“But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.” -{ “James 1;5-6}
God has a Promise for you, “But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. God is the Source of all wisdom and He is the right One to turn to obey His command to continually “Ask,” with the confident expectation you will receive from Him who is a generous giver, the ability to endure trials with Joy {Read James 1;2}. This is a Conditional Promise! It involves you participating through choosing to trust Him to receive His wisdom in the matter. He has the wisdom for you and your situation. He desires to impart, but here is the condition,… he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind”-{James 1;5-6}. A double minded person is unstable in all his or her ways. But faith focus’s on Him who lavishly graciously gives. James asks,” Who is wise or understanding among you?” And then says
“Let him show by his good conduct his works.” Let him show. That’s an aorist imperative. It’s a command…show it, demonstrate your wisdom!
In Hebrew thinking, Wisdom is the ability to apply knowledge, living life skillfully with understanding.
It is the application of knowledge empowered by God to produce the desired result! A Reshaping of our thinking to align with God’s Word to influence our decision making and change our behavior to do and live right!
The Wisdom from above is manifesting the Power and the Word of God in your life in every area. You have the power to live Godly and in the Promises to enable you. {Read 2 Peter 1:3-4}
If you come to a specific situation and you “lack” the ability for the situation, you don’t know what to do, what choice to make. You ‘lack’. The word refers to falling short and not having what is necessary.
Trials are an opportunity to Grow Wise!
Turn to the LORD AND KNOW HIM AS a result and also to be given from Him what is needed to choose the highest good in the situation! The LORD says to “ask of Him”. The word “ask” is a command. Do this! Obey this command.
Ask. Ask God. Ask God in Faith Without Wavering.
Often in difficult places we “ask” for escape, but He says in our trials we are to ask Him for wisdom! He will give, not grudgingly or scolding you for coming to “ask’ continually in faith, for He gives lavishly, gladly. He does not rebuke you or tired of you coming to Him again. But you have to ask in faith, no wavering, doubting but believing that what you ask of Him you will receive from Him who gladly gives. He PROMISES, He will give you wisdom! “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.“-{1 John 5;14-15}. What a promise to motivate you to ask!
The word “ask,” {aiteo} is present imperative . A command to continuously prayerfully ask when you sense a need.
Asking Him for “wisdom” with expectation He will give is an evidence that we trust Him! It is a chance to strengthen and build our faith and the one who does in verse 12 He calls “Blessed” as their obedience to the command shows they “love Him” and to these who persevere He gives the crown of life because they love Him! Trials are opportunities to grow Wise and express love to Him!
Of God (para… theou) “literally is beside God which gives a beautiful picture of the needed wisdom as richly present “alongside of God” and ours for the asking!”-{preceptaustin commentaries}.
“For the Lord gives wisdom,and from His mouth comes knowledge and understanding “-{Prov 2;6}. To be truly wise you get God’s Wisdom By His Spirit through His Word! Paul prayed it for believers.” do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers;that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.”-{Eph 1;16-17}
Wisdom is the ability to skillfully judge correctly and follow the best course of action based on knowledge and understanding. Biblical wisdom is skill for living. Godly wisdom.
And the context is trials. How to skillfully navigate through trials. He gives 4 commands 1. REJOICE- ” immediately commence rejoicing.” It is an attitude of mind. Why can you rejoice? The next three commands tell us.”2. KNOWING”- has to do with an understanding mind. Ignorance is not bliss. God wants you to understand what is happening. God is developing you spiritually, to produce perseverance and spiritual maturity. When you drive and see a sign which says “men at work” or “road works ahead” you know what is happening. There is road work been done. The purpose is not to destroy the road for you but to develop it and you know men are at work to do so. Trails are God at work, not to destroy you but develop you and display Himself to and through you! 3. “LET,” has to do with a submissive will. Submit to His will which He has said is to immediately commence rejoicing, because you know what God is doing and He has shown you how to respond to every trial as revealed in these 4 commands. On the cross Jesus was submitting to the Father’s will for Him. He submitted to him and committed Himself to Him.4. “ASK.” is a command, continuously do this when you are confronted with a need and you ‘lack’ what is needed for that trial. Prayerfully Ask God and He will gladly,lavishly give what you need to skillfully give what you need for the trial. Whatever the trial, these 4 commands are always needed and in v 12 he says the one who “endures,” is “Blessed,” and will receive a reward because they love Him! As they endure He rewards them with the “crown of life” How do they endure? by choosing to apply the 4 commands for every trial they encounter.
Trials are gigantic opportunities to grow wise and express love to God.
You will never find a situation where you do not have access to god for wisdom to apply to your situation. He has all the wisdom you need to skillfully apply to your situation to live life and respond in a way that honors Him. God promises you wisdom and wisdom you will have as you ask Him in faith!