Pray Network Forum

“Pleasure is to happiness what candy is to nutrition.”

James 4:3 reads, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” How do we justify this verse with verses like Matthew 7:7-8? “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”

When you find two things in the Bible that seem to contradict one another, study them prayerfully and you will come to understand both passages far more deeply than you would have at a glance.

In fact Jesus gave us a hint at the answer in Matthew 7. The very next verse compares God answering our prayers to a father giving to his child. Does a father who loves his daughter give her all the candy she asks for?

In John 15:7 Jesus brings this promise into divine perspective. “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”

The English Standard Version of Scripture footnotes the word passions in James 4:3 as “pleasures.” We live in a society that is driven by pleasure. And we may be the first generation to have no awareness of problems with pleasure. Pleasure is to happiness what candy is to nutrition.

The word translated passions here is a broader word than simple desire. It refers to the drive for comfort, luxury, thrills, and physical pleasures in our world. 1 John 2:15,16 warn us, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life—is not from the father but is from the world.”

The entire passage, James 4:1-10, brings all three of these together.

God, as the ultimate Father, protects His children from those things that draw us away from Him. In his book Desiring God John Piper coined the term “Christian Hedonism.” But he was talking about living for the deeper pleasures and the higher joys that come in the presence of God. Psalm 16:11 affirms, “In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

Our prayers spring from what we love. As long as we love the world, we will be drawn away from the only source of satisfaction in our lives. And our prayer lives will be frustrating because our Heavenly Father loves us too much to let us fall into the worlds quagmire of pleasures.
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One of the greatest tragedies that is sweeping the modern world is confusion and therefore corruption of purpose. In how many areas of life have we confused our purpose and so lost all hope of fulfillment?

IS COMFORT YOUR PURPOSE IN LIFE?

In John 12:27,28 Jesus said,

"Now is my heart troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour'? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name!"

Purpose was crucial to Jesus. But do you realize what our Lord said here? His purpose was for His heart to be troubled. It was necessary for Him to come into the hour of trouble to redeem us. What is your purpose? Is it to avoid trouble or heartache?

Your God given, soul satisfying, purpose is not comfort. Jesus said He would send us another Comforter. But the Holy Spirit is to be with us in trials. If your purpose is comfort, finding it will bring boredom rather than satisfaction.

WHAT ABOUT PLEASURE?

The purpose of your life on this earth is not pleasure either. God created pleasure. It can be very good as a side dish. But it makes a terrible main course.

The drug epidemic and the sexual revolution that are deadly parasites on our homes, our economy, and all the foundations of society are products of the unquestioned belief that pleasure is the highest human value.

I am aware that many of my readers would already agree with what I am saying. Although I am very pleased if some of you who disagree are reading this. But even those of us who basically oppose such behavior find ourselves tempted, even addicted to internet pornography or some other pleasure oriented problem, because we have been able to indulge in it secretly. I pray for God's deliverance which will certainly require uncovering the rattle snake's nest. Many churches have men's groups where it is safe to confess such things. Pastors may have to find or organize a ministers' group to deal with whatever you need to confess.

But many of us who are free from the most debilitating of these sins are living our lives as if pleasure were more important than anything else. We need to challenge that thinking with scripture, prayer and seeking a higher purpose from God.

IS YOUR PURPOSE SECURITY?

Have you ever been thrilled by stories of risk or sacrifice? They are the bread and butter of TV drama. Would you watch an adventure show in which the leading character never had any higher good for which he was willing to risk or sacrifice? Would you watch the show twice if the hero ran away from every danger in cowardice or cynicism? You would not because somewhere deep in your consciousness you know safety and security are not the purpose of life. I love the statement from Jim Elliott's college journal. "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."

Jesus concluded with the highest purpose of our lives. “Father, glorify Your name!

I intend to write again next week on this subject. I suspect you will be surprised if not shocked at two things that I say should not be your purpose in life.