B. Making Prayer Work for You (1:5-8)

James directs the readers: Ask God for wisdom; ask in steady faith. The wisdom James has in mind must surely be the kind found in the Proverbs. It is sound judgment, proceeding from a reverence for God (Pr 1:7). To ask in faith is to embrace the way of righteousness and to be committed to it. Admission of need is not reprehensible, but equivocation is intolerable to the Lord. Doubt creates uncertainty and prevents clear thinking. James is graphic in portraying indecision as erratic waves that dictate the outcome—emptiness.