Tag: Prayer

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Established in Faith

When you are established in faith, you can truly know God and his ways.

established in faith

In the Fall of 2012 I was working full-time for a publisher and part-time as pastor of the church I still serve. One day my supervisor called me to his office and informed me that the company was laying off a large segment of its work force due to financial deficits and that I was one of those losing his job.

I had never experienced that before. You hear stories of people losing jobs and being devastated, and you wonder what you would do if it happened to you. As my supervisor explained the process of ending my employment and as I walked back to my office, my thoughts and emotional reaction surprised me. Although suddenly confronted with a long list of uncertainties and losses, my heart was calm. I was disappointed, sure, but not afraid. I felt confident that God was in charge, that he would provide for me and my wife, and that we were beginning an exciting new chapter.

Certainly I have not always been so assured. I recall a decade prior to this layoff driving for several hours with a friend to a meeting, and as the conversation moved to plans for the future, I admitted to my sense of financial insecurity. In other words, I was afraid and told him so. I did not see how I would have enough money for old age. For years I lived with foreboding about this.

Why? Because I did not adequately know God. Yes, I was a regenerated Christian, a devoted follower of Christ, a pastor. I knew God in the sense that I was born again and knew the Bible well and understood many truths about God accurately. But I did not know him well enough to trust what he repeatedly promised in Scripture about providing for my needs.

Faith and knowledge

To the extent that we do not really believe what the Scripture says, we do not know him. True knowledge of God depends on faith. One can articulate the most intricate aspects of the doctrine of the Trinity yet find it difficult to joyfully say, “God loves me.”

This is why the subject of faith is so important for Christians who want to know God better. Our knowledge of God cannot exceed our faith. The quest to know God is far more about increasing faith than about adding theological information and answering our questions.

What Jesus expected

As you read the Gospels, have you ever noticed what Jesus repeatedly called attention to as he engaged with his disciples and strangers? He certainly talked a lot about love, obedience, righteousness, and truth. Nevertheless, though I have not tallied the occurrences, it seems to me he talked most about faith and unbelief. He regularly either commended people for their faith or admonished them for doubt. He expected people to have what we would classify as enormous faith. And he marveled when his disciples were afraid of drowning in a momentous tempest. He admonished them when they worried about going hungry in the desert although they had just two loaves of bread and a couple of fish and a crowd of 5,000 to feed. He bypassed others who doubted he could heal the sick and demon-afflicted.

Moreover, he taught things about faith that are, well, unbelievable. He said true believers would with a word be able to move mountains, perform miracles, replant trees in the sea, and receive whatever they ask. Not only can God do amazing things, so can we.

God’s will

This stretches one’s faith to the breaking point. Some Christians respond by reaching for that level of faith, though it is by no means easy (that is, unless you become as a child [Mark 10:15]) and it raises many questions. Others do not know what to do with these teachings. They might explain them away, regarding Christians who pursue such faith as unwise or unhinged, asking for trouble and disillusionment. Or they might accept the teachings, but shake their heads and regard them as personally unattainable. Some might say these teachings of Jesus are for those who have the special gift of faith.

Based on my reading of the Gospels, I do not think Jesus would say that. He expected big faith from everyone. Moreover, to limit strong faith to a spiritual elite is to relegate most Christians to a stunted knowledge of God, as described above, and the fear, insecurity, instability, weakness, and defeat that comes with it.

No, Jesus said, “Have faith in God” (Mark 11:22). That is an imperative. Thus that is his will.

Scripture warns against being double-minded, saying to one who asks for wisdom, “Let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways” (James 1:6–8, ESV).

Hebrews 11:6 says, “without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

Romans 14:23 says, “whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.”

Isaiah 7:9 says, “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all” (NIV). The RSV says, “If you will not believe, surely you shall not be established.”

The trouble with accepting unbelief

We cannot experience the Christian life described in the Bible without faith in what God says. So the idea that we should tolerate in ourselves an unbelief of anything God says in his Word is simply wrong. We must not be satisfied with anything less than believing all he says. Unbelief insults God, implying that he is not truthful, cannot be trusted, and is not Almighty. Being content with unbelief requires resisting Jesus, who is the “author and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2).

Therefore we must not rationalize and excuse our own unbelief. Unbelief will creep and grow. It is Satan’s foot in the door. It is an invitation to the unmanageable power of fear and the ruin that accompanies it.

Established in faith

So we need to be established in faith.

To establish means to put on a firm basis, to make stable or permanent.

I live on the 20th floor of a high-rise. I have watched many high-rises built around us. Before the first floor is built, I have seen dozens of holes drilled deep in the soil and then filled with concrete. I have seen a quarter million tons of concrete, steel, and glass go into a tower one floor at a time. A high-rise is as established as a man-made building can be. It is heavy and has a big footprint. It is anchored to the ground with deep underground columns. A puff of wind will not knock it over, nor will a normal trembling in the earth crack it to pieces.

