Last Updated on October 23, 2014 by

 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.

James 1:5

What is wisdom?

Charles Stanley defines wisdom clearly and precisely:

Godly wisdom can be defined as the capacity to see things the way the Lord sees them and to respond according to His principles.

Wisdom is more than simply acting based on my experience, or cultural tradition, or knowledge based on a set of rules. While wisdom does include knowledge it is also knowing when and how to apply that knowledge. Wisdom requires a proper perspective and I often lose mine. During a recent trip, I stood on this pier and looked out across the bay for over an hour.

pier

When I came home and looked at the photos I saw the view from a completely different perspective.

BW pier

There were mountains on the other side of that bridge! But from where I stood my focus was on what was right in front me. I didn’t have eyes to see all that was there.

Oftentimes we just need a different perspective.

There are at least One Hundred Bible Verses About Wisdom. The Word of Truth urges us to seek wisdom from the Lord. In the difficult circumstances of life we may lose our way and react and respond unwisely. Walk on Water Faith keeps eyes fixed on the Lord so that we can view all of life from His perspectivewe need to see it encompassed by the boundaries of His character and attributes.

23 - James

Here’s A Prayer for Wisdom:

Dear heavenly Father, you number our hairs and determine our days; you hang the stars and feed the sparrows; you open doors no one can shut and shut doors no one can open. Surely, we can trust you when the time comes for making big decisions, or for that matter, any decisions. I’m in just such a season again, Father, and I know I’m not alone. We will trust you for generous wisdom, straight paths and peaceful hearts, all for your glory.
     How we praise you for being the decision-making-God. It’s not our decisions, but yours that make all the difference. We will plan, but we trust you to order our steps. We will pray, but ask you to fix our prayers en route to heaven. We will seek counsel, but count on you to overrule faulty or incomplete input from our most trusted friends and mentors. We will search the Scriptures, but not looking for proof texts but for you, Father. All we want and need is you.
     Free us from the paralysis of analysis—wanting make the right decision, more than we want to be righteous people; wanting to be known as wise people, more than we want to know you. Free us from the idolatry of assuming there’s only one “perfect” choice in any given situation. Free us from making decisions primary for our comfort and other’s approval, or fear their disapproval. Free us to know that good choices don’t always lead to the easiest outcomes, especially at first. Free us from second and twenty-second guessing our decisions.
     Father, no matter if it’s wisdom about buying or selling, vocation or vacation, this place or that place, this person or that person, we know that in ALL things, your will is our sanctification—our becoming more and more like Jesus. Give us this passion; make it our delight.
     So, Father, make us more and more like Jesus, even as we trust you for the opening and closing of doors that are in front of us. All for your glory—in our eating and drinking; and in our whatever’s, whenever’s and wherever’s. So very Amen we pray, in the name of our reigning King, Jesus. —written by Scotty Smith, Founding Pastor of Christ Community Church in Franklin, TN.

 

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