2) Become Like a Child to Get Wisdom (Kannada) — Zac Poonen

Wisdom Must Be Sought Daily from God

I want you to turn to Proverbs chapter 8. Here, it's referring to Jesus Christ as God's wisdom. And it says here, in verse 1, wisdom is calling. And he says in verse 32, oh my children listen to me. Blessed are those who keep my ways.

Listen to instruction and you'll be wise. And here is a very very important verse. Verse 34. That's a verse you must remember all your life. If you want to be blessed by God, it says blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates and waiting at my door posts.

So, this is not something that we just get once and then we can live on that for many days. You know, you can go and draw money from a bank and live on it for many days. Or you go and buy vegetables and you don't have to go every day.

You don't go and buy rice everyday from the market. We don't go and buy anything everyday from the market. But wisdom, it says everyday we have to wait on God and receive if you want to be blessed. And because if you find it, you get life.

Verse 35. And not only that, you will obtain favor from the Lord, it says in verse 35. But if you ignore the wisdom God gives you, it says in verse 36, you are hurting yourself. So, God is urging us to seek wisdom for our own good.

Seeking God for Wisdom in Earthly Problems

You know, even for earthly things, supposing you are facing a problem in an earthly matter, you will accomplish a lot more if you pray first before you do it. You see, if you are facing a problem in your office, that's an earthly problem.

Now the question is this, is God, your father, interested in helping you to solve that problem? Supposing you are working in a car repair shop, there is some serious problem with the car that you can't fix.

And supposing your father, he is an expert car mechanic, will you give him a phone call and ask him, Dad, can you tell me how to fix this problem? We'll do that. If you are working in computers, some problem there you can't solve.

And your dad is an expert at computers. Will you give him a phone call and say, how to solve this? That is the blessedness of having a father in heaven who is an expert at everything. Not only spiritual things, earthly things.

If you are sick, we must go to God and ask him to heal us. I've done that for 50 years. I say, Lord, I don't want health to make money. I want health to live for you. You know, whenever you are sick, it's good to ask God for healing.

But you need to ask yourself a question, Why do I want this health? Like the unbelievers, they want health just to live for the world. I remember once, many years ago, I was asked to go to some unbelievers' house to pray for some sick person.

Sure, Jesus prayed for a lot of unbelievers, and we're happy to pray for unbelievers. So, I went there and said, what shall we pray for? Shall we pray that you'll be healthy for what? Shall we pray, Lord, he's so weak now, he can't shout at his wife.

Give him some health so that he can be strong to shout at his wife. And he's so weak, he can't go and stand in the cinema queue to watch all these movies. Please make him strong so he can stand in the queue and watch some movies.

So, my question is, what are we praying to God for? To give you health to do what? So, whenever you pray to God to heal you, God is interested in that. But you need to ask yourself, why do I want God to heal me?

Why do I want strength for what? You know, a lot of people think God is not interested in all our earthly needs. He's only interested in our spiritual needs. That's not true. When God gave me spiritual wisdom, it gave me wisdom for a lot of earthly things also.

It gave me wisdom how to handle my money, how to live on earth without getting into debt. Isn't that a good thing? I'm 72 years old, I've never been in debt for one day in my life. And now I have enough for my needs, but 40 years ago I was very poor.

But even then, I said, I will not get into debt. Because God gave me wisdom that when you get into debt, you become a slave to the one to whom you owe money. I don't want to be a slave to a man, I'm a slave to God.

The Bible says, the borrower is a slave to the creditor. And it also says, getting into debt is like the bite of a serpent. So, that is a very earthly thing. You know, when you get divine wisdom, it will affect every area of your earthly life.

Even for our earthly jobs. So, it's a wonderful thing to seek God for wisdom. Bible knowledge must be converted into wisdom by obedience. Otherwise, you won't have help in your earthly tasks. You see what the Lord taught us to pray in the Lord's Prayer.

You know, I told you in Matthew 7, He spoke about the wise man and the foolish man. Matthew 7, 24. The one who hears my words and does them. And we read in Proverbs 8 that we must wait at His gates every day to get that wisdom.

Coming to God as a Spiritual Beggar

I want to ask you, how many of you would like to go to somebody's door every day and ask for money? Not to borrow, as a gift. Please give me some money as a gift. Will you do that? Will you go to somebody's house even once?

