to day, the need
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  Speaker 1: for an understanding heart becomes painfully obvious.
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  Speaker 2: It really does.
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  Speaker 1: So the next time you feel like you're staring at
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  Speaker 1: a blank check or, you know, even just a blank
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  Speaker 1: Tuesday afternoon, maybe hold off on asking for more fuel.
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: Look under the hood. Ask for the engine. Ask for
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  Speaker 1: the understanding heart to govern your life well.