In prayer, we want a lot of things. James 4 tells us that there are two reasons why we don't always get what we want.
1. We do not ask God, therefore we do not receive those things that we want. (verse 2)
2. We ask for the wrong reasons. We ask God for things that we want, but we do not want these things for the right reasons. We want things for our own pleasure, not to bring honor and glory to God. (verse 3)
This shows that God keeps His promises that He will hear and answer our prayers. There are many places in Scripture where God tells us that He hears and answers our prayers.
1 John 5:14 - "And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us."
Matthew 7:7,11 - "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you... If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask."
Matthew 21:22 - "And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith."
Mark 11:24 - "Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be given to you."
John 14:13 - "Whatever you ask in my name, I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son."
John 16:23 - "In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you."
In James 4:4, the bible says, "You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world in enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God."
James is telling us here that you cannot be of the world and be of God. The two things are opposites. Only one can be done at a time. Some might say that this is contradictory to John 3:16, but it is not. God loves everyone, all the world, despite their sin, but He cannot condone sin or let it into heaven. Trying to be of the world and of God at the same time is like trying to have your cake and eat it too. James is showing us that this cannot be done.
Verse 7 tells us that we need to submit to God and resist the devil. So this week I need to focus more on God's will and plan than the desires of my heart and the plans I have for myself. I need to study God's word more in depth and be learning how to hear better from God.
Just some thoughts.
In God, Emily
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