Ask for Wisdom

"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."   -James 1:5-8, ESV

Promises from God are a powerful and encouraging thing. When the Bible tells us in 1 John 1:9 that if we confess our sin He is faithful and just to forgive us, we cling to that promise as to life itself. When Romans 5:1 promises the believer that she now has peace with God, she rests in the confidence that the hostility between her and her Maker has now ended.

So when James tell us in James 1:5-8 that if we ask (in faith) for wisdom we will receive it, we should immediately feel both a compulsion and a boldness to make this request often. I would say that the prayer, "God, give me wisdom," is one of the most consistent prayers I pray (second only to "God, please help me!") because of the great promise found in these verses.

Proverbs 9:10 tells us that wisdom begins with a holy fear of God. In the Bible true believers are marked by this fear. Therefore wisdom and faith are closely connected. First Corinthians 1:30 affirms the same when it tells us that Christ Himself is our wisdom. Christ's example, teaching, and gospel are the embodiment of wisdom, and insomuch as we abide in Christ (Jn. 15) by faith, we too will walk in wisdom. 

Proverbs 9:11 explains that wisdom preserves life, and Proverbs 4:5 says, "'Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget,...Do not forsake her, and she will keep you; love her, and she will guard you."

Therefore when God promises wisdom to those who ask, He is promising life. He also revealing His desire for us to live and prosper (in the biblical, not materialist, sense of that word). God wants us to be wise, to live, and to flourish!

One reason we so often neglect to ask for wisdom is because of our distorted view of our Heavenly Father. We may have allowed broken circumstances to taint our view of Him. We may have allowed dysfunctional  relationships to do the same; but we must understand that the most true and clear picture of who God is comes not from our experiences but from His Word about Himself. So if He tells us in James 1 that He wants us to have wisdom along with all the benefits that it brings, to shy away from this because of our apprehensions is both disobedience and a lack of faith.

As N.T. Wright states in commenting on this passage: "How easy it is for us to imagine that God is stingy and mean. We project on to the maker of all things the fearful, petty or even spiteful character we meet so often in real life, sometimes even when we look in the mirror…Learning who God really is and what he’s truly like – and reminding ourselves of it regularly – is the key to it all.”

Our God is good, just, and loving, and He wants us to ask for wisdom.