5) Our Father in Heaven Gives Us Wisdom (Kannada) — Zac Poonen

Asking God for Wisdom in Faith

We have been thinking about how to acquire the wisdom of God for our earthly life. We were thinking about how to acquire divine wisdom for our earthly life. Jesus taught us that there are two things that we must know about God when we pray to him.

So, if you forget either of those two, then you will not have faith to pray. The Bible says that when you pray, if you don't have faith, you won't get anything. See James chapter 1, speaking about asking God for wisdom, James 1 .5.

The most important thing we need to ask God for is wisdom. Because with wisdom, we can get everything else. But if you ask yourself this question, all of you who are sitting here, young and old, ask yourself one question.

How many times have you asked God for wisdom? You have asked God for hundreds of things. But my guess is that hardly anybody asks God for wisdom. That shows how stupid we are. And that is the reason why we have so many problems.

See, you won't ask God for money if you got plenty of money. When do you ask God for money, when you don't have money? When do you ask God for health, when you don't have health? When you don't have a house, you ask for a house.

If you already got a house, you don't ask for a house. So, when you don't ask for wisdom, what does it prove? It proves that you think you have a lot of wisdom, you don't need to ask God for it. But we don't have.

That is, the devil makes us think that our human wisdom is God's wisdom. See, wherever there is… let me ask you a question. There are two things mentioned in James 3 .14. Jealousy and selfish ambition.

3 .14 Do you have jealousy? Do you have a selfish ambition for yourself? Then it says in verse 15, that is an earthly wisdom. But if we want God's wisdom, it says in James 1 .5, we must ask for it. And it says in James 1 .6, we must ask in faith.

And then it says, if you don't ask in faith, then in verse 7 it says, you will receive nothing from the Lord. You will receive nothing if you don't ask in faith. So, when we pray to God, there are only two things we must check in our heart.

Confessing Sin Before Prayer

First of all, Psalm 66, verse 18, before you pray, for anything, for wisdom or healing or money or job or anything, first you must check in Psalm 66, verse 18, do you have any sin in your heart? If you've got sin in your heart, it says the Lord will not even hear.

It doesn't say the Lord won't answer, it says He won't even hear. It's like saying, God won't even pick up the telephone to listen to you. It's like saying, God won't even pick up the telephone to listen to you.

That's why we must be careful not to confess any sin in our life. We must be careful in one thing, if we have hurt anyone, we must ask for forgiveness. That's a sin. You've hurt somebody. Jesus said, in Matthew 5, verse 23, when you come and pray, if your brother has something against you because you hurt him, don't pray.

Go to your brother, set it right first. Verse 24, then come and pray. So that's the first thing we must make sure before we pray, is there any sin that my conscience is convicting me about? Otherwise, your prayer is a waste of time.

I'll tell you what I believe. More than 90 of prayers that believers pray, God never hears. Most of the prayers that believers pray, God never hears. Because you prayed, maybe God didn't even hear. Because there was something you didn't settle in your heart between you and God.

Or something you didn't settle between you and another person. Maybe you didn't go and ask his forgiveness. Or you didn't forgive somebody else. See, Jesus said in Matthew 11, verse 25, whenever you pray, first of all, forgive others if you've got anything against anyone.

That's in Mark 11, 25. Mark 11, 25. So that's a sin if you haven't forgiven somebody. And that's a sin if you haven't asked forgiveness from somebody you hurt. So that's the first thing I need to check before I pray for anything.

Does my conscience convict me of anything which is not confessed? And if there is something like that, don't waste your time praying. Just go and set that matter right first. So many churches have prayer meetings, and God doesn't even hear it.

It just goes to the roof and comes back. Do you think there's a greater privilege that we can have than being able to talk to God? To talk to Almighty God who runs this universe? Supposing the Prime Minister of India was your friend, and says, anytime you want, just call me.

You can call me on my private phone. If you have any problem, just call me. We would do that often. But there are some problems even the Prime Minister cannot solve. For example, if you are sick, what can the Prime Minister do for you?

But there's no problem God cannot solve. So, there are only two conditions. One, you must get rid of all sin that your conscience tells you about. If you have not forgiven somebody, or you haven't asked forgiveness, or some other wrong thing you did, you did not confess to God.

