God Will Give You Wisdom--But You Have to Ask!

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Now let's jump in. Every trial we face eventually comes to a decision.

But how do I know that that decision is going to be the right one? And more importantly,

am I on the hook for this all on my own?

Helping you make that decision coming up right now on the Clearview Today show.

We're listening to Clearview today with Dr. Abadhan Shah, the daily show that engages

mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Ryan Hill.

I'm John Galantis. Welcome back to the Clearview Today's studio with our host,

Dr. Abadhan Shah. If you're listening for the very first time today, we want to say welcome.

Thank you for listening to the show. We want to let you know exactly who's talking to you.

Dr. Shah is a PhD in New Testament textual criticism professor at Carolina University author

full-time pastor in the host of today's show. Dr. Shah got a great discussion on the board.

Yes, we're talking about wisdom. Yes, that's right. The one thing we're all trying to get.

The one thing we're all we can't mind for it. It's difficult to come by.

Pay for it. But somehow we can ask for it. And God will freely get it. That's right.

That's right. You know, we've been talking through the book of James, right? We finished

up our series on Job. And a lot of people were writing in asking, was the next walkthrough

going to be and we somehow landed on James, which is something that you've preached through

back in 2003, right? 2003, 2011. I've talked about preaching on it again,

but I feel like I need to have some time there. 2003 is crazy because I was in sixth grade.

Yeah. Yeah. In the sixth grade. I was in the sixth grade in 2003.

Yeah, I was in high school. That's funny. And then 2011, I was my first year of college.

Wow. That was the second time around. Wow. And this is such a good book. You know, you can

read this book every time and find something new. I'm talking about the book of James more

specifically. You can find applications that you didn't think about before, but you find it

each time you read. And it is such a practical book. It is so relevant, so easy to understand.

And yet there's deeper meanings there. Yeah. Not something you're you're super imposing or

purposely looking for, but they're already there. So even though I'm going through this,

I would say probably for the fourth or fifth time, maybe because it's not just that I preached in

2003 and 2011, but I also did a series on James, this exact series at a family camp in

Bryson City, which is up in the mountains of North Carolina. Then I also did this with my staff

when I was a principal. I led the staff in the book of James for like two, three months. So

personally, I've gone through it like four to five times. And we probably said this on the show,

but I love that that kind of continuation of thought. If we were in Job and we're watching someone

walk through trials, then we get to James and it says, when you encounter trials, here's how you

handle them. Yeah. And it's cool too, because even though you're you're going through it four or

five times, you like you said, you're finding something new. It's not that it's like I have to think

of something new to say. It's like no, the more you read there, you find the new things. God

has brought you to new places throughout the years and you're seeing how those experiences,

just like James says, those trials have brought you to decisions that you've made and new avenues

of thought and study. Yeah, the Bible is that kind of a book because it is the word of God. It's

the revealed word of God. It's the inspired God breathed word. It is inherent in all the rest of

the attributes that go with it. But what does that mean? It means that yes, on one level,

it is very simple, very easy to understand. But then there are there, there's so much depth

in the word that you can come back to it again and again and not exhaust the richness of the word

of God. Yeah. So also with the book of James, even though I'm doing this now for the sixth time,

because I'm also doing this with our our college and career ministries called converge right here,

clear view. And these are young adults who are in the college or they've just started a career. And

walking through this, what better book to walk to this with them than through the book of James.

That's right. That's right. We talked on yesterday's episode about your greatest need in a trial.