To establish something is to position it to endure. It is in balance, not teetering. It is grounded, not suspended in midair. It has a foundation. It is built on rock, not sand. It is consistent, not wavering. It is single-minded, not double-minded.

The 20 truths this series highlights will bring you to this place of established faith. Believing these 20 truths will make you an immovable, spiritual rock. And most importantly, you will know God as he is. You will know him in your experience, not just intellectually. And your Christian life will work the way the Bible describes.

How the Christian life works

The Bible describes the life of a Christian as one marked by peace and joy even in the midst of conflict; by strength abounding even in our weaknesses; by answered prayer even though for a long time we walk by faith and not by sight.

The Christian life does not work as the Bible describes without faith, without faith in everything the Bible promises, without faith in the worldview the Bible describes—a worldview in which God is almighty and responsive to the prayers of those who believe. That is not the worldview of most people in educated, Western cultures, for whom the idea of a God who can do miracles is inconceivable. If you want to know and experience God, you must abandon that worldview and fully adopt what the Bible says about God and his ways with us.

Each of these 20 truths plays a crucial role in the superstructure of established faith, so do not miss a week. You will learn to call these truths to mind before you pray and then pray with confidence. When you sense fear and unbelief slipping into your soul, you will call these truths to mind, and they will reestablish you in immovable confidence. You will learn to live all day, every day, established in faith—and thus knowing God better than ever before.

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

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Pray for Wisdom by Inquiring of God in the Deep of Night

What is different when we inquire of God at night?

inquire God night

Yesterday morning I awoke around 2:30 and began thinking. I thought about things that regularly occupy my mind: the ministry of our church and what I am preaching and writing. My thoughts were so clear and focused that I gave up on sleep and prayed and thought productively until 4:30 and then got out of bed and went to my computer to record my thoughts and think more. I outlined this post.

It is not unusual for me to do some of my best thinking in the middle of the night, as well as some of my worst. I learned decades ago that fear is worst in the middle of the night. Psalm 91:5 refers to “the terror of the night.” Whether positive or negative, then, something about our mind and spirit in the deep of night is more intense, clear, and focused.

Thoughts of a different quality

During the night our human spirit seems to be more awake, active, even dominant as the mysterious world of our dreams unfolds. But I do not think such spiritual sensitivity is simply a matter of dreaming. Rather, I think our spiritual perceptions can be stronger at that time.

God spoke to David during the night. David said, “I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me” (Psalm 16:7, ESV). The NASB20 translates that, “Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night.” So the Hebrew adverb  ’aph can be translated “also” as well as “indeed.”

The example of Jesus

Isaiah’s Servant of the Lord, namely Jesus, experienced the same thing. Isaiah 50:4–5 says, “The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward” (ESV). So the Father spoke to Jesus early in the morning.

Mark also records that. “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, [Jesus] departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him, ‘Everyone is looking for you.’ And he said to them, ‘Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out’” (Mark 1:35–38). It appears that Jesus heard from the Father during that time of prayer that he was supposed to travel to preach elsewhere.

Choosing the Twelve

In Luke’s Gospel, the implication is unavoidable that God told Jesus whom to select as his twelve disciples during the deep of night.

Luke 6:12–13 says, “In these days [Jesus] went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles.”

Therefore the deep of night, or early morning, can be especially productive times to obtain the wisdom we seek.

All night is a long time

Long periods of prayer can also help. The verse above says Jesus prayed all night, which could mean I guess six to ten hours. If Jesus was focused most of that time on the identity of the twelve, that is a long time to receive just twelve names. With efficient communication, God could have voiced those names in less than a minute. But it lasted many hours.

By our measures God can be slow and long. When Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments, he had to wait seven days before he could actually enter the cloud of glory. Exodus 24:15–16 says, “Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. The glory of the LORD dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud.”

It could be that it will require an extended time of prayer for you to receive the wisdom you seek.

Takeaway

The problem: We are busy and distracted in a normal day, and that makes it hard to get clarity, connection, and focus with God. We may fail to give God our undivided attention for a long enough time for him to do all he desires in us as he imparts wisdom. Moreover, our culture and technology condition us to want everything instantly.

The solution: To obtain the wisdom we need, sometimes we need to inquire of God deep into the night or in the dark of early morning.

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

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Pray for Wisdom with Reliance on the Holy Spirit

When we pray for wisdom with reliance on the Holy Spirit, he imparts wisdom to us normally from within, in a way that seems like our own thoughts or feelings, but with divine clarity and calm.

pray for wisdom with reliance on the Holy Spirit

As you seek wisdom for everything that matters to you, it is helpful to reflect on which member of the Trinity actually illumines your mind with that wisdom.

