You have not because you ask not.

[imperfectchristian]

 

[THE OLD BUM]

book of chaff

 

[imperfectchristian]

book of chaff

Would you be refering to Luther's comment that James was an epistle of straw sock monkey?

 

[THE OLD BUM]

it has no love in it

 

[Moriah_Conquering_Wind]

You have not because you ask not.

This does not explain those of us who ask and ask and ask and ask and beg and plead and weep and pray and beg some more and still beg even when kicked to the curb and treated like garbage, and still "have not". And no, not talking about some silly fluff trivial selfish request like "God please give me a new car." Talking about the miracle it would require to transform a depraved slave in chains to darkness into a servant of His.

Oh and before anyone goes there: if anyone wishes to respond to this post, please respond to what it says in a general sense, OK, and don't address Moriah or its personal situation specifically. Just because we all inevitably write from our own perspective and experience does NOT mean every instance of doing so constitutes a bid for people to start digging around in our directly personal business.

 

[imperfectchristian]

This does not explain those of us who ask and ask and ask and ask and beg and plead and weep and pray and beg some more and still beg even when kicked to the curb and treated like garbage, and still "have not". And no, not talking about some silly fluff trivial selfish request like "God please give me a new car." Talking about the miracle it would require to transform a depraved slave in chains to darkness into a servant of His.

Oh and before anyone goes there: if anyone wishes to respond to this post, please respond to what it says in a general sense, OK, and don't address Moriah or its personal situation specifically. Just because we all inevitably write from our own perspective and experience does NOT mean every instance of doing so constitutes a bid for people to start digging around in our directly personal business.

Matthew 17:14-20

14 When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. 15 "Lord, have mercy on my son," he said. "He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. 16 I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him."


17 "O unbelieving and perverse generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me." 18 Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.

19 Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"
20 He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

 

[JimB]

The entire passage is

You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. ~James 4.3-4
​

It tells you in plain words why our prayers are not always answered the way we want them to—they are simply out of the will of God.

~Robin Banks

Sometimes it takes as much faith to let go as it does to hang on.​

 

[imperfectchristian]

The entire passage is

You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. ~James 4.3-4
​

It tells you in plain words why our prayers are not always answered the way we want them to—they are simply out of the will of God.

~Robin Banks

Sometimes it takes as much faith to let go as it does to hang on.​

It really should not need explanation...the picture plainly portrays a child in the lap of Jesus. Jesus obviously knows what is best for the child and is not going to give the child anything and everything she asks for just because she asks for it. What God gives is in keeping with what He believes is best for His children.

 

[Moriah_Conquering_Wind]

The entire passage is

You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. ~James 4.3-4
​

It tells you in plain words why our prayers are not always answered the way we want them to—they are simply out of the will of God.

Nice try and normally the "correct" answer. But not when discussing things clearly specified in scripture to be not just IN the will of God BUT the prime focus of His will (at least, toward his creatures) AND something that cannot be spent merely on one's pleasures because by definition that simply doesn't work. Deliverance, salvation, and a restored relationship with Him would not be things even amenable to "spending on" one's own pleasures. They would be things which by their very nature, IF REAL, can ONLY ever serve Him and His will.

 

[Cassidy]

Depends on what you're asking for and how you EXPECT him to answer. Just because yoiu ask for something it may not be what the lLord thinks you need....or....you might be expecting a certain answer a certain way....but he answers you a totally different way you're not ready for...so you reject it and claim he hasn't answered you!

Kinda reminds me of that joke...you know the one where the guys are stuck on a rooftop in the flood and they ask God to save them...and all these people turn up in boats and helicopters and they send them away saying that they are waiting for God to save them. Then when they die and they front up to st peter at the pearly gates...they ask why God didn't save them...Peter answered, "well he sent you a boat, a helicopter..etc etc...what more do you want???"

 

[Moriah_Conquering_Wind]

It really should not need explanation...the picture plainly portrays a child in the lap of Jesus. Jesus obviously knows what is best for the child and is not going to give the child anything and everything she asks for just because she asks for it. What God gives is in keeping with what He believes is best for His children.

