The Giving God

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James was concerned about believers who did not know how to face their many trials and troubles. If any lacked the necessary wisdom to bear and make proper use of their afflictions, he said they were to ‘ask of God’. By way of encouragement, James described Him as the One who gives without reservation (liberally) or reproach (upbraideth not).

God gives unreservedly. He gives ‘richly’, 1 Tim. 6:16, ‘freely’, Rom. 8:32 and ‘liberally’ (with singleness of heart, lit). God’s resources are not simply great; they are infinite. In response to my requests, He gives and I receive. Yet, although thereby I am so much richer, He is not one whit poorer. Usually, when I receive something good (cf. verse 17) from somebody else, I end up with more and they with less. But not so with answered prayer. 

Notwithstanding all God’s bountiful giving, His store is not in the least diminished. If I come to Him for help or strength or whatever, I need never fear that my taking is going to impoverish Him. His vast reservoir of power, grace and wisdom never runs dry!

God never reproaches us for coming too often. He gives ungrudgingly. He never wearies of hearing our requests. Men often excuse themselves from giving to others by pointing to what they have given in the past. In contrast, even though God gives so generously, He still leaves His door open wide for us to come again … and again … and again. God loves a cheerful giver, 2 Cor. 9:7, for He is one Himself!

Quoting the words of the Lord Jesus, James held out the welcome promise, ‘ask … and it shall be given’, v. 5; Matt. 7:7. And yet it is possible, he added, to ask from ‘the giving God’ and to receive absolutely nothing, v. 7. Why then is this? Because, James explained, effective prayer requires faith. 

Whereas God withholds nothing from faith, Mark 11:24, He gives nothing to doubt and unbelief. When God spoke to Abraham by way of promise, Abraham ‘wavered not … through unbelief’, Rom. 4:20 lit. 

Similarly, when we speak to God by way of petition, we should not ‘waver’ through unbelief. We must learn that, in God’s reckoning, whereas nothing is too good for faith, anything is too good for doubt. God gives ‘with singleness of heart’, v. 5 lit, but not if we are of ‘a double mind’, v. 8.




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