James 1:7Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Say with him, David: “How long, O Lord, will You forget me forever? How long will You turn Your face away from me?” (Ps 12:2).

Say it not with the tongue, but first with the heart. Offer also the other supplications of David.

When you have expressed everything, hope in the mercy of God. Hope, and do not doubt.

“But let him ask in faith, with no doubting,” says the Apostle, “for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. Let not that man think that he will receive anything from the Lord. A man of double mind is unstable in all his ways” (Jas 1:6-8).

Therefore hope in His mercy, not doubting at all, and you will surely receive what you ask. Having received it, do not be ungrateful or thankless toward your Benefactor.

Rather, set up a memorial of His benefaction and raise a hymn of thanksgiving to the Lord.

The doubter is one who is far from firm action and is uncertain whether this or that will come to pass. Such a man will not receive, because he is not assured concerning what he expects.

Your merits are evil, and God does not crown them. But if they are good, they are the gifts of God.

This refers to one who asks arrogantly and carelessly. Cast away doubt, and without any hesitation turn to God with such a prayer: How can I, who have sinned so greatly before the Lord, ask anything of Him and receive anything from Him?

“But let him ask in faith, nothing doubting.” If the one asking for wisdom believes without doubting that God can give according to his request, then let him ask God.

But if he does not believe, and reasons within himself, that is, if he doubts, let him ask nothing at all, for he will not receive what he asks.

The one who reasons within himself and doubts is he who asks from God with contempt and pride. Such a man is undoubtedly one who reviles and reproaches God, because of the unbelief shown toward Him.

If you, O Christian, do not believe that God can fulfill your request, ask nothing at all. Otherwise you may be found reproaching the all-powerful God as powerless, because of your double-mindedness and little faith.

Such a man, wavering in his thoughts, must not even think that he will receive from the Lord anything he asks in prayer. This is precisely because he lacks the chief and necessary condition for receiving his petition: undoubting faith. God Himself, of course, needs neither a man's prayer nor his faith. Yet prayer and faith are necessary for the man himself, so that he may receive something from God. Through prayer and faith he enters into moral union with God. By virtue of this union, divine grace can be communicated to the human soul, and man can receive it.

By these words the Apostle teaches that the virtue of perfect Christian patience is so lofty that weak human powers cannot attain it without special spiritual wisdom given by the Lord God. Therefore he commands us to turn to the Lord in prayer, that He may not deprive us of this wisdom. Yet according to the Apostle, prayer itself must be without wavering thoughts or doubt. It must be mingled with firm faith and hope in God's help, for "a double-minded man," as the Apostle says, "is unstable in all his ways."

Petitions to God must proceed from a heart assured of the fulfillment of its request, as the Lord Himself also commanded (see Mt 7:7-8).

Doubt generally hinders the attainment of the desired goal. It is especially out of place in prayer, because a soul filled with doubts becomes like a wave of the sea, now lifted by the wind, now lowered.

“The wave of the sea,” says blessed Theophylact, “is lifted by a breath of wind and falls sooner than it rises. The doubter experiences the same when, through arrogance, he does not establish his petitions on anything unchanging.”

In order to clarify the essence of the Christian moral law, the Apostle James in the first chapter of his Epistle exhorts us to endure patiently the trials sent by God.

Trials temper our faith and perfect us morally. If in the struggle with temptations a man feels his weakness, he must not despond or become fainthearted.

He must ask God for wisdom to overcome temptations, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, without any doubt, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.

Let such a man not think that he will receive anything from the Lord. A man of double mind is unstable in all his ways (vv. 5-7).

One filled with truly Christian wisdom joyfully endures all trials and reversals of fortune, whether he is rich or poor.

A man who implores God to grant him wisdom and other blessings while wavering between faith and doubt only offends the Lord by this.

Therefore his prayer, whatever it concerns, will not be fulfilled: “Let him not think that he will receive anything from God.”

“He is unstable in his ways.” Whatever task he undertakes, he cannot go toward his goal with a firm step. He cannot calmly and hopefully continue the work he has begun, because he is double-minded, with a divided soul.

It is as though there are two souls in him. One strains toward God through faith, while the other withdraws from Him through doubt. Within him there is a constant struggle between faith and doubt.