Jesus said, “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26, ESV).

First John 2:20, 27 says, “You have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge…. The anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.”

Pray for Wisdom with Reliance on the Holy Spirit

The One who imparts wisdom to you is God the Holy Spirit. His presence on you and in you is called “the anointing,” and thus in one sense his presence resembles oil smeared on your skin.

But his anointing goes deeper. His anointing is not merely on the surface. It “abides in you” (1 John 2:27). First Corinthians 6:19 says, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?”

1 Corinthians 6:17 says, “He who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.”

So the God who teaches you is not distant, out there somewhere external to you. Rather, he is as near to you as he can possibly be. His Holy Spirit has united with your human spirit. He now indwells you. You are the temple of the Holy Spirit. He has anointed you as if smearing you with oil or pouring into you as into an oil jar.

As you seek wisdom for what matters to you, this means the divine person who will reveal that wisdom is as near as your own beating heart. And when you receive that wisdom, it will typically seem as though you conceived it yourself, rather than it coming like a voice from outside.

Your ceiling

Because you as a Christian have the Holy Spirit, your ceiling for wisdom is not your IQ—whatever that is in the physical human brain and immaterial spirit, and whatever it is that determines it. Rather, your ceiling is the divine knowledge of the Holy Spirit, which is unlimited.

First Corinthians 2:11–12 says, “No one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.”

The Holy Spirit is able to reveal wisdom and knowledge to you in a way that also gives understanding. He is not limited like a human teacher, who can only explain and illustrate and so on, and then it is up to you to comprehend. A human teacher cannot get inside of your mind and actually enable you to understand—actually turn on the lights. But the Holy Spirit can do that.

The Holy Spirit understands the deepest thoughts of God, and he enables us to understand what he wants us to know.

What God is willing to teach you

Moreover, the Holy Spirit does not limit what he will teach about.

First John 2:27 says, “His anointing teaches you about everything.”

John 14:26 says, “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

This verse highlights what it means to have inside of you the Holy Spirit himself.

“the Helper” – Do you need help? Do you feel your limitations? Do you lack wisdom? The Holy Spirit lives in you in order to help you. He knows you need help and wants to give it to you. You are not asking him to do something outside of his divine role.

“whom the Father will send in my name” – The Holy Spirit cooperates with the other members of the Trinity to help you. He applies to you all the unlimited resources of the Sovereign Father and his beloved Son.

“he will teach you” – Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit himself will teach you. Trust him and be patient. He is the master teacher, along with the Father and the Son the most competent instructor in the universe. Place yourself in his competent hands as a teachable student.

“all things” – Things like understanding the Bible; overcoming stubborn sin; managing your work, body, emotions, ministry, and finances; organizing your home and possessions; overcoming challenges and problems; and having a healthy marriage, single life, family, and relationships of all kinds.

“bring to your remembrance” – He not only teaches what you do not know, he helps you remember what you have forgotten.

How George Washington Carver learned to help poor farmers

George Washington Carver’s scientific work on behalf of poor farmers is an example of the Holy Spirit’s willingness to help those who depend on him with anything they need to know. A Christian and botanist who lived from 1864 to 1943, Carver taught at the Tuskegee Institute in the years after the emancipation of slaves in America and devoted his work to helping former slaves become self-sustaining farmers.

One significant challenge they faced was poor soil depleted of nitrogen by generations of planting cotton year after year. To address that need Carver taught the necessity of crop rotation. In alternating seasons, farmers needed to plant crops like peanuts and sweet potatoes, which restored nitrogen to the soil. But peanuts were not a profitable crop, and farmers balked. Carver realized he needed to create demand by discovering new uses for them.

So he prayed for God’s understanding, and then he went into his lab, which he called “God’s little laboratory,” and followed God’s leading.

Over time he identified more than 300 uses for the peanut and published 105 food recipes using peanuts.

To demonstrate the value of his discoveries, writes Glenn Clark, “He himself took a plot of land that was 19 acres of the worst land in Alabama to experiment on to find what could be done to improve production. The first year it brought him a net loss of $16.25 an acre. After his first year of scientific treatment and cultivation it showed a profit of $4.00 [an acre]. Within another year the profit was $40.00 an acre and every following year brought better returns.”1

For perspective, at the time, in the South “most of the farmers contrive their best to live on an average cash income of $310 a year per family of five persons.”1

Quotations from George Washington Carver

Carver said:

“As I worked on projects which fulfilled a real human need, forces were working through me which amazed me. I would often go to sleep with an apparently insoluble problem. When I woke, the answer was there.”