Settle all that, even if it takes a little time. Then pray, then even a half a minute prayer will bring an answer. Don't think that God hears prayer only if you pray for a long time. That's what the non-Christians think.

See, it says in Matthew 6, 7, that the heathen think that they'll be heard because they spoke many words. Oh, I prayed for one hour, God definitely has to answer me. No, it's not true. The question is whether God hears you or not.

And if you keep your heart always free from sin, that means you have confessed. As soon as you fall, you confess. It's like as soon as you get a thorn in your foot, you pull it out. Then you can always talk to God.

All the time. The second condition is faith. We read in Mark 11 again. Verse 24 Whatever you pray for, believe that you'll get them, then you get it. So that's the second condition. Like we said earlier, if you pray and you don't believe, then you don't get anything.

Faith in God's Power

And that's the second reason why most people's prayers are not heard. They pray to God, but they think that is something very difficult for God to do. What is unbelief? Unbelief is to believe that something you have asked for is very difficult for God to do.

What is unbelief? Belief is to believe that something you have asked for is very difficult for God to do. There is an old testament story. The Israelites came to the land of Canaan. God said, you go in and take it.

And they looked at all the giants. They said, this is too difficult. Even with God's help, we cannot overcome these giants. 600 ,000 people said that. 600 ,000 people said, even with God's help, we cannot overcome these giants.

But two people said, No, with God's help, we can overcome them. And God honored their faith and they overcame them. They were not stronger than the others. They were old, 70, 80 year old people. But they overcame.

Because they had faith. So all these things are written in scripture to teach us. But if you look at a problem, like a big giant, and you say, well, even with God's help, we cannot overcome that. Some sin in your life, even with God's help, I will not be able to overcome that sin.

Or that problem, even God cannot solve. Then I can tell you, it will not be solved. And I can tell you, you will not overcome that sin. Not because God can't help you. But because you insulted God by saying, He is so weak.

It's a great insult to say that God is weak. He who runs the universe is so weak that he can't help you with some minor problem. It can look like a big problem for you. But it's not a big problem for God.

See, many of us, we worship a very small God. And that's why we don't get so many things. We must realize how big and almighty our God is. How much He loves us. How He can do everything. I sometimes like to think of pictures that help me to have faith.

Because Jesus often used pictures. Have you seen sometimes a line of ants taking little grains of rice or something? And that grain of rice is bigger than the ant. And that ant is struggling to carry that grain of rice to the hole where it lives.

It's a big struggle. It's a big struggle even to go 20 feet or 10 yards. 10 meters. Supposing that ant could speak to me. Say, Brother Zach, can you please help me carry this one grain of rice? I say, sure.

He says, oh, Brother Zach, this is very heavy. It's bigger than me. He says, Brother Zach, you don't know how heavy this is. One grain of rice. Bigger than me and heavier than me. Are you sure you can carry it?

And it's not a short distance. It's 10 meters. Are you sure you can take it so far? I say, I can bring a bag of rice for you, not just one grain. And I can carry it 100 meters, not just 10 meters. The ant says, that's difficult.

You don't realize how heavy it is. That sounds so stupid, right? That is exactly how we pray to God when we have a problem. Lord, this problem is so big. It's much bigger than me. Are you sure you can handle it?

We pray like that, we will get nothing. That's why Jesus told us, whenever you pray, there are a couple of things you need to know. Before you even start praying, He said in Matthew 6 and verse 9, When you pray, pray like this.

Our Father who art in heaven. So there are two things there. This is before you pray. First of all, you must call Him your Father. Why should we call Him Father? Because He said in verse 8, Your Father knows all that you need even before you ask Him.

So that's wonderful to know that I'm talking to somebody who already knows my need before I ask Him. Then if you say He already knows your need, then why do you have to pray? Because He wants us to talk to Him.

If He gives us everything that we need without our asking, we will never talk to Him. One of the reasons why God allows you to face so many problems is because He wants to talk to you. Sometimes we are so busy that we don't have time to talk to God.

