James 1:5-6, But let him ask in faith, with no doubting,

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. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. NKJV

God wants His children to act with wisdom, and to the best of my understanding would be quite happy with our asking for it. However, a doubting heart has no place asking, and no promise of receiving its request.

I have a two fold application from these verses, which I suppose follows nicely with their being two verses.

The first is that, while previously I had been keeping a small prayer notebook with me and asking the prayers I've written in it everyday, lately I have not been asking them after first grabbing it in the morning and forgetting about it later in the day because I switched to keeping it in my back pocket. The very first prayer I have written is, "Lord grant me your wisdom in action and thought. Let me bring glory to Your name." It makes me feel uncomfortable forgetting to ask for His wisdom beyond my own, and using my prayer notebook had been helping me remember to pray for other things as well and build up a stronger discipline of prayer.

I will be moving my prayer notebook into my front pocket again, even if the space is getting a little cramped with my wallet, passport and anything that would be a considerable problem to have stolen, so that I will be more likely to think of it later in the day and make sure to go over my prayers before sticking them in my pocket and thinking to ask them later.

The second thing I need to take from these verses is an exhortation to faith.

I began really praying for some of my friends a short time ago, and while doing so felt like I should try speaking with one of them about Christianity and what it really means to have a faith in God and Christ because some time after meeting her I found out that she 'used to be a Christian', but had since converted to Wicca. However, I was uncomfortable with it because I have never been very good at sharing the faith with my friends in the past, doubly so at the thought of our talk possibly coming to the subject of magic (of which, if I understand correctly, she does have tangible experience with), and the reality of her magic versus my God.

I asked God to help me, to use me in somehow opening her heart to a real relationship with Him and to trust and have faith in His guidance and support with or without some sort of 'go ahead' or 'confirmation' that I should speak with her. However, I was going to do that in the morning because it was late and I was getting ready for bed. At the same time, part of me was afraid that our schedule might delay my speaking with her and I was afraid of how time would affect my feelings and assurance.

Turning to my Bible I opened to Psalms 17, the first Psalm I was going to read that night (I have a nightly schedule for reading through Psalms in a month), and immediately looked at the words "Heed a just cause, O Lord, // Attend to my cry; // Give ear to my prayer which is not from deceitful lips. // . . . Let Your eyes look on the things that are upright."

I was still nervous, but resolving myself I unpacked my laptop and sent her a brief and unapologetic message asking about her change of beliefs.

I need to keep praying for God to give me the right words to say as our conversation continues and to trust in Him without doubting as time goes by, that He will answer my prayers and reach out to her heart.

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
And to present you faultless
Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
To God our Savior,
Who alone is wise,
Be glory and majesty,
Dominion and power,
Both now and forever.
Amen.