When you're in that season of just in the thick of it, life is difficult. You're trying to figure out

which way to go trying to make the best decision. Your greatest need is not endurance. It's not

determination. Your greatest need is wisdom. Yeah. And the reason that wisdom is your greatest

need is because the trial is necessarily going to bring you to a decision. That was something that

even before this discussion I hadn't thought about. You know, we think that this trial is like,

all right, this is a rough period. Great your teeth get through it. But it's going to bring you to a

moment of crisis or a moment of decision making and that's absolutely wisdom. Every trial has that

fork in the road where you have to decide which way you're going to go. It doesn't matter which

trial it is, maybe financial problems, family problems, relationship problems, spiritual problems,

physical problems, whatever the problems are, there's always that decision. Which road are we

going to take? Are we going to take the road that is most comfortable or are we going to take the

road that may be uncomfortable in the moment, but in the long run, it will be profitable. Are we

going to take a shortcut and try to bypass the lessons just so we can go ahead and have some

relief or are we going to go ahead and face the difficult times and then see God's work in our

lives and in the situation and learn something new about him. Most people will rather take the

shortcut. I just want this to be over. I want to get on the other side and I'll learn that lesson

later on. I've got eternity to learn lessons about God. And that's not how things work. And some

people may call that a cop out or they may say, you know, yeah, that's what people with religion do.

They always have a reason or an explanation for why things don't work out for them. They always

have this God reason. I don't think so. And they have a right to believe anyway. They want to

I disagree. And I have 66 books in the scriptures that also disagree with them. That's right.

Because God's people have faced difficult times and the thing they needed the most was wisdom.

And so we talked about that, you know, the reason that we need wisdom. But today, Dr.

Shum, maybe we can talk about this, how you actually get it. Because if you tell people,

all you have to do is ask for it. That sounds like it's too good to be true. That sounds like,

no, there's got to be some sort of catch. How do I earn the wisdom?

Yeah. No, it's simply asking. James says right here, James chapter one, verse five,

if any of you lacks wisdom, which is sort of sarcastic, like, do you lack wisdom?

And the answer is, of course, I do. Let him ask of God. Let her ask of God. So we recognize as a source

of wisdom is God. Yes, we may be tempted to immediately run off to Amazon or Barnes and Nobles

or books a million or some Christian bookstore and say, I need wisdom. What's a good book on it?

And yes, if it's a Christian book that is based on the Bible, yes, great.

But if it's not a Christian book, if it's not based on the Bible, then you are turning to the wrong

source for wisdom. Right. Let him or let her ask of God. The source of wisdom. And I'm talking

about true wisdom. I don't even know why I need to qualify that because there's only one wisdom.

But the source of wisdom is God. Yeah.

Proverbs chapter two verse six says, for the Lord gives wisdom from his mouth come knowledge

and understanding. Yeah. Lord gives wisdom. God gives wisdom. Yeah, I think about like the

landscape that we're in today where people face a trial and then I don't even know how many people

would run even to a Barnes and Noble, even to a bookstore. They're going to turn to TikTok.

They're going to turn to teenagers on like think about that. They're grown people in America today

going through real trial and they will turn to 20 something year olds on TikTok telling them how

to get out of their problem. You know why? It's because everybody who is on TikTok now and

knows anything about TikTok, it's very easy for them to look like a professional. It's very

easy to appear, learn it and to appear like an expert in the field when you're on TikTok.

Even if you're 16, 17, 18 years old, just got to have confidence. You do just just have the

slow blink. Yeah. You have to all you have to do is bury your talking speed just like this.

If you really want to mess with people, here's what you do. You talk just like this and then you just

take something that they expect and you flip it. So instead of living your life where your

expectations are based on your conclusions, really it's your conclusions based on your expectation.

And have you noticed that that's the exact cadence that chat GPT uses?

Yeah. That was exactly the same. Somebody gave me a check for that. I just changed your life.

Make it out to the clear view today show. It's crazy. You came seriously and I'm saying this

because I have done it. You can chat GPT a script on a topic, put it in a teleprompter app,

cut it up on TikTok and get millions of hits. And that's what people are doing.

And people will be like that guy. So wise, I put zero work into this. That's what I'm saying.

