"If any of you are lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given to you. But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind, for the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord." James 1:5-8

     It has been several weeks since I last focused on the first chapter of James. I had concluded my thoughts on verse 5 in which James urged Christians to call upon the Lord for wisdom. In this discourse on wisdom James also told us three important characteristics of God. First, he stated the reality of God’s nature in his title "the giving God." Second, he described God’s inclusiveness as the One "who gives to all." Third, James reminded us that God is generous with his gifts. James leaves the question begging: If God truly has such a giving nature, then why is our prayer life ineffectual?

     James gives his answer in three important words. Dipsychos is the first, which is translated in verse 8 "double-minded." The two Greek roots which combine to form this word mean literally "two-souled." Dipsychos is not about duplicity or being two-faced; instead it shows a lack of decisiveness as if a person is standing at a fork in the road and can make no forward motion because of indecision. The second word is diakrinomai which is translated in verse 6 as "doubting." Its basic meaning was to make up one's mind between two alternatives, but it came to describe the person who was unable to give their allegiance to either. These two concepts are at the heart of James message: our prayer life is ineffectual when we are not sure we really want what God wants to give.

     James third word is his answer to this dilemma—faith (vs. 6). Soren Kierkegaard is well regarded for his definition of purity of heart: "To be pure of heart is to will one thing." James captures that same single-mindedness in the word faith. Faith is not mental assertions about God. It is the single-minded intention of putting God first in our lives; it is the single-minded desire to live as God would have us live; it is the single-minded desire to shape our lives in the image of Christ; it is the single-minded desire to see life through God’s perspective. I leave you with the question raised by J.A. Motyer’s study of this text: "Is our heart one with God (not 'right with God,' for that has been eternally secured for us in Christ), without any division of loyalty?" When we ask with that type of unity with God, of course he will answer.