Will you go every day? We have got a dignity. I will not go like that. But have you seen people in India do that? Who does that? Beggars. They are not ashamed. They come every day. If you are a generous person, they will come every day to your house.

So you ask them, where is the ten rupees I gave you yesterday? Say, oh sir, that is finished yesterday. I bought food, there is nothing left. And if you give me today, sir, I will come tomorrow also. You say to that beggar, you are not ashamed to keep on coming like this?

No sir, I am not ashamed. I am not a rich man. I am a beggar. When you are willing to go to God like that, you will become spiritually rich. Like that beggar. We don't go to men, but we can go to God's gates.

Lord, I am a beggar spiritually. Why don't we go like that? Because we think, I don't need to go to God. I have got enough wisdom to run my life. And that is why your life and your home are in such a mess.

That's why you have so many problems you cannot solve. That's why you don't grow spiritually. That's why you have so many problems with your children. Because you are too proud to go to God like a beggar every day.

What shall I say to you? My dear brother and sister, humble yourself. Never beg from man. I have never in my life begged or borrowed from man. Why? Because I have a heavenly father. Oh, if I didn't have a heavenly father, then I have to go to man because there are so many needs on this earth.

It's a wonderful thing to know God as your father. You know, that's one of the wonderful things of making Jesus Lord of your life. When you make Jesus Lord of your life, then God becomes your father. I will tell you somebody else, not a beggar.

Somebody else who is not ashamed to go and ask for something every day. Who is not to God? To man. Who is the other person who keeps on going to man, asking every day for something? One is a beggar. The other is a child.

See how a child goes to mummy every day. Give me some food. Give me this. Give me that. Give me that. Morning till night, not once, many times. Jesus said, be like a little child if you want to enter God's kingdom.

Even though I have been a believer for 53 years, I am like a child before God. I said, Dad, I am not ashamed to keep asking you again and again and again. I need you every day. So many things. For small things, big things, earthly things, healing, money, not to become a millionaire but for my earthly needs.

And if I have to preach God's word, God give me the word. You know, Jesus pictured it like a branch in a tree. See, supposing nowadays you see a lot of mangoes hanging on a lot of trees nowadays. And the mangoes don't grow on the tree, they grow on the branches.

And you go to this branch and say, how do you produce such wonderful mangoes? You know what that branch will say? I don't do anything. I just stay in the tree and keep on receiving the sap, that liquid from the tree all the time.

And the mangoes come. And you ask the branch, is it a great struggle to produce these mangoes? No, I am just resting in the tree. You know, the real Christian life is not one of struggle. Some people think it is always a struggle to be a true disciple.

That's not true. That is an old covenant life. See, Jesus said in Matthew 11, He was speaking to people who were living under the law for 1500 years. They did not know anything about the Holy Spirit's power or grace in their inner life.

They were struggling to keep the Ten Commandments. And Jesus said to them in Matthew 11, 28, All of you who are struggling like this and burdened down, come to Me, I will give you rest. Just like that branch in the tree.

Do you find the branch struggling? No, it is at rest in the tree. It is because you are under law that you are struggling. Get rid of that in verse 29, take My yoke upon you. And then you will find rest, He says again in verse 29.

Because My yoke is easy, verse 30, My burden is light. How many of you can say that? For me, the Christian life has become easy. Isn't that the word there in your Bible, easy? Or it is very pleasant. In the margin it says pleasant.

And the commandments are light, not heavy. Now, I want to ask you a straight question. How many of you can honestly say, I have found the Christian life to be easy? Enjoyable, pleasant, light, not heavy.

I think many of you can't say it. You listen to all these commandments and you say, it's so heavy, it's difficult. In the beginning it's like that. You go to a swimming pool or a river and see somebody who is just learning to swim.

And you ask him, do you find swimming easy and enjoyable? He says, not at all. It's so difficult. I'm always afraid I'll drown. I'm struggling, struggling and I'm afraid I'll drown. Then you see another man who has been swimming for 25 years.

You see some of them lying flat on the back, almost sleeping on the water. You ask him, do you find swimming very difficult and hard? He says, I just enjoy it. I like to come here every day and lie down in the water and read a book or something like that.

What a wonderful, what a difference there is. That is the difference between a person who has not understood how to live the Christian life and one who has understood it. There is a life of rest that God wants to bring us to.