But that's where the world is turning to. And it's going to have disastrous consequences. If not,

the consequences have already begun. And you can see that in the lives of people, the decisions

that are making, the opinions they have, the convictions that they are built. I mean, it's all a mess.

It doesn't line up with the Bible and yet they're forging forward, feeling very high-minded.

You know, they're coming from a high ground, you know, talking about everybody not getting it and

they're getting it. I mean, they're getting it. Shucks. I don't even get it. The only thing I know

is the Bible gets it. So that's a great point. Is it fair to say that people who have that level

of confidence like you guys understand? I've got it. I'm clued in. I've got my finger on the

pulse. Is it fair to say that maybe not everybody, but most people who adopt that kind of vernacular,

that stance really are clueless as to what they're talking about? 100%. There simply want to feel

significant. And they are using this makeshift platform, copying somebody they saw on a TikTok

podcast and wondered in their hearts, why them not me? And so now they are all of a sudden becoming

very opinionated, very sarcastic, questioning you, challenging you, doubting you. I mean, it's silly.

And I'm like, you get one shot at life and you're wasting it this way. I mean, while a hard cut

back over to the Bible that says, if anyone acts like lacks wisdom, let them ask of God and just

crickets. Nobody's that. They have zero of the Bible in their hearts, zero of the life of Jesus in

them. This is just, and guess what? This is not just coming out of their empty soul. This is coming

out of the pit of hell. Yeah. Because there is no empty soul. This is either you're full of Jesus,

you're full of the devil. Right. So yeah, you're going to be filled with something. That's a great

yeah. So let him ask of God. God is the source of wisdom as Proverbs talks about that. And of

course Solomon, when he became the king after his father, he prayed that prayer. He said, Lord,

I'm nothing. I'm nobody. And God appeared to Solomon and said, what shall I give you? And he

could have asked for anything in the world. And he asked for wisdom. He said, God, I am just a kid.

I'm a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. I mean, that's humility.

Maybe some of the people who are wanting to be some kind of an influencer need to realize

humility is the place to begin. Humility. What are you doing? Anyways. And so he says, please

give your servant an understanding heart to judge your people that I may discern between good

and evil. And of course, I mentioned the last show how when I was starting seminary,

you know, I grew up in the Christian home. I grew up in a good home, had great education,

came here, lost my focus. And then when I got, you know, back on track because God called me in

the ministry, all of a sudden, my head is in the head in the right direction. I can see, okay,

this is what God's called me. I realized very quickly that wisdom was lacking in my mind and

my heart. I felt it sitting in those classes, sitting in the seminary chapels, I would go, man,

I just don't get it. I do not get it. And I know somebody's out there going like, what do you mean?

You don't get it. I don't know. I couldn't, I could tell that there was a huge, you know, gap

in my understanding of what is God doing, how God moves, what does He need me to do?

Which direction is He taking me? How does life work? You know, it's just like, yeah, I could memorize

vocabulary. I could, I was getting hundreds in my language quizzes and theology exams. I was doing

great. That was not the issue. It was just there was a sense of fuzziness in my thinking.

And I was like, I got to have wisdom. So you ask for wisdom, God delivers wisdom, but it's not like

He just beams wisdom into your head. It's through the experiences of your life. Do you want to talk

a little bit about how that's not God, quote unquote, helping you out? That's like a fulfillment of

the promise that He made to you, you know, through His Word. Yeah. I mean, He didn't just say,

okay, here's, here are three books. If you just master these three books, you will have all the

wisdom. It didn't happen like that. Yes, there were books. He didn't say, if you go follow this man

right here, he's going to give you all the wisdom. But there were mentors that came in and out of my

life. It was not just one thing or the other. It was many different things and circumstances of

life that also were very instrumental in my growth when it comes to when it came to wisdom.

