How do I obtain wisdom?
James 1:5-6
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. (KJV)
Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 1:7, Proverbs 9:10 all give the following thought:
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
These scriptures among others indicate that wisdom comes from God.
This, I’m sure comes as no surprise.
The question is: How does one get this wisdom?
From the scriptures listed one could assume there are three steps:
1: Fear God – This is not the “fight or flight” brand of fear, but a healthy respect for the creator and source of all that is – the I Am that I AM.
2: Ask – The promise is “Ask and it is given” yet we often fail to ask. Perhaps we suppose that all we desire should just come to us. The thing is, how would anyone know what we desire if we don’t ask? When you ask, ask in faith – ask believing that you will receive.
3: Wait expectantly – when you wait expecting it’s different than waiting doubting. Expectant waiting is watching for your desire to appear while you wait for it. Waiting in doubt is affirming every moment that your desire is not available to you – such as “I knew it wouldn’t happen.” or “I knew God wouldn’t answer.” That’s not faith and even if that person were to receive their request they’d likely miss it.
Now you know God has wisdom.
Now you know that all you have to do to get it is ask.
And now you know to wait and watch for wisdom as you wait.
So now it’s all yours.
Ask. Don’t doubt.
Another thing: It’s in us to question and make judgments. The tendency is strong to second guess or wonder or question “Is this from God?” or “Is this the wisdom I asked for?”
Remember – God’s ways and thoughts are higher than our ways and thoughts. Because of this and the fact that wisdom belongs to God, we’re not really equipped to determine what wisdom is and what it is not.
Don’t question or judge the gift of God to you.
Accept in joyful gratitude expecting more.
You will not be disappointed.
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
I think one of the ways are to reflect from our past and pay attention what has unfolded and there god’s wisdom will settle in if we pay attention and grow to understanding of the biggest question ??????????
god bless gene
Gene,
Often our reflections on the past are limited to our own narrow perspective. If we are able to obtain God’s perspective then all is well.
If we’re trying to distill wisdom from our own interpretation of past events we’re really not gaining wisdom – we’re just setting ourselves up to repeat patterns of behavior – which will keep us from growing.
Kinda like Mark Twain’s wisdom: “We should be careful to get out of an experience only the wisdom that is in it and stop there lest we be like the cat that sits down on a hot sove lid. She will never sit down on a hot stove lid again and that is well but also she will never sit down on a cold one anymore.”
The key is in what you said “Pay attention”.
Just my two cents this morning!
Robert
I think I was alittle to breif, I think as we reflect from our past events, most people will stay in the tunnel I call it, except it, move on with it, with out any peripheral. my point is if we reflect and take notice outside of the flesh and pay attention how the rippling effect branches out that effects so many people to go in each individual paths. I believe in the cause and effect theory with free will and chose, very complex because they contradict. so when I say reflect on our past I believe thats how god comunicates and gives us wisdom even if we are not recepitve to it at that time, until days or years later and that’s the biggy that’s where we gain wisdom and growth and can take us 180 degree turn the way we thing or judge.thats where a door opens and another door opens and etc…. lets face it each and every year of our lives we see things alittle different either negitive or postive, but thats what shapes us. so the interesting thing about this is do I have control or does god have control and I understand we are supposed to give our will to god so he can take control. We as humans are a three dimensional creation, so that we are so minute in the scheme of everthing I think it’s impossible to totally connect 100% and thats what I wrestle with, but can except it.
god bless gene keep it going
Hey Gene,
I think my last reply came across as agreeing with you less than I wanted it to – sometimes it’s difficult to discuss these things in few words.
Reflection while in God’s presence, allowing Him to speak will bring us wisdom.
Blessings,
Robert
Grand ole Wisdom evades everytime when I force it. I notice when I ask a question (or most times, I ask a series of questions) what I am asking is not what I should be asking, hence the answer might not come, or the wisdom received is off-the-wall or unhelpful, at first. For instance,
Once in prayer, I asked God, more or less, “Why can’t this part of my life pan out? Why the lack of friends, women, or fun…seems to be stressful dealing with people?”
