Ask of God Ask in Faith (James 1:5-6)

James 1:5-6 (NKJV)

⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. ⁶ But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

The young man stood looking at the patch of dirt in his grandfather’s garden completely clueless and a little uninterested. 

“Do what granddad?” He asked looking up from his hopeless assignment. 

“Dig me some trenches around this vegetable patch please” he instructed with a gentle force that let his grandson know that he was serious and really wasn’t asking. The added ‘please’ was just to reinforce the good manners he had taught him. 

Satisfied that he had given the instruction clearly and that his grandson had understood his assignment he then let him know that if he needed anything he just had to ask. He left his grandson to his work and went back into the house. 

The instruction was very clear, and the task was very simple but there was one problem, the young man didn’t have the tools he needed to accomplish the task or the know-how. 

The grandfather, now busy about his own business in the kitchen was quite aware that there was a whole shed full of tools, it was locked but he had the key. He was on standby ready to give his grandson whatever he needed at his asking, he also wanted to use that time to bond further with him and pass on his knowledge and wisdom to him.

An hour passed, no sign of his grandson, so he went to investigate. He found the young man on his knees using a rusty old hand fork that had been left out in the garden a very long time ago. 

He smiled knowingly, shook his head and asked his grandson “So, how’s your back feeling?”

The young man stopped what he was doing, placed one of his hands on his lower back and groaned as the muscle soreness set in. “What are you using?” he asked already knowing the answer. 

“I found this fork grandad; you need some new tools” he said trying to catch his breath. 

“Oh, do I now?” chuckled the old man “tell me something, why didn’t you come and ask me for what you needed to get the job done? Didn’t I say to you that whatever you need come and ask me?”

The young man looked at the fork then up at his grandfather, cocked his head to the side in confusion and said “isn’t this what I am supposed to be using? I mean I saw the shed, but it was locked and then I saw the fork, so I just thought….” He trailed off.

“Ahhh, you just thought, but you didn’t ask” his grandfather replied softly. He helped the young man to his feet, dusted the dirt off his trousers, placed his hand on his shoulder and gently turned him around to face the large beautiful garden. 

Ahhh, you just thought, but you didn’t ask” his grandfather replied softly.

“Look at all that you see before you, do you honestly think that I achieved all of this with that rusty little fork you have in your hand? The young man smiled sheepishly, looked at the garden again and then looked at the small disorganised pit that he had dug with his trusty rusty fork. 

“Suppose not granddad.” 

“Come.” The old man began walking briskly to the shed pulling out a bunch of keys from his pocket, his grandson scurrying along quickly to keep up pace. Opening the door to the shed he turned on the light, the young man froze in amazement. 

It was like something out of a movie, there were tools of every kind neatly hanging from the walls like an army weaponry. None of them he knew, apart from one, the spade. He pointed at it, “that’s what I need a spade!!”

“You sure? The old man asked, he then began to educate his grandson on the tools he needed for his job. The tricks that would make it easier, more effective, and less painful the young man drank it in like water.

As they walked out of the shed the young man with his arms full of his weapons of choice, thanked his grandfather. “I didn’t even know, what I didn’t know!!”

That is an illustration of how we can be with God. Sometimes we don’t know what we don’t know, and God is ever ready to give us exactly what we need at our asking, but we find something else and try to make it fit the assignment God has given us.

When really God has the wisdom to achieve the assignment and wants us to come to Him and ask for what we think we need. It’s in that beautiful space of pure communication that we find out, that we have no idea what we need. 

Then God reveals to us in His own way what we actually need, and we see the beauty of God’s wisdom. 

The interaction is so much sweeter and more precious to us because it is a personal connection, not a taskmaster barking orders at us but a loving interaction birthed out of a beautiful relationship where we receive far more than we could ever ask or think.

This, we access by faith, we may not see but we believe and at our asking we receive. Ask of God ask in faith. 

May the rest of your week be blessed with beautiful communication with God, let’s ask for the kind of wisdom that only comes from God. That way not only do we learn how to make right use of the knowledge we obtain, but we also grow closer to God in the process which is our true reward.

This is God’s word spoken in love. Remember The LORD our God, He is good and His mercies endure forever. May the blessings of the LORD overtake you and come upon you and His love surround you, for His glory. Have a blessed week. In Jesus Name.

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