SERMON: “Praying for Wisdom” (James 1:5–8)
“Praying for Wisdom” (James
1:5–8)
Series: “James:
True Faith Works” #3 Text: James 1:5–8
By: Shaun
Marksbury Date: October 13, 2024
Venue: Living
Water Baptist Church Occasion: PM Service
I.
Introduction
I’m not talking about physical storms that you can anticipate
and for which you prepare yourself; I mean spiritual turmoil. Sometimes, our first instinct is often to
search for answers — why is this happening, and what should I do next? Sometimes, people respond with anger, or
malice, or even lust, or whatever else that we might define as carnal, fleshly,
or worldly. In times of uncertainty, we
need more than just practical solutions; we need God’s wisdom so we can
overcome temporary temptations and get through the moment.
The passage today tells us that in the face of trials,
wisdom is ours for the asking. But this
wisdom comes from God, and it enables us not just to survive trials, but to
grow through them. Today, we’ll explore
how God calls us to ask for the wisdom we need to navigate life’s storms. First, we need to ask for wisdom from our
generous God (v. 5). Second, we need to ask
with faith in our generous God (vv. 6–7).
Let’s consider the first:
II.
First, We Need to Ask for Wisdom from Our
Generous God (v. 5)
But if any of you
lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all
generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
James directly calls us to seek wisdom from God through
prayer. Now, we have to first ask
ourselves what wisdom is. Wisdom isn’t
merely intellectual. Joseph Smith didn’t
understand this when he set out to found the Mormon church; he said he prayed
this verse concerning what churches were right, and supposedly had a revelation
that they were all wrong. Wisdom is not gathering
information or obtaining visions or new revelations.
Rather, wisdom is the proper use of information. Wisdom is taking a biblical truth and
applying it to a situation. I remember
once talking to a Mormon missionary who told me we need the prophets of the
Mormon church because we don’t know how to navigate new technologies, and
wouldn’t know that internet pornography
was wrong; I replied that there’s always been lust and pornography, and we
don’t need a new revelation to tell us whether it’s right or wrong. Scripture tells us the precepts of God, and
godly wisdom is applying those truths to our current situations.
Now, maybe you feel like you’re lacking in wisdom, and
that’s what this verse addresses. The
first word of this verse is “but,” and it links to the thought of the previous
verse that should be lacking in nothing. We still may find that lack in wisdom, though. All lack wisdom in some way, and we need
more.
The truth is that we have the wisdom we need to walk in this
world already. First Corinthians 1:24
calls Christ “the power of God and the wisdom of God.” Yet, we
must grow in recognizing and utilizing this wisdom. Think of it this way: A seed has all the
genetic information a future fruit tree needs, but the tree still needs to grow
and mature first. Even our Lord Jesus,
born as God in flesh, “kept increasing in wisdom” (Luke 2:52). How much more do we need to grow in wisdom?
God does use the knowledge of Scripture to help us recognize
the wisdom we need. James describes true
wisdom in James 3:17 — “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then
peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering,
without hypocrisy.” Where we seem to
lack wisdom, we can ask of God, for our prayerful consideration of the Word
will help us grow in the wisdom we need to walk.
So, we have the invitation to “let him ask of God.” Those who lack wisdom must keep on
asking. This is not a one time
petition. Just as there is no end to our
need for wisdom in this world, there is no end to our need to ask for more
wisdom.
Second Chronicles 1 opens with a young and fresh king
Solomon worshiping God. Verse 7 reads,
“In that night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, ‘Ask what I shall give
you.’ ” He praises God for the blessings
God had already given, and in v. 10, prays, “Give me now wisdom and knowledge,
that I may go out and come in before this people, for who can rule this great
people of Yours?” God's response? “Because you had this in mind, and did not
ask for riches, wealth or honor, or the life of those who hate you, nor have
you even asked for long life, but you have asked for yourself wisdom and
knowledge that you may rule My people over whom I have made you king, wisdom
and knowledge have been granted to you. And I will give you riches and wealth
and honor, such as none of the kings who were before you has possessed nor
those who will come after you” (vv. 11–12).
