Asking God For Wisdom
To my sons,
It's dad again. If I could give you one thing it would be Wisdom. As you read on you will find that it is not mine to give.
I once worked for a man when I was very young who asked me when I was going to cut my wisdom teeth. This man was a fatherly man. He was concerned about how I was living my life. He was the kind of man who made you feel like somebody. This man was in the business of making others feel good in the unspectacular course of their daily coming and goings. He was in my view an example to follow and his kindness and instruction was the very essence of leadership.
It took me way too long to learn what he wanted me to learn. My prayer is that my sons get it early in life. Wisdom makes a difference in a courtship, in a marriage, in guiding a family, and in being a father.
Here is lesson I prepared with the help of great men who pointed me in the direction of God's wisdom. I'm not saying that I'm wise, I am just sharing a lesson that points out that every person has this gap and it can only be closed by God.
Your dad loves you.
James 1: 2-8
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
This is a lesson that I once heard by another preacher. It started with a paraphrase of verse 2 and it goes something like this: When all kinds of trials come into your lives don't resent them as intruders but welcome them as friends. It kind of helps us with James' opening. In verses 2 - 4, trials are a privilege that God the father allows us to experience. Joy and trials do not co-exist in the mind of man, it is a paradox. But James says: No, joy and trials come as a package. The trials make us mature and complete Christians.
It is not easy or natural to adopt this kind of prospective when going through the trial process. James quickly gets into verse 5: Ask God for wisdom. I often hear the verse in stand alone. I strive to keep things in context. Because verse 5 comes after verse 4 and before verse 6, the verses are tied together.
Listen to what James is saying: You should count it all joy when you face trials in your lives because the trial that you face will actually produce perseverance, faith will be tested, you will grow, you will be mature and complete and you will become the all rounded Christian. However, if you are not getting this, if you find yourself in a way that you are not buying it, if you are tempted to think differently in what I just said to you, then you better ask God for wisdom. Because it is wisdom that you must acquire in order to think properly about these issues of life.
What James is saying: If trials are not developing you into mature complete Christians, if you lack Joy, then you need wisdom.
The big questions: What do we need? What should we do? What will we find?
What do we need, Wisdom. James is polite in the way he presents this. He says if any of you lack wisdom then you must ask God for it. No one is going to stand up and say that they don't need wisdom. So his statement is all inclusive.
By the way, intellect and education do not take the place of wisdom. It is not the same. If education is the answer, then the problems of Aids or drug abuse would be totally smashed with education. Education does not eliminate problems. Wisdom stands alone. In other words, it is possible to be smart and unwise at the same time.
Wisdom is moral. Wisdom is the behavior that emerges from a belief system. Wisdom is the information that God supplies turned into action.
For example: In 1 Kings Chapter 3, God appears to Solomon in a dream and says "Ask for whatever you want me to give you."
Listen to how Solomon replied: 7 "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. 8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 9 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?"
See how humble Solomon is. You made me King. But I'm just a little child. I don't know what to do. He is not proud. He is humble. You can never be a proud person and wise person at the same time. If you have a big head then you are not wise. In fact the Bible states the opposite of wise is stupid. They may be intelligent, and that is why their head is so fat, but they are not wise.
This a good place to say that this lesson went through my heart first. I don't have to go far for topic to teach. I just look in the mirror.
Humility is a precursor to biblical wisdom. Look at what Solomon says, "give your servant a discerning heart to govern Your people and to distinguish between right and wrong." To distinguish between right and wrong - that is wisdom. Any system, be it education or a government, that sets aside the notions of right and wrong will eventually collapse on itself. Listen to how Solomon opens proverbs:
1 The proverbs of Solomon son of David, king of Israel: 2 for attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight; 3 for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair; 4 for giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young- 5 let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance- 6 for understanding proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise. 7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.
What do we need? Wisdom. Wisdom means acting in the way of God's revelation of Himself. Wisdom is knowing how to live God's way in God's world. The wise man and the wise woman know how to live in God's way in God's world. There is radical difference in the wisdom of the world and God's wisdom. That is why James says, you will never grab hold of this paradox unless you get what you need. And what you need is wisdom from God.
