Ye Have Not, Because Ye Ask Not

Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not (James 4:2, KJV)

James is addressing an issue amongst the believers, dealing with the motivations of their desires and how they go about obtaining what they desire. He says they did not have because they did not ask. He certainly had in mind the Father here, meaning, they did not ask God in prayer for what they wanted.

Jesus Himself said, “ask and ye shall receive” ( Matt. 7:7). There is a place for asking things from God. It sounds simplistic, but many of us just do not ask God for what we want. We take asking for granted. You will not get everything by merely asking God for them but the Lord has clearly shown us that there is a role of asking Him for things in prayer. Some of us ask God without specifying what we want. We assume it does not matter. Well, it does!

Part of our concerns about asking God is seen in the audience James was addressing above. It is the motivations and desires behind what we are asking. Asking God with wrong desires will certainly not produce an answer from Him. Sadly enough, this fear has caused the pendulum to swing to the other side where many of us have labeled our desires as evil completely. No!

The scripture says if we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our hearts ( Ps. 37:4). It is not wrong to tell God what you desire and want. What is wrong is if those desires are evil. Learn to tell God your desires, and ensure those desires are pure.

MEDITATE

Are there some things we do not have simply because we do not ask? See James 4:2 above.

APPLY THE WORD

Learn to ask in prayer. If you find that your desires are evil, go to God and allow His Spirit to clean your heart by His Word! Then start asking God in prayer! (Hint: He puts desires in our hearts! )