Word of Salvation – Vol. 15 No.08 – February 1969

 

Our Prayer For Wisdom

 

Sermon by Rev. A. Nijhuis, B.D. on James 1:5-8

SCRIPTURE READINGS: Kings 3:5-14; Ephesians 6:10-18

(Follows sermon on James 1:2-4 in ‘Word of Salvation’, Jan.5 & 19, 1969).

PSALTER HYMNAL (old): 279 (Tune 193,without refrain)
                        260:1 (summary of law); 414:1 (pardon); 263:1 (law);
                        319 (tune 203); 420:9; 452:3

 

After having listened carefully to what James wrote earlier to his sheep scattered abroad because of the Name of Jesus Christ namely, to count it all joy when they meet various trials, because the testing of their faith produces steadfastness – after having listened carefully to these words in order to apply them to our own lives, a very urgent question arises in our hearts, and we have difficulty in keeping silent till James has finished speaking.

Yes, we were becoming impatient already.  We felt like interrupting the speaker with our “buts”.

Oh yes, I can well understand your impatience and your readiness to interfere, because it was a very strange message indeed that was brought forward.

We felt like asking a question, this question: please tell us, James, how in the world can we in our trials and tribulations rejoice, even when we know that the testing of our faith produces something useful?

How do you expect us to do this?  Where do we get the necessary wisdom?  Where can we turn to receive all we need to live according to this word?  What is the address to which we send our request for help and strength?

We feel we cannot cope with such a situation as is indicated in vss. 2 and 3.  Faced with the testing of our faith so that steadfastness shall have its full effect, we confess that we are unable to follow up that word.  We feel at a loss.

However, these verses are not the FINAL words of James.  They are only the BEGINNING of his letter to ‘the twelve tribes in the dispersion’.  Maybe you will find the answer to your question in the next verses, 5–8, of this first chapter of James.  Here, the Word of God speaks about:

            OUR PRAYER FOR WISDOM.

I draw your attention to the following points:

            1.  Our lack of wisdom;

            2.  Our address for wisdom;

            3.  Our asking for wisdom.

(or:

            1.  WHY pray for wisdom?

            2.  TO WHOM to pray for wisdom.

            3.  HOW to pray for wisdom.

1.  This text, James 1:5–8, first draws our attention to our lack of wisdom.

It begins like this: “If any of you lacks wisdom…”  This “if” – “if any of you lacks wisdom” – does not suggest that there are probably none who lacks wisdom, but just in case, against our expectation, that there might be one, well – he or she is informed how to get it,

The intention of James is not to say that all Christians have enough wisdom to find the right way in the midst of all their troubles and hardships.  On the contrary, there is NOT ONE of God’s people in the whole world who is able to state: I am wise enough to go on under my own steam; even when I have to struggle on, surrounded by difficulties, when the sky is dark and the future is threatening, I know the way and I know how to keep on going.

One of the main characteristics of Christians is their humility.  They realise very well, that they “need God every hour”.  Not only for wisdom, but for everything.

A Christian without God is like a soldier surrounded by the enemy, his lines of communication cut off.  He is doomed to die.

Now here, only our lack of WISDOM is mentioned.

Wisdom is not the same as knowledge.  You may have a lot of knowledge and still be a fool.  And you may have no knowledge at all – and be a still greater fool.

Knowledge and wisdom are two different qualities.

Yet they CAN go together.  You may know a lot about education and the problems concerned, and ALSO have the wisdom to act accordingly, to apply your knowledge.

But it may also happen that you know all the problems of married life, and are able to counsel people who come to you because they don’t know what to do about their specific difficulty, and yet you yourself are unable to apply your knowledge in your own married life.

There are also many plain men and women who never attended high school or university, but who are wise in their approach to life, and to life’s problems.

When James speaks about “wisdom”, he does not mean a lot of book–lore, important as this may be.  “If any man lacks knowledge, let him go to college”.  Or take a book.  Yes, we need knowledge, too.  But wisdom is a different matter altogether.  It is a right insight that we need in order to act rightly in certain circumstances.  Solomon, for example, prayed for wisdom; for the practical qualifications to rule over the people of Israel.  A wise man is a man who senses what to do in various difficult situations,

So, when James speaks about wisdom, he means the insight we need to act in the right way when we meet various trials.  If we lack this wisdom, we don’t know what to do.

