James 1:5-8
1:5 – But James isn’t really interested in spinning out some good, old-fashioned Stoic moral philosophy for his hearers. James’ message isn’t about individual improvement, as important as that might be, but about the response of the community of faith in a world that is characterized both by the presence of suffering and by the good, gift-giving grace of God. Thus James’ first practical application for how to live this life of “joy-in-trials” is to pray. Gaining the virtue of perseverance isn’t about finding some secret well of strength deep within you; it’s about receiving its strength as a blessing from God. Ask God for wisdom, because he is a good giver, who loves to bless his people with all the depth of insight and virtue they can manage, if only they are serious about pursuing it. “Wisdom” here doesn’t just mean abstract moral or theological knowledge; rather, it refers to the grace-given capacity to see the events of one’s life, in the moments in which they happen, through the big-picture perspective of God’s ultimate goals for his creation. Thus, when trials come upon us, it is this wisdom that reminds us of what the end goal of our suffering could be, and which inspires us to pursue that goal with joy. So pray, and pray especially for your growth in grace and virtue—wisdom, love, peace, patience, and so on. Those are the sorts of prayers that God loves to answer.
1:5 – But James isn’t really interested in spinning out some good, old-fashioned Stoic moral philosophy for his hearers. James’ message isn’t about individual improvement, as important as that might be, but about the response of the community of faith in a world that is characterized both by the presence of suffering and by the good, gift-giving grace of God. Thus James’ first practical application for how to live this life of “joy-in-trials” is to pray. Gaining the virtue of perseverance isn’t about finding some secret well of strength deep within you; it’s about receiving its strength as a blessing from God. Ask God for wisdom, because he is a good giver, who loves to bless his people with all the depth of insight and virtue they can manage, if only they are serious about pursuing it. “Wisdom” here doesn’t just mean abstract moral or theological knowledge; rather, it refers to the grace-given capacity to see the events of one’s life, in the moments in which they happen, through the big-picture perspective of God’s ultimate goals for his creation. Thus, when trials come upon us, it is this wisdom that reminds us of what the end goal of our suffering could be, and which inspires us to pursue that goal with joy. So pray, and pray especially for your growth in grace and virtue—wisdom, love, peace, patience, and so on. Those are the sorts of prayers that God loves to answer.
1:6-8 – These verses have, unfortunately, been often misunderstood and
misapplied, with the end result that sincere and faithful Christians are
bullied into feeling like they are not permitted the sensible act of
servant-hearted humility in their prayers. Poor teachers of Scripture have
tried to make these verses bear the weight of a whole system of practice that demands
entire confidence for every single thing requested in prayer; and if God does
not clearly answer those prayers, the fault must lie with the person’s corrupt
and doubting faith. Fortunately for all those of us who are human beings and
not supernatural paragons of certitude, that’s not what these verses are
saying. Now, certainly, it is important to have a measure of confidence in
prayer, because it reflects our faith in God: we believe that God is
omnipotent, and able to grant any prayer we might ask, and we believe that he
is good and loving, and will want to answer all such prayers that are prayed in
accordance with his glory and will. Thus we can be certain that God hears us,
that he cares about us, and that he uses our sincere prayers to accomplish
great things for the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth. But the plain fact of the
matter is, even the best of us sometimes pray for things that are not granted
to us, and I’m not convinced that the fault lies with our failure to have
absolute certainty. When I lift up specific supplications before God—for someone’s
miraculous healing, for example—I have absolute confidence that God is powerful
enough and loving enough to accomplish this miracle. But I am merely a servant,
and God is God, and the truth is that I do not know for certain that he will
choose to answer my prayer with exactly the miraculous healing that I am
praying for. Does that mean that I am, in James’ words, “double-minded and
unstable” in all that I do? I don’t think so. The vast majority of the
Christian tradition regards it as proper to pray such prayers with an
acknowledgement that it is God who is sovereign, not I, and that he might have
a different plan in motion than the one I’m praying for. I’ve no doubt that he
still uses my prayer, however, even if he doesn’t answer it in the exact terms
that I formulate—prayers for healings certainly bring the power of God’s good
work to bear on the person’s life, even if they are not miraculously healed of
their ailment. But, if James isn’t talking about any and all kinds of prayer,
what is he talking about here? Because, clearly, he has very strong words for
those who have doubts when they pray. Here we must remember that James is
speaking in the particular context of praying for wisdom (v. 5). If you pray
for something like wisdom (or greater love, or humility, or goodness), then you
have no cause for doubt that God will answer your prayer. We already know,
through the unshakeable testimony of Scripture, that it is God’s intention and
desire to give us these things. He may choose to give them to us in a way other
than what we might prefer (say, through suffering), but we can rest assured
that he will give us the object of our prayers. We are praying for what God has
already promised to give us, so we need not doubt God’s intention or power to
deliver it. But it’s important to recognize, in the context of this kind of
prayer, that we’re not just talking about intellectual doubts. If you pray for
wisdom and then get up and start living according to every folly of sin that
the world throws your way, then it is clear that you are not serious about your
prayer—you doubt the importance of wisdom, even while you are asking for it. We
Christians are called to live in the manner of our prayers, and this means that
if we pray for wisdom, then we have to live like we really want it. Otherwise,
we truly are simply “a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”