But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.But let him ask in faith, without any doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed.But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting: for he that doubteth is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and tossed.
4 sermons cite this verse
… if any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of god who gives to all liberally and without reproach and it will be given to him but let him ask in faith with no doubting he who doubts is like the wave of the sea driven and tossed by wind let not that man suppose he will receive anything from the Lord. He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. Verse 12, blessed is the man who endures temptation. For when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love him. Verse 18, of his own will, he brought us forth by the word of truth that we might be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. Look at verse 18 again. Of his own will, he brought us forth by the word of truth that we might be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. Let me stop here for this verse just a moment. We'll read a couple more and then we'll go back to the beginning and talk. …
… IS THERE IS THE SPIRITUAL DESTRUCTION THAT COMES BY PORNOGRAPHY AND LUST. JAMES CHAPTER ONE, VERSES 4-6, but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. And then when lust hath conceived it, bringeth forth sin. And sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Then James said, do not err, my beloved brethren. This is why Jesus Christ said, whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. It is SOMETHING THAT BRINGS SPIRITUAL DEATH. WHEN IT GETS INTO YOUR HEART, IT'S GOING TO BE EXPRESSED ONE WAY OR ANOTHER. NOW, PEOPLE HAVE TRIED ALL KINDS OF WAYS TO DEAL WITH LUST. PEOPLE HAVE TRIED ALL KINDS OF WAYS TO DEAL WITH THIS PROBLEM BECAUSE IT IS ALL AROUND US. AND MY DEAR FRIEND, YOU CANNOT PRACTICE ISOLATION, SO YOU'D BETTER LEARN SOME KIND OF INSOLATION AND YOU'D BETTER LEARN SOMETHING THAT'S GOING TO PROTECT YOU IN THIS DAY WHEN IT, AS I'VE SAID, WE HAVE REACHED THE ABSOLUTE BOTTOM OF THE GARBAGE CAN. HOW CAN YOU KEEP YOUR MIND PURE? MEN HAVE SEARCHED IN CAVES AND DESERTS AND REMOTE ISLANDS AND JUNGLES AND MOUNTAIN PEAKS. THEY'VE SET, SAT, THEY'VE, UH, KNELT, THEY HAVE STOOD, THEY'VE LAYNED PROSTRATE, THEY HAVE SWUNG FROM ROPES, THEY'VE PIERCED THEMSELVES THROUGH WITH, UH, UH, UH, UH, LANCES. THEY HAVE ENDURED ALL KINDS OF SELF-INFLICTED PUNISHMENT, TRYING, TRYING TO GET PURE, TRYING TO BE PURE, TO NO AVAIL. A LITTLE BOY WAS ASKED TO …
… and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith without any doubting, for he who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. But let not that man expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. Now, I want you to get the context of what James is saying here before we come to this matter of wavering faith because it all fits together. And so here's what he's saying. As these who were probably responding to him and talking to him about the difficulty and hardship, talking about the trials, he's writing to encourage them. And so he says, now, count it all joy when you fall into divers or various temptations and trials. doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Why should I get rejoicing over pain and hurt and things I can't change and things I can't alter in my life? Yeah, that's exactly what he says. And so he says, if you'll notice, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance, he says, now here's what I want you to do. He says, I want you to rejoice, count it a joy when you fall into these testings and trials and temptations. Now, in the King James says temptation, the word really a better word is the word here means those periods of testing which have a purpose in them. …
… and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith without any doubting, for he who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. But let not that man expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. Every single one of us has had the problem with wavering faith because there's some things that hit us blindsided or hit us right in the front. There's some things that you and I know that we need and we come to ask God for and we waffle in our faith. We say, well, now, here's what he said. Here's what I ask. I'm going to trust God. Hallelujah. Amen. About a half hour later, we say, oh, God, I hope you will. I hope you will. And so, what happens? We go back and forth. You know what he says? He says, don't expect to get it. That's a pretty strong statement. I want us to examine for a few moments what causes us to wave in our faith. We have been saved by the grace of God. We have the Bible. We have the promises of God. We know what he says. We know he's an unconditional loving God. We would agree that he's absolutely faithful. He's what in the world makes us weave and wobble and to and fro and wave in our faith? …