Day 2 - 21 Days of Prayer & Fasting
Day 2 - James 1:5-8
SCRIPTURE:
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
LESSON:
There are two parallel things going on in this section of scripture. The first is a lack of wisdom. The second is a lack of faith. Interestingly enough, we see that in the preceding verses testing should produce both wisdom and faith. Verse four says that the end result of testing is that we become, “perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” Yet James makes it clear that there are times when we do lack certain things. Apparently we need to be tested more!
The good news is that if we lack wisdom, we can ask God for it and he will give it to us in abundance! However, if we lack faith we can expect to receive a big fat ZERO from the Lord. Why is that?
Let me suggest that when we acknowledge our lack of wisdom we are actually acknowledging that we are insufficient. And when we ask God to make up for our insufficiency we are actually acknowledging His sufficiency! It’s really a posture that aligns us and our “lack of” something under God’s complete and total abundance.
A lack of faith (James describes it as a double-mindedness) does the exact opposite. When we look at God and think, “Maybe He won’t be enough.” Or “Maybe He won’t provide.” Or “Maybe He isn’t able to help me this time.” We are actually removing God from his rightful place in the order of life. We are no longer aligning ourselves under His complete and total authority and abundance. Instead we hesitate when God says to obey. We waver when God says to go. We falter when the moment of crisis and testing arrives. God is unable to bless us with all of His blessings. Why? Because a lack of faith keeps us from throwing ourselves upon the mercies of a God “who gives to all liberally and without reproach.”
As we continue our time of prayer and fasting let us throw ourselves on the mercies of a God who not only wants to bless us, but will bless us. Let us align ourselves under His authority and surrender our lives to him fully. As we trust Him more completely with our lives, He will be able to bless us more abundantly.
There are two parallel things going on in this section of scripture. The first is a lack of wisdom. The second is a lack of faith. Interestingly enough, we see that in the preceding verses testing should produce both wisdom and faith. Verse four says that the end result of testing is that we become, “perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” Yet James makes it clear that there are times when we do lack certain things. Apparently we need to be tested more!
The good news is that if we lack wisdom, we can ask God for it and he will give it to us in abundance! However, if we lack faith we can expect to receive a big fat ZERO from the Lord. Why is that?
Let me suggest that when we acknowledge our lack of wisdom we are actually acknowledging that we are insufficient. And when we ask God to make up for our insufficiency we are actually acknowledging His sufficiency! It’s really a posture that aligns us and our “lack of” something under God’s complete and total abundance.
A lack of faith (James describes it as a double-mindedness) does the exact opposite. When we look at God and think, “Maybe He won’t be enough.” Or “Maybe He won’t provide.” Or “Maybe He isn’t able to help me this time.” We are actually removing God from his rightful place in the order of life. We are no longer aligning ourselves under His complete and total authority and abundance. Instead we hesitate when God says to obey. We waver when God says to go. We falter when the moment of crisis and testing arrives. God is unable to bless us with all of His blessings. Why? Because a lack of faith keeps us from throwing ourselves upon the mercies of a God “who gives to all liberally and without reproach.”
As we continue our time of prayer and fasting let us throw ourselves on the mercies of a God who not only wants to bless us, but will bless us. Let us align ourselves under His authority and surrender our lives to him fully. As we trust Him more completely with our lives, He will be able to bless us more abundantly.
PRAYER:
Father, help us to have wisdom. But more importantly help us to have faith. Help us to be grounded in who you are and to know that you have everything that we need. Bless our lives with your presence today! Amen!
Father, help us to have wisdom. But more importantly help us to have faith. Help us to be grounded in who you are and to know that you have everything that we need. Bless our lives with your presence today! Amen!
Posted in 21 Days of Prayer & Fasting 2025
Posted in prayer, fasting, the book of James, wisdom, faith
Posted in prayer, fasting, the book of James, wisdom, faith
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