A Wise & Discerning Heart

I love listening to people who have a lot of life experience, as well as a wise and discerning heart. These people don’t have to brag about their wise and discerning heart, it’s simply obvious. They are careful to listen before speaking. They have learned to keep their emotions in check before speaking as well.

I love the story of Solomon as it unfolds in the Old Testament scriptures. He was King David’s son and successor. When David was on his deathbed, he charged Solomon to follow the Lord fully and faithfully.  Solomon actually did honor the Lord and his Dad by following the Lord. Check this out….

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?” (1 Kings 3:3-9 NLT)

I love the Lord’s answer to Solomon’s prayer. He gave him what he asked for, but because Solomon didn’t ask for riches and fame, the Lord was pleased and actually gave him that too. He became known for his wisdom and understanding.

I’ve been praying for a wise and discerning heart for many years. I’m still learning to pray for wisdom and discernment every day. After asking the Lord for wisdom and discernment, I must listen when He gives it to me. If I’m operating within my emotional boundaries, I’m way more “calm, cool and collected”.  My emotions can cause me to cancel out wisdom and discernment. I do need my emotions to help me navigate, but they can also de-rail the facts of a given situation. My emotions tend to blow discernment and wisdom out of the water.   I want to walk in step with the Lord so that He can remind me when my emotions need to be checked as I navigate tough decisions. I want to walk with Him and let Him keep developing a wise and discerning heart in me.

Pressing On!

Dwayne