James 4:3

James 4:3 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
• New International Version (NIV)When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
• English Standard Version (ESV)You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
• New King James Version (NKJV)You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.

Context of James 4:3

1What leads to [the unending] quarrels and conflicts among you? Do they not come from your [hedonistic] desires that wage war in your [bodily] members [fighting for control over you]? 2You are jealous and covet [what others have] and your lust goes unfulfilled; so you murder. You are envious and cannot obtain [the object of your envy]; so you fight and battle. You do not have because you do not ask [it of God]. You ask [God for something] and do not receive it, because you ask with wrong motives [out of selfishness or with an unrighteous agenda], so that [when you get what you want] you may spend it on your [hedonistic] desires. 4You adulteresses [disloyal sinners—flirting with the world and breaking your vow to God]! Do you not know that being the world’s friend [that is, loving the things of the world] is being God’s enemy? So whoever chooses to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5Or do you think that the Scripture says to no purpose that the [human] spirit which He has made to dwell in us lusts with envy?

James 4:3 word by word

αἰτεῖτε καὶ οὐ λαμβάνετε, διότι κακῶς αἰτεῖσθε, ἵνα ἐν ταῖς ἡδοναῖς ὑμῶν δαπανήσητε.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Ye askαἰτέωaiteō · to askG154
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• receiveλαμβάνωlambanō · to takeG2983
• notοὐou · noG3756
• becauseδιότιdioti · becauseG1360
• amissκακῶςkakōs · badlyG2560
• thatἵναhina · in order that/toG2443
• ye may consumeδαπανάωdapanaō · to spendG1159
• uponἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• yourσύsu · youG4771
• lustsὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• lustsἡδονήhēdonē · pleasureG2237

Cross-references for James 4:3

• James 1:6But he must ask [for wisdom] in faith, without doubting [God’s willingness to help], for the one who doubts is like a billowing surge of the sea that is blown about and tossed by the wind.
• Job 27:8For what is the hope of the godless, even though he has gained [in this world], When God takes his life?
• Job 35:12The people cry out, but He does not answer Because of the pride of evil men.
• Psalms 18:41They cried for help, but there was no one to save them— Even to the Lord [they cried], but He did not answer them.
• Psalms 66:18If I regard sin and baseness in my heart [that is, if I know it is there and do nothing about it], The Lord will not hear [me];
• Proverbs 1:28Then they will call upon me (Wisdom), but I will not answer; They will seek me eagerly but they will not find me,
• Proverbs 15:8The sacrifice of the wicked is hateful and exceedingly offensive to the Lord, But the prayer of the upright is His delight!
• Proverbs 21:13Whoever shuts his ears at the cry of the poor Will cry out himself and not be answered.
• Isaiah 1:15So when you spread out your hands [in prayer, pleading for My help], I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you offer many prayers, I will not be listening. Your hands are full of blood!
• Jeremiah 11:11Therefore thus says the Lord, “Behold I am bringing disaster and suffering on them which they will not be able to escape; though they cry to Me, I will not listen to them.
• Jeremiah 14:12Though they fast, I will not hear their cry; and though they offer burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them [because they are done as obligations, and not as acts of loving obedience]. Instead I will consume them by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence.”
• Micah 3:4Then they will cry to the Lord, But He will not answer them; Instead, He will even hide His face from them at that time [withholding His mercy] Because they have practiced and tolerated and ignored evil acts.
• Zechariah 7:13And just as He called and they would not listen, so they called and I would not listen,” says the Lord of hosts;
• Matthew 20:22But Jesus replied, “You do not realize what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup [of suffering] that I am about to drink?” They answered, “We are able.”
• Mark 10:38But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism [of suffering and death] with which I am baptized?”
• 1 John 3:22and we receive from Him whatever we ask because we [carefully and consistently] keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight [habitually seeking to follow His plan for us].

Commentaries on James 4:3

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 3Ye 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 - · Ye ask evilly, wickedly. Ye have not the proper dispositions of prayer, and ye have an improper object. Ye ask for worldly prosperity, that ye may employ it in riotous living. This is properly the meaning of the…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3Ye ask, and receive not - That is, some of you ask, or you ask on some occasions. Though seeking in general what you desire by strife, and without regard to the rights of others, yet you sometimes pray. It is not uncommon for men who go to war to pray, or to procure the services of a chaplain to pray for them. It sometimes happens that the covetous and the quarrelsome; that those who live to wrong others, and who are fond of litigation, pray. Such men may…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. Some of them are supposed to say in objection, But we do "ask" (pray); compare Jas 4:2. James replies, It is not enough to ask for good things, but we must ask with a good spirit and intention. "Ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it (your object of prayer) upon (literally, 'in') your lusts (literally, 'pleasures')"; not that ye may have the things you need for the service of God. Contrast Jas 1:5 with Mt 6:31,32. If ye prayed aright, all your proper…Read the comment

Topics related to James 4:3

• Lust
• Sin
• Wicked (People)

In the dictionaries

• Adulterer
• Amiss
• Consume
• Enmity
• Flee
• Hence
• Lust
• Resist
• Sin
• Unruly

Commentaries on James 4

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings