This post is part of a 40-Day Prayer Journey through the season of Lent. Click here to learn more and read other posts in the series.
“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you” (James 1:5).
Before the verse quoted above from James, he wrote this: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:2-4).
Wisdom is seeing the trials we face as Christians as pure joy. Wisdom is seeing that the testing of our faith produces perseverance. Wisdom is seeing that such testing strengthens our faith, trust, and reliance on God and his power.
“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you” (James 1:5).
So often, I lack wisdom. I don’t consider it pure joy when facing trials of many kinds. I don’t want my faith tested. Not because I don’t want to be mature and complete, not lacking anything, as James wrote, but because I know that the trials that test faith are extremely difficult and painful.
They’re the things that happen in our lives and the lives of our loved ones that make us wrestle with the presence of God’s goodness, mercy, and love. They’re the unanswerable questions and lingering doubts we have that just won’t go away.
God, help and forgive me!
Help me see my trials as pure joy. Help me see that the testing of my faith produces perseverance. Use such things to strengthen my faith, trust, and reliance on you and your power in my life—not in myself. Forgive me for the times I waver with weak faith, faltering trust, and partial reliance on you.
Dear Christian, if you find yourself in a similar place, remember who our God is: the God who gives generously to all without finding fault.
Our sins have been forgiven by Jesus. His perfect faith, trust, and reliance on God are for us—they’re now ours through Spirit-worked faith in him. God now calls us his dearly loved children and invites us to come before him in prayer. He doesn’t find any fault in us; he only finds the finished work of our Savior.
As we pray to him, asking for his help to see trials as pure joy, asking for such things to help us grow closer to him and strengthen our faith, trust, and reliance on him . . . God promises us in his Word that he hears and answers those prayers.
Do we still wrestle with the presence of God’s goodness, mercy, and love as we experience trials in our lives? Do we still have unanswerable questions and lingering doubts that won’t go away? Yes. We’re sinful. We’ll struggle and wrestle with such things until the day Christ returns or calls us home.
But we have a response for those moments: “God, I’m lacking in wisdom right now. I don’t know what you’re doing by allowing this trial to happen. Help me. Forgive my faults; grant me wisdom. Draw me closer to you through this and keep my eyes fixed on Jesus and what he has done for me.”
Today as you pray, ask that God would generously give wisdom to his people undergoing trials of many kinds. Ask that God would continue to strengthen them, support them, and draw them closer to him through those trials.
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Alex Brown is the marketing and content copywriter at Northwestern Publishing House. He has his Master of Divinity degree from Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary and enjoys reading, writing, and spending time in God’s creation.
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