Many of us feel a heightened need these days for wisdom and direction from God: parents who wonder if their children should return to in-person schooling, employers agonizing over bringing workers back to the office, small business owners worrying about their bottom line, homeowners wondering if the time is right to sell their home, retirees fretting about changes to their fixed income and more.
Your need may feel urgent and overwhelming but whatever you’re facing, it’s not a surprise to God. He saw it coming, and His wisdom and direction is as available now, in this season, as it ever was. And His Word, the Bible, encourages us with the command, “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” (James 1:5 NIV).
So however great and pressing your need for wisdom may be right now, these six prayers adapted from the Bible may help you to obey that command and move forward in the belief that God has heard and given generously to you in answer to your prayers:
1) Like the psalmist
Lord, Your Word says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding” (Psalm 111:10 NIV). Help me to trust in You and follow Your precepts in every twist and turn of this season. Grant me good understanding and guide my steps. Amen.
2) Like Moses
I pray the prayer of Moses, the man of God: “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12 NIV). However long this current season may be, use it to cultivate in me a heart of wisdom that will help me to serve You well now, and in whatever the future brings. Amen.
3) Like Solomon
O Lord, my God, as Solomon once prayed, I feel as though I am “only a little child” in what I am facing, “not knowing how to go out or come in.” Therefore please give me an understanding heart to discern between good and evil and make wise decisions. Amen (drawn from 1 Kings 3:7-9).
4) Like Daniel
God, I pray with Your prophet Daniel: Praise be to Your name, God, forever and ever; wisdom and power are Yours. You change times and seasons; You depose kings and raise up others. You give wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. You reveal deep and hidden things; You know what lies in darkness, and light dwells with You. I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors, and ask You to give me wisdom and power, as You did Daniel. Amen (based on Daniel 2:20-23 NIV).
5) Like Paul
Heavenly Father, as the Apostle Paul wrote, in You are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge; help me to walk in wisdom toward others, making the best use of my time and resources. Amen (based on Colossians 2:3 and Colossians 4:5).
6) Like James
God, I know, as James wrote, that “the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” Grant me that wisdom in all that I’m facing. Let those attributes guide my decisions and flow from them. Direct my steps and guard my heart. Amen (James 3:17 NIV).
Let these prayers help you to fulfill James 1:5, asking God for wisdom. Pick and choose from among them. Combine them. Amplify them. And trust “God, who gives generously to all without finding fault” (James 1:5 NIV), and let Him supply all you need from His abundant, heavenly storehouse of wisdom.
