How to Ask God for Wisdom by Calvary Church

James 1:6-8 How to Ask God for Wisdom Sermon Outline I. Introduction Consider getting ready to ask your boss for a raise. Human resources experts claim the people who are most successful in receiving raises are those who have done the work ahead of time to ensure they are prepared for the conversation with their boss. In a similar way, Christians who ask God for wisdom with the same sort of preparedness are more likely to actually receive wisdom from God. God does not want to withhold his wisdom – James 1:5 says he freely gives to all who ask -- but not everyone who asks for wisdom from God receives it.

II. Believe and Not Doubt The key factor is found in James 1:6-8. James says we must “believe and not doubt.” If we do not meet this pre-requisite for receiving wisdom, James is clear we will not hear from the Lord. What does it mean to believe and not doubt? There are three questions that we must ask ourselves before we approach God with our requests.

III. Question #1: Am I Willing to Abandon Plan B? If we are going to ask God for wisdom, we cannot have a “Plan B” whereby we hedge our bets in case we think he hasn’t answered. The existence of such a fallback strategy nullifies our request. Having a “Plan B” is what James means when he talks about a “double-minded man” or a person who pursues two courses at the same time. Example: Spanish Conquistador Hernando Cortez landing in Mexico in 1519 and burning his boats from God Told Me, page 126. Modern Day Example: “I am going to pray for two months and ask God to help me decide whether to enroll my children in Christian or public schools. If I don’t hear anything from him then I am going to send my children to public schools like most of the other parents in my small group.” (God Told Me, page 126.)

IV. Question #2: Am I Pure in God’s Eyes? When James says, “believe and not doubt” (NIV), another, more literal way to translate the Greek is “let him ask in faith, not doubting.” The same noun “faith” shows up in a heavy concentration (13 times) in chapter 2. The opening verse says, “My brothers and sisters do not show prejudice if you possess faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ” (NET). James goes on to discuss how true faith manifests itself in obeying God’s law and doing good deeds. Therefore, we can be confident that for James, to ask God for wisdom “in faith” means to ask from a position of purity and obedience. Biblical Example: Ezekiel 20 provides an example of a time when God refused to provide wisdom and guidance because of the willful sin and disobedience of his people. It is important to discuss the difference between repeated, unrepentant and rebellious sin and the regular experience that we all have struggling against sin. See the example from God Told Me, page 121.

V. Question #3: Am I Willing to Do What God Advises No Matter What? The other place in James’ letter where the noun “faith” appears is James 5:15. There James describes the prayer of “faith.” Douglas Moo comments on James 5:15 – “The faith exercised in prayer is faith in the God who sovereignly accomplishes his will. When we pray, our faith recognizes, explicitly or implicitly, the overruling providential purposes of God…. A prayer for healing, then, must usually be qualified by a recognition that God’s will in the matter is supreme.” (James, Pillar New Testament Commentary). To approach God in faith means to recognize that God’s will is supreme and ours is not. In other words, if we are coming to God and asking for advice but secretly waiting to see whether we like the advice or not before agreeing to follow it – we are not asking in faith. Biblical Examples: 1.

In Jeremiah 42, people ask God for advice and then choose to do something else. Jeremiah seems to be saying that Israel should not have asked if they weren’t planning on obeying God.

1 Kings 22 contains an example of two men who approach God differently on this point. Jehoshophat wants to do what God advises, Ahab has already made up his mind to do what he wants.

Modern Day Example: Lewis Sperry Chafer, founder of Dallas Seminary once said, “His leading is only for those who are already committed to do as he may choose. To such it may be said, ‘God is able to speak loud enough to make a willing soul hear.’” Cited in God Told Me, p. 125-126.

VI. Conclusion: If we are going to ask God for wisdom, we must honestly answer these three questions. If we can say that we do not have a “Plan B,” that we are not harboring any known willful disobedience to God in our lives, and that we are willing to follow his advice wherever it may lead us, then we can be confident that we are asking in faith. This gives us assurance that God will hear our request for guidance and answer.