In light of the fact that today is the National Day of Prayer, I thought I would reflect for a moment on prayer. One passage that is often turned to in discussions on prayer is James 4:1-3. The text reads as follows:"What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? 2You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures."
I see in this passage two major hindrances to prayer. The first is the hindrance of PRAYERLESSNESS! James says one reason his readers did not have was simply because they did not ask God!!! You see, God has a generous heart and is far more ready to give than we are to ask. Why do we so often fail to pray as we should? Sometimes it is busyness that keeps us from God's throne. Other times it is a failure to recognize just how dependent we are upon God (read this "PRIDE"). But whatever the underlying reason might be - we must be sure to intentionally build prayer into our lives.
The second hindrance I see in this passage is SELFISHNESS! James says, "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." Here he reminds us that it is not enough to pray ... to present our requests to God. We must do so with the right motive. The readers to whom James was writing lacked the proper motive. They were asking for THEMSELVES, while they should have been asking for others, too! Consider the pronouns in the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-11). It is NOT "Give ME this day MY daily prayer. Forgive ME MY trespasses..." Rather the pronouns are in the plural ... "Give US this day OUR daily bread, etc." So when we pray it is OK to ask about our own needs. But let me suggest before we do that, let's look around and pray for the needs of others!
So beware of these two hindrances to prayer: PRAYERLESSNESS and SELFISHNESS!
Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj
The second hindrance I see in this passage is SELFISHNESS! James says, "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." Here he reminds us that it is not enough to pray ... to present our requests to God. We must do so with the right motive. The readers to whom James was writing lacked the proper motive. They were asking for THEMSELVES, while they should have been asking for others, too! Consider the pronouns in the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-11). It is NOT "Give ME this day MY daily prayer. Forgive ME MY trespasses..." Rather the pronouns are in the plural ... "Give US this day OUR daily bread, etc." So when we pray it is OK to ask about our own needs. But let me suggest before we do that, let's look around and pray for the needs of others!
So beware of these two hindrances to prayer: PRAYERLESSNESS and SELFISHNESS!
Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj
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