That can happen to any of us. Maybe you are so busy with your work or making money. Or you have time to watch so many things on television and read a lot of books and all that. You have no time to talk to God.

Or you can be so busy, like in my case, always ministering, ministering, going here and there and I don't have time to talk to God. I remember nearly 30 years ago, the Lord put me in hospital for about 10 days.

Something so small that He could have healed like that in a moment. I prayed but He didn't heal me. So I had to go to hospital and then I was okay. Then I was lying there in hospital. I said, Lord, why have you brought me here?

You could have healed me. I've got to do so many things for you. You know what the Lord said to me? He said, I didn't bring you here to heal you. I could have healed you without bringing you to the hospital.

But you are running around so much, you have no time to talk to me. That's why I brought you here. Now you lie down here, you can't move. And for 10 days, you'll be looking only up. You won't have to look anywhere else.

And that's good to lie down for 10 days and just look up. Those were wonderful days in my life. And you know, in those days, God spoke to me more clearly than almost at any time in my life. Because I was not running around preaching.

Don't wait for God to put you in hospital before you start talking to Him. He's your father. Many of you are fathers and mothers. How do you feel if your children never talk to you? Are you happy? Aren't you very happy when your children come to you and say, Dad, Mom, I want to talk to you for a little while?

That's how God is. He loves us so much. That's the very first thing you need to know. The very first thing the Bible teaches about God is, God is love. And He loves especially those who have received His Son, Jesus, as their Savior.

The Bible says God loves everybody in the world. But in a special way, He loves His own children. See, like you may love all the children who live in your street. When my children were small, all the children in our street would come and play with them, and I loved all of them.

But I didn't love all of them like I loved my children. I can love everybody down my street, but I love my children in a special way. And that's true of all of you. And that's true of God also. He loves everybody in the world.

But He loves His children in a special way. And among His children, He loves those obedient children much more. So if you want to be really loved by God, in the innermost circle, be an obedient child.

You will experience God's love more than other believers. Much more than unbelievers. You say, does that mean God is partial? No, God is not partial. He loves those who obey Him. No, that's not just my idea.

Jesus said that in John 14. Read it. John 14, verse 21. Some people don't know this. Some people think God loves all His children equally. That's not true. It says here, He who has my commandments and keeps them, He is the one who loves me.

And if He who loves me, my father will love Him. And I will love Him. And I will show myself to Him. Who is that? Those who love me. And how do you know you love Him? Same verse, you keep His commandments.

So, there are believers who keep all of God's commandments. There are some believers who don't keep all of His commandments. So, God loves everybody in the world. John 3 .16 says, God so loved the world.

His son died even for the terrorists. So, He loves the whole world. That's the big circle. And in that, there is a small circle of born again children whom God loves more. And in that, inside, there is a small third circle.

That's mentioned here. Those believers who keep God's commandments. Oh, Jesus loves them in a special way. God loves them in a very special way. And He does things for them that He won't do for all the others.

You know, like, God does things for His children that He won't do for other people. Don't you do some things for your children that you won't do for all the other children on the road? God is like that.

And for example, if you have a business, say you're running a shop in the town, which son will you put there to look after the shop when you're gone away? You won't put an immature five-year-old son to sit there in the shop.

No, you'll put a mature 25-year-old son there. Why? Because a five-year-old will just run away and go and play with somebody when somebody calls him. So, just like you give responsibility to more responsible children, God gives responsibility to some of His mature children.

He won't give it to the others. That's not partiality. It's not partiality that you put your 25-year-old son there and not your five-year-old son. So, we must seek to be in that inner circle of those who love Jesus and want to keep His commandments.

So, He'll do so many things for you. He knows all that you need. And we read in Romans 8 .32 what God will do for you. Now, if you don't know this verse, this is a wonderful verse. You must really underline it in your Bible.

You must always know this verse, Romans 8 .32. It's talking about the love of God. And listen to this. It's a question here. And you have to answer the question. There are some verses in the Bible which are commandments.

Some are promises. But some promises are like questions that you must answer. So, answer this question. This is a question to you. God, who did not spare His own son but gave him up for us, that you believe, right?

If He did that, won't He give everything else freely to us? That's a question. Now, you have to answer yes or no. There are only two answers, yes or no. He who gave His own son, don't you think He'll give all the other things which are worth less than His son?

