James 4 - 5.29.24

Scripture

You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. (James 4:2b-3)

Observation

God is our provider, our source and our helper. In the sermon on the mount, Jesus said, "Ask and you shall receive" (Luke 11:9, Matthew 7:7). Here James tells us that we don't have something that we desire because we have not asked God. But then, maybe we have asked and still not received. Why is that? It is because God looks at our heart, and weighs our motives (Prov 16:2). What is our motive in wanting what we want? If our motives are wrong, we will not receive what we ask for. When our two children were growing up, my husband and I wouldn't say "yes" to everything they asked for. It was not because we did not love them. It was because we loved them. We would say yes only to those things that would benefit them, and would be good for them. God is our Father. When we abide in Him, and His words abide in us, our desires will align to his "good and acceptable and perfect will" for us (Romans 12:2).  Then, when we ask what we desire, He will do it for us (John 15:7). The Bible says that when we ask anything according to his will, we know that He hears us, and when we know that He has heard us, we know that we have also received whatever we have asked of Him (1 John 5:14,15).

Application

If you really need something and don't have it, check if you have prayed for it. As a child of God prayer is always your first resort, not your last resort. If you have been asking God for something, and not received it, check your heart and your motives. If your motives are not correct, repent and correct your heart. Make sure you are asking with the right motives that pleases God, and that it is in line with God’s word. Then, draw near to your Father’s throne of grace with confidence (Hebrews 4:16) and present your request to Him with Thanksgiving (Philippians 4:6). Ask in faith, knowing that your Father hears you and answers you. Jesus said that if you ask anything in prayer, believing that you have received it, you will have it (Mark 11:24).

Prayer

Father, I thank you because I am your child and you are not short of resources to provide for my needs. I thank you because every good and perfect gift comes from you (James 1:17). Show me where I have incorrect motives, so that I can correct myself. Search me, God, and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting (Psalms 139:23,24). I thank you because I will never lack anything because you are my Shepherd (Psalms 23:1). I will ask in faith, and will receive from you because you are faithful. In Jesus’s name. Amen.

- Asha Chacko George