1 Kings 3

 Lesson Aim

To understand that God can give wisdom

Hook 1: Objects

Have a series of objects which link with possible desires e.g. jewellery for wealth;  holiday brochure for foreign travel; makeup for beauty; football for sports skills; dictionary for knowledge. Ask two or three children to select which object they would choose and explain why. Go on to tell the story of Solomon’s wisdom

Hook 2: The baby

Have two female leaders and a doll to represent their baby. Explain the dilemma which faced Solomon – Who was the correct mother of the baby? With a sword pretend to chop the baby in two but have one  of the mothers call out ‘STOP’ just as you are lowering the sword.

Hook 3: Quiz

Prepare a Mastermind quiz or something similar and ask a leader impossibly difficult questions to which they know the answers (because you’ve prepped them beforehand). When the quiz finishes declare them the cleverest person in the world, then ask them a question in passing, e.g. “Where are your car keys?” They should fail to answer this question. Use this to show the difference between wisdom and knowledge. Solomon in today’s story had great wisdom.

Hook 4: Questions

Have you ever wanted to be the cleverest person in class? Have you wished that you were top in every test? Have you wished that you knew what to do in every difficult situation? Today’s Bible story is about a king who became very, very wise.

Story Tips

Explain that Solomon went on to write several books in the Bible which are full of wise sayings and proverbs. These show us how wise he was.

Application

The children should understand that Solomon was known as the wisest man in the world because God gave him his wisdom. He then became rich and powerful because he had asked God for the  correct things.