The latter part of verse 2 is a puzzle to the commentators: “Ye have
not, because ye ask not.” Oesterley (following Carr) thinks that we have
a string of poetical quotations (_stromateis_), “not very skilfully
strung together.” Mayor takes it as a mere repetition of “ye lust, and
have not” and says that it is not a further step. But surely James does
not mean to say that the one reason why the impulses to lust,
covetousness, envy, fighting, and murder are not gratified is that men
do not pray so as to carry their point with God and man! That would make
prayer a travesty and God a puppet of man’s evil desires.
I must believe that this sentence belongs to verse 3 in thought and
should be so punctuated. We must always bear in mind that the original
Greek text had no punctuation and that we are at liberty to punctuate
_de novo_ if the context demands it. There is, no doubt, a backward look
in “ye have not,” but in reality James here starts a new topic, that of
prayer. There is a delicate hint in the use of the middle voice here
that they had not put their hearts into their prayers.[86] “Ye ask” with
the mere form of words and naturally “receive not,” “because ye ask
amiss,” “wrongly,” as in John 18:23.
Their prayers are vitiated by the evil purpose, “that ye may spend it in
your pleasures,” “with the wicked intention of spending it on your
pleasures” (Moffatt). Even Epictetus (Cod. Vat. 3) says of the gods:
“And then shall they give to thee the good things when thou rejoicest
not in pleasure, but in virtue.” How often we all miss it in prayer! We
ask for what we should not, staking our judgment against that of God. We
ask with a spirit of rebellion and not of subjection to the will of God
(4:7). We ask, not for the glory of God nor for the blessing of others,
but for the gratification of our own selfish pleasures, even when the
things asked for are good in themselves.
We may even get to the point where we dare ask God for what is not good
in itself. “No asking from God which takes place in a wrong frame of
mind towards him or towards the object asked has anything to do with
prayer. It is an evil asking” (Hort). God cannot be made a private asset
to further our own selfish interests or to serve the wicked world (cf. 1
Tim. 6:4 f.). “If we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us”
(1 John 5:14). The word in James for “spend” means to consume, to waste,
to dissipate. It is used of the prodigal son who “spent all” (Luke
15:14).
Prayer is probably the poorest of all our spiritual exercises. It should
be the most constant and the most helpful. It calls for searching of
heart and all sincerity. It is right and proper to pray for our daily
bread (Matt. 6:11), provided we do our daily tasks so as to earn our
daily bread. God does not mean prayer to be a substitute for work. Trust
is not anxiety (Matt. 6:31), but it is also not presumption. The use of
the name of Jesus does not cause the door of grace to spring open for us
unless we first put ourselves under the rule of Jesus.