James 1:5–8 (NLT): “5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. 6 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. 7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.”

If you need wisdom:

• You don’t just need wisdom, you need HEAVENLY WISDOM: #Talk2meJames
• “But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere” (James 3:17 NLT).
• Wisdom is seeing from God’s perspective. #Talk2meJames
• Wisdom is discerning the truth. #Talk2meJames
• Wisdom is choosing the right path. #Talk2meJames
• Wisdom is putting things in the right order. #Talk2meJames

If you need wisdom - learn to see God as your source for every need.

Ask our generous God. When you ask God for something, it’s important to note the adjective used to talk about Him. God is SO generous. He is a giver—He loves to give! He rains on the just and unjust alike.

1. Become a perpetual “asker.”

• Luke 11:9 NLT: “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.”
• Life goal: Become a perpetual “asker.” Ask God about everything. #Talk2meJames

2. God is a generous God.

• James 1:17 NASB: “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”
• Matthew 5:45 NLT: “In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.”
• Matthew 7:9–11 NLT: “9 You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? 10 Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! 11 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.”
• You have not because you ask not. James retrains us that God is a GENEROUS God. #Talk2meJames

3. Sometimes our misconceptions about God keep us from asking Him to do things.

• He will give it to you. It is a promise. When we do our part, which is to believe, God does His part.
• John 16:24 NLT: “You haven’t done this before. Ask, using my name, and you will receive, and you will have abundant joy.”

Do Not Waver

• What you believe when you pray affects everything! Faith is required to bring a spiritual reality into the tangible world. #Talk2meJames
• 1 John 5:14–15 NLT: “14 And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. 15 And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.” Wavering means to go back and forth about the character of God.
  • Is He loving? Can He heal? Will He heal? Will He give? Will He answer?

2 Corinthians 1:19–20 NLT: “19 For Jesus Christ, the Son of God, does not waver between ‘Yes’ and ‘No.’ He is the one whom Silas, Timothy, and I preached to you, and as God’s ultimate ‘Yes,’ he always does what he says. 20 For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding ‘Yes!’ And through Christ, our ‘Amen’ (which means ‘Yes’) ascends to God for his glory.”