You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. James 4:2
While grocery shopping recently, I found that the granola I usually buy had been moved. In fact, none of the granola at my favorite grocery store was where it usually is. In search of this granola, I wandered through the store for close to fifteen minutes until I finally thought, “I should ask an employee where the granola is.” After asking, the employee took me straight to the granola I wanted to buy. After grabbing the granola that I had come for, I thought, “I should have asked an employee sooner rather than spending close to 15 minutes searching the store.” Now, waiting to ask for the granola’s location had few ramifications, except for the time I lost searching for it, but I wonder how many of us hold off on praying and coming before God because we try to live life on our own power. Our focus this week is on the doctrine of prayer, and as we begin studying what Scripture teaches about it, we will see that if we want to have vibrant, growing prayer lives, we have to actually pray!
James, the half-brother of Jesus and author of the book of James, challenges us not to hold back when it comes to approaching God in prayer in James 4. He writes in this passage of Scripture, “You don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it” (verse 2). What a profound statement. Sometimes we don’t receive what we have been hoping for because we haven't turned to God in prayer. The question is, why don’t we always turn to God in prayer? One of these reasons may be because we are trying to live our lives on our own power instead of turning to God. When we live and act as if everything depends on us, we fail to turn to God for help, hope, and healing. The truth is, try as we might to live as if everything depends on us, we are finite. Our strength has limits. We cannot live this life on our own strength. We need help. Specifically, we need God’s help. That’s why, several verses later in James 4, James encourages us to turn to God, writing, “Come close to God, and God will come close to you” (verse 8). What is the promise we can claim if we come close to God? If we draw near to our God, the promise is that He will, in response, “come close to [us].” How amazing that our God wants to be near us and hears us when we pray!
Our calling today is to turn to God rather than try to live our lives on our own power. Now, turning to Him does not mean that God will answer every single one of our prayers with “yes.” After all, He sometimes will respond with “No” or “Wait” because His understanding goes beyond our own. It does mean that when we turn to God, He is near, He hears us, and He responds to our prayers according to our good and His glory. Stop trying to live your life on your own strength, and take a step toward God today.
Is there an area of your life or a prayer request that you have been holding off on talking to God about? This could be about a relational need, a physical need, or a desire for God to work in a specific way in your life. Take time now to share about that area of your life or prayer request with Him now. Remember, He cares about you and wants to hear about whatever is on your mind.
Prayer Prompt: Use this prompt to guide you as you pray.
“God, I cannot live this life on my own power. Help me…”
Going Deeper
James 4:1-17
1 What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? 2 You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. 3 And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.
4 You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. 5 Do you think the Scriptures have no meaning? They say that God is passionate that the spirit he has placed within us should be faithful to him. 6 And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say,
“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. 9 Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.
11 Don’t speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters. If you criticize and judge each other, then you are criticizing and judging God’s law. But your job is to obey the law, not to judge whether it applies to you. 12 God alone, who gave the law, is the Judge. He alone has the power to save or to destroy. So what right do you have to judge your neighbor?
13 Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” 14 How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. 15 What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” 16 Otherwise you are boasting about your own pretentious plans, and all such boasting is evil.
17 Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.
©2026 Sagebrush Church
