You Pray Wrongly
How we ask amiss and do not get but how vital prayer is
We learn this lesson on prayer from James in his letter (James 4:1-3)
Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?
Conflict with others and in ourselves comes from desire – a wanting of something we do not currently have. Someone else has what we covet (breaking the 10th Commandment) and yet we want so much we plot and scheme to win it, or steal it, or take it by force.
You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war.
We are not only at war with one another, but certainly within ourselves -- the lusts of the flesh and desires for pleasure warring within us. Coveting will inevitably lead to conflict. We believe we will be satisfied when we get what someone else has.
And what does James say?
Yet you do not have because you do not ask.
You do not have. For all of our desiring, striving, plotting, etc. we do not have, or perhaps what we do have does not satisfy and we want more. “The whole history of mankind shows the failure of evil lusting to obtain their object.” (Spurgeon)
“This is the tragic irony of the life lived after worldly and fleshly desires; it never reaches the goal it gives everything for. This fundamental dissatisfaction is not because of a lack of effort.” (Guzik)
You do not ask. We want but fail to go to the Father for our needs. Instead we rely on means rather than prayer. We must remember God does not give unless we ask. And if we have just a little bit of God, likely it is because we have asked little.
“Remember this text: The Lord says to his own Son, ‘Ask of me and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.’ If the royal and divine Son of God cannot be exempted from the rule of asking that he may have, you and I cannot expect the rule to be relaxed in our favor. Why should it be?” (Spurgeon)
This is how vital prayer is! We get nothing without praying and everything by it.
Praying Wrongly
But, you say, I do pray! I do ask!
You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.
You do not receive. James tells us when we do ask we don’t get because we ask with wrong motives. If our asking is always for the things we covet, then this is selfish praying.
What do you ask for? Something to make your life a bit easier, a bit better, a bit less painful? Aren’t these what those in the world all strive for? Do you desire a bigger house, nicer car, more health, better looks, an easier time at work, more respect, love, peace, etc? Is your asking really just to get ahead in the world, or at least keep up with the neighbors?
“When a man so prays he asks God to be his servant, and gratify his desires; nay, worse than that, he wants God to join him in the service of his lusts. He will gratify his lusts, and God shall come and help him to do it. Such prayer is blasphemous, but a large quantity of it is offered, and it must be one of the most God-provoking things that heaven ever beholds.” (Spurgeon)
We are not praying to get God to do our bidding – no, it is to get ourselves aligned rightly with His word, will and ways. If we ask amiss (or wrongly, with wrong motives in some versions) we only want what will give us pleasure, spend it on our passions or waste it on our desires. This is similar to the squandering of the Prodigal Son.
Having What We Ask
So then how do we pray aright?
If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. [Jhn 15:7 NKJV]
And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. [1Jo 3:22 NKJV]
Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. [1Jo 5:14 NKJV]
We are seeking to pray the will of God for ourselves and his church. Using the prayers contained in his word, we pray these back to God, asking him to fulfill his own word:
That his kingdom come, and his will be done...that we be mature and standing firm in all the will of God...that we be alert, standing firm in the faith, being strong and doing all we do in love...that we be salt and light...that we love one another and serve one another...that we proclaim the mystery of the gospel, preach, teaching and making disciples...that we have knowledge of his will...that we know the word and keep his commandments, and so on.
If ye prayed aright, all your proper wants would be supplied; the improper cravings which produce "wars and fightings" would then cease. (Fausset)
Pray For The People Of God From The Word Of God
Here are three passages we are praying from this week (one passage per day):
Monday - Romans 5:5
Tuesday - Philippians 1:9
Wednesday - 2 Thessalonians 3:5
Will you join me in praying these verses, and ask one person to join you?
Until Thursday, grace and peace
Photo by David Paschke on Unsplash