Are we supposed to ASK for wisdom or SEEK it--or are they the same thing?
Upvote:1
the answer is--- yes. We do both. We ask God to give us wisdom; all wisdom comes from Him. We could live for eighty years and not get true biblical wisdom if we don't ask God.
But we have to seek it, too. We won't be sleeping one morning and 60 lbs of wisdom come crashing through the roof and wake us up. We have to do things to seek wisdom; praying, reading the Bible, talking with His servants.
Upvote:5
We ask when we have the desire.
Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4, NIV)
Psalms tells us that God will give us the desires of our heart. Simply asking without any sincere desire will not be successful. Only a sincere request is granted.
And we should ask according to His will. We can't ask whatever we want. God gives only what we need and He answers according to His divine wisdom and will. And James 1:5 you posted confirms that it is the will of God to give wisdom to His children.
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. (1 John 5:14-15, NIV)
"Seeking" implies "effort": We also need to apply our own effort when we want something. One cannot simply pass examination by only praying but not studying.
Ask, seek and knock
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. (Matthew 7:7, NIV)
Asking, seeking and knocking are the ways to a successful prayer. First, we need to ask God - and ask according to His will. Second, we need to seek for it or give effort from our side. We seek only when we have the desire. Third, we need to have a sincere desire to keep on knocking on the doors of Heaven.
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary (Matthew 7:7)
Prayer is the appointed means for obtaining what we need. Pray; pray often; make a business of prayer, and be serious and earnest in it. Ask, as a beggar asks alms. Ask, as a traveller asks the way. Seek, as for a thing of value that we have lost; or as the merchantman that seeks goodly pearls. Knock, as he that desires to enter into the house knocks at the door. Sin has shut and barred the door against us; by prayer we knock. Whatever you pray for, according to the promise, shall be given you...
So, if you desire to have wisdom, ask to God, seek for it, knock on the doors of Heaven and God will give you wisdom beyond measure.
More post
- 📝 What personal possessions did Pope John Paul II have at the time of death?
- 📝 How do Christian Evolutionists explain the timeline of Genesis chapter one?
- 📝 According to Reformed theology, where is the Scriptural evidence for h*m*ousion?
- 📝 What are the differences between the ELCA and UCC?
- 📝 Is there any Biblical argument against using "cuss words"?
- 📝 How do proponents of Sola Scriptura choose the "correct" interpretation of a key Bible verse?
- 📝 What role does the Holy Ghost fill that the Father can't?
- 📝 How many people were killed by the Sanhedrin around the time of Paul?
- 📝 Is wearing makeup sinful according to Catholic teaching?
- 📝 What is the Catholic understanding of Predestination and Freewill?
- 📝 What is the earliest known instance of a petition directed to Mary?
- 📝 What percentage of self-identifying Christians believe Jesus was not God, and instead was a messenger of God?
- 📝 What does it mean for a society to be moral?
- 📝 Reformed perspective on "It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us" (Acts 15:28)
- 📝 What can I find an authoritative statement of the conditions for a valid Roman Catholic baptism?
- 📝 How do new converts to Christianity learn about the Bible, Christian faith, and Christian practices?
- 📝 How do Calvinists explain God's wanting no one to perish and electing some to judgement?
- 📝 Is Hell a physical place in mainstream Christianity?
- 📝 Is healing with honey mentioned in the Bible?
- 📝 Why is Acts 8:37 missing in the NIV?
- 📝 If a woman does not reach the climax at the time when the husband does, is it morally permissible for her to be stimulated until she achieves it?
- 📝 Why did God instruct the Israelites to perform so many different types of sacrificial offerings?
- 📝 What is the third moral principle that forbids gender change?
- 📝 (LDS) What kind of payment can a murderer make to receive a pardon?
- 📝 Would Nicene Christians consider a Unitarian Baptism sufficient for entry into the Church?
- 📝 Are the weaknesses in man intended by God? What are those weaknesses? Are they sinful?
- 📝 What do people fear in Jude 1:23?
- 📝 Do we have free will to choose salvation or is our "choice" an illusion?
- 📝 Thomistic Predestination and Free Will
- 📝 What are the biblical reasons for why a Christian should not participate in an election process
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Are we supposed to ASK for wisdom or SEEK it--or are they the same thing?
- 📝 Is there a name for the belief that some individuals would always freely reject salvation no matter the world in which they are created?
- 📝 How can the wicked live for eternity in hell when they are completely separated from the only source of eternal life?
- 📝 What does the Bible say about this question- Why do Jesus and God have two seats in heaven when they are the same God?
- 📝 Why are the same palms used on Palm Sunday used for Ash Wednesday services the next year?
- 📝 Do Lutherans believe that the sacraments are necessary for salvation (similar to Catholics), and if so, how do they reconcile this with Sola Fide?
- 📝 Is "the law of faith" in Romans 3:27 the same as "the law of the Spirit" in Romans 8:2? If not, are they still linked?
- 📝 Why do Catholics have to go to regular confession to have their sins forgiven if they pray The Lord's Prayer and ask for forgiveness daily?
- 📝 How do Catholics make sure that the supposed saint they are asking intercession of is truly saved?
- 📝 Do Mary and the other saints know what we are praying for before we ask them?
- 📝 Are the requirements for attaining godhood in LDS teaching the same or different for every world?
- 📝 When are the various assorted labels for Catholics - see body - applied and how are they related?
- 📝 What is the basis for saying Christians and Muslims worship the same God?
- 📝 What are the different names of God in the Bible and what do they mean?
- 📝 For Catholics who object to Vatican II, what are the key issues?
- 📝 Are Orthodox Christians all the same faith?
- 📝 Are there Old Testament Scriptures that mention salvation for the Gentiles?
- 📝 If Protestants won't ask dead saints to intercede because there is no mediator but Jesus then why do they ask living Christians to pray for them?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for withholding communion from believers who are unbaptized?
- 📝 Are there any English Bible translations whose primary text for the OT is the Septuagint?
- 📝 How do Jehovah's Witnesses respond to the charge that they are false prophets (because their end-of-the-world predictions didn't come true)?
- 📝 Do Catholics believe that they are actually eating the body of Christ? Does this make them cannibals?
- 📝 What are the reasons for calling oneself a "follower of Jesus" rather than a Christian?
- 📝 What are the stipulations for a mixed marriage to be valid in the Catholic Church?
- 📝 Why are the books of the Protestant Bible in the order that they are in?
- 📝 According to Latter-day Saints, what are the strongest apologetic arguments for the divine inspiration of the Book of Mormon?
- 📝 Are there "rational" criteria for which books appear in the Bible?
- 📝 What are the requirements for joining the Catholic church as an adult?
- 📝 What are the Biblical reasons for getting married?
- 📝 To what are the scriptures referring when they speak of the books of the "chronicles of the kings"?