5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
(James 1:5-8)
The key to receiving wisdom from the Lord, or anything for that matter, is to ask God for it. Asking is how we receive. It is the singular method which Jesus prescribes for receiving. “Ask, and it will be given to you,” and “For everyone who asks receives,” are fresh from our Savior’s lips. Asking is key. James writes later in his book that “You do not have because you do not ask” (4:2). The precedent to receiving anything from the Lord is the asking.
But why shall we ask the Lord? What reason do we have to expect God will give us what we ask for? Because God gives generously to all without reproach. The answer is found in the very character of God. God is the giver of all good things; it is His nature to give generously without rebuke. He gives us life and breath and everything. In him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:25, 28). Judging by what God has already given us, what reason do we have for not asking God for all things?
What wonders this truth can do to our prayers! May the recollection of God’s giving spur us to ask the Lord for greater things! What will God withhold from his children? “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). As God said to Abraham, so can we say to the Lord: “Lord, we know you love us, seeing as you have not withheld your Son, your only Son, but offered him up on our behalf! (see Genesis 22:12). Glory to God alone! What will He withhold from His elect, so long as we ask in faith, faith grounded on His generous nature and His unshakeable promises?
James notes that if there is a reason not to expect the Lord to answer our prayers, this reason has nothing to do with the Lord himself, but with the person doing the asking. He must ask “with no doubting.” Doubt is the enemy of prayer. True prayer, effective prayer, contains no doubt. James gives no indication that a small amount of doubt is better than a large amount of doubt. He writes, “with no doubting.” Doubt is a pollutant, such that the smallest amount of doubt can ruin an entire prayer and make it void. Doubt is a stubborn adversary, seeking to strip prayer of its effectiveness. Jesus says, “Believe,” and it is doubt’s mission to prevent this belief. For everything in the Christian life is based upon belief, from the smallest prayer to the salvation of men.
The one who doubts must not suppose to receive anything from God, for receiving is grounded upon belief. Every recipient of saving grace knows this truth very well. The preachers of the Gospel are well-familiarized with this truth. One cannot expect to receive the gift of salvation by grace unless he believes in the Lord. The one who believes will attain it; the one who doubts will not. This same principle is standard throughout the entire Christian life. Faith is the standard for receiving; doubt of any kind fails to meet this standard. Doubt is the antithesis of faith. The two cannot live together, for doubt and faith are the sources of a double-minded man, who is unstable in all his ways.
Oh God, free us from doubt,
that faith would reign supreme.
Rid us of unbelief,
that belief would conquer.
Oh Lord, increase our faith;
move quickly, Oh Lord; do not tarry!
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