A Prayer

Father,

You are the only wise God. Wisdom resides in You. But, in Your kindness, You share this wisdom of Yours. You offer it to all who would have it. We are grateful for that. When we pause and consider ourselves, when we look at the choices we have made over the years, we see so much that is anything but wisdom.

There were plenty of times when we were so naive. We were among the simple. And our choices showed it. Mistakes galore. We wince at the memory some of them.

But there were also the times when we were by no means ignorant about what was going on. No, we knew what was right and what was wrong. Down deep we knew, but we refused to yield to You. We were fools in our rebellion.

We thank You, Father, that You have dealt with all of that. You have used even our naive mistakes to accomplish good - though we are mystified at how You can do that. And we are especially glad that there is forgiveness for our foolishness. Jesus has come so our rebellion will be forgiven, as we repent and come again for forgiveness and change.

And we do desire change. We want to become wise, to share in Your wisdom. What is life without it but one mess after another, whether by mistakes or by rebellion. You have offered to give Your wisdom to any who ask. You have promised to give it generously, to all without reproach. So, we're asking, Father. Make us wise. We thank You that You always keep Your promises. You will make us wise. You will change our desires so that we will seek for this wisdom like silver and hidden treasure. And as we seek, we will find. You will bless us with growth in wisdom just as You blessed the young Jesus.

We do want this gift but not so that we can have an easier life. Jesus never promised anything like that. We ask for this gift so that we will be able to do a good job navigating through this world. The people around us are becoming less and less patient with who we are. Some in our nation have already been confronted with choices that the previous generation of believers never faced. We want to be ready when we are the ones in that situation. So, we ask that as we are confronted with increasingly important choices, choices that will result in our living faithfully - or not - we ask for the ability to choose wisely, to choose You. These choices will cost us. But remind us that Jesus called us to such a life and that He also promised His rewards to those who choose well.

Through Christ our Lord, Amen.