If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you.  But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind; for the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord.

"The doubter is driven and tossed by the wind, is double minded and unstable in every way and must not expect to receive anything from the Lord."

The doubter is double minded.  He prays but does not expect to receive.  This is because he prayed in the past but did not receive.  He did not receive "because he asked wrongly, in order to spend what he'd receive on his pleasures."  (James 4.3)  There is often confusion in the believers heart whether he is "asking rightly," whether what he is asking for is God's will, whether it is for the building up of Christ's Church or just for his own pleasure.  There are many things which fall into this seemingly gray area: praying for a higher paying job, praying to have an adventurous dream fulfilled, perhaps for some even praying for physical health could be an occasion for inner conflict and guilt when so many others are suffering worse.  Therefore some fall into a kind of paralysis, reluctant to ask for good things out of a fear of being selfish or a fear that if they don't receive, that apparent lack of response from God will engender doubt in their soul.  And so they disobey God's command to "ask, knock and persevere in your requests."  On the other side of the coin are those who ask for every material comfort.

Which is worse, to never ask for anything concerning one state in the world or to ask wrongly?  I think the former.  If one is undecided whether a petition is worthy to take before God one should ask anyway in a spirit of childlike trust, persevering for a long time if necessary.  During that time God will often grace the soul with other answers, deeper understanding concerning the petition or the strength to remain steadfast.  The purification of what we ask for is an important step in the maturation of the faith, much like the child asking things of the parent, and can occur only if we actually ask.

For some things we have clear direction and examples from the Word on whether we can ask for them.  No doubt there were many sick, infirm and crippled who could have said "I'm embarrassed to ask for health from Jesus because my neighbor is much worse off than I am - they're not even able to go to him", or "they've accepted their cross."  And yet they did go to Jesus and did find healing.  We also have examples of what not to ask for among those who asked Jesus for signs so they could believe.

"The doubter is unstable in every way and must not expect to receive anything from the Lord."  These are some of the harshest words in the New Testament, certainly among passages outside the Gospels.  Because they are harsh and because they are outside the Gospels we may be tempted to be a little more dismissive of them then we otherwise would be, mentioning how they are from James for example.  But they are God's Word, just like the rest of Scripture, given to us as part of his revelation to us.

"Ask in faith, never doubting, for the doubter must not expect to receive anything from the Lord."  Those who ask in faith can expect to receive from the Lord.  In fact they should expect to receive from the Lord.  The lack of that expectation is a clear sign of the lack of faith.  Some do not allow themselves to have expectations of answers to prayers after asking in faith because they think it is presumptuous.  In fact the opposite is true.  It is presumptuous to expect blessings to flow our way without asking for them.  This is shown everywhere by the Word who tells us continuously to "ask and you shall receive."  (Matthew 7.7)  This is the same Word who "knows what we need before we ask him," (Matthew 6.8) but he still wants us to ask, even daily.  Indeed in the very prayer Jesus taught us he commands us to say "give us today our daily bread."  Everywhere in the Scriptures our relationship to God is revealed to us by him: needy children commanded to ask for all blessings from God and afterwards told to wait to receive them from a good and generous father.  What we ask for matters and the reasons we ask often need to be purified but the journey cannot begin until we ask, and ask daily with persistence.  And we must never forget that the ultimate purpose of all our petitioning is joy.  "Ask and you shall receive, so that your joy may be complete."  (John 16.24)

When we read that the doubter is "driven and tossed by the wind, double minded and unstable in every way" we come to see that doubting (and faith) are ways of life rather than momentary attitudes one adopts at the time of prayer.  Doubting cripples our hope and derails the inmate desire each Christian has to "set out into the deep."  (Luke 5.4)  The doubter does not perform acts which engender hope because he fears disappointment.  He therefore retreats in upon himself and his doubt becomes like a slow poison.  Doubting becomes a lifestyle, limiting our potential to live the full, rich lives of Christian witness which draw others to God.

If the doubter is double minded and unstable in every way the believer is single-minded and stable in every way.  He asks in complete faith and expectation not only with his lips but with his life.  His actions each day are actions of faith and confident expectation that God will fulfill all his plans.  The actions he takes, the dreams he aspires to, engender hope both in himself and others.  The believer launches out into the deep and is never paralyzed through doubt and fear.  He boldly risks not out of presumption, but because his actions themselves are faithful petitions which rise up before God.

Lord God, help us be believers, not just with our lips but with the testimony of our lives.