Daily Devotionals

Believe It Or Not Week 6: Thursday

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. James 1:5

Occasionally, I shop for groceries at a different store than I usually frequent. Every time I do this, I feel lost. I do not know where to find anything and shopping takes me twice as long. In fact, I can spend twenty minutes looking for one item before I realize how much time has passed. I have learned lately that instead of wandering for twenty minutes in the store, I just need to ask someone where that item is. Every time, it never fails that someone who works at the store knows exactly where it is and takes me right to the item I’m looking for. I can save so much time and hassle if I just ask. On a grander scale, the same is true about wisdom when seeking God’s will for our lives. Scripture teaches that we simply need to ask God, and He will give it to us. 

The writer of James encourages us to pray to God for wisdom when we are seeking God’s will for our lives. “If you need wisdom,” James writes, “ask our generous God, and He will give it to you” (verse 5). When we need wisdom, James says that we can ask for it. God is generous, James teaches. Out of His generosity, God will give us the wisdom that we are asking for. Notice that the verse does not say, “He ‘might’ give [wisdom] to you. Instead, the verse states that “He will give wisdom to you.” This is a promise we have to claim. If we ask, He will give the wisdom we are asking for.  

When we feel lost and like we need direction and are trying to discern God’s will, James 1:5 calls us to pray and ask God for wisdom. Are you searching for God’s will for a certain situation in your life? Pause and ask God for wisdom. Ask Him for discernment and help to know what step He may be leading you to take. Remember, God is generous. When you ask for wisdom, He will give it to you.

Moving Toward Action

Follow Scripture’s instruction in James 1:5 today. Ask God for wisdom today as you seek to understand His will for your life. If you are trying to make a big decision, ask Him for His will. If you need help knowing how to respond in a particular situation, ask for His wisdom. Take hold of the promise that God gives us wisdom when we ask.

Going Deeper

James 1:1-8 (NLT)

This letter is from James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I am writing to the “twelve tribes”—Jewish believers scattered abroad.

Greetings!

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.