Every vain and greedy person will only ask the Lord for goods and riches, the power to boast of everything they can, fighting as much as they can to obtain everything. This before the Lord is very bad.
This type of attitude reveals a heart that is not aligned with the will of God, because instead of seeking the Giver, it only seeks the gifts. Many people approach God only when they have needs or desires, but once they receive what they want, they forget about Him. This selfish way of thinking does not please the Lord, because God desires obedience, humility, and a sincere heart more than material abundance.
The man who pursues all these things, because his heart only looks at earthly things, his life can never reach the kingdom of heaven, nor will he have a long life in Jesus. That is why in the letter of James he tells us about the judgment and the warning to the arrogant people:
But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.
James 4:16
James speaks very clearly and firmly, because arrogance and pride blind the human heart. When a person boasts of what they have or what they plan to achieve, they forget that everything depends on the will of God. Life itself is fragile and uncertain, and without the Lord’s guidance, all plans are empty. That is why rejoicing in personal achievements without acknowledging God is considered evil in the eyes of the Lord.
The author mentions something very important in this chapter, because he was talking about how they get tired of asking and asking for things that do not build up their lives, they only asked to satisfy their carnal desires and never to build up their soul.
This teaching is still very relevant today. Many believers spend more time asking for prosperity, success, and comfort than asking for wisdom, patience, faith, and spiritual growth. When prayers are centered only on personal pleasure, they lose their true purpose. Prayer should be a means to draw closer to God, not just a list of demands to satisfy human desires.
That is why the author recommends asking the Lord well, since many focused on asking for his delights, that is why he says, you ask and you do not receive, because it is because you are asking wrong.
Asking wrongly means asking without submission to God’s will. True prayer seeks God’s glory first and trusts that He knows what is best for our lives. Sometimes God does not grant what we ask for, not because He does not love us, but because what we desire could harm our spiritual walk. God, in His mercy, often protects us from our own wrong requests.
Siblings. God commands us to focus on his kingdom and his righteousness, since other things can come later. God knows our situations, do not focus on material things more than spiritual things, since material things are fleeting, but spiritual things will last forever.
When we place God at the center of our lives, our priorities change. We begin to value what truly matters: obedience, holiness, love for others, and a deep relationship with the Lord. Material blessings may come or may not come, but our true treasure is stored in heaven. Let us examine our hearts and our prayers, asking ourselves if we are truly seeking God or only what He can give us.
May the Lord help us to humble ourselves before Him, to ask with sincerity, and to desire above all things His presence in our lives. Only then will our prayers be aligned with His will, and our lives will reflect the true riches that come from walking faithfully with God.