Solomon did not ask God for riches or fame or power – he asked for wisdom because wisdom will lead to riches which will give you power and can lead to fame. But you cannot gain wisdom without knowledge.
Jesus taught His Disciples
Matthew 5: 1, 2, “And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying…….,”
Matthew 13:54, “And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue…..….” The Apostles were able to turn the world “upside down” because they were well taught. Knowledge is important for ministry.
Knowledge leads to wisdom
Many of Apostles were fishermen; they had no college degree – Jesus took unlearned men and taught them – because knowledge leads to wisdom in ministry – Jesus empowered them with the knowledge needed for effective ministry then filled them with the Holy Spirit to give them power and boldness, Acts 1:8.
Note: It was not just the infilling of the Holy Spirit that made their ministry potent (successful) – King Saul was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied with the Prophets, yet he was a total failure.
Many people and churches receive the Holy Spirit and they are still struggling, still poor, not growing and full of major issues – Why? They have the Holy Spirit; they are anointed; they have boldness and power, but they lack knowledge and wisdom. The difference with the Apostles is that they possessed great knowledge which, when combined with the infilling of the Holy Spirit gave them boldness to pursue ministry with great knowledge.
We have the anointing, but lack knowledge.
In Numbers 22:28, the anointing came upon a donkey and it spoke in another tongue. Does this mean that the donkey is full of wisdom? NO! In the same manner beloved, the anointing is in the church, but the church is not operating in wisdom because it lacks knowledge.
God will work with what you have.
When it comes to ministry and fulfilling your destiny – God will work with what you have.
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Moses had a staff and with that God parted the Red Sea
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The poor widow had a cruise of oil and God used that to fill numerous vessels with oil – enough to pay off all her debts – 2 Kings 4: 1-7
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At the wedding in Cana – when they ran out of wine – all they had left was water – and Jesus turned the water into wine – John 2.
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The lad had five loaves of bread and two fish and Jesus multiplied that to feed over five thousand people – Matt 14.
God will work with what you have, the question is, “What do you have in your mind?”
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What knowledge do you possess in your mind?
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In other words, if you only have half knowledge of the Bible, you can only preach half of the Bible……and that is the thing that is killing small churches – lack of knowledge.
Why did God chose Paul as the leading Apostle in the New Testament?
Acts 9:15, Jesus said to Ananias, quote, “But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.”
Why Did God chose Paul to take the Gospel around the world? Paul was chosen because he was a very knowledgeable in the Word of God. His father was a Pharisee – He was trained as a Pharisee. He sat at the feet of a great Rabbi named Gamaliel. He knew the Torah and Hebrew Bible inside out and was able to use that knowledge to explain salvation. The importance of knowledge in ministry cannot be over emphasized.
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