Asking God for Wisdom

Too many of us, when we're experiencing a trial, try to manage the difficulty in our own strength.

We look for answers based on our own wisdom rather than asking God for what we really need. Today on Truth for Life, Alistair Begg highlights not only the wisdom we're missing, but how we can get it. We begin our study today in James chapter 1.

J. B. Phillips, whose paraphrase we've come to enjoy together, paraphrases verse 2, when all kinds of trials crowd into your lives, don't resent them as intruders but welcome them as friends. And that little paraphrase, I think, helps to set in our thinking very quickly and clearly the opening salvo of James's rapid-fire approach to practical Christian living.

James shoots from the hip, he gets it out, nobody is really in any doubt about what he's saying, and in that respect, it is tremendously helpful. In verses 2–4, he has urged his readers, and we are his readers, to recognize that trials are a privilege which God the Father allows his children to experience. And in order that, we might, as a result, become—verse 4—mature and complete and not lacking anything. And when that is the perspective, then and only then we will be able to discover joy in the midst of the test. We've already noted that this is counterintuitive.

It is certainly countercultural. Joy and trials do not coexist in the minds of our contemporaries. In fact, trials are in many ways the antithesis of joy. Therefore, if you want to have joy, you need to remove trials.

If you want to enjoy life, then all of these dreadful circumstances need at least to be set aside or overcome. James says no, and paradoxically, he sets joy and trial together with each other. The way in which we understand that, of course, is in relationship to the ultimate purpose of God. The ultimate purpose of God is to work in all things for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. And what is that ultimate good? It is that we might become mature and complete and not lacking anything—in other words, that we might become complete Christians, that we might be conformed to the image of Jesus himself.

Now, to begin in this way is important, because if we're honest—which I think we want to be—if we're realistic, which I hope we are, then it is not easy, nor is it natural, to adopt this kind of perspective when going through this particular process. And it is on account of that, I believe, that James moves so quickly to the statement in verse 5. Most of us have quoted verse 5 from time to time in relationship to making a decision about a job or about our marriage or the raising of our children or whatever it might be. And James 5 stands alone in that respect.

If anyone likes wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all generously and without finding fault. But verse 5 is actually after verse 4 and before verse 6. It's in this opening paragraph. And therefore, it is important for us to understand it contextually and to understand it specifically. And when we look at that, then we recognize that what he's saying here about wisdom is directly tied to what he has just said about trials and testings.

So essentially, it goes like this. You should count it all joy if you face trials of various kinds, because the trials in your life 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're not getting this, if you find yourself responding to this in a way that isn't buying it, if you are tempted to think differently from what I have just said to you, then you'd better ask God for wisdom. Because it is wisdom that you require in order to think properly about these issues of life. Do you get it? There is a process that is going on.

And if in the process you don't know what to do, then let me tell you what you need to do. I mention that so that we don't unearth verse 5 and make it just a verse that sits on its own. It does stand alone. The truth exists in absentee form from the surrounding context.

It is applicable, but it's not the way in which it is used, first of all, in the text. So what I want to do is ask three questions—they're straightforward questions—and find the answer in the text. Question number one, what do we need? Question number two, what should we do? Question number three, what will we find? First of all, what do we need?

What do we need? And the answer, in a word, wisdom. Wisdom.

James is very gracious. He doesn't say, you know, you are a bunch of dead heads, and you're all desperately in need of wisdom. He says, if any of you lacks wisdom—which is a very inclusive way of approaching it, because who's going to stand up and say, No, I don't need any wisdom.

Thank you very much for mentioning it. No, if any of you lacks wisdom, I think that includes us all. Absolutely correct. What do we need? We need wisdom. Wisdom. Did anyone use the word wisdom this week? Did you read it in the paper? Did it come up frequently, the word wisdom?

I would wager not. Because wisdom is almost an old-fashioned word now. It is a biblical word. And wisdom has been obscured by words like insight or information or intelligence. Each of these things on their own or the three of them together do not add up to wisdom. Indeed, education cannot be equated with wisdom. Because education, despite what our culture suggests, is not the great panacea for all ills. If education really was the answer to AIDS, then we would have fixed it by now. If education really was the answer to premarital sex, it would all be over. If education was the answer to the things that we're told it's the answer to, then we're a highly intelligent culture. We have enough information, enough intelligence, enough education to have put all these things to bed. We know enough to do the right things, and we know enough to make sure we don't do the wrong things.

But did you read the paper this week? What was it full of? People who did all these wrong things and failed to do all these right things.

What's missing? Wisdom. Wisdom. You see, when you come to wisdom in the Bible, wisdom is not simply cognitive. Wisdom is not simply mental. Wisdom is moral.

Wisdom is, if you like, the behavior that emerges from a belief system. You have that, for example, when Jesus deals with the story of the wise and the foolish builders. The wise man built his house upon the rock, and the waves came tumbling down, and the rock stood firm.

