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Ask and Receive

James 1:5
“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.”

God will give us the wisdom we ask for but it is our responsibility to apply that wisdom to our life. How foolish are we to ask for something that we will not use? I guess I am a complete fool because I do this all the time. Regardless, God still gives His wisdom generously knowing very well who will use it and who will not. Not entirely understanding the full context of wisdom, I would always ask God to grant me His wisdom before going into a shift at work. I now realize that asking for it did absolutely nothing for me because I was not being filled with the Holy Spirit first. How can the Lord grant me what I ask when I am not seeking Him to begin with? Working as a CNA in three very different settings was one of my most challenging tribulations as it pushed me to the brink of anger management classes and through it all, I did it in my own strength. Well aware of how absolutely miserable I was, I still did everything I possibly could to put a smile on my face, suck it up, and carry on. In all reality, I had no other choice, it was my job. Looking back, I have gained Godly wisdom on my experience as I understand that I am incapable of doing anything on my own and I was never designed to do so. How could I have ever expected to conquer and succeed in nursing if I was not leaning on the Lord to help me care for those who desperately needed me? Better yet, how did I ever expect to grow in and learn to love the people I was serving if I first could not understand the love the Lord had for me? I need the Lord in every aspect of my life, especially when it comes to pouring out into others. It is not until I arrived here for IGNITE that I truly began asking God to fill me with His Holy Spirit and genuinely mean it. Now that I have a more firm foundation in the Lord and am seeking after Him, the times that I have asked for His wisdom after reading and studying His Word, I am able to receive it and apply it.
Application
Today, I will ask the Lord to open my heart to the knowledge of Pastor Don and how I can apply it directly to my walk with Him.

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