“The chief means for attaining wisdom, and suitable gifts for the ministry, are the Holy Scriptures, and prayer.”
- “Quote By John Newton”
Prayer is key if you must operate and access wisdom from God
God responds to the one who prays in faith to receive wisdom. Verse 6 says, “But let him ask in faith.” God generously gives wisdom without reproach to all who ask him. But God requires that we ask in faith. This requirement applies to anything you ask. Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”
Whatever you ask in prayer must be asked in faith. James specifies that when you pray for wisdom, you must ask in faith. In Mark 11:22-24, Jesus says, “Have faith in God. Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”
God rejects the one who prays with doubt. Verse 6 says, “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting.” Doubt is the ants in the pants of faith. No one is immune to doubts yet James commands us to ask in faith with no doubting.
What God thinks about the doubter. Verse 6 says, “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that tis driven and tossed by the wind.”
This marine analogy is one of many images from nature in James. Growing up with Jesus near the Sea of Galilee, James was familiar with storms at sea. Winds drove the waves in one direction, then another. Winds tossed the waves, lifting them high and then crashing them down. It is the kind of storm the disciples experienced that caused them to wake up Jesus and ask, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” (Mark 4:38) The one who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
What the doubter thinks about God. The doubter lives with foolish assumptions. He assumed he can pray with doubt and receive an answer to his prayers. He or she supposes God will grant their requests even though they do not trust God for what they ask. The doubter is confused about who God is and how God works. James corrected the doubter of this erroneous supposition. Verse 7 says, “For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the lord.”
James does not mean God refuses to do absolutely anything for the one who doubts. “Anything” must be understood in the context of prayer. God does many things for doubters – Matthew 5:45 says, God “makes his sun rise on the evil and the good and sends his rain on the just and on the unjust.” This is called “common grace.” It is the favour of God put out on all humanity.
But the doubter should never think he or she will receive anything they ask God for in prayer as their “Request will be denied due to insufficient faith.”
Verse 8 gives a final, dreadful description of the one who believes but doubts: “he is a double-minded man,” unstable in all his ways.” “Double-minded” is unique to this message. Scholars believe James coined the term. It means to have two souls. It is to be two different people. Yet the term does not suggest duplicity or deceitfulness. It describes something far worse: Doubt rooted in divided loyalties.
Doubting God is being double-minded in attitude towards God.
Deuteronomy 6:4-5 declares, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” There is one God. God demands your total devotion. Double-mindedness is the opposite of complete devotion.
James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
The doubled minded has a sinful heart that needs to be purified to draw near to God. This is how James describes the one who doubts.
- He is a double-minded man.
- He loves sitting on the fence.
- He is “Mr. Facing-Both-Ways.” Blowing hot and cold
- He is a walking civil war.
- He trusts, but he doubts.
- He hopes for the best but expects the worst.
- He tries to be a friend of the world and God at the same time.
In 1 Kings 18:21, Elijah the prophet confronts the double-minded children of Israel: “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? IF the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” How long will you live in doublemindedness? If God is God, trust him. Faith says, yes. Unbelief says, no. Doubt tries to say yes and no at the same time. Like a staggering drunk, the double-minded man takes one stumbling step toward God. But the next step lurches away from God. He is too unable to stand firm in faith.
The double-minded is not just unstable in his prayer life. He is unstable “in all his ways.” A person who cannot trust God cannot be trusted. He is unstable in all his ways. But turn this verse inside out and consider the inverse: “A single-minded man is stable in all his ways.” Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”
What are the ways to overcome doublemindedness?
- It is learning that our hope is in the Lord, not in our expectations (Psalm 25:4-5; Mark 9:17-27; John 16:33; 2 Cor. 12:7-10; 11:23-27; Heb. 12: 6-10)
- Fear God – Deuteronomy 6:24, Psalm 25:12, Psalm 31:19, Psalm 112:1, Psalm 115:13, Psalm 145:19, Luke 1: 50, Proverbs 24:21.
- Size yourself correctly. Do not be puffed up, having a bloated opinion about yourself. Sees yourself as you really are; a sinful creature. Be meek and humble yourself before the Lord. James 4:10 “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.”
Remain Blessed!
Prayer: Lord God, deliver me from doubt and give me the grace to always have complete faith in You, in all things, no matter how difficult it might be in Jesus Name.
