James 1:5

What James just explained is divine wisdom, God’s view of life. However the world, which does not have or accept this revealed wisdom, generally fails to appreciate the value of enduring trials. The Christian is apt to take the world’s view toward his or her trials rather than God’s and try to escape them at any cost. An evidence of this is that the divorce rate among Christians is about the same as the divorce rate among non-Christians, at least in the United States. Most people count it all joy when they escape trials, and they count is all grief when they have to endure them.

James used the word "wisdom" (Gr. sophia) in the sense in which the Old Testament wisdom literature used it. There it refers to what God has revealed about His will for human life. Wisdom denotes "a fixed, righteous order to which the wise man submits his life." [Note: Bruce K. Waltke, "The Book of Proverbs and Ancient Wisdom Literature," Bibliotheca Sacra 136:543 (July-September 1979):238.] The New Testament writers often regarded wisdom as the supreme gift of the Holy Spirit and sometimes identified it with the Holy Spirit. [Note: J. A. Kirk, "The Meaning of Wisdom in James: Examination of a Hypothesis," New Testament Studies 16 (1960):24-38.] Consequently the wise Christian is the one who views life in the light of God’s revelation (i.e., His written Word).

If we do not understand God’s view of life, James urged that we keep on asking (Gr. present active imperative) God to enable us to understand it. This is a first class condition in Greek that assumes a condition is true to reality for the sake of the argument. Every Christian lacks this wisdom to some extent. Wisdom is seeing life realistically from God’s perspective. The unwise Christian who repeatedly asks God to open his or her eyes and heart can count on God granting his or her request repeatedly. He will give this wisdom freely and graciously, as often as we need it (cf. Isaiah 42:3; Matthew 12:20). This description contrasts God with the double-minded man in James 1:8.

We must read this verse in context to understand it correctly. This is not a promise that God will give everyone who asks Him for wisdom a higher IQ. What God promises in this context is the ability to see the importance of enduring trials and persevering in them faithfully.