WHEN OVERWHELMED, ASK GOD

WHEN OVERWHELMED, ASK GOD James 1:5-8 September 19, 2010 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introduction This morning’s message is #2 in our new series in the New Testament book of James. Last week we dealt with the opening four verses and left with the Spirit’s teaching that the way to deal with trials is to trust God. Believe what He said that He has your best interests at heart and that He is obsessed with His purpose in your life—to conform you to the image of Christ. In that trust we can have the assurance that every difficult experience we face is, by God’s providence, a pre-approved test of your faith for the purpose of building a transforming character trait in you: perseverance. Believing in God’s promises (that He loves us and wants His best for us, and that He is engineering our growth and maturity by everything He allows to come our way, both good and bad) we can actually do the seemingly impossible thing the apostle commands in verse 2 – Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds… In the next four verses we are about to encounter the next spiritual truth inspired and preserved for us by God’s Holy Spirit. Pray with me this simple prayer: Lord, speak to me. Quiet my restless and noisy heart to hear Your revealed Word, even as I wait, prepared to respond in faith and obedience. May I be changed, by You and the marvelous, mysterious, interconnected work of Your Word and Your Spirit. Would you take just a moment here at the beginning to see something important for us as we attempt to understand James 1? In verse 4, the express goal of God in our lives is that we may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Do you see that? Look at it in your own Bible. Then notice how verse 5 begins: If any of you lacks… The Nature of Spiritual Wisdom That’s my one and only segue between the two teachings. God wants you to lack nothing, and someday you will – and, If, in the mean time, you do lack anything—wisdom, for example—you should ask God. So we move with James’ intuitive flow from the first concept, “When Over-whelmed, Trust God” to today’s Word, “When Overwhelmed, Ask God.”   It’s only right that we should trust the One we ask, and ask only someone we trust, especially when it comes to asking for wisdom. None of us will ask a kindergartener how to vote in our Illinois primary next month, nor will we ask Rod Blagoyevich how to be an honest politician. You’re won’t ask Lindsay Lohan for advice on staying sober, and you won’t turn to Tiger Woods for counsel on marital fidelity. But you can count on God for wisdom. Let’s read verse 5: If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. We really should ask the question, What is wisdom? What would you submit if you were personally invited to define wisdom for Wikipedia? Even Webster’s Collegiate had a tough time: the quality of being wise. It got a little better: power of judging rightly and following the soundest course of action, based on knowledge, experience, understanding. Luke 2 says that the boy Jesus grew in wisdom, and during His later ministry folks marveled at how much he had, and where He got it. Moses was educated in all the wisdom of Egypt. Solomon was wise—why? Because He asked God. The deacons in the early church, including Stephen, had wisdom—it was part of their qualification package. What kind of knowledge/insight do these all have in common? My hero in theology, John R.W. Stott, says that this biblical wisdom is “practical sagacity.” This is no simple matter of Bible knowledge. but Bible knowledge alone is not wisdom. Like me, I’m sure you’ve known your share of kooks who know lots of Bible data but are about as spiritually reliable as a wheelbarrow. They can quote you verses, but their counsel is as empty as the top half of the cereal box. Biblically speaking, wisdom is the use of godly, biblical knowledge in discerning the world around you, and guiding your own conduct and the conduct of others in the maze of life’s issues and problems. So, wisdom is directly related to verses 1-4, because the wise person will be able to consistently see life with the right perspective. He keeps in mind God’s goal for himself and others—to grow into the image, maturity of Christ. The very basis of spiritual wisdom is to put the Lord and His purposes first in everything. You will be wise and grow in wisdom if you will brand your heart and mind with this truth. •  You are called and even predestined by God to be conformed to the image of Christ. •  By the Spirit of God you are being transformed into His image, one step at a time, from one glory to the next. • Your life’s mission, as Paul expressed in his personal mission statement in Colossians 1:28, is to be presented perfect in Christ. There was a janitor who served First Community Church. A new pastor was brought in and when he learned that the janitor could not read or write, he let him go. In desperation the man tried everything and finally found himself selling pencils on the street corner. He soon found he could buy pencils cheap and sell them at a good profit. So he began buying pencils in volume, and eventually hiring others to sell them. It wasn’t long before he had a giant corporation, across several states. One day he went to the bank to procure a loan for five million dollars so he could build a new state of