James 1:7

Let not that man think that he will receive anything from the Lord.
James 1:7 Modern English Version (MEV)
 
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For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord - Compare Heb_11:6. A man can hope for favor from God only as he puts confidence in him. He sees the heart; and if he sees that there is no belief in his existence, or his perfections - no real trust in him - no reliance on his promises, his wisdom, his grace - it cannot be proper that he should grant an answer to our petitions. That will account sufficiently for the fact that there are so many prayers unanswered; that we so frequently go to the throne of grace, and are sent empty away. A man that goes to God in such a state of mind, should not expect to receive any favor.
 
Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
 
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We have a great tendency to tie ourselves up into knots trying to figure out why God doesn’t answer our prayers. What are we doing wrong? Why isn’t my faith strong enough? There are, of course, multiple reasons for this. Not having enough faith is actually far down the list. At the top of the list is that we aren’t praying for the right things. Specifically, many of our prayers are really quite selfish, interested only in our own personal gain and well-being. Our first step, then, is to examine our own prayers and whether we simply see God as some great Santa Claus showering us with gifts when we are all good boys and girls, or as a giant pinata that all we have to do is persevere with whacking it with our prayer sticks until all the goodies fall out.