PRAY FOR.....DISCERNMENT

7 On that night God appeared to Solomon, and said to him, “Ask! What shall I give you?” 8 And Solomon said to God: “You have shown great mercy to David my father, and have made me king in his place. 9 Now, O Lord God, let Your promise to David my father be established, for You have made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude. 10 Now give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great people of Yours?” 2 Chronicles 1:7-10

If God were to offer you the opportunity to ask anything of Him and He would grant it, what would your request be?  The Lord Himself offered the same to King Solomon, who the Bible called the “wisest man in the world”. Solomon did something which most human beings would never do, but should. He asked for “BIYN” – the original word for “discernment”.

      When you think of all that people would ask for in today’s world: a million dollars; a new car; a house by the beach etc. etc….to ask for the ability to discern would be the last thing people in the 21^st century would ask for. Yet as we mature as Christians, it is indeed the perfect request. The general dictionary definition of Discernment is basically this: insight based on an acute sense of judgment  and understanding. The Christian definition of discernment is a little more involved. It is the ability to not just THINK biblically, but to understand what the Scriptures are saying and apply it to daily life.

We pray for Wisdom and acquire it from God through His Spirit, Study of His Word and Prayer. The ability to take this wisdom and apply it with a certain degree of effectiveness, is discernment. Godly Discernment can only come from an intentional daily walk and pressing in to the Source of all Goodness, Power and Wisdom – Almighty God! It comes from practicing in our bodies and lives what 1 Thessalonians 5:21-22 instructs us to do: “Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil”.

This means:

-           -  Test all things: i.e. using all our God-given wisdom, tested by experience, prayer and the Bible, to discern what is true and what is of God, when faced with a live situation or circumstance.

-           -  Hold fast what is good: i.e. once you and I have discerned the right course after testing all things,  we hold on to it. We camp there. We stay the course in the righteousness of Christ.

-           -  Abstain from every form of evil: i.e. this then becomes easy, because our holding fast to righteousness after solid discernment warns us off evil temptation and tight spots…and thus, all evil.

What an amazing thing God has done for us! He graciously imparts His Wisdom in any size dose as we can handle then as we pray through this wisdom and worship Him and ask, He gives us His “biyn” – discernment to “work out our salvation”, thereby living the wonderful Christian life to maximum effect!

Father,  we thank You are a good, good Father Who gives good things to all who ask with a repentant and clean heart. We know Your Wonderful Eyes travel to and fro across the entire earth in search of those same hearts who are loyal to You.  We pray right now that You search our hearts and cleanse us from all impurity that we may be found worthy to receive Your Holy Wisdom, the Oracles of Heaven which represent such an amazing benefit of belonging to You and the Kingdom of Heaven. Thank You for drawing us even closer that we may come into our own, discerning the times and the trials and tribulations that we may make decisions based on Godly principles, attitudes and applications completely reliant on Your Amazing Attributes, dear Heavenly Father. We are most grateful above all, for the Cross of Christ which has enabled us to be reconciled to You, so that any of this could even happen in the first place! Thank You, oh God, thank You to the highest and most glorious praise, in the Name of the One Who gave it all that we may be free to serve You – the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.

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