HomeLog inTodaySubscriptionVerse LibraryApproachAboutPrivacy中文English
← Back to Library

James 1:5

雅各书 1:5

The Passage

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

In the other language

你们中间若有缺少智慧的，应当求那厚赐与众人、也不斥责人的神，主就必赐给他。

Theme

Wisdom

Bring a question to this passage

Many readers arrive here from a real question. These are reflections for how this passage speaks to the questions people bring most often — not an answer about what will happen, but an invitation to sit with it slowly.

How do I face this season of pressure at work?

Not knowing what to do is not treated here as a failure. James gives a simple invitation to the person who lacks wisdom: ask God. The generosity described is without reproach; the request does not need to be wrapped in an apology for being uncertain. Under pressure at work, you may feel you should already have every answer. This passage makes room for an honest admission of need. It does not identify which deadline, conversation, or decision should come first, and prayer need not make every impression into an instruction. Where do you most need wisdom in this season of work, remembering that this verse does not set your priorities but invites you to ask God freely, without shame?

Carry thisA need for wisdom is not a reason for shame.

Other passages for this questionGenesis 1:26-28 · Isaiah 41:10 · 1 Corinthians 7:3-4

I want to learn to love better in this relationship.

When you want to love someone better, this verse does not give relationship advice directly, but it welcomes your need for wisdom. You do not have to hide what you lack. God gives generously, without reproach. You can ask without first making yourself sound patient or certain. Perhaps your prayer begins with a moment you wish you had handled differently. Let that memory become something you bring to God, not a verdict against yourself. You might pause before defending yourself and make room to listen. Wisdom need not mean having an immediate answer. Not knowing how to love well yet, what could you honestly ask God to help you understand?

Carry thisYour need for wisdom is not a reason for shame.

Other passages for this questionGenesis 1:26-28 · Isaiah 41:10 · 1 Corinthians 7:3-4

What do I need to let go of in the coming weeks?

You can bring your uncertainty to God without first making it sound wise or sorting it into a tidy prayer. This passage does not identify what you need to let go of in the coming weeks, but it invites you to ask for wisdom from One who gives generously and without reproach. There is room here to release the pressure to have every answer already, and to name honestly the responsibilities, fears, or expectations you cannot yet untangle, without treating uncertainty as a failure. This passage does not name what you need to let go of. Which uncertainty could you bring to God without feeling you should already have the answer?

Carry thisAn honest need for wisdom is no disgrace.

Other passages for this questionGenesis 1:26-28 · Isaiah 41:10 · 1 Corinthians 7:3-4

How can I find stillness in a busy life?

You do not have to hide your lack of wisdom. James invites you to ask God, describing a generosity that carries no reproach. The verse does not give instructions for finding quiet, but it offers a way to pause within uncertainty: you can bring a question instead of immediately producing an answer. A busy life often makes not knowing feel like another failure to correct. Here, not knowing is a reason to ask, not a reason for shame. You might let a brief silence hold an honest request, without demanding that the pause produce an immediate decision. Who might you discover God to be as you pause with your uncertainty, given that this verse offers no method for finding quiet but describes him as generous and without reproach?

Carry thisNot knowing can become an honest place of prayer.

Other passages for this questionGenesis 1:26-28 · Isaiah 41:10 · 1 Corinthians 7:3-4

Have a different question?

Write what you are actually carrying right now, and Lectio will answer it with this passage — James 1:5.

Or walk this passage through the five steps of Lectio →

James 1 — in context

1James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are in the Dispersion: Greetings.

2Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations,

3knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

4Let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

5But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach; and it will be given to him.

6But let him ask in faith, without any doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed.

7For let that man not think that he will receive anything from the Lord.

8He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

9But let the brother in humble circumstances glory in his high position;

10and the rich, in that he is made humble, because like the flower in the grass, he will pass away.

11For the sun arises with the scorching wind, and withers the grass, and the flower in it falls, and the beauty of its appearance perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in his pursuits.

More from James

Related topics

PrayerWisdom and Guidance

Begin a Lectio reading

Log in

Continue with Google
or use email

Don't have an account? Sign up