Reflections

⁵But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

 ⁶But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.

 ⁷For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,

 ⁸being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.   James 1: 5-8

There are times when we pray that we do not really know the will of God in a situation, so we pray “If it be your will Lord…”  When we start our prayer with “if” it is an indication of doubt.  “If” is not a definitive statement, it is a conditional statement.  So when we put “if” in our prayer it is a conditional prayer that is actually based on doubt. 

James tells us to ask for wisdom, so if we do not know what God’s will is in a situation we should ask for wisdom.  God will give us wisdom and we can pray in accordance to that wisdom and God’s will.  However, when we doubt we are double minded and unstable.  We really have no confidence in our prayer or in God.

We know that without faith it is impossible to please God.  James tells us that when we doubt we should not expect to receive anything from God.  One minute we may believe God will hear and answer our prayer, but in another moment we will question the willingness of God.  We become double minded.

Jesus taught us to pray that God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  So when we pray we should not doubt that the will of God will be done.  We don’t have to make statements such as “if it by thy will God…” we can say with certainty “Thy will be done God.”  Wherever we lack wisdom we can simply ask God in faith and we will receive. 

Prayers that are rooted in doubt cannot be answered by God.  Only prayers of faith will be answered by God.