The house stood firm. The foolish man built his house upon the sand, and it collapsed. What's the point that Jesus is making? Who is the wise man? The wise man, says Jesus, is the one who hears my words and puts them into practice. The foolish man is not the person who doesn't hear the words of Jesus, because the foolish man also hears the words of Jesus but fails to act with wisdom, fails to put them into practice. Wisdom is the information that God supplies turned to action. Humility is a precursor to biblical wisdom.

Look at what he says. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. That's wisdom.

That's why, incidentally, that an educational system that is relativistic, that sets aside the notions of right and wrong, must inevitably collapse on itself. Small wonder, then, that when Solomon decides to write his Proverbs, he writes as follows, the Proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel, for attaining wisdom and discipline, for understanding words of insight, for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair, for giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young. Let the wise listen and add to their learning. Let the discerning get guidance, for understanding Proverbs and parables, the sayings and riddles of the wise. 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 light of God's revelation of himself in the varied circumstances of life, whether in joy or in sorrow. Wisdom is knowing how to live God's way in God's world. And to the extent that that becomes the hallmark of a life, it will be so radically different from the culture.

It was in Corinth, and it is in Cleveland. Paul, in writing to the Corinthians, remember, he says, what of the philosopher, the writer, and the critic of this world to show for all their wisdom? Not quite a rhetorical question, is it? And then he says, hasn't God made the wisdom of this world look foolish? And that's why James says, you will never, ever grab hold of this paradox unless you get what you need. And what you need is wisdom.

Secondly, what should we do? If what we need is wisdom, what should we do? Well, in a phrase, ask God, verse 5. Ask God, the God whom he identifies in verse 17 as providing every good and perfect gift that comes down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who doesn't change like shifting shadows.

He's not one way on a Sunday and another way on a Tuesday. He is abiding in his faithfulness. And, says James, you need to ask if you're going to receive.

Did he remember Jesus' words? Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives.

Maybe. How should you ask? Simply. If anyone likes wisdom, let him ask God. Dear God, I need wisdom.

Dear God, I'm tempted to regard this as a major intrusion in my life, as a stumbling block, and as an expression of whatever. I think I need your wisdom on this one. I'm asking you for wisdom.

Simply. And asking him properly—properly. There is a proper way to make a request, isn't there?

Please, thank you for responding to my request. And when we come before God, remember he is God. He is the Creator of the universe. Yes, he bids us come boldly into his presence.

Yes, Jesus opens up access whereby we may call him Father, but he remains God. And it is imperative that we come before him properly, that when we come before him, we come before him with a sincere heart, in full assurance of faith. What James says here is that we need to believe and not doubt. To believe here is more than intellectual assent. To believe here is an expression of trust.

It is an expression of devotion. To doubt is more than simply saying, I wonder if this is the case. To doubt is to refuse to entrust ourselves to him. See, God knows whether we want our help.

Is this a sincere request? Or is it somebody who is playing the game, using the language, singing the song, but deep inside they say, But if this wisdom comes out that I don't like, then I reserve the right to just do what I good and well please. That person is a doubter. That person is a non-truster.

That person is not a believer. In the face of trials and fears and disappointments, to come to him properly is to come to him in childlike trust, asking God to help us to see things properly, asking him to help us to see that our trials that he identifies here of many kinds, that our sufferings are light and momentary afflictions, not worthy to be compared to the glory that is going to be revealed in us. It's going to take wisdom to see things in that way, isn't it? If anyone likes wisdom about this, they should ask God. But ask in such a way so that you know and God knows that we're serious about getting an answer. You see, if we're going to ask him properly, we need to ask him for the wisdom that we require so that we can live in the way that we should. And God knows whether we want to walk in his way or not. I know this can't be true, but sometimes I think to myself, I'm sure God goes, Oh, turn channel three off. Let's beg again.

Turn him off for now. We'll bring him back in when he's serious. We'll bring him back in when he's honest. Because honesty lies at the heart of any appeal to an earthly father or to a heavenly father. And our earthly fathers are pretty good at knowing whether we're coming right or wrong.

Our heavenly Father is absolutely unerring in his understanding of it. What do we need? Wisdom. What should we do? Ask finally. What will we find? What will we find?

Let's do this in reverse order, negative, and then we'll finish on a positive note. What will we find? Well, we'll find that when we try to hedge our bets—right? When he asks, he must believe and not doubt. We try to hedge our bets.

