“Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.” (James 4:2)
A long time ago, I do not know if it is still true, some Baptist organizations were referred to as the “dunk them then drop them” churches. Intent on bringing people to the cross, retrieving some semblance of a profession of faith from them, baptizing them and then heading out to look for the next lost soul.
As it is in many churches today, there is very little effort towards personal, one on one discipleship, which in one degree is acknowledged by the fact that in many cases there is one pastor attempting to lead a dozen or more people in the knowledge of the Lord, and if that assembly grows, then the time available to spend with each individual is diminished exponentially. A wise man will seek for one who is determined to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord, and thereby obtain to the church a fellow helper in this regard, you may call them an associate pastor if you so desire.
But many, if not most in the congregation do not ask to be led thus, but James 4:3 becomes a truth in their life, “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.”
How can one know how to properly ask anything of the Lord if one does not diligently study the Scriptures to know the will of God in this area?
Many of those who stand behind the pulpit today will not force, as it were, this singularized discipleship upon those in the assembly, they will attempt to coerce, even to beg in a way for them to grow, but they will not ask one of them to offer a time twice a week to meet with him and then hold them to that obligation. People do not like to be forced to serve the Lord Jesus Christ, they do not want their day-to-day life interrupted by Him, the Sunday morning obligation is generally enough Scripture time. And so when they ask the Lord for anything, they fulfill the second part of James 1:6, “But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.”
They see themselves as either unworthy to ask, for they know the truth about themselves, that the concerns of the world and their own selfish desires are the driving force behind those prayers, they “ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” (James 4:3) Three verses already in this short letter, and each of us fit into one or more of those categories.
I ask you then, in reference to John 14:14, “If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.” Where do you fit into these three verses concerning prayer? Are you asking amiss because you do not study the Scriptures, are you like the waves because of the truth of that statement, do you desire things from the Almighty for your own personal benefits?
I am sure many pastors pray for helpers in the work, such as the Lord said, “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few,” (Matt. 9:37) but how many will step out the door, go to one in their congregation and say to them that they will be meeting with them twice a week, at such and such time, and they expect them to be there? Better yet, how many that sit in those pews will approach the pastor and say, “Pick a time, twice a week to teach me, one on one, and I will be there.”
Who is responsible in the end for you? You are, and this you know full well. Dunk’em and drop’em, then on to the next poor lost soul.
“The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.” (Prov. 27:7) You were saved, you were baptized, and now you sit in church on Sunday morning. Would you call that a profitable servant?
