4:2 The ultimate end of lust, desire that a person may or may not satisfy, is murder. We can see this through human history all the way from Cain down to the present (cf. the case of Naboth; 1 Kings 21). James was probably not accusing his readers of murder.153He was reminding them of the serious ultimate consequences of living merely to satisfy personal desires.
"In the context of forceful words such as polemoi(wars') and machai(battles'), it seems better to take phoneuete(you kill') as hyperbole for hatred. This also resolves the problem of seeming anticlimactic word order. To say You hate and covet' is a much more natural order than to say You murder and covet.' Furthermore, Matthew 5:21-22 and 1 John 3:15 show that hatred is equal to murder."154
Likewise fights and arguments follow when we do not obtain our desires.
"There are indeed few evils in human life that cannot be traced to covetousness and envy in the sense in which we find these words used in this verse. Covetousness does not always lead to possession, envy does not always attain to the position of its rivals--and the inevitable result is conflict and strife."155
"This is the condition to which lust consigns it votaries; it disappoints them, and makes them mutual tormentors."156
"Unsatisfied desire leads to murder . . .; disappointed ambition leads to quarrelling [sic] and fighting."157
The only way to obtain satisfaction is to ask God to give it. We do not have what God wants us to have because we do not ask Him for these things.158This is one of the most important verses in the Bible concerning prayer. There are things we can have from God that we will not have unless we ask Him for them.
4:3 However, we often ask God for things to enable us to satisfy our own selfish desires. For example, we request more time, more money, more energy so we can do things we desire but God does not desire for us. What we need to ask Him to give us is more desire for what He promises and commands. We also need less desire for what is contrary to His will for us (cf. Matt. 7:7-11).
"If prayer is no more than a formula (saying the right words, believe hard enough, confess; it will happen), then Christians are back to a type of magic: They can manipulate God or impose their will on God, for he hasto answer. In contrast, New Testament prayer grows out of a trusting relationship with a father whose will is supreme."159
"In the life of a full-time Christian minister, some may devote themselves to the activist pursuits of endless caring for the sick and house-to-house ministry to the unsaved, and skimp sermon preparation. It may be called getting our priorities right', but it may simply be an exercise in self-pleasing. Others lock the study door behind them. When they descend the pulpit steps on one Sunday they are already mentally climbing the same steps next Sunday. They may say that the pulpit is the best place to exercise pastoral care, and that they are putting first things first--but they may in fact just be indulging a passion."160
