"James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting. My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways."
NOTE: Before we get into the lesson from todays quote, it behooves us to note to whom James addressed this letter. It was written directly to the Jewish Christians "the twelve trives", and was not specifically intended for Gentile Christians.
Although, in some manner, every word of the New Testament is significant to every Christian, we should remember that the context and intent of some texts can only be determined by considering to whom and for what purpose the words were directed.
In this quote, James encouraged the Jewish Christians to rely entirely on faith when offering up their prayers. This part of the lesson applies equally to every child of God, even today. If we expect God to answer our prayers, we must first believe He is able and that He will indeed follow through. In John 16:23, in part, Jesus said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you." Therefore, James was simply repeating what Jesus himself had also promised.
The most important thing we should take from this text is that if we ask God through Jesus Christ, having absolute faith that He will answer our prayers, we will receive whatever we ask.
Faith is the key to everlasting life and faith is also the key to earthly happiness and contentment.~
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