“Let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.” – James 1:6

Scripture reading: 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Some people claim that James is saying that we can ask God for anything, and as long as we believe that He can do it, and that He will do it, God will give it to us. If you’re sick and you ask God to heal you, and your faith is strong enough, then He will heal you. God doesn’t want you to suffer, and He’s so great that He can heal us; He can solve any problem that we might have. If you ask God for help and then you say, “Your will be done,” that just means that your faith isn’t strong enough.

Those people assume that when you’re sick, or you’re struggling in some other way, the best thing that God could do for you would be to make you better and solve all your problems.

But God can use our suffering to purify our faith (James 1:3-4), so that “We look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (II Corinthians 4:18). In 1 Peter 1, the apostle says that God can use our suffering to help us to find all of our comfort in belonging to Jesus Christ. He can use our suffering to sanctify us; He can use our suffering to humble us so that we repent of our sin and look for salvation in Christ alone. We couldn’t ask for more than that.

Suggestions for prayer

Ask the Lord to help you to make your requests in faith, with a single-minded desire for His saving purpose to be accomplished in your life.

Rev. Dick Wynia graduated from the Canadian Reformed Theological Seminary in 1986, and was ordained to the ministry in 1987. He has served four congregations, in Aylmer ON, Calgary AB, Wyoming ON and in Beamsville ON. After almost 37 years in active ministry, he recently became a minister emeritus. Get this devotional delivered directly to your phone each day via our RP App. This devotional is made available by the Nearer To God Devotional team, who also make available in print, for purchase, at NTGDevotional.com.