Foolish Prayers Unanswered
James 4:1-3
From where come wars and fights among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?…


One of AEsop's fables tells how a herdsman who had lost a calf out of his grounds sent to seek it everywhere, but net finding it betook himself to prayer. "Great Jupiter," said he, "if thou wilt show me the thief that has stolen my calf I will sacrifice a kid to thee." The prayer was scarcely uttered when the thief stood before him — it was a lion. The poor herdsman was terrified, and his discovery drove him again to prayer. "I have not forgotten my vow, O Jupiter," he said, "but now that thou hast shown me the thief, I will make the kid a bull if thou wilt take him away again." The moral of the fable is that the fulfilment of our wishes might often prove our ruin. Our ignorance often betrays us into errors which would be fatal if our prayers were granted. It is in kindness to us that they are refused.



Parallel Verses
KJV: From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?

WEB: Where do wars and fightings among you come from? Don't they come from your pleasures that war in your members?




Disappointed Lust
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