The Lord wants to lovingly provide for us and meet our needs, even more than we want them met. The Lord is especially generous and ungrudging in giving us wisdom (Jas 1:5). For instance, Solomon asked the Lord for a wise and understanding heart. The Lord "went wild" and made Solomon the wisest human being that has ever lived or will ever live (1 Kgs 3:12).
The Lord will also lavish wisdom on us by renewing and deepening the wisdom we have received in our Baptisms and Confirmations. Yet we "must ask in faith, never doubting" (Jas 1:6). Every human being naturally has doubts about the Lord, but those who let these doubts influence their actions "must not expect to receive anything from the Lord" (Jas 1:7).
When we pray for wisdom, we must not only pray in faith but also in love at the foot of Jesus' cross. Without love, wisdom profits us nothing (see 1 Cor 13:2). The ultimate wisdom is the absurdity of preaching Christ's crucified love (1 Cor 1:23-24).
The Lord will give you greater wisdom than you have ever thought possible, if you ask without doubting and with crucified love. "Ask, and you will receive" (Mt 7:7).
| PRAYER: | Father, may I do and say what is right. |
| PROMISE: | "Jesus saw a vast crowd. He pitied them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them at great length." –Mk 6:34 |
| PRAISE: | When confessing jealousy of another's spiritual giftedness, the confessor told Marla to ask the Lord for her own gifts rather than to seek those of another. |
Reprinted with permission from Presentation Ministries, a lay association of the Catholic Church that focuses on evangelization and discipleship through Bible teaching, daily Mass, the charisms of the Holy Spirit, and Small Christian Community. Their ministries include:
· One Bread, One Body
· Daily Bread Radio Program
· Annual Bible Institute
· Discipleship Retreats
· Guadalupe Bible College