James 4:3 (LSB)

Passage

You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.

Nearby Context

James 4:1 What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?

James 4:2 You lust and do not have, so you murder. You are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.

James 4:3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.

James 4:4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world sets himself as an enemy of God.

James 4:5 Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”?

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "receive", "wrong", "motives", "spend", and "pleasures". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "receive" and "wrong", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "You lust and do not have so..." into verse 4's "You adulteresses do you not know that...", so "receive" and "wrong" 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 "wrong" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.