But He also directly and specifically promises certain things that presumably He already DOES think to be best for ALL His children. And there would be other passages to reckon with as well in this equation -- something about God not giving you a stone when you ask for bread or a scorpion when you ask for a fish. This would be a far cry away from not giving little daughter a pretty new dress so she can fill herself up with vanities thinking herself better and prettier than her playmates or something.

 

[Moriah_Conquering_Wind]

Kinda reminds me of that joke...you know the one where the guys are stuck on a rooftop in the flood and they ask God to save them...and all these people turn up in boats and helicopters and they send them away saying that they are waiting for God to save them. Then when they die and they front up to st peter at the pearly gates...they ask why God didn't save them...Peter answered, we he sent you a boat, a helicopter..etc etc...what more do you want???

Yeah, that bes a good joke, and a good illustration.
But it doesn't apply to the person stuck on the roof in the flood where NO boat, NO helicopter, and NO rescue parties show up.
And it definitely does not apply to the person stuck on the roof in the flood who gets INTO the rescue boat and then gets attacked and nearly drowned by the people manning that boat, when later they would like to know from God "what gives" with that crap when after all, they DID ask HIM to take charge of the situation....

Humans. They always think they know someone else's situation better than the one living it knows ... and they always want to plug in some glib judgment they pass without bothering to listen to the facts of the actual matter.

Oh well.

 

[Cassidy]

All I have to say is that God is true to his Word...there is no other argument. If one doesn't agree with that because one doesn't have the evidence in one's life the way one thinks they should or HOW they think they should, then one has a problem with unbelief. Doesn't mean that God was not true to his promises........means that one doesn't believe in the promises.

 

[Cassidy]

Then there could have been Jesus walking on the water and reaching out to the guys on the roof top so they don't have to be subjected to boats being mobed by idiots....but then they refuse to step out in faith and walk on the water with him *shrugs*

 

[nephilimiyr]

I basically agree with whats being said here about asking outside of Gods will but if anyone is anything like me, the phrase "God's will" can sometimes be like trying to fathom what I trillion dollors is, or a trillion anything. I see the word "will" and I think of too many things and sometimes just can't wrap my mind around it.

I perfer to talk about priorities rather than will. What are God's priorities compared to your priorities? Our priorities are often short sighted and selfish. Which then leads to talking about our motivations for asking God for something.

I believe God's main priority is that of advancing his kingdom in both the lives of his children and the world. If that isn't also your main priority then you need to reprioritize. And I believe that we do need to get in line with God's priorites in the same way He views it. Only when we are in line with his priorites is when we recieve not because we ask not.

 

[PastorJim]

You have not because you ask not

Funny how people love to quote this verse, but always forget to quote the next verse along with it.

 

[lismore]

Matthew 7:11
If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

 

[nephilimiyr]

Matthew 7:11
If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

A blast from the past! One of my all time favorite Gospel movies ever!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6-44IwcTWk

Dig the fro man

 

[Moriah_Conquering_Wind]

All I have to say is that God is true to his Word...there is no other argument. If one doesn't agree with that because one doesn't have the evidence in one's life the way one thinks they should or HOW they think they should, then one has a problem with unbelief. Doesn't mean that God was not true to his promises........means that one doesn't believe in the promises.

"There bes more things in heaven and earth than would be known in your philosophy." --Shakespeare (paraphrased slightly)

There may be other reasons for the discrepancy. Insisting it HAS to be something "blameworthy" because we personally distrust or dislike the person who experiences the discrepancy, does not necessarily make that the actual case. The Bible records many instances where God appears to be "untrue" to His "word", to contradict it, or even to change His mind completely. Not everything bes cut & dried, black & white, this-or-that ... not even in scripture.

 

[Moriah_Conquering_Wind]

Then there could have been Jesus walking on the water and reaching out to the guys on the roof top so they don't have to be subjected to boats being mobed by idiots....but then they refuse to step out in faith and walk on the water with him *shrugs*

Were you there? Did you see Jesus do this? Did you witness them refusing Him?

One-sided speculation based on automatic assumptions with no proof does not become "holy" just because we do it for God. Does killing become "holy" because someone "does it for God"? What about stealing? Stripping? Running a Noah's-ark-themed casino? Lying and covering up for one's homies for no other reason than that they'd be one's homies?