You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
English Standard Version (ESV)
The verse isn't just saying "don't be selfish" in your prayers; it's highlighting that the very goal of your request is flawed. You're asking for things not to honor God or help others, but to fuel your own desires, essentially asking to be given more resources to indulge in worldly pleasures and appetites.
You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
English Standard Version (ESV)
James is responding to a conflict within the community where members are fighting and quarreling, driven by selfish desires. He points out that their prayers are ineffective not because God doesn't hear, but because they are asking with the wrong motives—seeking things solely to satisfy their own cravings and pleasures, rather than for God's purposes. This self-serving approach to prayer is directly linked to the dissension and wars among them.
Does God always answer your prayers? James points to a surprising reason why some prayers go unanswered, and it might make you rethink your own requests.
James gets straight to the point: some people pray but don't receive because their prayers are fundamentally flawed. The Greek word for 'ask amiss' (kakos) means 'wickedly' or 'with evil intent.' It's not just about asking for the wrong thing, but asking with the wrong heart and for the wrong reasons.
Why Prayers Fail
Imagine receiving a gift only to misuse it immediately. James reveals that some prayers are essentially requests to 'waste' God's blessings on fleeting desires.
The phrase 'to spend it on your passions' (hēdonais) points to indulging in sensual pleasures and worldly delights. It's about using what you receive not for good, but for selfish gratification.
The Trap of Lusts
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James is directly addressing believers who have adopted a mindset similar to the surrounding pagan culture, where prayer was often seen as a tool for personal gain and the indulgence of appetites, rather than a means of aligning one's will with God's.
c. 40s-50s AD— this verse
Churches Face Internal Strife
The communities James is writing to are experiencing significant internal conflict, characterized by quarreling, envy, and a focus on worldly desires rather than spiritual ones.
c. 40s-50s AD
Emphasis on Materialism and Worldly Gain
There's a strong tendency within these communities to seek material wealth and social status, fueled by a desire for personal pleasure and advancement.
c. 30-33 AD
Jesus' Sermon on the Mount
Jesus taught principles about prayer and righteous living, including the idea that asking God for things should be done with pure motives and for His glory.
c. 40s-50s AD
Misapplication of Prayer Principles
Believers are praying, but their petitions are often self-centered, seeking provision to indulge their own desires rather than seeking God's will or the good of others.
Jesus teaches the importance of asking, but James highlights that the *way* we ask and our motives matter immensely, contrasting with the general promise of receiving.
1 John 5:14This passage provides a key condition for answered prayer: asking according to God's will, directly addressing the 'asking amiss' described in James.
Luke 12:15Jesus warns against greed and covetousness, which directly aligns with James's critique of asking for things to indulge selfish desires and 'lusts'.
Philippians 4:6Paul contrasts the anxious, selfish asking James addresses with prayer and supplication accompanied by thanksgiving, presenting a model of rightly-ordered prayer.
clarkeJames 4:3: "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts."
Ye ask, and receive not - Some think that this refers to their prayers for the conversion of the heathen; and on the pretense that they were not converted thus; they thought it lawful to extirpate them and possess their goods. Ye ask amiss - Κακως αιτεισθε· Ye ask evilly, wickedly. Ye have not the proper dispositions of prayer, and ye have an improper object. Ye ask for worldly prosperity, that y…
pulpitJames 4:3: "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts."
Verse 3. - An evident allusion to the sermon on the mount, Matthew 7:7, "Ask, and it shall be given to you... for every one that asketh receiveth." And yet St. James says, "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss;" for our Lord elsewhere limits his teaching, "All things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer believing," etc. (Matthew 21:22). Αἰτεῖτε... αἰτεῖσθε. The active and middle voices are…
The verse isn't just saying "don't be selfish" in your prayers; it's highlighting that the very goal of your request is flawed. You're asking for things not to honor God or help others, but to fuel your own desires, essentially asking to be given more resources to indulge in worldly pleasures and appetites.
James is responding to a conflict within the community where members are fighting and quarreling, driven by selfish desires. He points out that their prayers are ineffective not because God doesn't hear, but because they are asking with the wrong motives—seeking things solely to satisfy their own cravings and pleasures, rather than for God's purposes. This self-serving approach to prayer is directly linked to the dissension and wars among them.
James is responding to a conflict within the community where members are fighting and quarreling, driven by selfish desires. He points out that their prayers are ineffective not because God doesn't hear, but because they are asking with the wrong motives—seeking things solely to satisfy their own cravings and pleasures, rather than for God's purposes. This self-serving approach to prayer is directly linked to the dissension and wars among them.
"You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions." — The verse isn't just saying "don't be selfish" in your prayers; it's highlighting that the very goal of your request is flawed. You're asking for things not to honor God or help others, but to fuel…
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Last reviewed October 2026