James 4:1–3

The Apostle has spoken of disorder and strife among the professing people of God. Now he asks where the wars and fightings among them come from. He traces the wars among the people of God to the lusts of the heart, which show themselves through the body. To gratify lust the flesh is prepared to kill and fight. In a literal sense this is true of the world and its wars. In a moral sense, if we are set on having our own way, the flesh shows no mercy. It belittles and overrides anyone who stands in the way of what we want.

The words polemos and machē are translated "fight" or "fighting." Both occur in James 4:1… They roughly match the English words "war" (polemos) and actual fighting (machē, compare the Hebrew makkah, slaughter), though the war may be moral, and the fighting may be done by word of mouth.

Next he states the immediate cause. Do they not come from your pleasures, which fight inside your body? It was the gratification of fallen nature. The parts of the body play their part here, unchecked by God's will or the fear of Him. The throat is an open grave. The tongue is deceitful. The lips have poison underneath. The mouth is full of bitterness. The eyes are full of adultery. The hands are ready to rob. The heart leans to covetousness. The feet are quick to shed blood. How hopelessly evil, if grace had not given another nature through and according to the word of truth… And the new nature has its pleasures after its source, hating what God hates, and delighting in what pleases Him.

Wars and fightings are the fruits of the old nature, the flesh… What produces fightings is the gratification of the lusts of the natural man, not the new nature, which is from above. This takes in all forms of lusts: not only those of the flesh, but the lust for power, the lust for prominence and leadership, and the lusts of the mind. "You desire and do not have." There is nothing that can satisfy the heart of man. Any lust will end in disappointment and remorse.

Having commended the spirit of peace in the Christian's ways, James now asks where the wars and fightings "among you" come from. But here we must ask what "among you" means. It does not have to mean among Christians… they found themselves still in the midst of the twelve tribes, who are, I do not doubt, included in this "among you." And the Christians might find themselves implicated in these disputes, so James's appeal reaches them too. These fightings came from their pleasures. Their will was unbroken. Lust distracted their hearts. They wanted what they did not have. Conscience was silent, overpowered by lust.

Towards God he refuses to submit. Towards other people he envies their prosperity and covets what they own. He wants the best his neighbours have for himself, and if the chance comes he will use all his powers to seize their wealth, their land or their glory. He will not LOOK UP TO GOD to find the satisfaction that no earthly thing can give… This is one of the great causes of war and strife, whether between nations, people, or fellow believers.

If our desires are right, there is no need to fight among ourselves to get them. We can ask God. Even so, we may not get an answer to our prayers, because we may ask with the wrong motive — to gratify some lust.

These violent workings sprang from self unjudged. When they are deliberate and ongoing, we call them "wars." When they are passing outbreaks, we call them "fightings" or "battles." But they describe violence not out in the world, but among the people he addresses. The humbling fact remains: the words we use for them come from the uncontrolled ways of men who did not know God.

The members of the body in this case play their part, unchecked by the will or fear of God: the throat, an open grave; the tongue, deceitful; the lips, with poison underneath; the mouth, full of bitterness; the eyes, full of adultery; the hands, ready for robbery; the heart, prone to covetousness; the feet, swift to shed blood. How hopelessly evil, if grace had not given another nature through and according to the word of truth!

The gratification of the lusts of the natural man produces fightings, and not the new nature, that which is from above. This includes all forms of lust — not only those of the flesh, but the lust for power, the lust for pre-eminence and leadership, the lusts of the mind. "You desire and do not have" — nothing can satisfy the heart of man. Any kind of lust ends in disappointment and remorse.

The wild beast knows nothing of restraint upon his passions. He tears and slaughters more than enough to satisfy his cravings, and yet is not satisfied, and slaughters again tomorrow. Man in his unconverted state is like this... This is indeed the way of the world, but let us see to it that we keep quite clear of this greedy, unsatisfied spirit.

The flesh shows itself here in all its repulsive features. There is lust that is never fulfilled. There is the viciousness of virtual murder — putting another out of the way, because the heart is filled with envy. At the same time there is frustration, with murmuring and contention. Yet how foolish and unnecessary all of this is! "You do not have, because you do not ask." God will surely answer a quiet spirit of dependent faith that simply asks of Him.

There is no limit, except the limit that little faith may set. God does guard His giving, so that the gift is good — and that is not a limit. The Lord backs His exhortations twice over with the promise that "everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened." What a door this opens for us! What possibility of blessing! How rich we may all be, if only we will be! And yet the apostle's words could apply in the fresh early days when they were written: "You do not have, because you do not ask."

James does have Christians in view, but not Christians only. As he says himself, he is writing to the people of Israel, and not only to those in Israel who believe... So there is a word here for those among them who were plainly not born of God, as well.

No man could seek His glory and the gratification of his own lusts at the same time. If we are near to Him, we will know how rich His giving is, and we will ask. Our knowledge of Him will guide our asking, and we will not ask wrongly.

There are desires that come to nothing. There is violence taken to an extreme, and envy or jealousy in full measure, yet still no satisfaction. There is contention that keeps growing worse. There is no asking, and no answer of peace.

They come from the pleasures that fight inside you. Satisfying the lusts of the natural man produces fighting... this includes all forms of lust, not only those of the flesh. It includes the lust for power, the lust to be first and to lead, and the lusts of the mind... The natural man is religious too, and so he prays. But their prayers came from the old nature, the desires of the flesh; they did not receive because they asked wrongly... Even true believers often ask and do not receive, because they ask wrongly, out of selfish reasons, to feed their own pleasures.

"Wrongly": does that point to something in the manner? No, because "we do not know what to pray for as we ought." No special manner or posture is needed. No particular words, no gift or skill in speaking, nothing unnatural or learned... Prayer is simply the breathing of a child — natural, trusting, humble, submissive. No, the passage itself explains the word: "to spend it on your passions."

The word "pleasures," given in the margin of the older translation, is correct. It is not "lusts," but "pleasures" — and they need not be bad pleasures. What is in view is self-pleasing, the plain desire of the natural mind. God's glory and our own spiritual profit are not considered at all. And God's people (see the next verse) are living in friendship with the world, which is spiritual adultery.

How plainly this teaches us that God looks at the heart. He examines the motive behind the asking. This is very searching, and it explains a lot of unanswered prayer. We may ask for completely right things and receive nothing, because we ask from completely wrong motives.

But on the other hand, someone may ask and not receive. Why? Because what moves him is not faith but the desire of the flesh. If he got what he wants, God knows it would damage his own soul. Man is lustful enough already, without God encouraging these lusts by answering prayer of this kind.

So if the desire is a mere lust, or is to be spent on lust, the prayer goes unanswered (James 4:3), or the answer comes as chastisement — a Kibroth-hattaavah, a grave of lust. If the prayer is in the Spirit, and is the prayer of faith, the answer comes as asked.

It is when Christ and His glory control us that we will pray in His Name... We will not be guilty of such folly, if the glory of the Lord fills our souls. No man can seek His glory and the satisfying of his own lusts at the same time. If we are near to Him, we will know the wealth of His giving, and we will ask.