In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee. And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee, and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day... Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people? And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life, neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies, but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment, behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart, so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days. [1Kings 3:5-6, 9-13]

There are different kinds of prayers going on today. Virtually everybody believes in at least some sorts of prayers of a kind. Prayers are being offered everyday and everywhere man is found. Go to the churches, you find all kinds of prayers going up by the Christians. Go also to the mosques, you will find the same thing happening – people saying their prayers. The Buddhist are praying, the Mormons are praying also. Even the juju and the traditional worshippers also have their own form of praying and incantations unto a form of god that they also believe in.

Get to the market, you find different people doing some forms of praying over their market. Go to the political rally, people there too are calling on God for help. Get to the schools, the offices, the shops..., some forms of prayers are also going on. Even today, you find different associations - association of tailors, association of different tribal groups --- everybody is offering different forms of praying.

There are revenge prayers, hypocritical prayers, cover-up prayers and wicked prayers. There are prayers offered just as a form of duty to fill up space, and there are religious prayers. There are the Pharisees kinds of prayers to show off in pretense. There are prayers offered to swindle men of what they have in their pockets. There are prayers to arouse you so that your head can swell and you would just do things without thinking. There are prayers of pride to exalt self and pull down others. THERE ARE DIFFERENT KINDS OF PRAYERS THAT PEOPLE PRAY. The question is which prayer will I offer, and God will be pleased, and God would be willing to answer because they are offered according to His will?

In 1Kgs 3:5-> Solomon had an encounter with God, he was given a blank cheque to ask whatever he desired in prayers, and he used it wisely. God was impressed by his petition, and his request has become a clear pattern for anyone today who wants to pray according to the will of God.

First of all, every prayer a man offers, is a reflection of who you really are. OUT OF THE ABUNDANCE OF YOUR HEART, YOUR MOUTH SPEAKS. So to offer acceptable prayers unto the Lord, YOU YOURSELF must first be an acceptable personality before the Lord. You cannot be an alien to the commonwealth of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and expect to be granted access into Gods presence as one of Gods children. The basis of acceptability before God, is that you must belong to Him. You must be born again. You must have given your life to Jesus Christ. IF YOU HAVE NOT DONE SO, THE FIRST THING TO DO, IS TO DO IT BEFORE YOU START MAKING PETITIONS TO GOD.

When God appeared to Solomon, God thought he would ask the common things that the majority of the people who pray today, NORMALLY pray about.

There are some Common prayers that men normally ask God for today. Gods books are so filled with all these common petitions. Men are so obsessed and overtaken with these kinds of prayers that that is what they preoccupy themselves with every time they approach God in prayers. God HIMSELF IS TIRED of all these kinds of requests because those requests are too light, they do not carry any weight, and yet that is all men are hungry for. These requests are reflections of the spiritual lifestyles of the people who ask them.

Vs.11 of our text reveals them:
And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life, neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies, but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment

Go to different prayer meetings, go to different night vigils, people are going to the mountain tops to go and pray, there are different prayer houses littered and scattered all over the city, it looks as if everybody has become prayer warriors already, but what kinds of prayers are men praying? – Common prayers, prayers that show and reflect their covetous hearts, prayers that seem to exalt self while disregarding the glory of God, selfish prayers, prayers that do not establish the kingdom of God on earth, prayers of ME, ME ,ME ,I, I, I… AND GOD IS TIRED!!! These prayers look great, but they are weak!!! They appear powerful, but they are too little…

Let us see these common prayers one after the other:

1. Long life:

"I shall not die”, “I must see my childrens children”, “no sickness will kill me”, ”I declare war against attacks, war against accidents”, “..., peace”, “...battle against devil...", “All these ember months- September, October, November…, they will not ember me…”

Friend, as great as LONG LIFE is, God says, there are deeper, higher things that delight His heart than all these. If you are walking daily in the perfect will of God, you dont need to be afraid of death, the promises of the Lord that NEVER FAILS already covers you, so why dont you go ahead and begin to long for, and desire Gods glory. Why dont you BEGIN TO SEEK YE FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND ITS RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND ALL THESE THINGS YOU ARE SWEATING OVER SHALL BE GIVEN AND ADDED UNTO YOU EFFORTLESSLY?

