Hearing His Voice #61

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you.

James 1:5

Many Christians approach God with the assumption that it will be difficult to hear Him and that only the superspiritual are close enough to God to know His thoughts. Scripture tells us just the opposite: If we need wisdom, we’re to ask for it. That’s it. No hoops to jump through, no requirement of long hours of monastic solitude and self-discipline, no prerequisite of a master’s degree in biblical interpretation. Just ask and receive.

That’s what James told his readers, and many of them were new believers without much experience in the ways of God’s Spirit. Somehow James expected them to be able to hear and discern God’s voice, to sense His direction, and to know His nature by direct revelation. In other words, receiving wisdom from above is meant to be a natural experience. The divine heartbeat is meant to flow into our own souls simply for the asking. The Father’s thoughts can be implanted into our minds.

The problem for us modern Christians is that we are masters at second-guessing the voice of wisdom. In some ways, we are overly fastidious, asking far more questions than we need to. Was that Him or just me? Are these my desires or His will? Are those thoughts from His Spirit or from my psychological makeup, my past issues, or my emotional biases? Am I being deceived? There are legitimate concerns in all of these questions, but we have to remember that God’s ability to guide us is greater than our own ability to be deceived. If we are not willfully fooling ourselves—if we are humbly seeking God’s wisdom with an open mind—He will make it clear. We can trust the Holy Spirit within us, the desires He births in our hearts, and the thoughts that He brings to mind. If we ask, we will receive.

Lord, I know You speak to me, but I question which voice is Yours. Please help me to trust You and follow with an open heart. Give me Your wisdom as You promised.