“ASK IN FAITH!”

James 1:5-8                                             (ESV)

“5 IF ANY OF YOU LACKS WISDOM, let him ask GOD, WHO gives generously to all without reproach, and IT WILL BE given him.

6 BUT LET HIM “ASK IN FAITH”, WITH NO DOUBTING, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the LORD;

8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

How does GOD work HIS PLAN in our lives?  JESUS said anything was possible with GOD, so why doesn’t HE give us the things we want to make our lives a little bit easier???  Couldn’t GOD make us wealthy before making us wise?  While I was leading a discussion at church on a book about PRAYER, a subject line was brought about a few weeks back entitled GOD’s Presence and GOD’s Provision.  That phrase has caused my to ponder whether I want HIS PROVISIONS greater than I want HIS PRESENCE?!?

GOD’s WISDOM is far greater than anything that I can imagine.  HE doesn’t need to make me understand how HE works HIS PLAN, I just need to WALK BY FAITH and trust that HE IS GOD, AND I AM NOT!!!  Surrendering to HIS WILL in our lives is something that is we all need to do.....and that I have done.  But how do I seemingly constantly slip back into doing what “I THINK” is the best thing to do without “diligently” seeking HIS WILL?  

Maturing in FAITH can be a “puzzling” thing.  When we “ASK IN FAITH” like Abraham had, we WILL NOT always have to be righteous in our actions, but GOD WILL COUNT it as righteousness.   Genesis 15:6 says “And he (Abraham) believed the LORD, and HE counted it to him as righteousness”.  Now Abraham made several recorded “errors” in his life, but GOD still blessed him (and Sarah) with Isaac when they were TOO OLD to have children!  Abraham may have veered from TRUTH occasionally, but he always knew that GOD was GOD, and he wasn’t!  

My life seems to be replete with doing what I think is best, and so many times I take the direction that appears to be the wrong choice.  We can make wrong choices, but GOD can use them for HIS GLORY.  Solomon was an indirect result of King David’s indiscretion with Bathsheba, and GOD used this in the lineage of JESUS (Matthew 1:6-7)!  We don’t have to live a perfect life to honor GOD.  But we must always “ASK IN FAITH” to accomplish HIS PLAN!