“Believe. The promises of God are real. They are as real, as solid, yes infinitely more solid than this table which the materialist so thoroughly believes in. If you would only believe, O ye of little faith.”

“God is going to reveal to us things he never revealed before if we put our hands in his. No books ever go into my laboratory. The thing I am to do and the way of doing it are revealed to me. I never have to grope for methods. The method is revealed to me the moment I am inspired to create something new. Without God to draw aside the curtain I would be helpless.”

“There is no shortcut to achievement.”

“Start where you are, with what you have. Make something of it and never be satisfied.”

“Anything will give up its secrets if you love it enough. Not only have I found that when I talk to the little flower or to the little peanut they will give up their secrets, but I have found that when I silently commune with people they give up their secrets also if you love them enough.”

Honors

That Carver helped poor farmers, accomplished extraordinary things, and had enormous positive effects on his fellow Americans both black and white is beyond question.

After Carver died in 1943, “President Franklin D. Roosevelt dedicated $30,000 for the George Washington Carver National Monument west-southwest of Diamond, Missouri, the area where Carver had spent time in his childhood. This was the first national monument dedicated to an African American and the first to honor someone other than a president.”2

Among many more honors and recognitions, “in 1977, Carver was elected to the Hall of Fame for Great Americans. In 1990, he was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. In 1994, Iowa State University awarded Carver a Doctor of Humane Letters. In 2000, Carver was a charter inductee in the USDA Hall of Heroes as the ‘Father of Chemurgy.’ In 2002, scholar Molefi Kete Asante listed George Washington Carver as one of 100 Greatest African Americans.”2

(Lawrence Elliott’s biography on Carver inspired me: George Washington Carver: The Man Who Overcame. It is probably available at your library.)

Life principle

When seeking God’s wisdom, people often look for external guidance of some sort, such as a voice or a sign, or for dramatic guidance that is unlike their normal experience. But it is God the Holy Spirit who imparts wisdom to you, normally from within your human spirit, in a way that will usually feel like your own thoughts or feelings, but with divine clarity and calm.

God wants to help you if you will persevere. The Holy Spirit is your helper. Like Carver, we can learn to work with him. He will teach us what we need to know.

A Prayer: Lord, teach me how to work with the Holy Spirit. Teach me how to receive wisdom and help from him. Holy Spirit, I need and request your help in ________. In Jesus’ name, amen.

1. Glenn Clark, “The Man Who Talks with the Flowers,” (Kindle location 568 of 638)

2. Wikipedia, “George Washington Carver”

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

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Pray for Wisdom to Solve Problems

When we pray for wisdom to solve problems, God sometimes gives answers that are surprising or counter-intuitive.

pray for wisdom to solve problems

On April 11, 1970, Apollo 13 blasted off for the moon. Two days into the mission, however, the spacecraft’s oxygen tanks exploded. Minutes later the pilot spoke the famous line, “Houston, we’ve had a problem.” The explosion did not destroy the spacecraft or immediately harm the crew, but getting the crew back to earth alive was in doubt.

Somehow, four days later, through an extraordinary display of problem-solving and engineering and resourcefulness and good decisions and courage and the mercy of God, the spacecraft splashed safely into the South Pacific.

No limits?

If only human ingenuity could solve every problem like that. But for every inspiring story like this, there are thousands in which human resources meet their match. We have a need or face a crisis, and nothing we do answers it. No matter how smart or creative we are, no matter how sophisticated our problem-solving methods, we are stuck and in trouble.

Soon after their exodus from Egypt, Moses and several million Israelites found themselves in a desert and unable to find water. After three days, they found water, but it was bitter and undrinkable. The people began desperately to complain to Moses, and Moses began desperately to cry to God for help.

Divine help came in the form of wisdom: God told Moses what to do. God did not directly sweeten the water himself, which he of course had unlimited ability to do, but rather told Moses how to sweeten it. “The LORD showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.” (Exodus 15:25, ESV)

The counterintuitive log

The log was God’s wisdom for Moses, and it was counterintuitive. If we could transport a scientist to that situation prior to God’s giving his solution, the scientist would not have said that what Moses needed to do was to find a log to throw into the water. The log is an unscientific, seemingly magical solution. Educated readers today might mock this story as mythical, as an example of many supernatural stories in the Bible that they dismiss as impossible occurrences, which uneducated and superstitious primitives gullibly believe.

But you can be sure it happened just as Scripture records, and what it reveals is a common pattern in God’s ways. Sometimes—not always—but sometimes he gives counterintuitive wisdom. And we need to have faith to do what he says even though it defies reason.

The wisdom of the log

For example, James 5:14–15 says, “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.”

