Asking Without Doubting
5 But 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. 6 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. 7 For that man shouldn’t think that he will receive anything from the Lord. 8 He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
God's giving is described without a single qualification, and the only obstacle named is a division inside the person asking.
Verse 5 follows directly from lacking in nothing — if anyone lacks wisdom, here is how the lack is met. The wisdom in view is practical throughout this letter, the knowledge of how to act, which is what a person in the middle of a trial actually needs.
The description of God is remarkable for what it omits. He gives to all, with no screening. He gives liberally, a word meaning simply and without calculation. And he gives without reproach — no accompanying reminder of how often the asker has come before. Three clauses, and not one of them is conditional.
The condition, when it comes, is not about worthiness. Verse 6 asks for asking in faith, without doubting, and the word for doubting is one of dividing or being at odds with oneself. The picture that follows is of surf: driven by wind and tossed, moving constantly and arriving nowhere.
Verse 8 names the condition, and the term occurs exactly twice in Scripture, both in this letter James 4:8. Double-minded renders a compound meaning two-souled — a person who is genuinely two people about the same question.
The verdict is severe and worth stating exactly: such a man should not expect to receive. He is not refused for insufficient faith. He is describing himself as not actually wanting what he asks for.
settled What this mark means