But what I want to understand is my life was so built upon the Bible at the time. It was not just

a book or a mentor or circumstances in life. It was the Bible was my guide. I began to read the

Bible. I began to study the Bible. And this was much more than just seminary education reading

and studying the Bible. This was personal growth. And I began to go through that. This is about the

time I went through experiencing God. We're Henry black abuse work out of people. Some people

like it. Some people don't. You know, it's kind of mixed reviews. But at the time in my life,

that was very helpful to know how do you know God's will? Where is God? You know,

when you see God moving, you join him kind of thing. And that helped me tremendously in my

walk, I guess, towards wisdom. So how does God give us? It says right here, who gives to all

liberally and without reproach. And it will be given to him. Liberally means generously.

God doesn't just give you one little drop of wisdom. He gives to you and me liberally just,

I mean, just basket full. Just truckloads of wisdom. Not just a little bit. He gives you tons more.

And it's all because you're asking, right? That's what he wants. Like I think about my kid. Like

when my kid asks, hey, can I have, can I have a little bit more dinner? Like I'm going to give him

as much as I feel like he's going to eat. Right. And more. Right. You know, I feel like that,

like that, that's that relationship that father son or that father daughter relationship

between the Asker and God. Yeah. Well, you just said it's interesting to me, Dr.

Shabby, because you said that God's going to give it to him because he's asking. It's not a,

it's not an ask or a one time thing. Is it an ongoing, I'm continuing to ask. Yeah, yeah,

you don't never stop asking. I mean, even to this day, I ask, given this morning in my devotional

time, I ask for wisdom in certain situations. And guess what? As I was reading scripture,

God showed me something very profound and it helped me. Wow. It helped me. I mean, it was like,

it was the answer to my prayers. Yeah. That's awesome. How to face certain situations. Yeah.

And it was just like right there as I begin my devotional time. Now, it doesn't always happen

that way. Sometimes it is going weeks, not hearing the answer. Sometimes it is reading this book,

that book, and then that book, all of a sudden, you see the answer to your prayers. But today's

devotional, I saw it right there. Yeah. Well, it just always reminds me of the promise. You know,

I think even Jesus said that like if you ask you, it will be given to you. Right. You know,

and that's that's the reason that we don't have is because we're not asking. And I know we've

talked about this on episodes of prayer where people feel like, well, I don't want to bother

God with this. This isn't worthy of his time or his effort. Or I feel like I can manage this

on my own. But we find, I think Christians find all sorts of reasons and excuses just to not pray,

to not ask. Like even then, like when we pray, a lot of times when we pray, it's just thanking God.

It was just important, but it's just a lot of time spent thanking God before we ever ask for

anything. I think we just have a poor understanding of what prayer is. Yeah. And the importance of

prayer in our lives. I mean, I would, I would hate it if my kids said, I don't want to bring this to

dad because he's got enough to worry about. I don't want him to bother him with this. That would

make me feel terrible. I'd be like, no, absolutely. The important thing, the important thing is not

really to ask dad for what he needs. We got to make dad feel good. Thank dad for who? Thank you,

dad, for being my dad. We got to make dad feel good. Hey, dad, you are so big. You're so great.

Everything I have is because of you. And so I just want to acknowledge first and foremost,

I'm nothing without you, dad. Yeah. It's like, geez, man, what, what do you want? What do you want? What

do you want? Yeah. You know, a John R. Rice who wrote a book years ago called asking and

receiving. And this is a book on prayer. And I have read it several times. I've recommended to

other people. And at first, he sounds like, man, that's, that is so selfish, self centered that

all you think is asking, receive from God. Yeah, that's how you find it in the Bible. Yeah.

Yeah. And see, I was, I remember being when I first got saved, I was taught the, the one thing

God is chiefly concerned about his glory. That's what he was always, and seriously, I was told,

always open your prayers, glorify God, because that's what he wants above all. Yes, he wants to

help you. But what he want really wants is to be glorified by you. So starting to make sure you

hit that. Yeah. And sure enough, I mean, even today, I still struggle with God. You're, you're so

glorious. You're so big. And God, I can picture God like, yes, yes. Okay. I know what I'm gonna

help. I mean, we think about the Lord's prayer, which is really the disciples prayer. We think

that's what's happening there. Not really. It's still prayer. It's still something Jesus is asking for.

