Praying without believing is being double-minded
“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” James 1:5-8.
People usually think that to pray is to say what they want and then they’re done. But that is a complete misunderstanding.
If I pray for wisdom, love or patience, and don’t even expect to receive it, much less believe that I have already received it, then I’m double-minded. “Yes, I would really like to have it, but I am managing very well without it.” Most people pray that way as long as they live and never receive what they pray for. In other words, they are double-minded; they have two minds. Another translation (GW) says: “A person who has doubts is thinking about two different things at the same time and can't make up his mind about anything.”
“I hate the double-minded, but I love Your law.” Psalm 119:113. God called David a man after His own heart. He was far from double-minded. All that mattered to him was to be fully saved. When a person wants to be fully saved but also has a little interest in something else, he has two minds. That’s how it is for most people, in different degrees.
Do you receive what you pray for?
“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him ...” James 1:5. James talks about wisdom here as an example, but it applies to everything we can get through salvation, such as godly love, patience, etc. James writes this so clearly that you would think people would pay attention, but usually nothing happens. People aren’t filled with love, wisdom or patience, or anything else they pray for.
“… But let him ask in faith, with no doubting …” James 1:6. Jesus said the same thing in Matthew 21:22 (GNT): “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” First we read: “Ask, and it will be given to you.” Matthew 7:7. That’s for beginners. But then it’s put more exactly: “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”
Faith isn’t something vague and unclear; it is firm and definite. It is the full conviction that you will receive what you prayed for. John also writes about this in 1 John 5:14-15. There it says that when we pray according to God’s will – and we always do that when we pray about salvation – we have this confidence in Him, that we have received what we prayed for.
Or are you double-minded?
“… for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind ...” James 1:6. He is tossed back and forth. Then it says in James 1:7: “For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord ...” And in James 1:8 there is a description of such a person: “… he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” If people would take this seriously, they would realise that they are double-minded – almost every one of them.
When you pray, you aren’t done just because you have told God what it is you want. No, but when you’ve gotten faith that you will receive what you prayed for, then you are done.
You can use the word “prayer” incorrectly. Some people do that. They pray for hours and think that if they pray for two hours it’s twice as good as praying for one hour. But if I don’t receive anything, either in the first hour or in the second, is that any good? The purpose of praying is to get a living faith that God will give me what I pray for according to His will. If I don’t get that, I don’t get anything. Then it doesn’t do any good to say that I pray a lot.
The point is to receive something so that what I pray for becomes real. I think this must be the most common sign of double-mindedness there is. This is certainly what everyone does to begin with. And a person can continue doing it his whole life long. It does have some small benefit in that the person stays close to God instead of falling away. But it is actually in vain.
Either we believe – or we don’t
There is no such thing as “trying to believe”. Either we believe or we don’t believe, and that applies to everything we pray for. If we don’t believe, it doesn’t help to pray. And then to carry on praying like that for hours is useless, unless your only aim is to be able, in the end, to lay hold of faith. That’s the right thing. Then it doesn’t matter if you pray for a long time or not, as long as you come to faith.
Jesus said, “And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world …” John 3:19 (ESV). People don’t have light when it comes to this. I think the best way to say it, is that people would really like to get what they pray for, but they can get along without it. And it’s clear that this is how it is because they can easily go on without receiving what they prayed for. On the one hand, they seem so very interested (but probably are not so extremely interested), and on the other hand, they aren’t interested at all. They are double-minded.
