James 1:5
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5 If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you.(A)
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Proverbs 2:3-6
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3 if you indeed cry out for insight
and raise your voice for understanding,
4 if you seek it like silver
and search for it as for hidden treasures—(A)
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.(B)
6 For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;(C)
John 15:7
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7 If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.(A)
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Jeremiah 29:12-13
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12 Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you.(A) 13 When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart,(B)
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Proverbs 3:5-7
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5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not rely on your own insight.(A)
6 In all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make straight your paths.(B)
7 Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the Lord and turn away from evil.(C)
1 John 5:14-15
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14 And this is the boldness we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have obtained the requests made of him.
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1 Kings 3:7-12
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7 And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David, although I am only a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in.(A) 8 And your servant is in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a great people so numerous they cannot be numbered or counted.(B) 9 Give your servant, therefore, an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil, for who can govern this great people of yours?”(C)
10 It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. 11 God said to him, “Because you have asked this and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or for the life of your enemies but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right,(D) 12 I now do according to your word. Indeed, I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you, and no one like you shall arise after you.(E)
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Matthew 7:7-11
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Ask, Search, Knock
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.(A) 8 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.(B) 9 Is there anyone among you who, if your child asked for bread, would give a stone? 10 Or if the child asked for a fish, would give a snake? 11 If you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
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2 Chronicles 1:10
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10 Give me now wisdom and knowledge to go out and come in before this people, for who can rule this great people of yours?”(A)
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John 16:23-24
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23 On that day you will ask nothing of me.[a] Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.[b] 24 Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.(A)
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James 3:17
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17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy.(A)
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John 14:13
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13 I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
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Isaiah 55:6-7
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6 Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near;(A)
7 let the wicked forsake their way
and the unrighteous their thoughts;
let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.(B)
Exodus 31:3
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3 and I have filled him with a divine spirit,[a] with ability, intelligence, and knowledge, and every kind of skill,
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- 31.3 Or with the spirit of God
1 John 3:22
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22 and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.(A)
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Luke 11:9-13
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9 “So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you.(A) 10 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 11 Is there anyone among you who, if your child asked for[a] a fish, would give a snake instead of a fish? 12 Or if the child asked for an egg, would give a scorpion? 13 If you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit[b] to those who ask him!”
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James 5:16
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16 Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.(A)
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John 4:10
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10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”(A)
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1 Chronicles 22:12
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12 Only, may the Lord grant you discretion and understanding, so that when he gives you charge over Israel you may keep the law of the Lord your God.(A)
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Exodus 31:6
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6 Moreover, I have appointed with him Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, and I have given skill to all the skillful, so that they may make all that I have commanded you:(A)
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Daniel 2:18-22
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18 and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.(A) 19 Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night, and Daniel blessed the God of heaven.(B)
20 Daniel said:
“Blessed be the name of God from age to age,
for wisdom and power are his.(C)
21 He changes times and seasons,
deposes kings and sets up kings;
he gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to those who have understanding.(D)
22 He reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what is in the darkness,
and light dwells with him.(E)
Proverbs 9:4-6
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
4 “You who are simple, turn in here!”
To those without sense she says,(A)
5 “Come, eat of my bread
and drink of the wine I have mixed.(B)
6 Lay aside immaturity and live,
and walk in the way of insight.”(C)
Job 28:12-28
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
12 “But where shall wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?(A)
13 Mortals do not know the way to it,[a]
and it is not found in the land of the living.(B)
14 The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’
and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
15 It cannot be gotten for gold,
and silver cannot be weighed out as its price.
16 It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
in precious onyx or sapphire.[b]
17 Gold and glass cannot equal it,
nor can it be exchanged for jewels of fine gold.(C)
18 No mention shall be made of coral or of crystal;
the price of wisdom is above pearls.(D)
19 The chrysolite of Cush cannot compare with it,
nor can it be valued in pure gold.(E)
20 “Where then does wisdom come from?
And where is the place of understanding?(F)
21 It is hidden from the eyes of all living
and concealed from the birds of the air.
22 Abaddon and Death say,
‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’(G)
23 “God understands the way to it,
and he knows its place.(H)
24 For he looks to the ends of the earth
and sees everything under the heavens.(I)
25 When he gave to the wind its weight
and apportioned out the waters by measure,(J)
26 when he made a decree for the rain,
and a way for the thunderbolt,(K)
27 then he saw it and declared it;
he established it and searched it out.
28 And he said to humankind,
‘Truly, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;
and to depart from evil is understanding.’ ”(L)
Exodus 36:1-4
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
36 “Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the Lord has given skill and understanding to know how to do any work in the construction of the sanctuary shall work in accordance with all that the Lord has commanded.”(A)
2 Moses then called Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the Lord had given skill, everyone whose heart was stirred to come to do the work,(B) 3 and they received from Moses all the offerings that the Israelites had brought for the work of constructing the sanctuary. They still kept bringing him freewill offerings every morning,(C) 4 so that all the skilled workers who were doing every sort of task on the sanctuary came, each from the task being performed,
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James 1:17
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
17 Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.[a](A)
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- 1.17 Other ancient authorities read variation due to a shadow of turning
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.