Notice this says not only to pray but to anoint with oil. If we believe in God, we know it is rational to pray to an Almighty God to heal; but it defies human, medical logic to anoint the sick person with oil. If a person has a heart problem, what curative power does olive oil smeared to the forehead have? Nevertheless, it is God’s wisdom, his counterintuitive wisdom.

The hidden log

Jeremiah 33:3 says, “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” The power of the log to sweeten the waters was a great and hidden thing. For every human problem, need, or crisis, there is a log, a solution from God. There is great and hidden wisdom only God can reveal, and it might be counterintuitive. If you cry out to him, he can reveal it, in his time, in his way, if it accords with his will. If you have the childlike trust to do what he says, the waters will become sweet, in his time, in his way, if it accords with his will.

Pray for Wisdom to Solve Problems

The New Testament also assures us God is willing to give logs to those who stand weeping at the shores of bitter waters. James 1:5 says, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” Let’s take this verse apart.

“any of you”

Anyone can ask God for wisdom. You do not have to be someone special to inquire of God. You can be a babe in Christ, a holy person, or someone who is struggling to overcome sin.

“lacks wisdom”

God gives wisdom to those who know they do not know how to do something. They feel the lack. They sense their limits. And they might believe the situation is impossible. If you are at the end of yourself, at the end of human problem-solving, brainstorming, and methods, you qualify for the promise of James 1:5.

Remember, there are no problems God cannot solve. “All things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27). He “is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20). There is always a log; the question is, what is God’s will, and do we have enough faith and perseverance?

“let him ask God”

The verb “ask” is in the present tense. Those who keep praying and believing receive wisdom; those who doubt and quit might not.

“who gives generously”

God gives wisdom willingly and abundantly, like a mother dishing out homemade pie. God is not stingy with wisdom. You are not coercing a reluctant God. Rather he delights in pointing you to the log, in his time, in his way, in accord with his will.

“to all”

This repeats the first point for emphasis: anyone can ask for and receive wisdom, not just leaders, prophets, and pastors. Are you in the group labeled “all”? Okay, you qualify. This means you.

“without reproach”

To reproach means to find fault. It is natural for sinful humans, which we all are, to feel that God will not give us something because we have done something wrong, even today. We might assume this is why we have the need (and we might be right). But when we ask for wisdom, God does not find fault with us. Certainly, as always when we pray, we should confess and repent of our known sins. But then we should not let our past sins create doubt in our hearts. Such thinking cripples prayer. God does not fault you for lacking wisdom, and the sins you confess and repent of are under his blood.

“it will be given”

This is a promise. God is absolutely truthful, and therefore you can put your faith in these words. He will do it in his time, in his way, according to his will, if you believe.

I urge you to meditate regularly and prayerfully on each short phrase in James 1:5. Your faith for praying for wisdom will increase.

Takeaway

When we face a need, stubborn problem, or crisis, God wants us to cry out to him and use whatever wisdom he gives no matter how surprising or counterintuitive.

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

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Pray for Wisdom Without Presuming How God Will Answer

We should pray for wisdom without presumption about how God will answer, because he answers prayers in countless different ways and at times we do not expect.

pray for wisdom without presumption

If you are like me, you head into a time of asking God for wisdom with a hope about how and when he will answer. If I fast and pray and clear my calendar to do nothing but seek him with a listening ear, surely he will give me the wisdom I seek that day, hopefully within a few hours.

Moreover, my earnest hope is that I will “hear God.” That is, that words and thoughts will form in my mind with a clarity and emphasis that could suggest these thoughts are from God rather than me, giving the answer I seek. Or I will read the Bible and fall upon verses that leap off the page with exactly what I need to do. Or that day someone will say something to me that providentially, unknown to him, is “the word of the Lord.”

Disappointed

Expectations like these are why I am usually disappointed on the day I seek God earnestly for wisdom. I have heard plenty of stories by people who have such experiences, but they are rare for me, and strangely, seem more rare the older I get. I suggest you do not base your expectations on my experiences, but if you can identify with me, let them encourage you. If God does not give prompt, clear direction when you seek him for guidance and counsel, you are not unusual.

For this reason I strongly counsel you to pray for wisdom without trying to control how God answers. Have an open mind to how and when he will give the wisdom you seek. He almost certainly will not do as you expect, and he probably will answer every new request for wisdom differently than how he has answered previous inquiries. God likes variety.

You never know

For example, look in the Gospels at all the different ways Jesus healed people. He might lay his hand on the sick person, or merely speak a healing command, or spit on the ground to make mud and apply it to the blind eyes, or stick his fingers in deaf ears, or spit on his finger and touch a mute tongue, or healing virtue would flow to those who touched his cloak.

