Written by Richard Foster, a contemporary theologian and author.
Prayer draws us into trust… The life of trust which comes through prayer frees us from our greed. Remember the words of James, “What causes wars, and what causes fighting among you? Is it not your passions that are at war in your members? You desire and do not have; so you kill. And you covet and cannot obtain; so you fight and wage war.” That is the way of the world in which we live. That is the spirit of the flesh. James goes on to describe another way, a more excellent way, the way of the kingdom of God. “You do not have because you do not ask.” The way of prayer brings us into the life of trust which sets us free from our greed… Many of us, as we are moving into this life of holy obedience, have not yet had the spirit of greed removed and been able to enter into this life of trust. But as we go along, we’re set free from the need to desire things that do not please God and are not consistent with his way. As we grow and enter into holy obedience and its essential partner, trust, there are many things we simply do not need. For what we do need, we can ask, and we will receive. No longer is there the need to watch out for number one. We live in trust. Trust defeats the spirit of climb, push, and shove. In trust we are set free from the spirit of fear: fear that we won’t have enough, fear that we will be left out in the cold, fear that inflation will impoverish us, fear that the communists will overtake us, fear, fear, fear. In the ministry of prayer we are freed from fear.
When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. [James 4:3]
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