In that case, our trials don’t produce the required fruit.  On the contrary, instead of steadfastness, the result is back-sliding, self-pity, rebellion, impatience, Instead of purifying our faith, our trials only darken it.

Therefore we need wisdom: wisdom at all times.  Wisdom to make various decisions; wisdom in our fellowship with people; in our work; but above all when we meet trials.

So James points to that wisdom we must have if we are not to lose our bearings in the midst of a tangle of adversities, but are to continue on our course of steadfastness.

Wisdom is to the believer as a compass is to the sailor.  He needs it when the weather is fair and the sea is smooth.  But he needs it especially when a gale is blowing, and the sea is a raging mass of foam.  Without a compass he cannot find his way, and becomes a plaything of the roaring billows.

So we cannot cope with life without a compass, without wisdom.  If wisdom is lacking, we are not getting any further than accepting things as they are.  This Word of God shows us the way to steadfastness: through the acquiring of wisdom.  We need it.  We need it badly.  We cannot manage without it.  Solomon could not handle his task without wisdom.  Neither can we.

Where can we get it?

2.  However, where to turn for wisdom?  Is there an address where we can ask for it?  Is there anybody who is able to meet our needs?

Let us read again the text before us: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, Who gives to all men generously and without reproaching, and it will be given him.”

THAT is the answer to our question: God.  Let us ask God.  Yes, we have to PRAY for wisdom.  Did you know that?  Of course, you knew.  However, do you practise this knowledge?

You know, life may become so complicated, so confusing, so meaningless, so strange to us, that we are at a loss.  We become discouraged, even desperate.

James does not say to us: keep smiling, cheer up; all is not lost.  Neither does he say: try it again; you shouldn’t let yourself become completely discouraged.

His answer is: God; God only.

Now this seems to be a cheap solution to our problems.  God is sometimes so vague; so far away.  So often He is not real to us.

Yes, we profess time and again, “I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth” – but does it affect our life?  Does it mean much to us?

That great and glorious God is my Father for Christ’s sake.  There is a psalm which we had to learn when still very young; as far as I can remember, it was the first one we learned.  It went like this:

            “Open”, saith the Lord,
             “Wide thy mouth, believing.
             This My covenant–word:
             I will, if thou plead,
             Fill thine every need,
             All thy wants relieving.”

This tells quite a different story from those people who say that God is dead.  He is not.  On the contrary, He is that gracious Father of ours, because of His love shown to us in Jesus Christ; in His cross, His sacrifice.  He is that gracious Father Who for Christ’s sake is willing to give us all we need.  He is that God, to quote the words of James, “who gives to all men generously and without reproaching.”

Very often we look in all directions except in His direction.  We try every possible way, instead of knocking at His door, We beg everybody to help us in our plight, instead of asking Him for His support.  We go searching everywhere for wisdom, and overlook the one address where we can, and will get, what we so badly need.

You have a God, brothers and sisters, young people; a LIVING God, a GREAT God, a WISE God.  Your FATHER in the Lord Jesus Christ.  “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask GOD.”

Don’t forget HIM.  That is the greatest trouble of all, if you forget HIM.  And yet, this is what so often happens, isn’t it?  That He is only A God, whose Name we read in the Bible, and about Whom we profess such beautiful things, but Who is not real to us in our daily lives.

Is it not simple?  Ask GOD for what you need, instead of wasting your time doing lots of other things which do not really help.

Of course, there are always people who are ready to say: I did try so often – but it did not work.

I am wondering whether they REALLY tried asking God for wisdom.  Maybe they asked God for something else, e.g.  the taking away of their troubles, their trials, and not for wisdom.

In other words, they tried to work their own will upon God, but they did not succeed.  Of course, they did not.  God is God, for now and evermore.

But we may be sure of this, that He will give us the wisdom we need.  And He is not reluctant in His giving.  Just listen: “God…gives to all men generously and without reproaching”.