God’s answer? “Don’t worry about it.”
Naturally, I was unsure if this be from God…it seemed too short and concise. I asked again, and yup…the same answer came sharply, “Don’t worry about it.”
I eventually threw a fit in prayer (I believe in full disclosure of feelings, emotions and thoughts with God). I said that this answer was unacceptable. I said that “How could I NOT worry about it? It is not like this is going to go away? This concern is going to stay!”
To paraphase His response (can’t recall exact words), “That’s the point…you believe it won’t go away, and that is why I said, ‘Don’t worry about it.’”
This was a big step, since my social life (in my opinion) always sucked! This was big, not to worry, to let the fear go…crap it was big! I digress…so, I was quite during prayer, then God mentioned that what I asked in prayer is sometimes not what needs to be addressed. In this case, my social life and why it had gone astray was NOT THE problem I had in my life. The wisdom I learned from God was that the anixety I had in prayer was the problem, my doubt was the problem…the doubt in myself to be a social, and likeable person was truly the problem. Thus, when I asked my question to God, the Holy One answered the question that I ‘should’ve’ asked.
This is my wisdom learned from the Most High, anyway…..
This wisdom carries onto another issue as well–one’s thoughts. If I may explore the idea, I was at Adoration when I learned further why I can’t focus as much as I would like on God (not merely in prayer but daily life as well). Quickly, without a beat, God’s answer came, simple and true, “Keep your thoughts with me, no where else.” Sounds logical, so intitutive one might’ve asked if I really had to pray or ask for such a common sense notion, right? Well, I saw it as a spin off of the “Don’t worry about it” as to mean “Don’t think about it.” In other words, your focus should be”NO” thought at all…thus, try in not trying (worrying that I am not focusing as I should). The effort was distraction because it relied on what my mind wanted to perceive vicarously from my thoughts alone; so, it was imperative find certainty and confidence to that I already rested with God, that I already had a focus on Him truly.
If you are confused now, then smile I was for awhile…took a few years to sort out!
AWESOME is God! I love it!
God Bless you all,
Cheers!
Amen! The problem is never the problem. It’s how we thing and feel about the problem.
Right on General!
Robert
General, isn’t amazing that each one of us has such a different illusion of how we perceive, comprehend and proccess a problem in our individual way. I like what robert wrote the problem is never the problem and I’ll add fear is fear it’s self nothing more then a irrational thought that plays wicked games with our emotions and emotions as we know are more powerful then us in the flesh. how I see it, it comes down to we as humans hate the feeling of loss of control of our own perceptions, out of our comfort zones the safe haven. god has different plains for us which of course is out of our comfort zone and thats the constant battle between the flesh and spirit. I’ve felt in my darkest of dark moments in the past such a heavey hand come over me to steer me in a 180 turn that it scared the living crap out of me, I can’t explain the actual feeling but it was definitely not from this world. I always thought of god as a loving god only, but god also gives us tough love or righteous love to. funny I think back and see what god was doing to shape me for his plan not mine. what power. some times when I feel alone and empty as I’m the only person on this planet and dwell on that feeling for a while and have to catch my self and turn my thought to, I have the most best friend any one could ask for jesus he understand because he lived in the flesh and felt all the pain and probably more. I’ve gone very deep into meditation and i felt god comunicate with me through a feeling in my spirit I know now god made me because there’s no way I came from a icicle which resulted from the big bang.I learned from your comments above thanks for sharing. keep searching god bless gene
Gene,
Your last comment “Keep searching” reminded me of something Deepak Chopra said:
“Seek the company of those searching for truth. Run away from those who have found it.”
I don’t know if it’s original to him but it’s excellent advice!
Robert
Robert, thats why I love this web site it steps outside the box. I think thats how I came to this site through the spirit. I believe god is working through you robert to send his message to others, great job keep it going gene
p.s. love Deepak Chopra