Shifting hope

We get frustrated (or angry) with the struggles of life because intuitively we know pain and struggle is not what we were originally created for. We were ultimately created for a relationship of infinite, uninterrupted love, joy and bliss; not merely finite (limited/temporary) relationships or relationships with things finite.

We long for a relationship of *infinite love. When we can not find it we go after anything else we can "get our hands on" to give us that sense of love, glory, meaning, value etc. Yet we never truly find long term what we seek. We only experience tastes of it in fits and starts. 

Even for those blessed enough to be in a healthy relationship(s)... one(s) they are truly grateful for, it still is not enough. We long for more because we were designed for more...far more. 

Until we realize what we long for will not and can not be found in this life, we go through life constantly disappointed and always frustrated. 

Only when we come to a place that we know what we really long for is not here but yet to come, does the frustration subside. Our hope shifts and we enter into a true and lasting hope and begin to pursue all other things in light of this new hope. 

Rom 5:2  Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4  and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. 

Rom 8:20  For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22  For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.  24  For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25  But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Heb 11:1  Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 

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*Once true (perfect, infinite, uninterrupted) love is awakened, we desire more with even greater intensity and ultimately with everything that is in us. 

Usually the closest we come to this is when we "fall in love" for the first time. But it isn't sufficient because perfect, infinite, uninterrupted love is what we are designed for. This is our ultimate and true hope and only this love will do.

Eternal progression

Being finite (limited) and being untrusting (unbelieving) are not the same. 

Being finite is not *bad or wrong, it is simply what and who we are i.e. we are limited, not unlimited. We have the capacity to participate in the unlimited but only if and when we are connected with God. 

A key aspect of unbelief (rebellion) is refusing to recognize the reality of our limitations or that of the rest of creation. 

For example, Adam was told he was not suited to know good and evil **(at least not yet) i.e. He was limited/finite. Yet he bought into the lie he could be his own god -- someone without limits -- and no longer needed to be the limited/finite being he actually was; a being dependent on the only one who is truly infinite, unlimited, self-sufficient (i.e. God), for life, love, and all things.

In eternity the means by which we will continue to progress in our relationship to God is not faith as we do presently -- we will then be face to face with God and relate to him by sight. We will participate in an ever-increasing expansion of our being in greater union with He who is the infinite source of love and life.

The reason our capacity will be ever-expanding is we are like God i.e. We are in God's image, designed to experience him to the maximum of who he is, without ever becoming fully God ourselves.

And because God is infinite our expansion/progression will never cease i.e. We will always be increasing in our experience and enjoyment of God throughout eternity i.e. there will never come a point we will "arrive" for there is no end to the infinite God or our capacity to enjoy him.

Love is the common factor in our ongoing transformation/progression both now and in eternity. 

The love of God presently revealed to us by the Spirit through faith is what transforms us now and in eternity. The difference in eternity is that same love will be experienced directly and seen face to face and not by faith i.e. No longer through a glass darkly.

* For a fuller discussion click here. 

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*Being limited is considered bad by many, particularly those more tied into eastern philosophy who advocate man is unlimited. They say the reason for his problems is he has not yet learned to "tap in" to himself as infinite beauty, strength and wisdom. Though we have the capacity to participate and enjoy infinite beauty, strength and wisdom this is not the same as saying we are these things within ourselves i.e. independent of God who is the source of these things. To say it directly God is he source, we are not. 

**Some have speculated that as Adam and Eve matured they might have eventually been allowed to eat of the tree. The reasoning is everything God made (all trees) were good. And knowing good and evil was an attribute of God himself and therefore must have been a good attribute but one that required something Adam and Eve did not yet have but over time might have developed. I am not sure I subscribe to this notion but it is an interesting one.  

Of course the challenge to this view is Christ "was slain before the foundation of the world" i.e. the fall at a minimum was anticipated if not planned. So a scenario that does not include the fall is purely speculation, not to mention an inferior option, otherwise it would have occurred if you believe God is the all wise Creator and Sustainer of all things/events. 

The essence of God's life (and therefore ours)

The below thoughts are inspired by Kyle Strobel's comments from an interview with Tony Reinke as Kyle reflects on insights from Jonathan Edwards. Direct quotes by Kyle Strobel are in "quotes" and italicized.