We have a generous God; He likes giving.  It is a real joy to Him.  His life is giving.  Look wherever you will: our life is filled with His gifts, and He does not stop; every day He is ready and willing to continue giving us everything we need.

He is also the giver of wisdom, so that we don’t become sour and bitter and rebellious when things do not go according to OUR desires and wisdom, but rather, we rejoice in this generous God,

Now we can understand why the poet of Psalm 42 could sing like this:

            “He shall be my exultation,
             And my song at eventide;
             On His praise e’en in the night,
             I will ponder with delight;
             And in prayer, transcending distance,
             Seek the Lord of my existence.”

This joy in the night is impossible if we think only of the mess we are in; if we leave God out of the picture and don’t live with Him, and if we are so foolish as to forget asking Him for His help, for His wisdom.

Yes indeed, we have a God Who gives generously, abundantly.  And He does so WITHOUT REPROACHING.

We may be disappointed in our fellow men, because they are often such poor and reluctant helpers, attaching all sorts of conditions to their aid which, in any case, is so limited.

Quite different is the Lord’s help, He is generous.  And He gives to all men who turn to Him.  Mind you: ALL MEN, including ME.

He does not say: look, I am willing to help you, IF you act according to my wishes, IF you are nice and willing to pay for it one day.

Far from it!  We can go to Him boldly with our lack of wisdom, asking Him to fill our need.

And He does not add reproach to it.  He is not a cruel giver who accompanies His gifts with various critical observations.  The Lord does not know of such giving.  We may simply come to Him.  Asking Him.  In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

We need not worry ourselves about the question whether we may ask the Lord again for His help.  It is His pleasure indeed to hear and to answer our prayer.

What a privileged people we are, having such a God!

3.  Now there is still another question which has to be answered, brothers and sisters.  It is this: HOW have we to pray for wisdom?

The answer is: “Ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.  For that person must not suppose that a double–minded man, unstable in all his ways, will receive anything from the Lord.”

Whoever asks the Lord for wisdom will receive what he prays for.  But we should ask in the right spirit.  This does not mean that we have to comply with all sorts of conditions.  Again, God gives generously and without reproach; and He gives to all who come to Him,

The vss.6–8 deal with the way of praying.  There are two kinds of praying.

There is the kind of praying practised by people who turn to the Lord, but don’t trust Him really.  They may close their eyes and fold their hands and use the proper words, but they don’t believe that the Lord is able and willing to answer their prayer.

Their prayer is no more than a chance, a possibility; you can try it; you never know your luck.  Such a prayer is like drawing a lot in the lottery; you have a chance, but you don’t expect much, because most people draw blanks.

Whoever prays like this is called a double–minded man.  He is described by one commentator rather strikingly as like a cork floating on the wave, now carried towards the shore, now away from it.

He is virtually a man with two souls, which are in conflict with each other.  He lives between two worlds.  He is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

“Ask IN FAITH”.  That is how James says we must pray.

The Name of the Lord Jesus Christ is not mentioned here, yet it is HIS WORK that is the foundation of our prayer.

We cannot pray on the ground of what we do or have done.  Jesus Christ, HE is the Way.  Only through faith in Him are we able to count it all joy when we meet various trials, knowing that the Lord uses them for His purposes, and turns them to our good.

And only through faith in Him may we expect all we need, and expect it abundantly.

When we are in the midst of raging waves, we may cry out: “Master, Master, we are perishing”; nevertheless Christ is also the Master of the wind and the waves, and He is able to rebuke them and make them obey Him.  He is the Lord.  There is no doubt about His power.

The only question which remains is this: “Where is YOUR faith?”  There is nothing wrong with the Lord.  Nothing at all.  But where is your faith?  Your faith which clings to Him, Who is faithful and trustworthy; your faith which trusts that “notwithstanding we are unworthy of it, He will, for the sake of Christ our Lord, certainly hear our prayer, as He has promised us in His Word.” (Heid.Cat. Lord’s Day 45).

Yes, there is the solution: Jesus Christ!

Amen.