And when you come there, victory over sin will be easy. Like that person overcoming gravity in the water, you will be able to overcome sin. Can you go and lie down in the water? You go to the bottom. But how is that guy lying down flat on the back and just moving around so happily?

Yes, he has learnt the secret of how to swim on his back. And I want to tell you the same thing. There are a few Christians who have found that secret. It is a life of rest. You cannot get it from a man.

You cannot get it from a conference. You cannot get it from a book. Jesus says, come to me. Go to Jesus and say, Lord, bring me to this restful life that you promised. To be honest, I find the Christian life to be such a struggle and a burden.

Then the invitation is for you. Verse 28, all of you who are struggling and find it a burden, come to me. Come, take my cross upon you. And I tell you, you will come to rest. Don't believe the lie of the devil that the yoke of Jesus is heavy and it's a burdensome thing.

Don't say it's impossible. You tell that person who is just learning to swim for 2 -3 days, and you ask him, do you think one day you can just lie flat on the water and float around? He will say, impossible.

I don't believe such a thing is possible. Then you take him somewhere else and show him this other man who is floating on the water on his back. How does he do that? You say, maybe his body is lighter than mine.

That's why he does it. That is the excuse Christians also make. Oh, brother, you don't know. Your temperament doesn't get angry. That is why you get victory. My temperament is so full of anger. That's like saying, that man's body is lighter, that's why he is floating.

Why not be honest and say that man struggled and learnt and you are too lazy to struggle and learn. That's why. You are not determined to come to this life of victory. You are happy with your defeated life.

You are happy to stand at the edge of the river and just put your foot into the water. That's enough. You are not serious about learning how to swim. That's why even after 25 years, you are still putting your foot in the water and you never learn how to swim.

How did that man learn in two years? If you are wholehearted, you can also learn. I want to say, God is interested in all your earthly needs also. See, one of the things Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 6, he taught how to pray.

And one of the prayers is in verse 11, Give us this day our daily bread. What does that mean? He is not talking about the word of God, he is talking about a physical food. Lord, I need food every day to live.

So, please help me to have food every day to live. How can I get food? I need money. How can I get money? Not by begging. Not by borrowing. Working. So, what you are praying in that prayer is, Lord, please give me a job so that I can get money so that I can get my food every day.

So, in that little prayer, give me my food every day. Hidden inside that request is, Lord, please help me to have a job. And also hidden inside that is, another thing, Lord, please help me to educate my children so that one day they can get a job and they can also get food.

Did you know that all your earthly needs are hidden in that one sentence? And where shall I eat my food, Lord? Out in the open or do you want me to live in a house and eat my food? No, you want me to have a house also.

So, God is interested in giving you a house and a job and food. And also your children. That's why He wants to help you to educate your children so that they can have a house and a job and food one day.

I believe hidden in that request is also a prayer for health. If I am sick and lying in bed with a stroke, how can I go and earn my living? If you say, God is not interested in healing you from your stroke and all.

He is only interested in spiritual things. How can that be? How can I go and earn my living then? I want to say, God is interested in everything. He is even interested in protecting us from accidents on the road.

For 46 years, I rode a scooter. I gave up riding a scooter when I was 68, 4 years ago. And in 46 years, I never had an accident. Is it because of my cleverness? No. Because the angels would push people out of the way if they were coming to have an accident with me.

Or do something to slow down my vehicle or something. Angels can do all types of things. I've had angels look after me from the time I'm a child. See what it says in Matthew chapter 18. He's talking there about little children.

Childlike Humility and God's Care

They asked him, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Verse 1. And he took a child. It says in verse 4, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Unless you are converted, verse 3, and become like children, you can't enter the kingdom of heaven.

So he said, don't despise these little children. Verse 10. Don't despise one of these little ones because their angels in heaven are continually beholding the face of my father. That's an amazing verse that a child has got an angel.

I praise God for that. That's why these children are protected from so many accidents. I don't know, maybe more than one angel per child. But that's a wonderful thing to know. That's why I said, from the time I was a child, I had an angel.

It's not only for me, that verse is for you also. Now, as I grow up, what does the angel say? Okay God, now he doesn't know me, he can take care of himself. Now he doesn't need me, he can take care of himself.

