January 11

Weak Enough To Pray

“But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”
James 1:5

Prayer has frequently been understood to be a sign of spiritual strength.  Without question, it is exceedingly difficult if not utterly impossible to have a robust spiritual life without consistent prayer.  For all of its undeniable benefits, though, prayer is ultimately not something that we do because we are strong; it is something we do because we are weak.  Prayer is not something we do because we have all the answers; it is something we do because we lack answers.  To come before the Lord with our needs is to confess that we are incapable of meeting those needs in our own power.  We confess that our wisdom is insufficient to address the challenges that lie before us.  Any strength or wisdom we might have or appear to have has come not because of some inherent goodness on our part, but because we have been able and willing to confess our lack before the Lord and ask Him to supply what we have desperately needed.  Wisdom will most certainly come when we ask for it.  Strength will most certainly come when we ask for it.  Everything that we need for our spiritual wellbeing will come when we ask for it.  We must first, though, confess our weakness.  We must acknowledge what we lack.  We must be weak enough to pray.