There is a special book in the Old Testament named Ecclesiastes; it was written by Solomon, son of King David. Solomon became king over all of Israel after his dad. Let Jesus take you on a journey into the life of this Solomon in the Old Testament. Jesus was there when Soloman was King. He had established Biblical training and procedures for Solomon. He made sure Solomon had more than enough Biblical information to live his life. David, his father, had a wonderful relationship with God and His Word. But, Solomon decided to just go with his own wisdom, goals, plans, and dreams. He thought that since God had given him incredible wisdom, he didn’t really need to consult God and the Bible. Let Jesus help you see why you need Him to guide you into your healing from addiction issues. He knew how to guide the wisest man on the planet; and, He knows how to help you. Let Solomon’s life help you see where you went wrong so you can repent and make a U-turn and go Jesus’ way.

1 Ki 3:5 (NIV) 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.” What if God came to you in a dream and said, “Ask for whatever you want Me to give you.”; what would you ask for? There are things that you want that seem like they would be a great benefit to you; but, in the long run they would let you down. What would be the very best thing you could ask for from God? Solomon realized his weaknesses and looked to God for help with those weaknesses. He was getting ready to face the assignments for his life and he knew he was inadequate for the job.

1 Ki 3:6 (NIV) Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, BECAUSE he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. Solomon knew why God had blessed his father; he knew what it would take for God to bless him. But, even though he started out right in the beginning, he didn’t use this knowledge for his own life all the way to the end. Let this knowledge that Solomon knew as to why God blessed David be a knowledge in your heart and mind.

1 Ki 3:7 (NIV) “Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. This is totally different from your world training. You were taught to believe in yourself, have self-confidence and self-esteem, concentrate on your strengths, believe you can do anything you set your mind to, and visualize your greatness. However, the only way to get Jesus’ help is to give up all those concepts and do what Solomon did here. The more you are full of yourself, the less room there is for Jesus in your life.

1 Ki 3:8 (NIV) Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. For you to realize that your problem with addiction is over your head, will help you look to Jesus for His help. It isn’t until you come to the end of yourself and the end of human help that you open yourself to getting Jesus’ help. Since Jesus honors your God-given free will with such intensity, any confidence or faith in what you can do or what other humans can do will cause Him to back off and allow you to try that solution. But, when you realize only Jesus can help you with your issue with addiction, that is when you start experiencing breakthroughs.

1 Ki 3:9 (NIV) So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” When you went for money, possessions, happiness, pleasure, and freedom from pain, you didn’t have a clear picture of where you should look for them. You lacked a discerning heart and you lacked the ability to distinguish between right and wrong. You used the trial and error method rather than following the instructions and guidances of Jesus and the Bible. All these things you went after already had a label placed on what was harmful for you. And there was also labels on all the things that were good for you. Plus, the Holy Spirit spoke to your conscience and caused you feel wrong about what you were about to do. Now that you have had a chance to see the results of trial and error methods, ask Jesus for a discerning heart and the ability to distinguish between right and wrong.

1 Ki 3:10 (NIV) The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. Solomon started out asking for the right things; but, he didn’t stay there. God gave him everything he needed to keep going in the right direction. But, Soloman took the provisions of God and ran with them. He took God’s gifts and used them the way he wanted to. Rather than maintaining a close and intimate relationship with the God that gave him the gifts, he walked off and used them for his own glory and honor. The gifts of God need to be under the supervision of God. You will be receiving healing from your struggles with addiction. When that happens, pray and ask Jesus to help you not just thank Him and then regain control over your own life.