So our Father, who are in heaven, that's the most when it comes to a casual, not casual,

that's just the opening designation, if you will, that is not asking. Right. Okay. The very next

thing of other or in heaven, hallowed be your name means he's praying for that. God, your name

be glorified or glorify your name in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. That's a

prayer. It's not, it's not just a declaration, God, we, we, we, I mean, how to say that? I mean,

yeah, your kingdom come. I mean, it's a prayer. He's asking for God's kingdom to come. Your will be

done. It's a prayer. It's not a declaration. Right. On earth as it is heaven, give us this day. We

think, okay, that's where the asking begins. No, that's more about personal needs. Yeah. But even

prior to that, he's praying, Jesus is teaching his disciples to pray for God's will. God's

kingdom, all this to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Right. Give us this day our daily bread,

forgive us our trespassing. I mean, now again, he's asking as we forgive those who trespass against us,

lead us not in temptation. Again, the whole prayer is him asking, but deliver us from the evil one,

for yours is the kingdom, your power and the glory. I mean, maybe the last part and maybe the first

line are all about the declaration, but the rest is simply asking, asking, asking, asking, asking,

that's right. That's right. That's a great point. I was sitting here thinking I was like, maybe

have we lost that in translation somewhere? Have we? Maybe that's more highlighted in the original

Greek, but even English construction that we have, your kingdom come. That's that's the

petition. That's an ask. That's not that's not just saying your kingdom is coming one day,

Lord. Yeah. Exactly. We're here. Yeah. Yeah. Make your kingdom real now. Exactly. Let your will be

done. Accomplish your purpose here. It's it's asking. That's a hundred percent. It's not a

declaration. Yeah. It changes our view of what even the Lord's prayer is. And ask Jesus was

giving us that picture, for example. That's right. And as a Christian think back like if you're

if you're a Christian, you're listening to this, then chances are you've sat through at least five

or six hundred times in your life where you took up prayer requests, right? Has anybody got any

prayer requests? Anything we can pray for. I don't think I can count on a single hand that

amount of times I've ever heard a new one say, can we just ask for wisdom? Can we just can I

need some wisdom? Yeah. I've never heard it. Seriously, even myself, I've never said it. It's not

something that we, especially not in a group, but it's just not something that we ask for.

And to our own detriment because when you don't ask, you don't receive. That's why we are in a mess.

And then it's also not only does it give wisdom to us liberally, but also without approach.

Without approach means without finding fault. What we think is that if I ask God for something,

you know, he's going to first say, okay, now let's check the list. Have you done all that I've

asked you to do? Have you been checking all the list for me? Ah, I see. Two things I'm missing. Oh,

you missed that right now. Go on back and get everything done. It's not imagine like that big red

buzzer on America's got challenges. Yeah. Go on back. Back to the game from the Apollo comes out

and takes away. Yeah. Go to the back of the line. Once you get all this paper, this form filled in,

you fill out the 1170. No, I filled out the, you got to fill out the 1170. Yeah. Have you ever been

to some of those government offices where they talk like that? It's so frustrating. Oh my word.

They talk so down to you so rudely. This right here, sir. That's what you need to do.

Did you fill it out? No, I didn't know. No, that's not what it's said. It's not filled out. It

hurts my head. God doesn't do that. Isn't that great? Amen. He does not tell Michael and Gabriel

not like, I did you fill this? Okay. I cannot help you there. Go on back. No, sir. That's,

he didn't do that. They're like, Hey, come on in. What do you need? I need wisdom. Yeah. Okay.