Is there anything more valuable than the son of God? And if He gave His son for us, why won't He give us everything else? Will He give it or not? What do you think? Say yes or no. Yes or no? Okay. Now, it's easy to say yes here.

Next week, when you face a problem, you should say yes. That is the time to say yes. That's the time to remember what you said now. And when you face a very difficult problem, say to yourself, God who gave His only son, won't He give us all these other things?

Yes. And how much will He charge for it? That's also written here. How much do you have to pay? Free. We all like to get something free, right? Anything that's free on the table, we go and grab immediately before anybody else gets it.

So, supposing I say, on that table outside, we have kept ten hundred rupee notes. First come, first can take it. Free. I think before the final prayer itself, somebody will run. Because it's free. Why don't we run for the things God has given us freely?

What has He given us freely? What does it say in your Bible, Kannada Bible? All things freely I believe that. If you don't believe it, you don't get it. See, believing is like giving a cheque in the bank.

If you keep the cheque in your house, you get zero. You give it in the bank, you get it. Supposing somebody sends you a cheque, ten thousand rupees and signs it. Why will you keep it in your house? You'll say, this fellow is only making a fool of me.

He doesn't have that money. That's why you keep it in the house. But if you really believe it, you'll go and give it in the bank. And when God gives a promise, you say, ah, he can't really do it. That's why you don't claim it.

Trusting God's Better Answers

I want to tell you something. There are so many things you have missed in your life till today, because you didn't believe God would do it for you. So, that's why Jesus tried his best to teach people God is a loving father.

He can give you wisdom for all the complicated situations you face. Do you have difficulty in some particular area? Some family problem? Some sickness problem? Some difficult child? Or difficult daughter, difficult son?

Some problem in your school or college? I want to tell you, no problem is too difficult for God. You must have faith. I'm not saying God will solve the problem the way you think he should solve it. For example, now after hearing this message, some young man is going to say to God, Lord, that pretty girl, that's for me, in Jesus' name, I claim it.

And you wait and wait for that girl to come and say yes. And then one day you hear the news she married somebody else. You say, what happened to all these wonderful things brother Zach said in the meeting?

And then finally after a few years you get married to another girl who is not so good looking. But as you live with her, you discover what a humble, God-fearing girl she is. And then you hear news about that other pretty girl that she's always fighting with her husband.

You say, Lord, thank you for saving me. I prayed for some stupid thing and you didn't give it to me. I'm not saying all pretty girls are like that. But I'm saying sometimes when God doesn't give you something, it's because he wants to give you something better.

That was a beautiful, shiny paper wrapping that pretty girl. Nice, beautiful wrapping paper and ribbon and all that. That's the pretty face. And inside was just a stone. But here what God gave you was some wrapping like a newspaper wrapped up and given to you.

That's your wife he gave you. But inside was a diamond. Now which would you prefer? A diamond wrapped up in a newspaper or some cheap stone wrapped up in beautiful shiny blue paper? You want to pray about that and think what you should do?

I'm just telling you that what's on the outside is not the same inside. So if God doesn't give you something, it's because he wants to give you something better. You know, healing for example is an excellent thing.

But even the Apostle Paul, God didn't give it because he gave him something better than that. He says you get healing, you become proud. But I'll keep you sick and humble. Paul, which do you want? Paul said I'm happy.

Give me humility. That's more important. So we need to understand that God is not a foolish father. The second thing you need to know about God. So what is this verse I asked you to remember? Romans 8 32.

Don't forget that. Romans 8, 32. The second thing you need to know about God. Jesus said Our father who art in heaven. Not just father. I have an earthly father but he can't do much for me. Even if your father is the prime minister he can't do certain things for you.

But this father is in heaven. So that's the second thing I must remember. I'm praying to somebody who's running this universe. Like I told you that ant is wondering whether I can carry this heavy one grain of rice for it.

Can you believe that God can solve every problem that every problem for you is like a grain of rice for God. You know God can turn tables like anything on the devil. There are some beautiful stories in the old testament about this.