Solomon’s heart started right and he was blessed for
it. However, he did not continue to
guard his heart before God. Indeed, he
directly disobeyed God and added wives and concubines unto himself (cf. Deut.
17:14-20; 1 Kgs. 11:3). Thus, Solomon's
great wisdom had a growing blind-spot, that this disobedience would only lead
to more disobedience. “For when Solomon
was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was
not wholly devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been” (1 Kgs. 11:4). Eventually, Solomon began building false
altars and sacrificing to false gods (1 Kgs. 11:7-8).
God was not pleased to let this go. He said to Solomon, “Because you have done
this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded
you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant”
(1 Kings 11:11). During the remainder of
his life, Solomon had to deal with conflicts with the Edomite and Aramian
peoples (vv. 14–25). After his death,
the nation descended into civil war and divided into two kingdoms — a testament
to the divided heart of Solomon.
This was not a quick process. We've summed up decades of the man’s life in
a few minutes. And in the end, because
of his later suffering, he came to realize the error of his ways. The book of Ecclesiastes records the wisdom
that can only come from the lament of a man who acknowledges his
wrong-doing. Ecclesiastes 2:8 records,
“Also, I collected for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and
provinces. I provided for myself male and female singers and the pleasures of
men—many concubines.” He writes in v.
10, “All that my eyes desired I did not refuse them. I did not withhold my
heart from any pleasure, for my heart was pleased because of all my labor and
this was my reward for all my labor.” A
king of Solomon's caliber wants for nothing.
In v. 11, though, he writes, “Thus I considered all my activities which
my hands had done and the labor which I had exerted, and behold all was vanity
and striving after wind and there was no profit under the sun.” He ends the book with these words, “The conclusion,
when all has been heard, is: fear God
and keep His commandments, because this applies
to every person. For God will bring
every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil”
(12:13–14).
That was quite a tangent to illustrate a single point.
We said yesterday that trials come for a variety of reasons, that they
are various and sundry, but what I did not emphasize is that some of our trials
is self-inflicted. How much of our past
sin and problems would have been averted if we had just been on our knees
asking for wisdom? How can your prayer
to God to see His perspective and through His eyes affect your life from here
on out? God wants us constantly seeking
wisdom.
And God will be generous in His gifting. Our God, who never changes, who is the same
yesterday, today, and forever, is the God who gives, and gives all things in
the present tense. God gives liberally,
abundantly, or “generously.” In Romans
12:3–8, Paul writes that God has given each of us spiritual gifts for service,
and one gift is giving — let the one who contributes do so in generosity
(v. 8). Some people might get upset
when you ask, but not God; we read that He gives without reproach, which
means He has a true generosity. We
don't need to fear drawing near to God!
This means that we will have wisdom for the trials mentioned
earlier in vv. 2–4. If someone is the
source of your trials and suffering right now, you can pray that God
gives you a proper perspective. We need divine insight to endure and grow in
Christlikeness through difficulties.
Here’s the rub: if you pray and then act worldly, you are
double-minded. That creates an issue
with both receiving wisdom and our ongoing prayer life. If you ask God for wisdom, you better be
willing to implement it into your Christian walk. If you’re not sure you want heavenly wisdom,
but want to give it a try, don’t bother.
That’s where we are going next:
III.
Second, We Need to Ask with Faith in Our
Generous God (vv. 6–7)
But he must ask in
faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea,
driven and tossed by the wind. For that
man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a
double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
James makes it clear that prayer must be offered in faith. Note that it is not “of faith,” but “in
faith.” We are talking to those who have
the faith to place this request in.
It is a divine confidence in what we have not yet seen with our eyes and
felt with our hands (cf. Heb. 11:1) — who God is and what He will do for
us. As Jesus said in Matthew 21:21–22,
“Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do
what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken
up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen.
And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” Faith is essential to receiving wisdom because
it reflects trust in God’s promises.
James further explains faith in the remainder of our
reading, but he does so from negation. Essentially,
he says that asking in faith means asking without doubt. He also says that asking in faith means
asking without doublemindedness. Let’s
consider the first of these.
