Gratifying the Flesh


James 4:1-3
1What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?
2You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.
3You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

In my role as a professional church worker, I have spent hour upon hour with people who are angry at God because He didn’t give them what they asked for. I have, in fact, been on that list of angry people myself! There have been situations in the past that I have begged God to fix (the way I want Him to) and He didn’t come through for me. Things went another way and I come away confused and disappointed because God didn’t perform to my satisfaction. (As I read back over that sentence I confess that it makes my stomach hurt just a little.) I asked and I did not receive because I asked wrongly – to spend it on my passions.

These verses bring to mind a couple of other passages from Scripture and it might prove helpful to compare them.

Philippians 4:6
“…do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”

John 16:23–24
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. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

Matthew 6:9–10, 33
Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Now that we’ve stacked all these verses up against the passage from James that tells us why we don’t get what we ask for from God, let’s make some evaluations.

  1. God is into giving us what we ask for. He wants to hear from us the desires of our hearts so that He can take care of us.
  2. In order to pray effective prayers, I need to know God well enough to be able to discern His will. When I pray in accordance with His will, the answer is always “yes”.
  3. When I pray selfishly in a way that is serving my flesh rather than God’s will, He is not going to give me what I am in essence demanding He do for me.

James uses strong words in our reading for today. Clearly he is not happy with God’s people seeing Him as a giant dispenser machine that operates at our beck and call. Our prayers are less about getting what we want and more about walking in relationship with Him. When I go to Him stomping my foot and demanding my way, I am a selfish two year old. When I come to Him with a willing heart and lay my concerns before His throne, knowing that He will handle things appropriately, I am walking with my King in partnership. Easy to say – tough to always do.

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