His Glory My Joy, a blog of Author Luana Ehrlich

If I asked you, “What can I give you?” you might not be as excited about the prospect of getting something from me as you would be if God Himself were to ask you that question.

After all, this is the God who made heaven and earth, who created man from a handful of dirt, who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, who speaks with the voice of thunder, who is sovereign over all His creation.

While it may sound like I’m engaging in a spiritual fantasy, this actually happened when David’s son, Solomon, was anointed King of Israel. The account is in I Kings 3. At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.” I Kings 3:5.

Pastors and Bible teachers often use this question to get their listeners to ask themselves what they would do in this situation. “What would you say if God offered to give you anything? What is one thing you would ask God to give you?”

Although there are always some humorous answers like, “I’d ask Him for fifty more things,” most answers aren’t of a selfish nature. In moments like these, most believers focus on eternal values.

Here’s what Solomon answered: “Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?” I Kings 3:9.

Some might think God would just naturally give Solomon all he needed to do the task he had given him, and Solomon had just wasted this request by asking for wisdom. But how did God feel about it? “It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this.” I Kings 3:10.

It pleased Him because before Solomon asked for wisdom, he acknowledged he was humbled to be chosen as King of Israel, but he felt inadequate for the task and could only accomplish it by God’s help.

As unique as it sounds, Solomon wasn’t the only person to be given the opportunity to ask something of God. Jesus said to all believers in Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”

Like Solomon, God will be pleased to answer your request if you come with a heart of humility and selflessness, acknowledging your inadequacies, and trusting Him to answer your request in a way that honors His name.

“What can I give you?” asks God the Father, who has already given us His Son.