{"id":5620,"date":"2014-09-29T01:54:18","date_gmt":"2014-09-29T01:54:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/?p=5620"},"modified":"2014-11-04T04:59:59","modified_gmt":"2014-11-04T04:59:59","slug":"james-16-8-ask-in-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/?p=5620","title":{"rendered":"James 1:6-8\u2014Ask in faith"},"content":{"rendered":"

But 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. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways<\/em>.\u00a0 James 1:6-8<\/p>\n

You need wisdom when you encounter various trials, and God is the One who has it to give. He is generous with His wisdom and gives it without the tiniest bit of disapproval. But along with the other three keys\u00a0He provides\u00a0to overcome in trials\u2014joy, endurance, and wisdom\u2014you’ll need a fourth key, too. That key is faith.<\/p>\n

Ask God for wisdom to effectively pass your trial\u2014and ask for it in faith.<\/p>\n

James describes the man who asks without faith in this way: He is a doubter who is \u201clike the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Think about this. James is thought to be one of Jesus\u2019 younger brothers, and if this is so, then surely he heard the tale of that stormy night when Peter walked on the water toward Jesus. I can just hear the bonfire crackling as Peter tells the story again; the faces of those leaning in closer to hear glow with rapt attention in the flickering firelight.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were being battered by waves as the wind blew furiously, and then in the fourth watch, we saw Him\u2014the Lord was walking toward us on the sea!<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018It\u2019s a ghost!\u2019 some yelled. But, no\u2014\u2018It is I\u2019 said the Lord. \u2018Take courage and don\u2019t be afraid!\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t contain myself any longer, so I shouted to Him over the storm, \u2018Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water!\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd He said, \u2018Come.\u2019 Just that. And I came\u2026I walked on top of the water<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

I can picture tears filling the storyteller\u2019s eyes as he is overcome with the memory. And I imagine young James drinking it all in, bursting with love for his big Brother and Savior.<\/p>\n

And then Peter\u2019s voice grows softer, more difficult to hear. \u201cBut I saw the wind, brothers, and was afraid. And I sank\u2026\u201d Again, his voice trails off for several seconds before growing stronger. \u201cBut I cried out, \u2018LORD, SAVE ME!\u2019 and Jesus was there by my side. He reached out His hand and took hold of me, but before we got back in the boat, He asked, \u2018You of little faith, why did you doubt?\u2019\u201d (See Matthew 14:23-33.)<\/p>\n

I can picture Peter, squinting through the light of the flames to gaze directly at each of the men seated near. And I imagine James sitting there, taking it all in.<\/p>\n

When James wrote his letter, he cautioned his readers to be sure to ask God for wisdom in faith<\/em>. And in my opinion, James was remembering Peter\u2019s wave-walking experience when he compared doubters to the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind<\/em>. And I imagine he was envisioning Peter sink in the water when he wrote, \u201cThat man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

James\u2019 Brother had spoken privately to Peter out there on the water before He brought him back safely to the boat. He reproved Peter\u2014not<\/em> for asking Him to bid him to leave the boat\u2014but for his little faith and much doubting once he stepped out. Peter, I believe, not Jesus, disclosed this reprimand to everyone in order to underscore\u2014through his own failure\u2014the utmost importance of faith in Christ.<\/p>\n

So when James described the one who doubts as “the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind”<\/em>, he knew what he was talking about. When he wrote that doubters ought not to expect<\/em> to receive anything from the Lord<\/em>, he was speaking from\u00a0close observation.<\/p>\n

James also described the doubting person as a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways<\/em>.<\/p>\n

What does it mean to be double-minded? Double means two, so double-minded describes the doubter\u2019s mind going in two opposing directions. This person asks God for wisdom, but at the same time he doesn\u2019t believe that he\u2019ll get it. Peter asked Jesus, standing right there on the sea, to bid him to walk on the water, but after he had taken a few steps on those waves, he \u201csaw the wind boisterous\u201d, became afraid, and sank.<\/p>\n

James wrote that a double-minded man should not expect<\/em> to receive<\/em> anything from the Lord<\/em>, and added that such a person is unstable in all his ways<\/em>.<\/p>\n

As hard as James\u2019 admonition is on your ego, don\u2019t blow it off. Doubt is what causes instability in the believer, not<\/em> faith\u2014don\u2019t get it reversed in your thinking. James likely heard\u00a0the wave-walking story many times and understood that it was Peter’s doubt<\/em> that caused him to sink, not\u00a0the outrageousness of his decision to\u00a0follow Jesus\u00a0out on the water.<\/p>\n

If you<\/em> need wisdom, ask God\u2014and ask in faith. You will receive liberally if you simply trust God to provide it. However, don\u2019t let yourself go back and forth in your mind, wondering if God will come through. That’s doubt; and doubt makes you double-minded and unstable in all your ways. Yikes! I didn\u2019t say it\u2014James did!<\/p>\n

If that steps on your toes, join the club. My<\/em> toes are black and blue after reading this, and if others are honest, they\u2019ll admit they’ve\u00a0been stomped on by James\u2019 words\u00a0a time\u00a0or two, as well. But you can rejoice\u2014like Peter, you need not remain in doubt. Take the Lord at His Word from here on out, and you will be buoyed up on top of those waves. And then\u2014look at you! You’ll be walking by faith!<\/p>\n

Dorothy <\/p>\n

\n
buy viagra toronto<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

But 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. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.\u00a0 James 1:6-8 You need […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[50,48,49],"class_list":["post-5620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-james-1","tag-doubt","tag-faith","tag-wisdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5620"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5627,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5620\/revisions\/5627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.firstofallpray.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}