• James 1:5 “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”
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As we saw with the myths “God/the Spirit told me to [sin]…” and “I Believe With All My Heart”, modern believers have various popular catch phrases to cover up our sins and lack of biblical authority for what we are doing. Praying about our misdeeds has become another one of those catch phrases.

In our text, Jms. 1:5, we are definitely commanded to ask God for wisdom, but the reader must realize that prayer itself is not the guide. God exhorts you to pray for His wisdom and God will answer. God’s wisdom is the guide. At the same time, since most believe that whatever they feel led to do or whatever thought pops into their brain is from God, it is important that you realize what “wisdom” is to God and what wisdom should likewise be to you.

God’s wisdom is not a feeling or a leading. When God speaks His wisdom to you, His Words will be His Word, the Bible. When God refers to wisdom in the Bible, He is referring to His wisdom, not yours or the world’s (Jms. 3:15). And God’s wisdom is always found in God’s word. Right off the bat, in Proverbs ch. 1, God reveals why Proverbs was written. The first thing listed is “to know wisdom” in vs. 2. In vs. 3, God mentions, “to receive the instruction of wisdom.” The Bible is God’s wisdom.

• Ps. 19:7 “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.”
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When Solomon prayed for wisdom in I Kgs 3:9, God gave it to him and later inspired Solomon to write books of wisdom in the Bible like Proverbs so that God’s people also might “know wisdom” (Pro. 1:2). Like Solomon asked God for wisdom, you can ask God for wisdom (our text, Jms. 1:5) and God will give you His Word as the answer. So, yes, any believer can ask God for wisdom, and when God speaks, His Word, the Bible will give you the wisdom you need from God. “The law of the Lord” will make “wise the simple.”

However, many believers also miss that wisdom is not mere knowledge. Wisdom and knowledge are two distinct truths. Wisdom is God’s knowledge/God’s Word applied, lived, and used.

• Pro. 1:5 “A wise man will hear, and will increase learning;”
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• Pro. 11:30 “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.”
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• Jms. 3:17 “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.”
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Each of those examples show God’s knowledge lived and practiced. Whereas knowledge is passive, wisdom is active. If you are wise, you use the ears God gave you to listen (Pro. 1:5). If you are wise, you take God’s knowledge of winning souls and go soulwinning and actually win souls to Christ (Pro. 11:30 “winneth souls”). If you are wise, you live out God’s Word by being pure, peaceable, gentle, easy to be intreated, fully of mercy, full of good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy (Jms. 3:17) all of which are actions. Wisdom is God’s Word lived.

So the next time you want to say, “I have prayed about…,” whatever it is you have prayed about, you will know when God answers your prayers, because your answered prayers for guidance and wisdom will be accompanied with unadulterated Scripture that you then obey and live out.

(This article is from the “Are You ‘More Noble’?” series.)