The Power of Prayer

“You don’t have because you don’t ask” James 4:2c (Common English Bible)

Seven short words, here in the Book of James, speak one of the most powerful truths about prayer in all of scripture: “You don’t have because you don’t ask.” Though they are simple words, there is considerable depth in them. They speak to the power available to transform a life, to experience a mastery over struggle, difficulty, and obstacles that come to every person. Yet, their direct and simple promise suggest a carte blanche promise. They do not. The very next verse establishes reasonable parameters; “You ask and don’t have because you ask with evil intentions, to waste it on your own cravings.”

During two verses the reader moves from divine promise to harsh judgement, “you ask with evil intentions!” If those words were spoken to us by anyone, our likely response would be to walk away. And not in a positive manner. How are we to understand James’ teaching on prayer? Perhaps we can look to Shakespeare for help. In the play, The Tempest, which I saw on the London stage during college, a fierce storm hits in the open sea. The mariners run from one side of the ship to the other in desperation: “All is lost! To prayers! To prayers! All is lost! To prayers!” What becomes evident to the audience is that this call to prayer did not flow organically from a deep relationship with God. This call to prayer was nothing more than a last-ditch effort, a last resort, something turned to in a moment of frantic alarm. The prayer James’ speaks of—the prayer that releases considerable power—is prayer that is released from lives that are in harmony with God.

This teaching on prayer cannot be understood without reading the first chapter of James. It is there that James teaches that the process of maturity in faith, the process of growth in a personal relationship with Jesus, begins with trails and ends in endurance. This endurance completes its work with a faith that is mature, complete, and lacking in nothing. It is a faith of an intimate relationship in which there is understanding of God’s character and what a life that is “in-step” with God looks like. For them, God gives without a second thought (1:5). But for those mariners in Shakespeare’s play, those whose life gives no consideration to God except in moments of desperation, they should never imagine that they will receive anything from the Lord (1:7). Such people have reduced God to a blue genie in the sky who is always prepared to be ignored until a wish is made.

Our desire to interact with God must the one constant in our lives. Prayer is that means where we keep company with God, pay attention to God, and seek God’s wisdom for how we are to live. That relationship informs us what is to be our priorities and our desires as we continually draw near to God. It is then that we realize that God is the primary gift—the primary answer to our deepest longings. The contours of such a relationship are marked with vibrancy and power. Our primary commitment in life entails acting in line with and based on God’s wisdom. Moving in our own chosen direction, seeking our own desires, and then discovering that we face a “tempest” and asking God’s help is identified by James as asking with “evil intentions.” It isn’t God that matters in our life. It is us.

Joy,