James 4:3

3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, in order that you may spend [it] on your pleasures.

James 4:3 Meaning and Commentary

James 4:3

Ye ask, and receive not
Some there were that did ask of God the blessings of his goodness and providence, and yet these were not bestowed on them; the reason was,

because ye ask amiss;
not in the faith of a divine promise; nor with thankfulness for past mercies; nor with submission to the will of God; nor with a right end, to do good to others, and to make use of what might be bestowed, for the honour of God, and the interest of Christ: but

that ye may consume it upon your lusts;
indulge to intemperance and luxury; as the man that had much goods laid up for many years did, to the neglect of his own soul, ( Luke 12:19 ) or the rich man, who spent all upon his back and his belly, and took no notice of Lazarus at his gate; ( Luke 16:19 ) .

James 4:3 In-Context

1 From where [are] conflicts and from where [are] quarrels among you? [Is it] not from this, from your pleasures that wage war among your members?

2 You desire and do not have; you murder and are filled with envy, and are not able to obtain; you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.

3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, in order that you may spend [it] on your pleasures.

4 Adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wants to be a friend of the world makes [himself] an enemy of God.

5 Or do you think that in vain the scripture says, "The spirit which he caused to dwell in us desires jealously"?