To listen to the full interview click here  

Beatific 

God's self-knowledge (Logos) is beatific. It is not a sterile, unattached, impersonal knowing of facts or simple information about Himself, it is personal and relational knowledge. It is a knowing that causes the one who knows to desire/long for - i.e. have affection for - the One beheld/known. 

This is because of the beauty of God. That which is infinitely beautiful can not be looked upon without stirring infinite affections. In short, God's life comprises beatific vision i.e. beholding and enjoying that which is infinitely beautiful i.e. Himself.

How?

Christ is God the Father's perfect self-knowledge/understanding. An understanding so exact and complete it manifests/generates — eternally begets — a distinct and separate person, with his own self-understanding and will (which is perfectly aligned with the Fathers), as the only (eternally) begotten Son. 

The Father delights in the beauty of the Son, who is the Father's exact and perfect self-understanding (Logos), and image of himself. 

and  

The Son delights in the Father and enjoys the Father's delight in Him. 

The Spirit

God's life (Spirit/Love/affectionate delight) springs forth out of this beatific vision between the Father and Son i.e. the beholding of the infinite beauty of the Son, the perfect self-understanding/ Logos of the Father, and the Son's response of mutual delight in and love (Spirit) for his Father. 

This love also flows (overflows) out (as the Spirit) to his creatures/creation, particularly his image-bearers (us) - who are most able to take part in and enjoy this mutual delight in the beauty of God. 

The Father generates — eternally and continuesly begets i.e. without beginning or end — the only begotten Son. The Son and Father gazing upon one another in love, generates (eternally) and continuously the Spirit as love.

Perfect, continuous, infinite knowledge and partaking of the beauty of God produces perfect and infinite love/affections as (in the form of) the Spirit.

God's life is religious affection (generated from within between the Father and the Son) and pure act (flowing out to others via the Spirit).

The Son is the perfect (exact) image of God, and the Spirit illuminates (reveals, displays, glorifys) that image.

God's life comprises (is) 

Perfect, continuous, infinite knowledge/truth (understanding/Logos) manifested as the Son.

and  

Perfect, continuous, infinite 

love/affection 

(will/spirit) 
manifested as the Spirit.

We are like God

All perfect knowledge of God is affectionate knowledge, i.e. A kind of knowledge that always produces affections, joy, desires, and longings. It is true of God and therefore, as bearers of his image (i.e. those like God) must also be true of us.

"The knowledge he has in his own life governs how we know him as well."

"Religious affection is seeing God in his true beauty and thereby knowing God and having your affections inclined towards him."

"The only way for us to know God is through God's self-revealing."

I would add this is only by the Spirit revealing to us the true nature of the Son as the eternal Logos of God.

"You can't have true knowledge of God without having your heart inclined towards him because all knowledge of God is affectionate."

"Because this is true in God's life, it has to be true in our life."

We are partakers of God's very own nature

"The sight of the Father Christ has by nature, we are given by grace."

2Pe 1:3-4  His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of ¹sinful desire. 

...His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness... 

How? ...through the knowledge of him. i.e. God has given us (it is by grace) everything we need to take part in and experience life and godliness.

...he has granted to us his precious and very great promises... 

How? By his own glory and excellence, i.e. By his infinite worth and perfect action/conduct

Why? So that through them (by faith in those promises) you may become partakers of the divine nature.

Beholding God by faith is a darkened (dim...because it is not direct but indirect [i.e. it is by faith not sight] and therefore not perfectly clear) version of the beatific vision. I Cor 13:12, I John 3:2


Beholding God now and in the future

We behold God now by faith (i.e. not directly or face to face) and will behold him in eternity by sight. The common denominator is beholding him i.e. being caught up and participating in the beatific vision (the eternal delight of the Father gazing upon his Son and his Sons response of joy/delight). 

In both cases (now by faith and in eternity by sight) this beholding is progressive. As we see God now by faith we are changed as our faith increases. 

As we see God in eternity by direct sight we will also be changed as our understanding/ view/experience of him in all his glory, majesty and beauty grow fuller/clearer. 

It grows not because we don't have direct sight but because God is infinite and seeing all that he is will never come to an end but is always increasing/expanding i.e. we will never reach the end of our partaking of God's beauty, majesty, wonder and glory, for there is no end to God. We will continually experience the height, width, length and depth of God but never reach their end.

