Verses 5-6: But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind
Developing further his allusion to the believer’s knowledge of doctrine, James suggests that anyone who might lack wisdom is to ask of God. The word ‘wisdom’ refers to doctrine derived from the Scriptures. Since all Scripture is given from God, James declares this in the third chapter:
But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. (James 3:17)
The apostle Paul reinforces this truth and supplies the mechanics for understanding God’s Word:
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. (1 Corinthians 2:12-13)
For a believer who is determined to live a Christ centered life and to acquire wisdom ‘from above’, the first step is to ask of God. This is an imperative command. We must ask, and in asking we humble ourselves before our Creator without any pretenses, with the full understanding that His wisdom, which surpasses the worlds’ wisdom, is essential in order for us to live a Christ centered life.
Note also that in following the divine guideline by asking to obtain His wisdom, He will give generously and without reproach. The word generously means that God’s giving is true generosity, for He gives without any reservation or hesitation. Some philanthropists give with strings attached. God’s wisdom has power built within it to sustain and advance a person to spiritual maturity.
God also gives without ‘reproach.’ Have you ever asked someone for money and when they give it to you they add some snide or disparaging remark like: “If you budgeted better you wouldn’t be asking!”? There will never be a sarcastic aside given from the Lord when we ask for anything. He will not belittle, He will never conduct Himself by using inferior human standards.
James leaves us with the absolute confident assurance that when we ask God for His wisdom ‘it will be given.’ For the psalmist tells us this is within His very character nature:
For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
The Lord gives grace and glory;
No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
(Psalm 84:11; cf. Romans 8:32)
Ask In Faith
There is a qualification attached to the asking of wisdom. James commands us to ask ‘in faith.’ The faith that he is referring to is “a belief in the beneficent activity, as well as in the personality, of God; it includes reliance on God and the expectation that what is asked for will be granted by Him.”1 In other words, this is a belief that God will not violate His divine attribute of truthfulness. For Our Lord stated:
“And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” (Matthew 21:22)
And, also, as He spoke to His disciples just prior to His death:
“Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.” (John 14:13-14)
However, the Apostle John asserts not only the confidence we have in prayer but that there is a major condition which many believers overlook:
This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. (1 John 5:14)
What we ask for must be in conformity with His will, which presupposes that we must know the specific doctrines associated with what is being asked. It is obvious that this necessitates the consistent study of God’s Word—much more than just going to church on Sunday. Otherwise, James says there is a tendency that you will ask for things “with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures” (James 4:3).
R.B. Thieme, Jr. sums up the effectiveness of prayer:
Prayer is a weapon for the spiritually strong, not an expedient for the spiritually weak. Prayer does not constitute the spiritual life nor is it a spiritual problem solver. Anyone can pray, but the true function of prayer results from persistent doctrinal and grace orientation. The more the believer knows and understands God, the more he knows how to communicate with Him (John 15:7).2
Next, James states that our asking is to be without any doubting. The word doubting here actually means to permit ourselves to dispute the efficacy our prayer. This is the exact opposite of asking in faith. This hesitancy to come before the Almighty is contrary to what the writer of Hebrews has exhorted us:
Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)
We must have confidence and boldness about this essential provision of prayer that God has made available, without allowing for ourselves any misgivings. If we have resolved to center Christ in our lives and to become mature Christians, then we must seek His wisdom with complete certainty that He will provide. We should expect to receive not only His wisdom, but also the means for understanding and applying His truths in our moment-by-moment walk of faith.
Otherwise, if we are doubters, then we will be “like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.” Driven by the wind perfectly illustrates those believers without knowledge of doctrine being led astray by anything that ‘sounds’ good to them, determining their beliefs exclusively on what seems right to them, as opposed to what God’s Word states.
The Apostle Paul concurs with James, and states that:
As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; (Ephesians 4:14)
In other words, we will be drifting along against the flow of false doctrines and/or the human viewpoint of the world without a paddle (God’s Truth—John 17:17) to steer or guide us.
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