If we try to ride two horses at once—one horse is called faith and the other is called doubts—not only will we find ourselves at odds within ourselves, but, says James categorically, that man should not think, verse 7, he will receive anything from the Lord. Wow! I thought you always got stuff. I thought you could ask, you know, anytime, anywhere, any, whatever, you always got stuff. Apparently not. Apparently not. There's a way to come before God in prayer and get zilch. Well, I don't like the sound of that. And neither do you. So I need to find out what it is that causes that so that that won't happen, so that when I come to God in prayer, I'm on the receiving end of his bounty and his goodness and his fatherly provision.

That's a fair expectation. What's the issue here? James is addressing the issue of divided loyalty.

Divided loyalty. I don't think what James is saying here is that if a person has ever had any doubts—intellectual doubts, cognitive dissonance in their minds about the truth of God's Word—that they can't ever come to God and ask him for things because he won't give them anything. Any thinking person doubts, even if it's only for a moment or two.

Wow! Is that true? And what we need to do is to learn how to doubt our doubts as much as we doubt our certainties. No, I think that what James is on about here is that the doubter is the person whose prayers and whose actions are so clearly at odds with each other. They come before God and ask for things. They got no intention of doing what they ask for. It's like Augustine's famous prayer, Lord, make me pure, but not yet.

See? That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord, because he is a doubter. He doesn't ask in faith. He says, I want to be a pure person, but it's Friday. That's not a good time to start this.

Let's start it Monday. No. No. It's not gonna work. To receive the gifts of God, the gift of wisdom, and all that comes with it is to say no to hypocrisy—the kind of hypocrisy which prays for wisdom and acts in foolishness, which says certain things before God in the quietness of our hearts, but deep inside we know we don't really want this. Lord, I want your wisdom.

Well, my wisdom is that you sever this relationship because it's wrong. Thank you for that. I'm not interested in it. What I want is my way, and I'd like you to bless it.

Sorry, no can do. No, the prayer for wisdom is the Solomon's Prayer—the discerning between right and wrong. And when we pray for wisdom and ask God for wisdom, and as wisdom returns and says, This is in and this is out, the only way forward is to adjudicate in and out according to what God says. To try and do it the other way is a fiasco.

It's a disaster. And that kind of individual is like a wave of the sea, tossed and blown about by the wind. He is, verse 8, a double-minded man, and he's unstable in all he does. I just say a word to the girls here.

I could do it for the men, but I'm choosing to feel favorably towards my sisters this morning. If you are dating this kind of character, dump him immediately. Dump him immediately. If he squares up, we can have the conversation. If he doesn't, it's over, and you ought to have a party and have all your friends come in—the Goodbye Charlie party, because he is out the door.

If he won't buckle down when you're dating him, you don't have a chance of doing anything with him after you're married to him. God might fix him. We know that. But you either cry now or cry then. Choose when you want to cry.

And that's just a little parenthetical thing for the girls. Let me end on a positive note. What do we need wisdom? What should we do? Ask. What will we find?

We'll find that if we come at this trying to go up the escalator and down the escalator simultaneously, we will rip ourselves apart and everybody else with us. However, if we come to God sincerely and in complete honesty, he promises, James says, to give generously to all and without finding fault. He doesn't make us feel guilty or foolish for coming back to him with the same or a similar question. He's not like a really bad high school teacher.

He's like a really good high school teacher to the nth degree. But God our Father is not waiting for the chance to go, Oh, not you again. Oh, come on, how many times are you gonna ask me the question?

No. He gives generously to all and without finding fault. That's why I was quoting Friday Night at Moody, the Johnny Cash song from his Man in Black album, you know. I talk to Jesus every day, and he's interested in every word I say. And no secretary ever tells me he's been called away. I talk to Jesus every day. And often about the same stuff. Why? Because the trials are real, and the disappointments are obvious, and the hills are steep, and I need wisdom.

And so do you. That's why when you come to someone who has that empathetic capacity, like the late Archbishop of Canterbury, Donald Cogan, who was a wonderful pastor to his own flock before ever he assumed the position that became his, it was said of Cogan—listen to this—he gave consistent advice to the puzzled, warm encouragement to the promising, and compassion to the perplexed. Consistent advice to the puzzled, warm encouragement to the promising, and compassion to the perplexed. That, I suggest to you, is God-like. God-like. In the midst of any trial, our assignment is to cry out to God for wisdom and then trust, without a doubt, that his way is best.

You're listening to Alistair Begg. This is Truth for Life. Here at Truth for Life, we are passionate about teaching the Bible and also about providing you with books to help you and your family learn more about what God's Word says. That's why today we want to recommend a Bible story book that you can read aloud to your children or your grandchildren. The book is titled Bible Stories Every Child Should Know. It's a collection of more than 120 stories from Genesis to Revelation.

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I'm Bob Lapine. We live in a culture that focuses on success and achievement, moving forward without any regard for what anyone else around us may be experiencing. Tomorrow, Alistair Begg urges us to step back and look at our circumstances from a biblical perspective. The Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life, where the Learning is for Living.