THE RELIGION CORNER: You Have Not Because You Ask Not

Is it time for you to get really serious about your next steps, and I mean steps that will definitely change your life? The reason many of us keep getting the same things is because we keep doing the same things. It is a law, but when you really want to get to the next level, make your goal clear, write it down.

Read Habakkuk 2:2-3 (KJV), which says, “Write the vision and make it plain. And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.”

James 4:2 (KJV) says, “Ye have not, because ye ask not.” This is a very popular scripture to quote — especially when you are praying and believing God for something in your life. Jesus instructs us to “ask” in many places throughout Scripture, so it makes sense that if you don’t have something, it could be because you didn’t ask for it.

Does this mean that God will give me whatever I ask for? Is that what James really means here, or is there more to the story? Well, there is, and that’s what we’re going to look into. Let’s take a closer look at motives as we explore the scriptural idea that you “have not” because you “ask not.”

James 4:1-3 says, “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”

Looking closely at having not because of asking not reveals that the problem is not really in the asking. The problem is in the reason why you are asking.

James identifies some of these wrong motives, but the ultimate desire that drives all the others is the burning desire to get something you do not have. This is known as coveting. To covet is to be jealous of something that someone else has, or to possess a strong eagerness to get something that does not belong to you.

Keep being sincere, think of others first. You can’t use people just so you can get what you want, then kick them to the curb, like we see some politicians doing. Do you feel when you see others around you being blessed that it seems like God is passing you by? Do you rejoice in the blessing of others or do you despise them? When someone shares about how God has blessed them, do you feel the need to try to trump their blessing with one of your own? God knows who you are, and He know if you are happy for others. Work on yourself!

When someone gets a new job, promotion, new house, new car or any myriad of material blessings, do you find yourself being excited for them, or envious of them instead?

If you do, then be careful, because the “covet monster” could be stirring inside you. So the next time someone shares what God is doing in their lives, rejoice with them! The Bible says we should rejoice with those who rejoice.

Lyndia Grant is a speaker/writer living in the D.C. area. Her radio show, “Think on These Things,” airs Fridays at 6 p.m. on 1340 AM (WYCB), a Radio One station. To reach Grant, visit her website, www.lyndiagrant.com, email lyndiagrantshowdc@gmail.com or call 240-602-6295. Follow her on Twitter @LyndiaGrant and on Facebook.