Daily Devo
Examine Your Motives
By: Lisa Boisvert
Tuesday, June 23, 2026
When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. James 4:3
James is known giving hearty doses of God's truth without sugarcoating it. Honestly, we've all done what James is describing in the verse above. At some point in our lives, we asked God to fulfill our fondest wishes like a child talking to Santa Claus. When our prayers went unanswered, we questioned God and wondered why.
If we're wondering why the Lord hasn't answered our prayers, perhaps we need to examine our motives. Did our prayer line up with God’s will? Or were we asking God to fulfill our desires? Consider this: If that prayer would have been answered, would it draw us closer to God or pull us farther away from Him?
God loves to give us our heart’s desires, but only when they line up with His will. Christ follower, the Lord loves you and knows what is best for you. He is the omniscient God of the universe, so He also knows what has the potential to harm us.
"...if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him." Matthew 7:9-11 (NLT)
Sometimes, the greatest blessing we can receive is when the Lord answers our prayer with a “no.” As for me, there have been times when I prayed and prayed, but my motives weren't right. At the time, I thought it was something that would be good for me. But looking back, I can see things more clearly. Now that my emotions aren't guiding me, I can see that God's divine “no” was a huge blessing!
The Lord knows our motives, even when we don't want to acknowledge them ourselves. He knows every detail of our future, so He can see every hidden danger in our requests. It took me a while, but I've learned that some of my best prayers are when I pray “Lord, please protect me from myself.”
God always knows what is best for us, even when we don't. Trust God! His "no" might be exactly what we need!