January 7 - Become Like Jesus, Pursue Wisdom (Part 2)
“Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people.” (Luke 2:52)
“If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you.” (James 1:5)
Devotional Thought: How better would our choices and circumstances be if we learned to base our decisions on godly wisdom? In yesterday’s devotion we learned that during Jesus’ formative years He grew in wisdom (Luke 2:52). Since we’re to become more like Jesus, we need to “grow in wisdom” as well. One way we “grow in wisdom” is growing in our knowledge of God’s Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17, Joshua 1:8). Another way we grow in wisdom is by praying and asking the Lord to speak to us in response to our prayers (James 1:5).
Do you pray daily or regularly? And when you pray do you ask the Lord to give you the wisdom you need as you seek to make decisions in your life? Some people pray just because they believe in prayer and like to pray. Some people pray only when they need something or need some help from God. Some people pray at work, or at least act like they’re praying at work. Some people never pray at all. We can understand why people who don’t know the Lord don’t pray. But it’s hard to understand why Christians don’t spend more time praying. Corrie Ten Boon said, “When a Christian stops attending Church the Devil chuckles. When a Christian stops reading their Bible the Devil laughs. But when a Christian stops praying the Devil shouts for joy because he knows that Christian is going to be defeated in his or her life.”
Prayer is so important because it’s the way to fellowship with God, and the key to supernatural power in one’s life. We can have a relationship with other people without prayer. But we can’t have a relationship with God if there is no prayer. Prayer is the way to fellowship with God, and we can’t have fellowship or a relationship with someone you don’t talk to. Also, prayer is also the key to experiencing supernatural power in our lives. The reason many Christians struggle with overcoming temptations, trials and attacks from the forces of evil is because they’ve never prioritized prayer in their lives.
Prayer is also a key if we want to have God’s wisdom in our lives. In John 16:13 Jesus said, “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth.” When we pray with intensity, persistency and expectancy, the Holy Spirit will give us the wisdom we need for our lives. The Bible gives us answers to many things. But it doesn’t tell us where to live, what college or career to pursue, what Church to belong to, or what person we should date or marry. Those are really important decisions to make in our lives.Thank God we have God’s Spirit to help us in making those decisions. And He will give us the wisdom we need to make the right decisions when we ask Him to do so.
Prayer Focus: Holy Spirit, give me the wisdom and direction I need so I can make choices that will lead me to experience Your best in circumstances and relationships. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Follow-Up Activity: Go back to the 3-5 areas of your life that you wrote down on January 5 where you need to know and experience God’s will in 2026, and ask the Lord to give you the direction you need.
