James 4:3 KJV
[3] “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”
The crowd in our text is full of wars, fighting, lust, murder, and in the next verse, accused of spiritual adultery. However, they are people who pray. It is strange how people can be so evil yet still bow their heads and go through the formality of prayer, believing that God will hear them through their selfish pride.
In verse two, he told us that they failed to pray personally, but in this verse, he tells us that they failed to pray properly. People who follow their lustful desires don’t pray often, but when they do, their prayers reveal how self-centered they are.
If we are going to have our prayers answered, we must pray according to God’s will and not our own. We are to pray in faith, regarding no iniquity in our hearts, and pray in Jesus’ name. Examine your heart and your prayer life. Do you pray? If so, then do you pray properly. Prayer is our most powerful weapon if we use it wisely.
Prayer cannot be about us, but it must be about Him. Prayer is our means of communication with God. We have the privilege to pray freely, faithfully, and fervently. We cannot afford to let the flesh rob us of our prayer life. Our flesh will hinder our prayers if we don’t crucify it daily.
If you study the prayers of the apostle Paul in the epistles, you find that Paul prayed according to the will of God. That is how he could pray with such confidence and victory in his heart. Putting the flesh in its proper place allowed him to live freely in Christ Jesus. He was winning the war from within and enjoying the victory through prayer.