2. RICHES FOR YOURSELF…

“…oh, my helper must locate me this year”, “O God, enlarge my coast”, “bless my market, let the whole world know about me”, “Give me riches, blessings, breakthroughs”, “Increase my substance tremendously”, “This is my year of financial enlargement”, “Make me a millionaire…”, “I must spend Dollars this year…”, “I must travel out, I must live comfortably…”, “O Lord, my business,…HOT PRAYERS FOR INCREASED BANK ACCOUNT…”…AND AFTERWARD, YOU ARE GIVING TESTIMONIES EVERYDAY ABOUT MONEY, GOODS, VISAS AND GADGETS...

How I wish that your eyes can be opened to eternal, everlasting things rather than little things. How I wish you will understand that as glorious and as glamorous as the riches of the world are, those who cling to them will soon fade away. The THINGS THAT OUGHT TO BE ADDITIONS UNTO YOU HAVE CROWDED YOUR EYES, THEY HAVE NOW BECOME YOUR PURSUIT. It is even very alarming today that several churches are now trapped by the glories of the world, and men are seeking these things with all their energies and their souls. FRIEND, WHAT SHALL IT PROFIT A MAN, IF HE GAINS THE WHOLE WORLD AND LOSE HIS SOUL? IF YOU EXCHANGE YOUR SOUL FOR RICHES OF THE WORLD, HOW FOOLISH YOU WOULD BE WHEN THE TRUMPET SOUNDS? I strongly wish that the Spirit of the Lord can deeply impress upon your heart today, that THE LIFE OF A MAN DOES NOT CONSIST/DEPEND ON THE ABUNDANCE OF THE THINGS (RICHES, GOODS) THAT HE HAS. YOUR WORTH IS NOT CALCULATED BY THE PHYSICAL ASSETS THAT YOU HAVE OR BY THE MONEY IN YOUR BANK ACCOUNT, BUT BY HOW MUCH OF YOUR LIFE YOU HAVE POURED OUT AND YIELDED UNTO THE LORD.

3. The Life of Thine enemies...

All those wicked prayers, "Holy Ghost fire must roast my enemy", “Anyone who says I will not be promoted, anyone standing in my way of progress, die, die, die…” all d people blocking my glory from shining, all my enemies, enemies of progress, in the father, mothers lineage…”, “generational enemies…let them die…”

AND YOU FIND SO CALLED CHRISTIANS, SWEATING EAGERLY TO DESTROY THEIR ENEMIES.
If God were to grant that kind of requests, I am sure people like Mary Magdalene (with evil spirits) would never have survived, Peter who denied Jesus would not make it, even Paul the greatest apostle who did evil would have died because of your wicked prayers. EVEN YOU would have become victim of the wicked prayers of another man. INFACT, the whole world would have gone for it, and CHRISTs DEATH WOULD HAVE BEEN IN VAIN.

What then is THE REAL PRAYER that moves God, and adds wonderful benefits to us as mere additional?

- An understanding heart for justice and righteousness.
-- A heart like Gods heart
-- A heart that does not think evil
-- Grace to be like God Himself…
-- A hunger for the presence of God and holiness
-- A desire for men to be saved from the grip of sin and iniquity,
- Discernment between good and bad:
- Divine wisdom to differentiate between good and bad. Many today call smoking and drinking, enjoyment. They call fornication and immorality, fun. They call looseness, civilization…
- Grace and ability to lead people aright in the way of the Lord.

If you want the Lord to grant you great things beyond even your requests and petitions, you must seek TO KNOW AND LOVE the person of the Lord Himself. The man unto whom God gives Himself, is the one who has access to everything that God owns… Solomon asked for the presence and the grace of God in his life, and he got his requests, he also got beyond his requests, beyond everything that every other person is asking for.

Friend, what are you seeking for today? Are you seeking for God or you are seeking for goods? Are you seeking for eternal things that will last beyond this world, or you are seeking for perishables? Are you among those that are seeking for the things that the Gentiles are seeking, but have no longing for eternity? Are you seeking for gold and money that will end in this world, or you are seeking for the grace of God that will carry you through this evil world faultlessly? Are you seeking to know the Lord more, or you are seeking for name, fame and worldly glory that will fade away with time…?

If you have become victims of little prayers because of your callous, selfish hearts, ask the Lord to redeem you today, and it shall be well with you.