Second if what we need is wisdom what should we do? Well in a phrase, ask God for wisdom - Verse 5. Ask the God James identifies in verse 17. Ask the God that provides every good and perfect gift that comes down from the Father of the heavenly lights. The God that does not change like shifting shadows. God is not one way on Sunday and another way on Tuesday.
If you ask do you receive? Maybe. How should you ask? Simple if anyone lacks wisdom let him ask. Dear God I need wisdom. I view the trials as a major stumbling block in my life, give me wisdom. There is a proper way to make a request. Please and thank you for responding to my request.
When we come before God remember that he is God. He is the creator of the universe. Yes He asks us to seek him, but we must remember that He is God. It is imperative that we come before Him properly. Hebrews 22 says that must come before Him with a sincere heart with a full abundance of faith. What James says is that we must believe and not doubt - Verse 6. God knows if we want His help or not. If the wisdom comes out that we don't like and we chose to reserve the right to do whatever is pleasing, then this person is a doubter.
In the face of trials, disappointments, and our sufferings it take wisdom to see things in that way. To come to Him properly is like asking Him in child like humbleness. Ask Him to help us see things properly. Ask Him to help us see that our trials are to produce perseverance that must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. It takes wisdom to see this doesn't it?
It takes wisdom from God to see that happiness is dependent upon what happens, but joy is something that is independent of chances and changes of our world. Until we have the wisdom to understand this, our lives will be like riding a roller coaster high and then down in the depths. And our life will continue to go this way. It is in realizing that having this or that does not bring contentment, it is in realizing that contentment and joy is found somewhere else.
It looks to me that request for wisdom must be specific. God give me wisdom so that I may discern right from wrong, says Solomon. God give me wisdom so that I may have Your joy in the face of my challenges, as per James. God give me wisdom so that I may walk in Your ways. God give me wisdom so that I may be kind to others. God teach me humility so that I may obtain a portion of wisdom. Take a tough honest self inventory, then ask God for wisdom so that you may correct specific short falls. You have to be honest.
When we ask we must not have doubts. One horse is faith and the other is doubt. We must not try to ride two horses at once. That man, says James, should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; verse 7.
Wow! I thought you always got stuff when you asked? I thought you could ask anything and always get it, apparently not. There is a way to come before God in prayer and get zero. Do you like the sound of that, I don't. So I need to find out what causes that so when I come to my creator in prayer I am on the receiving end of His bounty.
Any thinking person doubts, if it only for a moment of two. That is not what this is about.
What James is on about here is the doubter is the person, whose prayers and actions, are so clearly at odds with each another. Asking God for things that they clearly have no intention doing what they ask for. Like Augustine's famous prayer "Lord, make me pure but not yet".
No, it is not going to happen. To receive the gift of wisdom and all that comes with it is to say no to hypocrisy, the kind of hypocrisy that prays for wisdom and acts in foolishness.
Example: God what I want is Your wisdom. Ok, He says, sever this relationship because it is wrong. Reply, No thank you. I'm not interested in doing that. What I really want is my way and I want you to bless it. God's reply, Sorry no can do.
The prayer for wisdom is Solomon's prayer, the discerning between right and wrong. When we pray for wisdom and the answer is, this is in and this is out. Then we must push whatever is out, out and bring in whatever God says to bring in. To do anything else is certain failure. And this type of person is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. The verse 8 man, he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
Young ladies you have my permission to turn on your cell phones on right now if you dating this type of man, text him and dump him right now. Save yourself.
What will we find? If we come to God sincerely in complete honesty, He will give generously to all without finding fault. Even if you have to ask again for wisdom, he will not fault you. The ability to go back to somebody again, with the same question again is a wonderful thing. He is not waiting to find fault when you return and ask the same question again.
The trials are real, the hills are steep. What we need is His wisdom.
Pray with me. Father, thank You for this letter in your Bible. Helps us receive your word. We ask You for wisdom. Help us to act properly. We ask this in Jesus' name.
Contributors: Alistair Begg; Indiucky