When we pray for wisdom, there are countless situations through which God can breathe the answer. A book. A conversation. A wise mentor. Your evaluation of recent efforts. A dream. Your analytical thinking or research. Prayer. Reading the Bible. A seminar, webinar, conference. Practice. Your gradual, one-percent improvement each time you do what you are trying to learn and seek to improve for the next time.

Or through an angel. Okay, that might not be the most likely answer, but that is how Daniel received his answer in Daniel 10. Again, you never know, and you probably cannot guess. God surprises us if we pray with faith and keep the faith for as long as necessary (James 1:5–8).

Keeping Faith

As I said in a previous post, I have been focused in prayer for over three years on getting wisdom for how to win converts and enfold them in our church. God has taught me much in that time, but I have not yet had the breakthrough insights I need.

Nevertheless, I know they are coming, for I believe. (James 1:5–8, Matthew 21:22, which literally reads, “All things whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”) Scripture calls Abraham the man of faith (Galatians 3:9, ESV), and he had to wait decades for some answers, and longer for others, even hundreds of years after he died.

Daniel had to wait three weeks for the wisdom he sought (Daniel 10:13). But the reason he had to wait was the angelic messenger bearing his answer faced satanic interference that delayed him. Otherwise Daniel would have had his answer promptly (Daniel 10:12). That tells me there are innumerable reasons unknown to us why an answer to our prayer can be delayed. And there are innumerable means God may use to give the answer. God sent an angel to Daniel, and he may send a human to give your answer. It could be anyone, communicating in any way, in-person or through any media.

Pray for Wisdom without Presumption

Therefore it is essential that you maintain your faith and keep seeking an answer (through prayer, research, practice, or however) for as long as necessary. Do not presume to require God to answer in a particular way.

Be open, flexible, persistent. Keep exploring, seeking.

And stay alert to what may be the divine answer you seek. In other words, if you are tending sheep in the desert and see a bush on fire that keeps burning and is not consumed, turn aside and pay attention (Exodus 3). Since I am seeking wisdom for effective evangelism, I should take notice if someone I know says out of the blue, “I just read a tremendous book on evangelism, and I am already seeing fruit from what I learned in it.”

Pray for wisdom without presumption about how God will answer. I am not disappointed when I pray for wisdom with faith and persistence and do not require that God answer me in extraordinary ways. His wisdom sooner or later enters my heart (Proverbs 2:10).

And remember, learning to pray for wisdom for everything that matters to you is an important way to know God practically, in daily experience, as someone you can rely on to help you. Knowing God and his ways is not just an intellectual experience; it is also a lived out experience of prayer, trust, and dependence. If we know how to explain God doctrinally but do not know how to depend on him for what we need in life, we are missing something important and wonderful.

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

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Pray for Wisdom Earnestly

When you pray for wisdom earnestly, you signal to God that you mean business and you believe God is your true source.

pray for wisdom earnestly

In this post we continue to draw principles about praying for wisdom from Daniel 10 and James 1:5. The first principle was that we should set our heart to understand. The second principle was that we should humble ourselves before God. The third principle is that we should pray earnestly.

We need to pray

We need to actually pray. In a knowledge culture like ours, in which we have how-to videos on YouTube on every subject imaginable, as well as webinars, books, apps, freelance experts, and university courses in abundance, it is easy to focus our attention there first. We may not feel as though we need to ask God as though it all depends on him; we just need to research the subject. Research feels as though it gives quicker, clearer, more tangible results. We control the process. The steps toward our goal are clear before us: read this book, take that class, follow this formula.

Earnest prayer, on the other hand, can feel like an open-ended waste of time. We can feel as though we aren’t doing anything. And most of us would not say we get into a real dialogue with God in which he speaks unmistakably to us with the wisdom we seek, or as Daniel experienced, have an angel come and coach us. We present our request, and we wait. We conclude our praying often feeling no closer to an answer. There is much that is unknown, except by faith.

We need God more than wisdom

Nevertheless, as we pursue wisdom, we need to pray like we mean business. Prayer must be the foundation of our pursuit just as a well-built house must have a foundation. James 4:2 says, “You do not have, because you do not ask God.”

God does not appreciate being ignored. Everything, including wisdom, is “from him and through him and to him” (Romans 11:36). “The LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding” (Proverbs 2:6). Even if he uses a coach or a book as his means to impart crucial wisdom to us, our situation and who we are in our personality and abilities differ from the person from whom we are learning. Unless God blesses the wisdom, unless he reveals to us how to use it effectively, unless he works in the situation and people around us, the wisdom we learn from others will not get the results they had. We need God and his hand upon us, not merely wisdom.

