James 4:2-3, “You desire and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. You do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your evil desires.”
You know you are wrong. And yet, we stand our ground. Know what I am talking about? The desire of the flesh is a stronger pull at the time than what you know to be the truth. We can all get caught up in the day to day challenges of life or time slips by, and we continue in a pattern that is not healthy. Before long, it has been days or weeks or months, and we can’t even see the issue. We have let an unhealthy practice become the norm, and honestly, it just snuck upon us.
Examining our desires and adjusting
Sometimes, I feel like a toddler pitching a full out on the ground temper tantrum. I am praying but asking for the desires of my flesh. James is reminding us in this passage that when we ask with selfish desires, we will not receive it. God only wants what is best for us and will take care of us. But, God wants us to pray and ask for His desires for us and His will. When we are not in His will, He will not answer our prayers. Consistently, we need to be examining our desires and adjusting them to God’s desires for us. We talked about the Holy Spirit as our counselor in When the audio stops working, and we can allow him to guide us through our daily lives. We won’t know what God’s will is unless we are spending time in The Word and actively pursuing our relationship with God.
Dear Lord, Change my heart to want what your will is for my life and help me live that way daily. In Jesus name, Amen.
The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Jas 4:2–3). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.