the art plant. When the bank manager asked him to sign the man printed a big “X” on the line. The banker was aghast. Do you mean you’ve come this far without even knowing how to read or write? Can you imagine where you’d be if you could read and write? I know exactly where I’d be – I’d be the janitor at 1st Community Church! Wisdom is not knowing what you know—it’s doing what you know is right in the sight of God, and when you lack wisdom, Ask God. When you ask God for wisdom, remember you are asking God to help you understand how to live for Him. He is not going to turn you away! You may be confident. You can ask Him for wisdom to face any situation. I have a friend who knows nothing about automobile mechanics, but he fixes his own cars all the time. His testimony is that he prays while he drags out his tools, and he says, Lord, you know I don’t understand what I’m about to work on, but I want to be a wise steward and fix it myself, so I ask you to direct me. And he is able to fix anything. I’ve seen it. And he is always quick and ready to give God the glory in it. Most of us don’t know very much about praying in faith for wisdom, but, guess what! You can even ask Him for wisdom for how to ask Him! He promises to help you. Romans 8:26 has taught us that we often don’t know how to pray or what to pray for, but we are not to worry, because His Spirit knows God’s answers already and He intercedes for us with perfect acuity. So, while we’re fumbling, looking for the right words, right attitude and right requests, He’s already interceding for us. Before we move on, look again for a minute at the latter half of verse 5 again. It says that God gives generously to all. Listen the same God who said to Solomon, Sol, you were right to ask for wisdom—I’m going to lay a large dose on you!—that same God says to you today: Here’s what I’m like: I love giving generously to those who ask me for things like wisdom! Go ahead and ask me—you won’t be sorry! I told James to tell you it will be given to him, and I wasn’t kidding! The verse tells us that God gives generously, liberally, abundantly. If you ask God for a quart of wisdom, bring a gallon container! If you ask Father God for a dollar’s worth of wisdom so you can serve Him better on the job, He is going to fill your tank, so you can serve Him very well. Let me ask you dads, if your 4-year old comes and asks for money to buy his mom a birthday gift, are you going to say no? Are you going give him just a little change? You’re delighted, so you’re generous. The text also says He will give generously without finding fault. That means you don’t need to come to God sheepishly and afraid you’re going to ask the wrong way or slip up somehow while you’re asking and offend Him, then He won’t answer your request. Sorry! You forgot to say, “In Jesus’ Name. Amen! No wisdom for you! One year! No! God says He will not find fault. That means He won’t criticize you for asking, nor will He disqualify you for not asking the right way. How to Ask God So, we know when to ask God for wisdom (when we need it), but the second half of verse 5 through verse 8 tells us how to ask Him. Let’s read that section. 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. At first it may seem contradictory of James to say God will not fault us in our asking for wisdom, and then to say, …but if you doubt and are unstable, well, don’t think you’ll get anything from God!   What is meant by the terms doubt and double-mindedness is not intellectual doubt. He is not saying, Be careful, because if you even for a moment think God might not give you wisdom, you’re done for! Once you even consider that as a danger you’re done for! It’s just not fair for me to ask you to NOT think about a pack of a hundred ferile, flesh-eating wildcats coming up the steps toward the auditorium, because if you don’t think about them they won’t come. And then say to you, but if you DO think about them, they WILL come! But this is not what James is saying. It is not a matter of intellectual doubt. It is a matter of moral uncertainty. For example, do you remember Jesus’ teaching that connects man’s forgiveness with his willingness to forgive others? He said that if you are not willing to forgive, how can you expect to be forgiven? It isn’t a matter of superstitiously avoiding all feelings of doubt or negative confessions. It is a matter of commitment. Am I genuinely committed to this matter of forgiveness in my own life? Or am I just looking for a “get-out-of-jail-free” card, and not planning at all to forgive others? When it comes to wisdom, to doubt—to be double-minded—is to say to God, I’ll take whatever wisdom you want to send my way, but, you know, I really don’t want to use Your wisdom to become more like Christ. I just need a little help right now, what do You say? I see it all the time: insincere people bargaining with God as if He didn’t see their shifty hearts. God help me win this lottery and I’ll give you half of the take! Lord, I’m up to my neck in trouble here—I need some real help real fast! Please don’t ask for my commitment to You—not now—we’ll deal with all that later. How often is it the case that we’ve confessed in a time of trial, Lord, I’m sorry for not obeying what I know You want me to do. Please forgive me. But the Please forgive me part comes out sort of flat, because we know we don’t really