Sometime when you get time. You must read the story of Joseph. Genesis chapter 37 to 41. Just 4 or 5 chapters. Can you remember that Genesis 37 to 41. It's a beautiful story. And I don't have time to show all the references but this is the story.

You read it yourself. God had a plan for Joseph. That he doesn't tell him in the beginning. God has a plan for you but he won't tell you in the beginning. And God didn't choose Joseph just because he liked him.

He was a very obedient 17 year old boy. God really loves obedient children. And so God gave him dreams and all which other people didn't get. But he had 10 older brothers who were jealous of him. Who hated him.

They hated him so much they wanted to kill him. Now you may have difficult brothers and sisters but I don't think any of your brothers and sisters want to kill you. But Joseph had 10 brothers who wanted to kill him.

But you can't kill a man for whom God has got a plan. There's more than once the devil has tried to kill me he didn't succeed. I can tell you stories about that. But if God has got a plan for you even the devil cannot kill you.

Your enemies cannot kill you. They tried to kill Jesus they couldn't kill him because he said my time has not yet come. Only when the time came they could kill him. And when the time comes for all of us we should all be ready to go.

Whether 33 years or 90 years that's up to God. I want to live on earth only for the time God has allotted for me not longer than that. So if you live in God's will you will not die before God's time. There's a wonderful promise in Exodus chapter 23.

All those people are afraid of death. Even to the Israelites God gave this promise. Exodus 23 verse 26. These are verses you should underline. And if you haven't brought a Bible just feel ashamed of yourself because you are missing out something.

Exodus 23 verse 26. The last part will fulfill the number of your days. What a wonderful promise. God says I will fulfill the number of your days. Nobody can stop it. So they tried to kill Joseph. One of his brothers said ok let's not kill him.

There are some slave traders here. Let's sell him as a slave. Let's not kill him. If the slave traders come to take him let's give him to them. They sold him to those Ishmaelite traders. Do you know where they took Joseph?

To Egypt. Why? Joseph had God's will in Egypt. Who was the first person to fulfill that plan? Joseph's enemies. They thought they were harming him but actually they were fulfilling God's plan. That's the first thing you need to learn.

When people are jealous of you and try to harm you they can only fulfill God's plan. If you love God then he will take care of all the other things. And then when he went to Egypt one evil woman tempted him and he said no to her.

She was the wife of the captain of the guard. He was a good officer and she was his wife. When he kept saying no to her She got so angry. She told a lie and got him locked up in jail. That looks really bad.

Because this poor 18 year old boy is now in the jail. And for 10 -12 years he lies in that jail. And after 10 years in the jail he meets one of Pharaoh's servants. And he explains his dream to him. And two years later that man goes and reports the matter to Pharaoh.

And Joseph comes there and he becomes the prime minister of Egypt. So what I want you to see there is all the evil that other people did to him only helped him to come to the palace. Those brothers did not know that we are sending him to Egypt to fulfill God's plan to fulfill God's plan to fulfill God's plan.

That evil woman did not know that when I send him to jail he will meet Pharaoh's servant there and become the ruler of my husband. That evil woman did not know that when I send him to jail he will meet Pharaoh's servant there and become the ruler of my husband.

Joseph was Potiphar's servant now he became Potiphar's prime minister who did that? God. Our Father who art in heaven. You know, the cross of Calvary is the great proof of that. Turn to Acts chapter 2 and verse 23.

Acts 2, 23. Jesus, it says about Jesus, was delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, but you nailed him to a cross by the hands of godless men and put him to death. You must divide that verse into two verses.

God's Sovereignty Through the Cross

It's a wonderful verse, one of the best, one of the wonderful verses in Scripture. That teaches the sovereignty of God. You divide that into two parts, that verse. One part is what godless, evil people do.

The worst crime committed in the world, nailing Jesus to a cross. But the other half is what God turned that into. And that was part of God's plan. He knew it. What those godless people did to Jesus, God turned it for good.

So I ask people this question. Can you tell me the worst sin anybody committed on this earth? What is the worst sin? The crucifixion of Jesus Christ. That is the worst sin anybody ever committed on this earth.