And thus we need to pray to him. Earnest prayer signals to God that we truly believe we cannot do anything without him. We believe what Jesus said: “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

We need to pray for wisdom earnestly

Daniel’s example also shows the value of earnest prayer. Daniel said, “In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three weeks. I ate no delicacies, no meat or wine entered my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, for the full three weeks” (Daniel 10:2–3).

We see Daniel’s earnestness in his partial fasting from certain foods and physical comforts and in the three-week duration of his focused seeking of God with his question.

Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (ESV). Other translations say, “he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (NIV) or “diligently seek him” (NKJV) or “sincerely seek him” (NLT).

We do not have to fast to receive wisdom from God, but it can only help. The greater is our need for wisdom, and the more difficult that wisdom has been to get, the more sense it makes to fast and wait on God for extended periods as we “set our hearts to understand” (Daniel 10:12) a question.

I do not enjoy fasting (taking no food and drinking only water), and I rarely do it for longer than 20 hours, but I love the results. It gives spiritual focus and clarity like nothing else. For me it is the ultimate way to set my heart to understand. Daniel shows that partial fasting is also an effective way to earnestly seek the Lord.

Fasting is not a silver bullet

I caution, though, against fasting with any thought that by it we can manipulate God. Fasting is not a hunger strike, nor can we use it to twist God’s arm. God answers prayer according to his will, in his time, in his way—even if we torture ourselves with fasting for years! The purpose of fasting is to humble yourself, focus your mind, clear your spirit, and to signal to God that you are serious, that you are seeking him with all your heart and soul about this matter.

Sometimes God is looking for that. Deuteronomy 4:29 says, “But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

If you fast and pray for part or all of a day but do not receive the wisdom you seek during that time, you must not feel that “it didn’t work” or you wasted your time. Rather, that day laid the foundation for the answer, or added more floors to the foundation already laid. It is part of the process all of which God intends for your good. He has a reason for extending the process. He may be testing your faith.

Hebrews 10:35–36 says, “Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.”

Take it by faith that you have the answer (1 John 5:14–15) and that God’s wisdom will enter your heart (Proverbs 2:10) in his perfect timing.

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

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How to Get Wisdom for Everything That Matters to You

Praying for wisdom is how you learn to lean on the Lord and prove to yourself you can trust him for everything that matters to you.

how to get wisdom

Life is hard. Your challenges and trials are many. Your goals and desires matter to you and to God. How do you get there, how do you solve problems, how do you smooth the way?

You take hold of one stunning opportunity, one breathtaking promise from the Almighty: “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him” (James 1:5, ESV).

How to get wisdom for anything

Consider the scope of this promise. This verse does not limit the need for wisdom to a specific area. If you need wisdom for your work or a certain relationship or managing finances or physical, emotional, or spiritual health or understanding things in the Bible or much, much more, this promise applies. You might need wisdom to solve a problem. You might need it to plan your future. Or to manage a project. Or to find peace, or to overcome a sinful habit. The relevance of wisdom for everything that matters most to you is boundless.

The first qualification for applying this promise is a sense of being emptyhanded. “If any of you lacks wisdom.” This promise is not for those who have the hack, but rather for those who lack. That certainly applies to me; how about you? Since I began wholeheartedly believing and depending on this promise, I have collected a long list of things for which I am praying for wisdom.

That list suggests one important lesson I have learned about praying for wisdom. The answer is often not an overnight shipment. Like all God’s promises, we must be prepared to persevere patiently for the answers. If we recognize that we lack wisdom and are willing to seek wisdom for as long as necessary, James 1:5 presents a universe of opportunity to even the simplest of God’s children.

One way I pray for wisdom

My most acute need for wisdom is how to lead people in Chicago into a relationship with Jesus Christ and enfold them in his church. For 26 years I have been pastor of a church in downtown. There are lots of people here, stacked up in tall buildings reaching to the sky, but leading them from where they are spiritually to a life of devotion to Jesus and involvement in his church has been quite a challenge. I know God can do it, and I believe he wants to do it, but when and how are still in the works.

What the wise can do

That is just one reason why James 1:5 stirs deep currents in my soul and keeps me praying daily for wisdom in evangelism. What James 1:5 promises about wisdom stands on the shoulders of all Proverbs says about the power of wisdom. For example:

“By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches. A wise man is full of strength, and a man of knowledge enhances his might, for by wise guidance you can wage your war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory.” (Proverbs 24:3–6)

Getting things done, putting up buildings, earning money, waging war—wisdom makes it possible. Even God does his mighty works by wisdom:

“The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens; by his knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew.” (Proverbs 3:19–20)

And by wisdom God created and established things as sophisticated as the ecosystem of earth, the dynamics of weather, water, and light, and the plenitude of our planet’s living things.

