A Huge Concept About Prayer

James 4:3 “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.”

I have seen children act spoiled when they didn’t get what they wanted. It’s not a pretty picture, and it’s not fun to deal with as a parent or to experience as an onlooker when you’re in the middle of a crowded store. Then you hear a passerby (who probably is younger and has no children) say something to the tune of, “I can’t believe they’re acting like that”. In which I want to reply, really? I kinda expect that from a child. Right? However, I would fully agree with that statement if an adult male on the fishing isle were throwing a fit when his wife, or mom, told him that he could not have that new rod and reel and he needed to grow up. That would be abnormal, weird, and ultimately disturbing. So, this is what’s going on here in James. Adults in the church who should be leaders in the community, worshipers of Christ, and submissive to the authority of God have allowed their selfish hearts to be the rudder that directed their prayer life. How much of this goes on in your life? You do not have because you’re asking from a heart that is spoiled by passions that are exposing your love affair with this temporary world. If there has ever been a great invitation given to mankind, it’s found in having a real, deep, abiding, marriage with Son of God, Jesus Christ and to love Him with ALL of our heart, mind, and strength. Evaluate your passions, expose your heart, and return to you first love. This relationship with the Almighty is the absolute crutch of the church, hope for the family, and cure for the community in every way. We have been invited by the Healer to “ask and it will be given to you”…”ask whatever you wish”…”come bodly to the throne of grace”, and receive the power that makes anything possible. A pursuing passion for Jesus will change the way you ask and create a large margin for receiving. Let’s give our passions over to God, and put our prayers in position to impact this community for Christ.