James 1:2-8 – “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, ³ knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. ⁴ And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.  ⁵ But 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. ⁶ 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. ⁷ For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, ⁸ being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, I encountered several misunderstandings in Bible interpretation prevalent in the church. It troubled me that I, too, have been guilty.  I will address some of them as I lay out what captivated my heart today.

If we read James 1:2-8 in a cursory reading without deeper thought, we come away with a misconception that trials automatically enable us to endure. In the whole of Scripture, we are taught that we repeat the tests until we pass them, and that produces the ability and desire to endure.  Trials have a purpose; they are not random attacks.

Endurance brings us to a new level of spiritual maturity that opens the storehouse of God’s wisdom and gives no breeding ground for doubt.  Doubt is a dam in the pipeline and springs forth from having two minds (Focus is the key).   It is impossible for faith and trust to thrive in a seedbed that is on God one moment and the flesh the next; that is being Double-minded.

The source of temptation is the self.   In verse 15, we read, “Then when desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full-grown, it gives birth to death.”   You can’t have conception without copulation. Keep that in mind.  James 2 speaks of faith and works. If we can receive it, faith, by its definition, demands action.   Faith (trust implemented) is an active application of the word.

There is more, but I offer this in conclusion: You have not because you ask not.   This verse is, in my view, misapplied.  We make it about general praying and answers to prayer. Consider the context.

Conflicts and quarrels, discord and disharmony are conditions that can only exist where the flesh rules and influences.  The implied question was, “How do we have peace and harmony? Why don’t we have it?”   The response was, because…

Because we are either not asking for God’s help from a surrendered heart, or our motives are impure. You want peace and harmony your way!   It is

not genuine peace but peace that gets you your way. It is selfishness!

Pride is one of our biggest obstacles in life.  To be an overcomer, we must submit to God Everything!   We must pursue God with our whole heart.  The promise is that if we make God our goal, He makes us His.  In that state of surrender, we are to and can resist the devil, and because of our authority and identity, he has to and will run like a scared jackrabbit.

The Promise and Provision are ours; receive them.   Keep looking; redemption is drawing near!