How to Gain Wisdom: The Key to Receiving It

By Lauren Rose Correa, August 20, 2025

How to Gain Wisdom: Black Bible on Podium

Have you ever wondered how you can gain wisdom? Wisdom can help you determine how to respond in a conflict situation. It can teach you how to treat others well, how to best parent your children, or which course to take when you are making a tough decision. Wisdom is something that will make your life fuller, and it is something that can be passed on to friends, family, and future generations.

How to Gain Wisdom: The First Step

“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” – James 1:5-8 ESV

If you are looking to grow in your wisdom, the starting point is very simple: just ask God for it. James writes that God gives wisdom generously to all who ask for it. He isn’t stingy with us, and he isn’t withholding. However, there is one requirement on our part. If we want God to give us wisdom, we have to believe that he will give it to us.

How to Gain Wisdom: Why Faith is Key

If we are struggling to believe that God will give us the wisdom we crave, it can be a hindrance to our reception of this free gift. A lack of faith might not seem like a big deal. Why do I have to believe God before I can receive from him? Why can’t he just give this to me anyway and prove himself that way? But a lack of faith is actually an indicator of something much bigger. If we don’t believe that God will give us good things, this shows us that we doubt God’s character. We don’t view him as generous, we don’t view him as loving, and we don’t view him as good.

God wants a relationship with us, and through that relationship, he wants us to know who he is. He is good, he is generous, and he is loving. When we can’t see that he has these qualities, our relationship with him may not be that strong.

If your spouse, who should know you better than anyone, didn’t believe that you were kind and generous, wouldn’t that pain you? If after getting to know you they still didn’t have an accurate view of you, you would find that hurtful. You desire to be known and seen by your spouse. In that way, God desires to be known and seen by us. He wants us to have an accurate view of who he is.

What to Do If You’re Struggling to Have Faith

If you are struggling with your faith, you are not trapped where you are. God sees you and wants to help you grow your faith. Perhaps the next step, before asking for wisdom, is to ask for faith. I believe that when we ask God for help with our weaknesses, he is faithful to give us that help.

Even when we are faithless, our God is faithful to meet us where we are. Ask him for faith and he will give it to you. Ask him for wisdom and he will pour it out. He is truly generous and loving toward his children.