A.
Asking in Faith Means Asking without Doubt
We see this with the remaining part of v. 6. The one needing wisdom must ask “without any
doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed
by the wind.” Doubt in who we are in
Christ and whether God will keep His promises causes us to waver.
Let’s consider what the Lord means here by doubting; this is
the negative way of saying “in faith.”[1] We could translate this “doubting not at all”
or, as the LSB has it, “doubting nothing.” This has caused some Christians concern, as
though a stray doubt might ruin a prayer.
Yet, one commentary explains, “The term does not describe a
momentary doubt but a divided allegiance, an uncertainty.”[2] The “wavering” here speaks of division within
oneself. It’s the same word used to say
that the Holy Spirit makes no distinction between Jew and Gentile (Acts 11:12,
15:9). The dividing within your soul is
like Solomon’s heart—partly wishing to pursue God’s honor, and partly wishing
to enjoy sinful pleasures.
This is what leads to instability. As the KJV has here, “For he that wavereth is like a
wave of the sea.” The
Mediterranean Sea would have been a common channel of travel, though many of
the Jews at the time shared the opinion that it was too tumultuous for
comfort. When we have divided loyalties
with God, we will be as Peter was when he began to doubt, finding ourselves sinking
(Matt. 14:28–31). Scripture calls us
away from being children, maturing instead of tossing in the waves (Eph. 4:14). Those who allow sin to compromise their
prayer life experience as little peace as the sea in the midst of a gale.
Look briefly at v. 7. We read there, “For that
man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord.” As the ESV has here, the doubting and divided
man should not “suppose that” God will give him what he needs. In fact, the Lord in His judgment may
withhold from the man entertaining sin until that man repents.
Doubt reveals a divided loyalty. That leads to two ways of thinking within the
believer. This is something James calls
being double-minded, bringing us to the final verse.
B.
Asking in Faith Means Asking without Doublemindedness
Again, v. 8 reads, “being
a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”
This is the first use of this term in Greek literature (that we know
of), meaning that James might have coined the term. It literally means, “double souled” (διψυχος, dipsuchos), and John Bunyan illustrated this in Pilgrim’s
Progress with “Mr. Facing-both-ways.”[3]
This is why some people don’t see answered prayer. Sometimes we just don’t expect God to give us
our requests. Sometimes we just want to
do our own thing, but we want God to give us a little direction first. Like the Laodiceans, those who pray with
double-mindedness are neither hot for the things of God nor cold to Him, and
Jesus threatens to spit every one of us out who He finds to be lukewarm.
James uses this term again in 4:8. He writes, “Draw near to God and He will draw
near to you. Cleanse your hands, you
sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” Those who find that they are double-minded
should repent of their sins and seek the cleansing that only the Lord Jesus can
bring.
A double-minded person is unstable, not only in prayer but
in all aspects of life, lacking direction and certainty. This man “is unstable in all he does, like an unsteady, staggering drunk. The answer from God depends on assurance in
God.”[4] An unstable Christian is prey for false
teachers, who “entice unstable souls” (2 Pet. 2:14). We should strive for sobriety of soul to eliminate
the dangers of instability.
If you don’t want to waste time in prayer, you could begin
to ask for wisdom in how you might be double-minded. Ask Him to show you any wavering in your
soul. Before asking for a heavenly
perspective on other people, ask for one on yourself.
IV.
Conclusion
As we face challenges in life, we need the wisdom which is
from above. Yet, we need to apply that
wisdom to our own lives first. Are we
double minded? Are we unstable and
doubting? Let’s cultivate single-minded
devotion to God, avoiding the instability that comes from divided affections or
uncertainty about God’s goodness.
[1] A. T. Robertson, Word
Pictures in the New Testament, (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1933), Jas
1:6.
[2] Earl D. Radmacher, Ronald Barclay Allen, and H. Wayne
House, The Nelson Study Bible: New King
James Version, (Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers, 1997), Jas 1:6.
[3] Robertson, Jas 1:8.
[4] J. Ronald Blue, The
Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, 1985, 2, 821.
