know how to give unto your chil dren good things, how much more shall your heavenly Father give to them that ask Him." Annie Johnson Flint penned, His love has no limit, His grace has no measure, His power has no boundary known unto man, But out of His infinite riches in Jesus, He giveth and giveth and giveth again. The third action is to make sure that our asking is sincere. The pre requisite is, "Let him ask in faith, nothing doubting." James talks about our sincerity positively first (vrs. 6-7). Hebrews tells us that, "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Belief always brings ac tivity that results from it. Remem ber when Jesus changed the water into wine? The order was given to fill pots with water. They needed wine and he was asking the men to fill the pots with water! The miracle was the transformation of water in to wine. But more important is that these men did as they were told to do, in spite of the fact that it may have seemed an irrational action to them. Faith is always obedience to what God has said. "Let him ask in faith, nothing doubting." Now viewing this negatively we see that it is possible for an indi vidual to doubt. James says that the one who doubts is like a surge in the sea driven by the wind and tossed. First of all he talks about the character of the doubter. He is tossed by every wind. Paul, too, referred to those who were babes in Christ, being caught by every wind of doctrine. This is a picture of the kind of person who doubts. Paul tells us why God has given certain gifted people to the church.
The reason is that we may "no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slight of man and craftiness after the wiles of error. But speaking in truth in love may grow up in all things un to Him, who is the Head, even Christ" (Ephesians 4:14)." The doubter is one who is constantly flailing around, trying to find an swers; whereas the one who asks in faith understands the person of God and His Word. James also tells us about the failure of the doubter. "He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways" (vs. 7). Such a person fails at prayer. He has no real aim or direction in his intercession. We may petition, "Lord, deliver me from the trial." Yet, this is not any thing more than selfishness. What we need is to pray for wisdom amid the trial. The failure of the doubter in prayer is that he really is not asking for something that is to the glory of God. There is a ba sic failure, too, in the matter of decision making. The picture is of the most unsettled thing in the un iverse which is the waves of the sea. May God give us the right kind of actions and reactions as we face the trials of life. There may be problems of decision making to day. There may be personal difficul ties faced with fellow employees, family members or church associ ates. There may be hardships as a result of a lack of money. What ever the situation, God tells us to come to Him, making requests by faith that we might have wisdom to cope with the trials. Our purpose should be not that we may escape from such things but rather have wisdom to live under it! Page 43
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