By wisdom we learn to live in happy, fruitful ways pleasing to God. “Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called blessed.” (Proverbs 3:13–18)

Finding God in the details

Based on passages like these, I am convinced God can give me and you the wisdom we need for our challenges. James 1:5 opens the door for anyone who will pray and believe for wisdom.

But there is more at stake. This is important not only for working successfully through life, but also for getting to know God better. Praying for and receiving heavenly wisdom is the way you work through the particulars of daily life in partnership with the Lord. This is as practical and relevant as Christian living gets. You know God by depending on him to give you wisdom for your job, family life, finances, health, emotions, ministry, goals, trials, prayers, and sanctification. This is how you learn to lean on the Lord and prove to yourself you can trust him in everything and for everything that matters to you.

Learning to pray for wisdom successfully is my new theme, and the Bible has much to say about it. You will not want to miss a single week.

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

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Trusting God When Loved Ones Pass Away

You may have loved ones who have passed away from COVID or some other disease, even though you prayed much and had strong faith for their recovery. If you are feeling disillusioned and now have trouble with prayer, here are important truths that can restore your full faith.

by Pastor Brian Larson, delivered to the congregation of Lake Shore Church in Chicago on May 30, 2021

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God’s Power in Your Life

Where do you need to see the great power of prayer? Is your body sick or in pain? Is your family torn by conflict? Do you need a job? Do you need money? Do you need wisdom? Do your loved ones need to be saved? Do you want the power of the Holy Spirit and his gifts?

In this message, let’s continue to build up our faith with the Word of the Lord so that we exert the great power of prayer and faith where we need it.

by Craig Brian Larson, delivered January 24, 2021, at Lake Shore Church

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Your Father Enjoys Answering Your Prayers

Answered prayer is central to how your heavenly Father wants you to experience his love.

answering prayer

How does God feel about our petitions?

My oldest sons were boys when the first Star Wars movies came out, and when birthdays and Christmas came, I remember their asking for the Star Wars figurines and spaceships that came out as toys. I took the boys to stores and looked at catalogs to see which characters and ships they wanted most. “Can I have this one, Dad?” I thought this stuff was cool, lots cooler than the toys available when I was a kid. I enjoyed buying it, and I really enjoyed giving it and seeing how much fun the boys had playing with it. Giving gifts to your kids can be a strong bonding experience and a great memory.

Asking and giving can be about love, about relationship. That’s the way prayer is with our Father in heaven. Jesus revealed that prayer is much more than a needy person coming to a powerful person for favors. God views prayer as a relationship between a good father and his children. Jesus said:

“Which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:9–11, ESV)

Bonding with God through answered prayers

We all want things, not just “toys” but important things we need or want. It could be a job or a needed pay increase, a healing or wisdom to solve a problem, a spouse or a child. Unfortunately the more we want them, the likelier it is our prayers to God will become merely utilitarian—how can we get God to give us what we ask? Our petitions can become more about the request than about our relationship with the Father who loves us. This is a problem because that’s not how the Father primarily views prayer. For him, prayer is about love and bonding, relationship and time together.

God has designed our relationship around prayer. It is central to how he relates to us. I’ve known people who had a religious background that taught we should never pray for ourselves, but only for others. They learned it was selfish to ask God for anything for yourself. Well, they certainly didn’t learn that from reading the Gospels. No one urges people to pray for themselves more than Jesus.

Why would he do this? Because the Father does not resent our requests or wish we would go away. Rather, the Father loves it when we come to him with our wants and needs. He enjoys our requests. He compares our prayers to incense (Rev. 5:8). He invites us to ask and keep asking until we receive. He enjoys seeing how happy we are when we receive his answers. He enjoys, really enjoys, really really enjoys hearing us say thank you. He enjoys seeing us enjoy what he gives.

Why? Because he is good, generous, and kind.

Prayer is about relationship and love, and that’s why God enjoys it, because he is love. He is a relational being, a giver, a let’s-be-together person.

Moreover, our Father loves our faith. He enjoys it when we have enough faith in him to ask for what we want. This kind of faith brings him glory. God delights in our petitions because he delights in our faith, and that is also one reason why our petitions might take a while to be answered.

Our way and God’s way

Our way: We may not want to take time for prayer. We may want to hurry the process and get the answer as quickly as possible. We may not think God wants us to make personal requests.

God’s way: Prayer is a central and foundation aspect of our love relationship with our heavenly Father. Hearing and answering prayer is one of our heavenly Father’s greatest pleasures. It’s the central activity he shares with us, just as loving human fathers have certain things they love doing with their kids, such as eating popcorn together or going for a bike ride together.

Life principle: If you are not practicing daily prayer that includes asking your Father in heaven for the things you desire most, with an attitude of childlike trust that he will give what is best when it is best, you are missing one of the most important ways of bonding with your Father and experiencing his love.

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)