This is the fourth prayer in the prayer acronym, T.H.E. W.A.Y
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W: Give me Wisdom!
- "But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, without any doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed. For that man shouldn't think that he will receive anything from the Lord" (James 1:5-7).
Prayerful Observations:
Wisdom is granted by God to those who ask in faith, without doubt. If we believe that God will reveal wisdom through our prayer, He will. If we don't, He won't. Regarding one who asks with doubts, the passage says: "For that man shouldn't think that he will receive anything from the Lord."
While God will not grant a request that was prayed in doubt because of the prayer, He may grant it for another reason. In His grace and in the implementation of His will, He may provide the information we need, though not in response to our prayer. So, our unbelief in asking for wisdom does not tie God's hands and make it impossible for Him to grant us wisdom according to His sovereign plan.
Nevertheless, to expect a positive answer to our prayer for wisdom, we must ask in faith and without doubt. If you have doubts, ask God to increase your faith. The Endorsed Prayer for faith is presented later in subchapter 4.3.
The immediate context of the above passage is trials (verses 2-4) Even though you are a believer and a true child of God, you may not receive spiritual communication from God in your trials because you don't believe that God will communicate information into your mind. Wisdom is granted by God to those who ask in faith, without doubt. If we believe that God will reveal wisdom through our prayer, He will. If we don't, He won't.
I believe that this requirement of doubtless faith also applies to the following four prayers for spiritual communication. If you believe that God will communicate to your mind, He will. But if you ask with doubt, you should not expect any of these prayers to succeed.
By the way, you may be wondering how to define wisdom according to scripture. Wisdom is knowing God's will so that we may do God's will. We see this in the prayer of Paul:
- "we also, since the day we heard this, don't cease praying and making requests for you, that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, that you may walk worthily of the Lord, to please him in all respects" (Colossians 1:9-10).
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