James 1:6-8 - Such a person is double-minded

1:6

So we have had a very generous verse. Now we get some severe warnings. Thus sudden change of tone can be somewhat disconcerting to us and we find it difficult to understand, so we tend to ignore one or other aspect, either the “generous” one or the “severe” one. If we are to have a proper understanding we need to take both on board. So we are to believe if we want to receive anything. We tend to read this as believing a very focused thing, ie the precise thing we are asking for. However, it is perhaps better to take it more generally. I.e. we believe that Christ is Lord and Saviour and that He has our best interests at heart. If we are not fully committed to Him we are indeed tossed to and fro by the wind. Remember that in Eph 4:14 Paul urges us to become mature so that we are not tossed to and fro by every wind of false teaching.

1:7,8

So if we are not committed to the Lord we should not expect to receive anything. In John’s gospel Jesus speaks of God giving us whatever we ask for in His name. We tend to take these veres as applying to specific prayers, as saying we need to believe that we will receive the precise thing we have asked for. It makes more sense to take them as meaning that if we are fully committed to Christ and engaged in fulfilling the task He has given to us, then we will receive whatever we ask for. The one who is not fully committed is indeed “double minded and unstable in all they do”. We need to be fully committed to Christ.