How much do you want as much as you give me? Well, if you want more, we can give you more. That's

right. Okay. I would like to have more. Yeah, please. Hey, yeah. Here you go. Here you go. You need

in your family? Yes. In your marriage? Yes. With your children? Yes. In your church family? Yes.

In your community, in your nation, you need wisdom. Here it is. God gives it to us. Yeah. And

I know personally, I am where I am today is because God has given me the wisdom that I asked for.

That's right. So then it says something very important right here. The only condition

that is needed for getting this kind of wisdom is faith. It says right here in verse six,

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. So what is the prerequisite? It's not like I am sinless, I serve in church,

I am doing the best I can. I'm trying to evangelize people giving my tide to the church.

And none of that is used. What it said is you got to ask and faith them. Yeah. Yeah. That's a

powerful statement. We've done we've done episodes on doubt before and maybe, you know, I don't know

in the time that we have that we have time to launch into this full diet tribe on doubt. But I

mean, everybody doubts. I think one of the things that helps when I think about a verse like this

is when I very first started working out, Dr. Shai, we were there together. I remember you told

this to your kids and you told it to me too, it's like when you get under the bench and that weight

comes down when you make up your mind that it's going to move. Yeah. You know what I mean? Yeah.

Don't like in the moment, if you doubt that weight is not going up, but it's not that like my belief

magically makes that weight go up. It's just the fact that I've made my mind up. And ever since

you told me that, I've started to to pray like that, not that my belief manifests like, okay, I

I got a trust you're going to do it. That was the magic word. And now I know it's going to happen.

Right. And trust it. But it's just making up your mind that God, whatever happens, I know you're

going to come through because you've never not come through. That's right. Yeah. Faith and others may

not be able to understand that. Lost people in your life may not be able to understand it.

Saved people in your life may not be able to understand it. Spiritual leaders in your life,

if they're not walking with Christ at the moment, may not be able to understand it.

People who are close to you may not be able to understand it. And that's okay. As long as you get it,

that you are placing your faith in Jesus. You're placing your faith in the Word of God.

And you're stepping out, trusting that wisdom. You have to believe that what God has said

is going to happen. This is not some wild-eyed crazy faith that, oh, I believe that I'm going to

have a car, a Cadillac by the end of the day. It's coming right now. That's silly stuff.

But faith, in the sense of, I'm preaching the Word as a pastor. I'm preaching the truth of God

in the integrity that God has given to me for the glory of Jesus Christ so that lost people can

come so that the Holy Spirit can use it to bring people to Christ. When I'm preaching, God is

touching lives. The hearts are being chained. There are some hearts that may be hardened,

but that's on them. I cannot fight them. I cannot, you know, reprimand them, but so much.

What happens if they reject? What did Jesus do? What did Jesus say to His disciples? If they don't

accept you in this town, shake the dust and move on. Go to the next one. That's wisdom. Yeah.

Sometimes people get discouraged. Sometimes pastors quit. Sometimes pastors kind of hone it on

somebody and kind of zero it on somebody. That's their whole ministry is now focused on that one

person, that one antagonist, and they're like, no, go on to the next one. Okay, sorry. I got to go

to where I'm received. That's wisdom. That is wisdom. I'm right there. Am I right? If that

simple principle is followed by a lot of pastors, how would the ministry be revolutionized?

Oh, I think man. How their life would become easier? America would look very different. Yeah.

The state of the church churches and ministers would be flourishing if ministers would just

understand that. Yeah. And more harvest because here you focus on this one fellow right here who

keeps rejecting to give somebody else. That's right. That's wisdom. Amen. That's right.

I wish we had more time to dig further into this, but that's such a profound statement that the

prerequisite for wisdom is faith. That's what it's writing on. That's what we have to ask. We have to

ask in faith and ask that God bless us abundantly. There's more to that discussion as well, but

unfortunately, we got to wait till tomorrow. That's right. Guys, make sure you join us next time. Same

time, same place. We're going to be diving into another great topic here on the clear week today

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