The Bible states in James 1:5, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and ubpraideth not; and it shall be given him." After that the requester of wisdom is challenged with the thought that if he takes the step to ask, he better be willing to accept the answer.

So, here I am, facing a decision. Based on how things go, I'll be able to come back and revise my statements, throw them out, or hopefully (what I am really thinking), I'll be able to use them again when I come across another big set of choices... I've got the option to use the vast wisdom and knowledge I've gathered through my years, and potentially mess things up, or

I can move up to a spiritual plane and ask for wisdom from the Lord to be sure I'm doing what I should. Not too bad, but I have a requirement if I take the second step - I've got to act on what I learn. If not, verse 7 says "let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord." So, maybe all the times that I've asked God in the past to help me with my problems and I felt like He didn't answer me, just maybe (really definitely), God knew that I wasn't willing to act on what He revealed to me. My requests were just self-centered or were at least bent back on what I already thought was the plan of action, and so my words were just reflections off the ceiling. I am sensing a slight deflation of my inner ego at this point.

Going to the passage, there's a spiritual key to hearing from God. It's found within the deep oracles of the relationship of man to God, yet it's simple - nobody said easy, but it is very simple. I want God's wisdom, so it will require of me to lay my will down, to request for God to communicate His heart and mind through both His Word and His indwelling Spirit, to unerringly accept, and then to act on what He reveals to me.  If this is my heart, then God promises not just a little wisdom, but He guarantees to provide it very liberally.

There I have it, a set of choices with outcomes generated from my own volition or from the Lord's omniscience.