Ask: Day 5

Devotion by: William Wagner

James 1:5-8

If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you. But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind; for the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord.

The Book of James gives us a practical approach for living as a Christian. In this passage we are told that we can and should ask God for wisdom, when we feel that we are lacking such abilities. However, the verses also tell us that we should not be in doubt, with part of our mind focused on God and the other on the world. Rather, we should be asking in faith and believing that God will provide us what we have asked for. How often do we ask for things in our daily life, while being in doubt about whether we will receive what we have requested? While there can be uncertainty in our own daily life as to whether our family or friends will fulfill our request, we need have no fear that God will not answer our prayers. But there is a catch! Are we asking for God to show us how to escape or get out of our troubles or are we asking him to give us wisdom so that we learn from our difficulties so that we can avoid them in the future? And sometimes we are asking God to provide or do things that are not part of his plan. How glorious it is when His plan is revealed and we see the wisdom of his choice in our lives.

PRAYER: Gracious God, we ask that you will provide us with the wisdom to learn from our errors and our bad decisions. Help us to learn and see your plan for our lives that we may fulfill the plans that you have had for us from the very beginning.