Will You Buy Me A Chimney?

^{1 kings 3:10} The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 

Some time ago I was away from home for two weeks. Whenever I called home my four year old daughter would make sure that she had her turn at the phone. I am certain that she was completely unaware that the tenor and thrust of our conversations were almost always the same. They went something like this; 

Her: Daddy, where are you? 

Me: I have travelled for work 

Her: Daddy, you are taking (soooo) long. 

Me: I will be back soon. What did you do today? 

Her: Daddy are you far away? 

Me: Yes, but on Sunday I will be back. What did you do today? 

Then she would sweetly ask. 

Her: Daddy, will you bring me a present? 

Me: Yes, I will get you a present. 

Thereafter I would overhear her excitedly telling her brother that I would buy her 'present for a princess!' Whatever that is. 

Monotonous as they were, I would actually look forward to having these conversations with my daughter. And even though I had no idea what she meant by 'present', her requests and non-response to my own questions were made funny because of her young age. 

However can you imagine the effect this same conversation would have if it were coming from an 18 year old? At best the 18 year old would be considered annoying, at worst immature.  

Most Christians love to apply the famous words of Jesus in prayer; 

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. ^Matt.7:7

Indeed this sounds a lot like what God told Solomon: 

 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” ^{1 Kings 3:5} 

Contrary to popular opinion this is not a blank cheque given to every Christian to ask for whatever they fancy. Some of our requests are downright immature. Others are plainly annoying. A few even embarrass the angels who have to deliver them to the King of Kings. 

How we ask and what we ask for matters a lot to God. Our asking shows whether we have learnt to love and honor Him and whether we want to be friends. He truly wants to be loved and honored by your life. And He does want to be friends. It’s just the way God is. 

When King Solomon prayed before God, the Lord was pleased with what he asked for. Contrast this with the following story from the bible. 

Now Adonijah, the son of Haggith, went to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother. Bathsheba asked him, “Do you come peacefully?” He answered, “Yes, peacefully.”  16  "Now I have one request to make of you. Do not refuse me.” “You may make it,” she said.   17 So he continued, “Please ask King Solomon—he will not refuse you—to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife.” (Full story in I Kings 2:13-25)

The long and short of it is that Adonijah paid dearly for his lack of discretion. Abishag was his late father's concubine and when word of his request reached the King 👑, he had him executed. 

As you reflect on what this might be mean for some of what we ask for in prayer, let me tell you another interesting moment I had with my daughter. 

I was walking out of Kenyatta market hand in hand with my daughter (and no, we had not gone there to eat meat!) when she spotted a chimney. 

Her: daddy 

Me: Yes 

Her: Will you buy me a chimney? 

Me: Aha, where did you see a chimney? 

She pointed me in the direction of the meat guys 

Me: (puzzled) why do you want a chimney for? 

Her: Daddy, you don’t know? 

Me: No. 

Her: When we have a chimney, Father-Christmas will come down the chimney at night and leave for me a present, just like in Peppa Pig. 

Flabbergasted I started to pull her away. 

Her: Daddy, the chimney! 

Me: OK. Let’s go and explain to mum first. 

Dear friends, there are many prayers in the vicinity of God's throne-room that  sound a lot like my four year old daughter. The angels are holding court and biting their fingernails because they are trying to figure out how best to present a grossly immature or self-serving prayer to the King of Kings. Other prayers are so outlandishly outside of God's purpose and capacity that in the heavenly courts, they sound no better than the conversation with my little girl. 

Let yours not be one of them. As was said of Solomon's request, so may it be said of your request; 

The Lord was pleased that _____________ (insert your name here) had asked for this. (1 king 3:10)