No. The angel says to God, now he is riding a scooter, he needs me more than when he was a little child. That's wonderful for me to know that. If you believe that, it's an amazing thing. How God cares for us in every little thing.

If you don't believe it, you don't get it. You know, the promise in the Bible is like a cheque. Supposing somebody sends you a cheque for 10 ,000 rupees. I go to the bank and take the money and I enjoy the money.

You keep it inside your Bible and keep it there. What do you get? Nothing. The promise in the Bible is like a cheque. You must take it. Take it to God. It's a bank of heaven. Say, Lord, I want to cash this cheque.

I want the angels to look after me. And the Lord says, be like a little child. I said, sure. I want to be like a little child all my life. I don't want to think I'm a big, clever man who can take care of myself.

So many times I go to God and say, Lord, I'm like a little child. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to say. But you give me wisdom. And there are so many dangers in the world, I don't even know what they are.

You know, it's like if you send your little child to school, four-year-old child, you'll send an ayah or somebody with the child to take the child to school. I have angels to take care of me. Do you believe it for yourself?

Don't try to be smart, a big man with God. Be like a little child. That's the trouble with a lot of believers is they think they're very smart and clever. And that's why they have so many problems. When it says here, until you become like little children, you can't enter the kingdom of heaven, that's like saying, you can have a heavenly life on earth if you always live like a little child before God.

If you live like a little child before God, God, I want you to guide me in everything. I don't know what to do. I tell you, you'll have a heavenly life on earth. That is entering the kingdom of heaven right now.

Christian life is not complicated. It's complicated for clever people who think they know everything. And they don't understand God's word also. See Matthew 11 .25. If you want to understand the Bible, you need to become like a child.

If you want to enter the kingdom of heaven, you have to be like a child. If you want to understand the Bible, you've got to be like a child. Matthew 11 .25. How to get wisdom from the scriptures? Matthew 11 .25.

Jesus says, I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. You have hidden these things from the wise and the clever and the intelligent and revealed them to be. To whom does God show his wonderful truths in the Bible?

To babes. I remember in the early part of my Christian life, the more I studied the Bible, the more clever I became. And I knew so much of the Bible, but I was defeated by sin. On one side, so much of the Bible, and on the other side, defeated by sin.

And I was fed up with my Christian life. And I began to seek God in prayer. And God filled me with the Holy Spirit once again. He had done that 10 -12 years earlier, but I had backslidden. And God filled me with the Holy Spirit again.

And when you get the Spirit of Christ in you, you know what happens? You become like a little child once more. And that's what happened to me. I said, Lord, now I want to depend on you. Come to the scriptures and I say, you teach me, Lord.

And it's only after that, that we started building CFC. You know, God can do amazing things when you become a little child. He gives us wisdom. The trouble with a lot of us is we are so clever and we are so smart that God hides everything from us.

It says that you have hidden these things from the clever and the intelligent. Why? Is God against clever people? Is He against intelligent people? No. But He is against people who are proud of their cleverness and intelligence.

It's very easy to become proud of our cleverness and our intelligence. Proud of how spiritual we are. But the thing is, we sometimes don't even realize that pride. You know, when we perspire a lot, there's a lot of bad smells that come forth from the perspiration in our body.

That's why we go and have a bath. You know, anyone who is perspiring after working hard, there's a lot of smells. But he himself is not aware of it. Other people smell it, but he doesn't smell it himself.

Pride is like that. You think you are a very humble person, but other spiritual people can see how proud you are. There's a smell that comes forth from our spirit. I mean, I've been a believer for 53 years that I can detect these spiritual smells in other people quite easily now.

I can even look at a person and listen to him for two minutes and find out if he's proud or not. And I've met a lot of people who think they are very humble. They are not. They think they are spiritual.

They are only religious. Dear brothers and sisters, we need to ask God to show us what we are really like. Otherwise, we can spend our whole life deceiving ourselves that we are spiritual when we are not spiritual.

Childlike Leadership and Heavenly Life

I met so many elder brothers in our churches, CFC churches, who have been elders for a number of years. I can see pride in them so clearly, which they cannot see themselves. Sometimes I tell them, usually I wait about 15 -20 years, hoping that they will discover it themselves.