The process of our progress in eternity has nothing to do with sinfulness, for Christ himself increased in faithfulness (learned obedience through the things he suffered). His learning had nothing to do with being sinful but with being incarnated as a finite man i.e. as a perfect yet finite man, his relationship with (faith toward) his Father was tested and thereby progressed/grew. Sin - i.e. unbelief - wasn't the reason for change, his being finite - during his incarnation - was. He was always obedient (i.e. without sin) but he went from untested to tested faith-obedience. 

As finite creatures, we too will constantly be growing in our relationship and understanding (and joy) of the infinite i.e. God. The reason is that there is no end to the infinite i.e. God. Therefore we will never reach the "end", "width", "bottom", or "top" of God.

God has created us like himself with the capacity to take part in the Infinite. Our beholding him will increase by virtue of him being infinite and our being finite i.e. We will always be expanding since we will never arrive i.e. we will never be infinite in our knowing and seeing since only God is infinite (though we are eternal i.e. have no end and therefore will increase in our experience of God - and delight in Him - throughout eternity).

Yet at the same time, there will never be a moment we do not feel fully and infinitely loved. So much so that songs of praise will forever be on our lips and in our hearts. What changes throughout eternity is our capacity to receive that love...it is always increasing since there is no end to God and His beauty-glory.

Beauty

Primary beauty is God's life of love i.e. The life of love that transpires between the Father and Son in, by and through the Spirit. 

All knowledge of God is first visual, it is beholding his beauty. Not a physical but a spiritual beauty and beholding. 

Why is it when we see something beautiful it "takes our breath away?" Because beholding God (the most beautiful/glorious) is an affectionate knowledge. 

Beauty and beholding begins with God. All beholdings of beauty (i.e. any other beauty) is an extension and faint reflection of this ultimate beholding of our most beautiful God. 

We are drawn to (we move toward) and have affection for that which is beautiful. Why? Because we were ultimately made for God who is infinite and primary beauty and the cause of everything else which is beautiful. 

Everything else is secondary beauty and a glimmer or manifestation of God, who is the Creator of all things (i.e. all secondary beauty). All beauty other than God's is meant to point us to Him who is primary beauty. 

Spiritual vs physical beauty

Since God is not physical the beauty of God is also not physical but relational (he took on human form in Christ but he is not "human form." It is not the essence of his being (i.e. human form is not part of his essential nature). The beauty of God is not something we physically behold but something we see displayed in relationship. 

Harmony is a quality of relationship that characterizes the beauty within God.

What is relational beauty? It is harmony within ²diversity -- e.g. Christ is equally God and man. God reveals himself to us most fully as a #man. The diversity of the finite and infinite unite (harmonize) in one being, the God/Man Jesus. It is when things which are very different from each other work in harmony -- united and driven by and due to love. Such as the love/harmony between man and women, who are wired differently emotionally and physically. It is also how God exists/relates to himself as the triune God; Father, Son, and Spirit, as well as to us his image-bearers. 

#God does so because we are human and he values "humanness" i.e. humanity. When he finished creating he proclaimed over his physical creation as "very good." 

Things you would normally consider not working together, work because of love. This is the essence of beauty and what makes something beautiful.   

Physical beauty is secondary beauty. Relational beauty is primary beauty. 

Primary beauty is God's own life as a being of relationship in, by and through the Father, Son and Spirit. 

God is beautiful because God is love and life. All of this makes God glorious. 

The way problems are solved is by God's presence. Since God is life and all problems are a manifestation of the absence of life, God's presence is the solution. And this is because the essence of life is love/value/glory. Because we were made for love/value/glory we are most complete when we take part in these i.e. When we take part in God himself and his life...when he is most present with us and we with him.  

A thorough discussion of the ideas that inspired the above comments is discussed extensively in Kyle Strobel's book "Jonathan Edward's Theology: A Reinterpretation"

For related thoughts to the above, starting with the basics and progressing to the more technical...

Click on

Trinity-its importance and necessity. 

Some thoughts on the trinity and 

here.

For a thorough discussion by Kyle Strobel of the beatific vision click here. 

