6.3 Solomon's Prayer

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2. The true basis for prayer – God’s faithfulness
This comes out in 1 Kings 3:6-8 where Solomon reflects on God’s goodness in the past. ‘You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David,’ he says ‘because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.’
Ebenezer! Up until now the Lord has been good. When in 3:8 Solomon says ‘Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number’ he is clearly alluding back to the promise made to Abraham right at the beginning (Gn 16:10). So Solomon is praising God for his great faithfulness. It also encourages him to pray boldly. It ought to encourage us too. None of God’s promises will ever fail. He is the faithful God.
‘For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘Yes’ in Christ. And so through him the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God.’ (2 Co 1:20)
When I was a boy one of my uncles used to enjoy playing with his nieces and nephews. He used to promise my cousin Kim that when he married she would be his bridesmaid. As it turned out, when he did marry she was not his bridesmaid and there was some resentment about that. On reflection, he should never have promised. Better not to make a promise than to break it. Now God is never like that. All his promises are yes and amen in Christ. Not one of them will ever fail. In the words of a children’s chorus

Jesus is a faithful friend,
One on whom you can depend.
He is faithful to the end.
Fix your eyes upon him.

3. The true concern of prayer – God’s people
There is something to learn here too from Solomon and his attitude. Look at 3:7-9. Solomon humbly acknowledges that God has made him king in place of his father David ‘But’ he says ‘I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties.’ This is the situation (8,9) ‘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?’
Solomon is not concerned at all about himself. His one great concern is the people of God and how to govern them. Now here is a good test. If I say to you what would you ask for if you were in Solomon’s position, what is your answer? It is difficult to answer the question honestly once you know the story but the question is, ‘Would your concern be chiefly for yourself or for the people of God?’ Ralph Davis says that when he asked his young son the question he had no hesitation. He wanted Astroturf!
I know that Solomon was in a particular position having been made king but the question is still worth pondering. Your chief concern ought to be not yourself or your own family but the people of God. That is something that the very order of the Lord’s Prayer teaches us. Are you concerned about your local church? Are you concerned about the needs of the people of God worldwide? Churches are being attacked and Christians persecuted in various places – are you concerned?

4. The true goal of prayer – God’s pleasure
Finally we focus on 3:10-14. Verse 10 is quite a wonderful verse really. I suppose it could have said something like ‘And the Lord did what Solomon asked’ or ‘granted his request’. That could sound like someone with a rubber stamp approving a planning application. In fact it says ‘The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this.’ The Lord goes on to tell Solomon this – ‘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. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be, etc.’
Could there be a more perfect conclusion to a story? It is not so much that Solomon got what he asked for but rather that God was pleased with what he had asked for. That is what we should be aiming at in our prayers. Are we? There is a popular phrase that politicians apparently use. They say ‘I’m glad you asked me that question’. Sometimes it is a lie and they are not glad at all. They say it just to give themselves time to think of an answer. At other times it is genuine because they have the answer already to hand.
There is something pleasurable about being asked a question you know the answer to, is there not? I remember doing a history examination a long time ago and seeing the question I had prepared (on Henry VII’s foreign policy). I was glad to be asked and it was a pleasure to write that essay. The Bible is willing to talk about the Lord in very human terms at times and perhaps that gives us a glimpse into God’s pleasure. We should ask God for what pleases him. Let us seek that when we pray.

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