Because Ye Ask Not

James 4:1-3 KJV

From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?

Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

The implied understanding of this passage is that we ask God. Virtually every commentary I can get my hands on makes that the direction of our asking.

And certainly we should ask in prayer, believing God will give us such things as are right and good for us and exercising contentment concerning those things for which we ask and do not receive.

But it occurred to me in today's reading that what is true here of asking God is true also of asking others. Very often we have not simply because we never asked.

·         Some do not have a job because they never asked for one

·         Some might not have needs met because they never asked for help

·         Some may not get a promotion because they never asked

I heard a testimony of a you man this week who, though he knew he could never afford to go to college, did not want to live his life regretting that he had jot at least applied to college. His application was accepted and means we're found to make it possible for him to afford it.

A good salesman lives on the principle "ye have not because ye ask not" and asks as many as he can to buy his product.

A preacher friend of mine once explained how he came to own a large water tank used to collect run off water for his garden. He said he saw it in the field of a farmer near a church where he was scheduled to preach. He dropped in on the farmer, told him who he was and why he was in town and inquired about the tank. The farmer generously gave him the tank and visited the church as well. The preacher ended his account by laughingly telling me, "I am a firm believer in the passage, 'Ye have not because ye ask not.'"