I'm sure you agree with me. Okay, let me ask you another question. What is the best thing that happened for us on this earth? What is that? The crucifixion of Jesus Christ. So see, the worst sin became the best thing.

That teaches us that the worst thing that men can do, God can make the best thing. So, when you look at the cross of Calvary, you must not only see there this great truth that my sins can all be forgiven because Jesus died for me.

Another great truth I can learn at the cross. Very important for our daily life. Listen, the worst thing that men can do, God can turn into the very best thing for us. So I apply that to myself. Lord, that is the second lesson I learned from Calvary.

So today, when somebody tries to do something really bad to me, God will turn that into the very best for me. That is the meaning of Romans 8 and verse 28. If you have not underlined Romans 8, 28 in your Bible, you can do it.

It's one of the most wonderful verses in the New Testament. That we know that God causes everything to work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. So, that is how we give thanks to God for everything.

Did somebody do harm to you? Give thanks to God. Because God is fulfilling a purpose. You read the book of Esther in the Old Testament. The whole book. And you'll see how the evil that somebody tried to do to God's people, God turned it for good.

That those who tried to kill God's people, they got killed themselves. God can make everything that happens to us work for our good. So why should you complain then? When you complain, you're saying, that did not work for my good.

Maybe it did not work for your good. But that may be because you don't love God. Because this promise is only for those who love God. If you love God, and you want to fulfill His purpose only, everything that happens to you will work for your good.

But if you don't love God, and you don't want to do His will, you want to do whatever you feel like, then I want to tell you, everything will not work for your good. Even if you call yourself a believer, it will not work for your good.

But if you love God, that's what it says here. You want to fulfill His purpose for your life, and you have no other ambition. Everything, everything that people do, good or bad, makes no difference. It will work for your good.

And if it's working for your good, you must give thanks. If Joseph knew the future, when his brothers sold him as a slave to Egypt, he'd say, thank you very much, you're sending me where God wants me to go.

If Joseph knew what would happen in the jail, how he would meet Pharaoh's servant there, he would have given thanks to Potiphar's wife, thank you for sending me to jail. But he could not see the future.

But we know something about the future. I don't know the details about my future. I don't know about this evening, I don't know about tomorrow. But there's one thing I know about my future, for the rest of my life, that everything will work for my good, that I know.

Whatever people do, I say, thank you very much. If you do evil to me, it will work for my good, I know that. It cannot harm me, because my Father is in heaven. That is why the Bible says, always give thanks for everything.

See Ephesians 5 .20, always give thanks for everything. Now we Indian people have got a very bad habit. Even believers. God does something for us and we don't give him thanks. We ask, but we don't give thanks.

Do you give thanks for all the prayers God has answered? You pray so much that your child should pass in an examination. And when the results come and your child got very good marks, you are very happy.

But you don't stop and say, okay, let's give thanks now. We forget to give thanks. We never forget to pray. Do you forget to pray before the examination? Never, never. Never forget to pray before the examination.

You will always remember. But after the results come, we forget to stop and say, thank you Lord for what you did for me. And we are like that towards each other also. People do something for us, we never stop to thank them.

You know why? Because our heart is so evil. We always think everybody must serve me, God must serve me. Because we are so proud. I often think of an illustration like this. Supposing some big cabinet minister is walking down the road, and he drops his handkerchief on the ground.

His secretary will pick it up and give it to him. He won't give thanks. He is a big man. But if a beggar is walking down the road, he drops something, and you pick it up and give it to him. He will be so surprised that you, such a big man, picked up that for a beggar.

And he will say thank you so many times. What is the difference between him and the minister? Minister is a big man. Beggar is a small man. Why don't you give thanks to people who do something for you?

Because you are a big man like a minister. And that is why you get so little from God also. If you want to get more from God, humble yourself. Learn to give thanks to God for everything, and learn to give thanks to other people who serve you in a small way.

Humility, Gratitude, and Receiving Wisdom

I always write letters to those who have done anything for me. If anyone has done anything for my children in a far country, I write a letter saying thank you so much for what you did. I always do it.

You know why? Because I'm not a big man like a minister. I'm a very small man. And therefore God gives me so much. I get so much from God, I tell you. You can also get a lot. Why are you so spiritually poor?