For a more concise  discussion on the love, life, Spirit and essence of God click here

________________________________________Footnotes:

¹How are we freed from sinful desire? By finding a superior desire that is more satisfying than the one we seek to be freed from. If you wish to lose your appetite for cold, stale fast food (which is better then nothing if you are starving and nothing else is available), eat freshly prepared organic gourmet cooking...or better yet, find a gourmet cook that delights in preparing tasty, health sustaining meals you personally prefer. 

²Though God is one, in essence, he is distinct in persons. Each person (Father, Son, and Spirit) having their own self-understanding and will. Edwards roots this definition of person in the Father who characterizes the Son as the perfect self-understanding of God and the Spirit as the perfect willing/affections/choosing

/passion of God.

Though much of what Edwards says is not directly stated in scripture it is implied and woven throughout the Bible. I encourage you to look for these things in your study of scripture. As you do they may start to jump off the pages. John 17 is a good place to start.

This link touches on this more.

great effort or great faith...opposites?

The question isn't whether diligent effort brings great results; it is what drives our effort i.e. why do we act. Do we act for God's honor or our own? 

Great results never come without great effort...ever, regardless of the motive.

¹Truly great results (i.e. a God-honoring outcome) is not a question of effort, but whether those efforts are driven ²"by the flesh" or "by the Spirit." What determines if results are ¹truly great is if and when they are driven by the love of God. 

Being a believer does not mean we are to be passive in general but passive only in independent effort  i.e. in efforts driven ²"by the flesh."

A desire to give great honor to God is the motive for ¹truly great efforts. These efforts are driven by the Spirit and never happen without great humility and trust in God. 

Great humility and trust produce ¹truly great effort which produces great results/fruit. This is to operate "by the Spirit." 

We are to be active and fruitful. Active in our trust, dependence, and obedience to God which always brings results i.e. fruit. As scripture says, "the just shall live by faith." Great faith always results in great effort, action, obedience.

But it all starts with God and is driven by him (i.e. in and by his Spirit of endless love). This starts with God being for us. How? The more we behold the love of God (the only source of life, love, and all things), the greater our trust and dependence on God grows. The greater our trust the greater our obedience. The greater our obedience (action), the greater the results. 

2Co 9:6  The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 

John 15:8  By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 

John 15:16  You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 

Psa 127:1  ... Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. 2  It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep. 

John 14:15  "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 

John 14:21  Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him." 

John 15:10  If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. 

1Jn 5:2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 

1Jn 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 

2Jn 1:6  And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning so that you should walk in it. 

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¹I am using "truly" great effort in contrast to just hard work i.e. there is hard work and then there is hard work driven by trust in God. By "truly" great effort I mean the later. 

²For a fuller discussion of what it means to live by the Spirit or by the flesh click here. 

For a fuller discussion on the importance of excellence, click here. 

Maturity

Maturity is marked by a tension of increasing awareness...

* Of the total extent of our brokenness i.e. our persistent tendency to try and be our own god and make life work without the only true God. 

* That we make a very poor god and cannot make life work, as it should, without Him. 

While at the same time becoming increasingly aware...

* That God's love for us has nothing to do with our brokenness - or our "goodness" - and everything to do with Christ being broken ¹for us and His goodness being fully credited to us, resulting in our being perfectly accepted and embraced by God, which moves us to love, trust in and pursue Him more faithfully. 

The more we see what He has done for us, the more we love him and the greater our trust grows in His directions (commands) for us. As Christ said, "if you love me you will keep my commandments..." And how do we come to love, trust, and obey Him? When we see that He loved us first before we ever had any love for him.

In fact, we can not admit the full extent of our brokenness until we see the full extent of God's solution - his absolute and perfect forgiveness, acceptance, and love for us in Christ regardless of our obedience. The more we see God's remedy, the more we can "own" - admit - our brokenness without it ²crushing us emotionally. To see the full extent of our brokenness without a firm grasp of God's grace and forgiveness in spite of it, would affect us so deeply we would not be able to function e.g. emotionally and possibly even literally. We would likely want to crawl into a hole and die. 

Our awareness of this gap between our brokenness and God's complete remedy for it - His total acceptance of us in spite of it - increases as we mature. Or to say it another way this increasing awareness is the mark of increasing maturity. 

The greatest indication of maturity is not our perfection but the growing awareness of our imperfection and God's total remedy for it. "Our righteousness" - feigned maturity - isn't our strength, our humble recognition of Christ's righteousness imparted to us and our lack of perfection is. 

