You Have Not Because You Ask Not...

 James 4:1-4

1 What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? ² You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. ³ And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.

⁴ You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. NLT

As believers of Jesus Christ we must understand that in order to obtain God's promises for us we have the need to draw near to Him, inquire of Him, trust and rely on Him, and acknowledge our necessity of Him above all else.  It is for this purpose alone that He allows us to know His plan and purpose for our lives and increases us at every step of our obedience. This is also designed to help us obtain the character of Christ that will sustain us in His power and authority when we reach our destiny, and will propel us to cause greater damage in the camp of the enemy to set others free for His glory alone.

In addition, the process we are taken through serves the purpose of removing the influence of the religious-anti-Christ spirit that rules the world and has infiltrated the church with its demonic doctrines designed to derail the church from its apostolic assignment of taking dominion over the land to advance God's Kingdom given to Adam. Adam lost it to Satan, but Jesus bought it back when He died on the Cross and shed His blood to set us free and reconcile us to the Father. It was then handed down to the early church but contested over the centuries, but in these end times we have the mandate to demonstrate this dominion to the world.

The religious anti-Christ influence has manifestations outlined in the passage above and as we acknowledge its influence in us, we can cry out to God to help us be set free from it at every step of our process on the way to our destiny. The passage shows that where there is this type of influence there are quarrels and fights between groups or individuals. These fights exist because one group or individual opposes another in an attempt to obstruct or stop the plans and purposes of God and it comes in the form of persecution of the other group or individual.

We all have different levels of our training and walk with God and are all given the chance to reach our destiny in God's prescribed way.  But some are more reluctant to allow God to remove the worldly influence from them and are found with unbelief of the ways of God. They fight others that may be steps closer to fulfilling God's designed process for them and scheme and kill through criticism, slander and gossip fashioned to destroy the name and influence of God through those they are persecuting. Also, through this worldly influence, they employ the world's ways to achieve what they want even if it means taking it from those God has handed it to because they have paid the price required to obtain it.

Among believers this happens a great deal and it also takes the form of praying witchcraft or manipulative prayers, and seeking God's hand instead of His heart through manipulative worship only to get what they want without the accountability and responsibility of paying the price required. Our prayer to God should be to help us develop the character of Christ found in the nine fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) above every promise or desire. This is what it means to seek first the kingdom of God and all His righteousness, so we can then see our desires added on to us (Matthew 6:31-33).

Among believers, those that refuse to allow God to remove the worldly influence from them and instead let the enemy use them to manipulate and control their way towards God's promises at the expense of the innocent, thus applying the ways of the world, are considered enemies of God. God has a day of visitation in which He will give to everyone according to what he (or she) has done (Revelation 22:12).

If you have found this type of influence in you, repent and cry out to God to cleanse you and deliver you from it so your mind can be renewed and you can be found on the side of mercy instead of on the side of judgment on this day of visitation. This process will take time and you will also be taken out of your comfort zone, but it will ensure  that you will reach your destiny in God in a way that will show Christ and will allow the Holy Spirit to use you to direct others to The Way, The Truth, and The Life that is only found in Christ Jesus our Lord. To Him alone be all the glory.