“When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures” James 4:3 NIV
God wants to bless our lives and then watch us bless other people’s lives with the same benefits He gives to us. In fact, one condition for answered prayer is a willingness to use God’s blessings to help those less fortunate.
Proverbs 21:13 says, “Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered”. God is saying that, if we ignore those around us who are in obvious difficulty, it doesn’t make sense to expect Him to bail us out of our own difficulties.
God wants us to be like Him, and God is Love. One of the ways we prove we have love is that we’re willing to be generous toward other people. The principle of stewardship is repeated throughout Scripture: God blesses us so that we might be a blessing to other people.
For instance, we might ask God for good health, but what are we going to do with that healthy body after we’ve gotten it? Are we praying just to help ourselves, or are we praying so we can help other people too? When we ask God to bless our business or career, are we willing to give back a portion of what God has blessed us with; such as creating employment and giving back to help with the needs in your community?
The Bible says in James 4:3, “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures”. Motives are important in prayer. Why you pray is more important than what you pray for.
Is it possible to pray for the right thing with the wrong motive? Sure. I’m not saying you should never pray for your own personal needs. Jesus says to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11 ESV). But we have to check our motive. Are we willing to share our blessing with other people, or are we going to hoard it all for ourselves?
God is not interested in simply satisfying our selfishness. The conditions of prayer are that we have an honest relationship with God, a forgiving attitude toward other people, and a willingness to share God’s blessings with others. God loves us, so He’s teaching us how to pray in an effective way. Let’s allow Him to, by first checking our motives when we come to Him.
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