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IBS 8 - James 1:5

James 1:5
“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”

I’ve grown up hearing “if you want something just ask God for it and it might be given to you!” So that’s what I’ve always done. I remember when I was really young, probably five, and I wanted a tutu so badly. I kept saying, “Ok God, please please please give me a tutu. When I turn around, let it just appear!” And I did that over and over again and it never appeared. It made me mad because I didn’t understand. I would think, “If God can do all things, then why isn’t this tutu appearing?” I guess I had some growing to do. 
As I got older, I kept that in the back of my head. I would ask God for things, but they changed from a tutu to legitimate things, like, “God give me patience, compassion, and wisdom. I never really believed that God would answer those types of prayers though, and He didn’t. I thought He wouldn’t because I was bad at praying or because He just chose to ignore me, but it was because I didn’t believe. I believed He answered us, but just not me. 
It wasn’t until last summer that I learned why He didn’t answer me. He found fault with me. I wasn’t living my life like I should’ve been. Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” He’ll gives generously to all without finding fault, to those living righteously. God found fault in my life. I didn’t trust or believe Him. Matthew 21:22 says, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” I read a book about prayer. It talked about the importance of believing what you’re praying, believing who you’re praying too, and living your life glorifying God. I learned I needed to make some changes in my life. Not just so that God would answer my requests, but I needed to change to glorify Him better. 

Application: I’ll keep a piece of paper with me all day that’ll say “wisdom” on it, and every time I’ll look at it I’ll be reminded to keep glorifying God in everything I do.

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