James 4:3 (KJV)

Passage

Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

Nearby Context

James 4:1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?

James 4:2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.

James 4:3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

James 4:4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

James 4:5 Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "receive", "amiss", "consume", "upon", and "lusts". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "receive" and "amiss", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "Ye lust and have not ye kill..." into verse 4's "Ye adulterers and adulteresses know ye not...", so "receive" and "amiss" belong inside that flow. In James context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "receive" and "amiss" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.