[04ctd]

Today:

Praying for Wisdom


"If any of you lack wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault and will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double minded man, unstable in all he does." James 1.5 – 7



This promise is one of the most powerful tools in the toolbox of a business owner or business leader running his company or organization for Christ or our personal lives. Do you lack wisdom? I do - daily. There are so many issues involved in running a company that we are continually operating beyond our knowledge and experience base. In fact, God intentionally arranges circumstances and events to force us to operate well beyond our personal capabilities. One of the reasons lies with this verse.



When there is a change in the marketplace and it is unclear whether that change will be beneficial or detrimental to the company, and it is unclear how to respond to it - we need to simply go and ask God what to do next. He has promised to respond. Especially if we have yielded control of the company to Him, then He will show us how to run His company, and if we yield control of our lives He will do the same. When we come up against a technical issue that we do not know how to solve, then we need only to go and ask God what to do and He will tell us without reproach. (After all, He is the master engineer who created all this and knows how it works.) When we are having difficulty with an employee, and do not know how to respond in a way that would be beneficial to the employee, beneficial to the company, and honoring to Christ - this promise tells us to simply go ask God and He will tell us what to do, and also in our daily lives we should do the same.



But the basis of this asking is faith - believing that what God has said is true. This is a common characteristic of all of God's promises; we must believe the promise to be true for us to receive what is promised. Verses 7 and 8 explicitly tell us that unbelief indicates instability and such a man should not expect to receive anything from God. Faith is the key to the Kingdom: "for without faith it is impossible to please God" (Hebrews 11.6). Therefore, before we ask for wisdom we must ask ourselves: "Do I believe this promise to be true?” If I do, then I should ask, fully expecting to receive the wisdom I have sought. If I do not believe the promise to be true, then I need to examine my heart and my relationship with God to see where the problem lies.

Wisdom is probably the greatest asset that we can have as businessmen serving Christ in the marketplace and in our personal lives. It is to be prized above all else (Proverbs 3.13-18). Seek it frequently. Build a relationship with God so strong that your natural response to any issue is to go ask God what to do, to seek His wisdom. Then, be sure to thank Him for what He has done. Make it a habit to continually praise Him and thank Him for the wisdom He has given each day.


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he sends them out with a picture, if you want the email & the pic, LMK and I will send you his info