After 15 -20 years, if he still hasn't discovered it, then I tell them, even elders, Brother, you are not poor in spirit. That's why everybody in your church is fed up of listening to you. That's why you're not growing spiritually.

You're a smart, capable man in the world. But you don't come like a beggar or a child before God every day. You're too full of yourself. You think you know so much. You think you're better than everybody else.

So your life is not heavenly. You're just a good religious person who can impress people with all your knowledge. That's the tragedy of so many people in our CFC churches. If I have one message for all the people in CFC, it is, be like a little child.

Humble yourself. Come like a little helpless child to your heavenly Father. Then God will be able to do much more through you. In fact, God will be able to do mighty things through you. That is the quality of a true leader.

You know, if you're a mother, you're a leader. If you're a father, you're a leader, at least to two, three children in your home. And if you're a teenage girl, you're a leader to those six, seven year old girls.

Most of you sitting here, you are all leaders. You're leaders to those who are younger than you in your church. You have to be a good example. You must be like a little child. When there'll be no more war, wars would have finished.

There'll be no more guns and bombs. There'll be peace all over the earth and Jesus will reign as King. It's going to happen when Christ comes back. And the devil is bound for a thousand years. And even in nature, things will change.

The lion and the tiger will not be wild anymore. And the cobra will not be a poisonous snake anymore. The world will become just like the old Garden of Eden. That's going to happen when Jesus comes back.

And you read that described here in Isaiah chapter 11, how the world will be at that time. Verse 6, the wolf will dwell with the lamb. Today they can't do that because the wolf will eat up the lamb. And then it says, the leopard will lie down with that little kid goat.

And the cow's little calf and the young lion are going to eat together. What a wonderful world that'll be. And who's going to be the leader of all this? Verse 6, a little child will be the leader. Do you know that in the kingdom of God, a little child is going to be the leader?

That is the mark of the kingdom of heaven. Leaders who are like little children. Not like little children who are foolish and stupid. That's not what I mean. Not like little children who don't know which is the right hand and which is the left hand.

But little children in humility and dependence on their father, in that area only. In our understanding, we must not be like little children. See what it says in 1 Corinthians 14, verse 20. Brethren, don't be children in your thinking.

In evil matters, be like little children. But in your thinking, you must be mature. In all evil matters, be like a little child. That means, you know, you take a child, a one year old child and put it in front of a pornographic site on the computer.

What will that one year old child do? Say, I'm not interested in all that. Isn't that wonderful? Be like a child in matters of evil. Can you get a six month old child to be angry with his uncle who cheated his father?

It is impossible to get that six month old child to hate his uncle who cheated his father of money. Be like a little child when it comes to evil. In understanding God, we must be mature. So, when Jesus says, be like a little child, it's in humility and dependence upon God.

Bringing Earthly Needs Under God's Will

We can ask for all our earthly things. See, what did we see in Matthew chapter 6? I told you in that request, give us this day our daily bread. All our earthly needs are in that one sentence. Food, clothing, job, house, children's education, because they need one day to get job, house, food.

So that they can get their daily food. All this is in that one sentence. But, you must see the prayer that comes before that in Matthew 6 .10. What is that? Father, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

That is connected to this request. So, I join those two together when I pray. I say, Father, help me to earn my living so that I can do your will in my life on earth. Give me a house to live in so that I can do your will on earth.

Help me to educate my children so that they can grow up to do your will on earth. Give me health so that I can do your will on earth. Give me every earthly need I have so that I can do your will on earth.

And Lord, give my children every earthly need they have so that they can do your will on earth. So, join these two requests together. Don't pray it independently. Don't just say, give us our daily food and earthly needs.

Lord, thy will must be done on earth. And for that, give me food, clothing, health and everything. You start praying like that. I can prophesy every single earthly need of you and your family will be met by God.

I have been married for 44 years and I have proved it in my life. I never had to go to a man for my needs because I am not an orphan. I have a father. You also have a father. But if you want to do the will of God and you come to God like a child, helpless, dependent on him, I can tell you, God will give you wisdom for every spiritual responsibility and your earthly tasks.

He will tell you how to be a good father, a good mother. What a wonderful life we can live. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, teach us to be like little children. Dependent on you, in humility, get rid of all this proud, self-confident attitude we have, where we secretly think we are smarter than everybody else.

Help us to be converted and become like little children, so that we can be really wise. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.