Spiritual Strength For Each Day
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).
According to Scripture, every promise contained in the Bible has a key we must use before we can claim it. This key is called “obedience in faith.” We must use this key before we do anything else. Notice that this key is not only faith, but also obedience in faith.
We read in verse 3, “Ye ask, and receive not.” What is the reason for this powerlessness and inability to receive? In his first letter, the Apostle John wrote: “Whatsoever we ask, we receive of him” (1 John 3:22a). Therefore, we have the power to receive answers to our prayers in faith.
However, something else is written in James 4:3: “Ye ask, and receive not.” Why? Because the motives in our hearts are not pure and clear: “…because ye ask amiss, they ye may consume it upon your lusts.” In other words, we don’t receive answers to our prayers when our motives for prayer don’t focus on Jesus and Jesus alone.
