“But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.”
– James 3:17
Oh, what a great description of a wisdom here in James 3:17, wisdom that comes from God. Wisdom that is so different from the wisdom of this world. You think about where James one started saying, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault.”
Let’s make it a daily habit that before we even get out of bed we will cry out to God to give us His wisdom.
And when we ask, we must believe and not doubt. So trust that God is generous with wisdom. He is a dispenser of wisdom to everyone who asks. He will give us wisdom, which we all need, right? We are all prone toward foolishness, otherwise referred to here in James three as worldly wisdom. We are prone to follow the ways of this world. And weare prone to think like this world thinks instead of thinking like God thinks. According to his word, we need his wisdom. This should be the constant prayer in our lips.
James 3:17 Gives Examples Of What Wisdom Of God Is
God give me wisdom. I think about my life, there is nothing in my life that I can do apart from the wisdom of God. I can’t be the husband God’s called me to be. And I can’t be the dad God has called me to be. Or I can’t be that pastor God has called me to be. I can’t be the follower of Jesus God has called me to be. I can’t do anything the way God has called me to do it apart from his wisdom. So just like Solomon in first Kings three, don’t we find ourselves just looking to God from the start of the day saying, “God, please give me wisdom,” and believing that he will give it when we ask, and that the wisdom that he gives will be all of these things.
So let’s just pray through this verse, and pray for all these things in our lives and make this a habit, a daily habit to pray for wisdom like this. Just arise in the morning saying, before we even set our foot on the ground out of bed, “God, help me to walk in wisdom today.”
Pure Wisdom
So God, we pray that right now. We pray that you would grant us wisdom. I’m praying for this in my life. I’m praying for this in each person that’s listening to this right now. God, we are looking to you, the God who is all wise, who promises to give us all the wisdom we need when we ask. So we ask right now for wisdom that is pure. God, we pray for pure wisdom, not sinful, worldly, distorted wisdom. God, pray for pure wisdom. We pray for peaceable, wisdom. God, we pray that you would make us peace makers, that you would grant us your peace with your wisdom. God, we pray that you would give us gentle wisdom. Lord, make us wise, we pray, and humble, wise and gentle like James 3:17 talks about.
Prayer For Gentle Wisdom
We pray. We pray for this. This doesn’t come naturally to us, oh God. So we pray for gentle wisdom. We pray that you make us open to reason. Help us to think rightly. Help us to think according to your thoughts, according to your word, according to your wisdom. Make us open to right reason. May our lives be full of mercy today and good fruits flowing from your wisdom in our lives.
God, please help us to be dispensers of mercy as you give us wisdom in all the circumstances we find ourselves in today. God, we pray for impartial wisdom. We pray that you would deliver us from prejudice and pride and favoritism in a way that this world would have us think. God, please make us impartial in our wisdom and sincere, God. We don’t want to be fake.
We want to be really authentically wise, truly wise, sincere. God, we pray for this kind of wisdom knowing that it doesn’t come from this world, knowing that it only comes from your spirit and believing that you give us this wisdom when we ask. So we ask all of these things in confidence. You tell us when we asked for wisdom, you will give it to us, when we believe that you will give it to us. So we believe that we have what we have asked for today. We pray for wisdom that is pure, peaceable, gentle, reasonable, merciful, fruitful, impartial and sincere. We ask for, and we receive this kind of wisdom. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