intend to change. We just want a bail-out of our problem right now. Do you know why it has a hollow ring? Sure you do. Because there is no real commitment to Him. Therefore, it is not faith. Therefore it is double-minded doubt. Therefore it is rendered ineffectual. Oh, honey, you know I love you, and you know I want to marry you, but let’s talk about it later. Right now, let’s make love. No commitment. James says that God will not play such games. If you want Godly wisdom because you know you need it to do His will and bring praise to Him, you are asking with faith, and you may EXPECT God to give it to you generously. But, if your heart is not committed to Him, He is not able to grant that request. He is omniscient. He knows when the man lies to the lady just to get what he wants, and He knows your heart. We’ll get there in a couple of months, but James 4:3 says, You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask [though], you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. He goes on to warn that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God. No double-mindedness in prayer. So it is when it comes to wisdom. When you ask God with the intent of growing in your commitment to Him and His purposes, that is a prayer of faith—that is, you believe and do not doubt. Don’t misunderstand me, this is not saying that if you ask in committed faith you are saying to God you will from now on be perfect. It does not mean that if you ask in faith, then later falter, or your commitment is not perfect, God is going to rescind the wisdom He gave you.   Don’t come to God and promise things you know you have no intention of doing; don’t pledge things you know you’ll never follow through on. God knows your heart, and that’s what He’s interested in. Also in the 4th chapter is James’ prescription for the faithless, double-minded one: Submit yourselves to God…purify your hearts, you double-minded (7-8) It is a matter of your heart, your intent. The prayer of faith can actually include a confession like, Lord I am committed fully to You, and I know that I often fail, and I suppose I will continue to fail, but You know my heart right now. I want to grow in my love and service to You, and I need Your wisdom to bring me through this episode of growth. That person, James promises, is stable and praying in faith. He’s like a cork in the ocean, at the mercy of winds and waves. Let me add this word. Your faith does not need to be perfect. A man one day asked Jesus to heal his demonized son. In desperation he said, If you can do anything, take pity and help us. Jesus said, If you can?! Everything is possible for those who believe. He blurted out a disarmingly honest response: I do believe, but help my unbelief. And his faith was rewarded—Jesus healed his son. Shadowlands portrays the joy and pain of the relationship between C. S. Lewis and American writer Joy Gresham. A growing friendship led to marriage, but only a marriage of convenience. The Oxford professor wed the single mother in a secret, civil ceremony so that Joy could gain English citizenship. Eventually it was discovered that Joy had terminal cancer. It was at that same time Lewis realized his love for her. Joy's cancer went into temporary remission, and for a season she and Lewis experienced the depth of committed Christian love. During this time, an Anglican priest talked with Lewis about prayer. In their conversation, we hear a mature description of how prayer works. The Priest said, "I know how hard you've been praying. And now God is answering your prayer." Lewis responded, "That's not why I pray, Harry. I pray because I can't help myself. I pray because I'm helpless. I pray—I pray because the need flows out of me all the time—waking and sleeping. It doesn't change God, it changes me." The kind of prayer God honors is the sincere, albeit imperfect prayer of an honest God-ward heart. It’s not the perfection of the prayer, but the purity of the heart. Are you committed? Is your heart pure toward God? If it is there is a warm and peaceful security, faith is intact and your prayer for wisdom will be lavishly rewarded. If not, no promise. Conclusion Cliff Barrows was Billy Graham’s long-time associate in his evangelistic crusades. He wrote: “I remember the first time my older son Jim and I worked with the Crusade. It was at Shea Stadium in New York. The air- planes from La Guardia Airport flew over the stadium, dozens per hour. On the opening night of training, Billy Graham started talking from the podium as the engines roared overhead. He paused, glanced up and quietly said, "We'll have to do something about this noise. This just won't do." He bowed his head and said a simple prayer to the effect: "Lord, we ask you to shift the wind and send these planes in another direction. Thank You. Amen." Well, we were believers, but this was a tall order. We weren't sure what, if anything, to expect. But God did it—he answered our prayers in a wondrous way! The morning newspaper reported that the winds had changed during the night, and the airplanes over Shea Stadium had to be routed another way. For several days thereafter, thousands of people came to Christ under this anointed leader's preaching. At the conclusion of the crusade, the winds reverted to their normal flow, and the airplanes returned to their normal flight patterns.”         [ Back to Top]