For a discussion on whether believers can ever be depressed click here. 

For a discussion on where we derive strength for self-denial click here.

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¹completely removing the legal consequences of it and then fully assigning His perfect and complete goodness to us. It is ours. This is what it means to be "in Christ" i.e. to have his right standing with God fully assigned (credited) to us and the full consequences of our violating His design born by Christ.

²to fully admit our weaknesses we must first feel safe to do so, knowing our admission will not result in God's rejection of us. If we don't feel safe, we won't own up to how broken we are. And if we don't own it, we won't turn away and be freed from it. This is the essence of repentance. 

For more on owning our brokenness click here.

 

For a discussion on repentance, click here.

Starting in the Spirit, ending in the flesh.

To operate in the flesh is acting to get love/approval/ acceptance. It is acting out of need. 

To operate in the Spirit is acting to give love because we already have it in Christ. It is acting by faith in the fullness of God's love. 

It is not just what we do but ¹why we do it that matters most.

If we are in Christ we already have God's perfect love i.e. God's love for his children is perfect (complete), non stop and infinite because of what Christ has already done. Nothing we do or don't do will add to, take away or inhibit this love. It is now a matter of believing it is ours. 

To more fully experience this love (subjectively), we must remain (abide/ believe) in the objective reality demonstrated by Christs doing all that was necessary to restore us back to the Father (for a further discussion on abiding see link below). 

To start out operating in the Spirit/Love does not mean we will automatically continue to operate in the Spirit. We must not just start in the Spirit/Love but continue/remain in the Spirit (Gal 3:3). Our activity can start in the Spirit and deteriorate into an act of the flesh (i.e. performance, living under the law; living to get approval/love) if we do not abide in His love.

The reason we are called to abide is our tendency is to not abide i.e. to slide into operating in the flesh. In fact operating without the Spirit (in the flesh) is our default way of doing things (i.e. we are naturally inclined to act without the Spirit moving us. Operating in the Spirit however is supernatural i.e. it is being driven by the infinite love of God secured for us in Christ). 

Without the Spirits (Loves) enabling and empowering, we are naturally inclined to operate in the flesh. It's a constant pull on us until we learn to operate under grace i.e. in/by the Spirit/Love. 

To start and remain (abide) in the Spirit requires a constant attitude of ongoing acceptance of (trust in) and dependence on God's love i.e. Christ said, "without me (out of all Christ/God's love for you) you can do nothing" (of a supernatural, love driven nature) John 15:5.

It is the exact opposite of operating in the flesh or what I like to call "performance based" action. Performance based action is acting to gain God's approval and acceptance. Spirit driven action is out of love for God because we already fully have his approval and acceptance/love in Christ i.e. based on Christ's efforts that gained it for us, not our efforts/action. 

Any activity that creates or strengthens a desire to stay focused inward (seeking to meet our need for approval from God or others) and not outward on blessing others has deteriorated into an activity of the flesh and is no longer actions moved or inspired by the Spirit (Love) - even if it started out as an act of the Spirit.

To operate in the flesh is to seek getting what we need i.e. love, acceptance and approval.

To operate in the Spirit is to give what we already have and others need because we derive what we ultimately need (total love, acceptance and approval) from God.

• For definition of terms such as "walking in the flesh" or "walking in the Spirit" click here. 
• For a further discussions of remaining/abiding in his love click here. 

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¹This is why Christ will say to those that had done many "wonderful" deeds, "I never knew you." 

"On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’" ‭Matt 7:22-23

On the surface deeds can look very much the same but come from two very different places.

two ways we experience God's love

We experience the love of God in two ways. 

When...

1.   We behold the God of love (most clearly displayed in the past work of Christ for us) in our times of meditation and worship (private or corporate) 

and  

2.   We live his love out i.e. when we live for the glory of God by our actions of loving others sacrificially as God loves us.

The former is the essence of the greatest commandment. The latter is the essence of the second which is like it.

Mat 22:36  "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" 

Mar 12:29  Jesus answered, "The most important is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one (Mark makes this statement of worship, whereas Matthew doesn't so I inserted it here between the quote from Matthew). 

37  And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38  This is the great and first commandment. 39  And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 

Those who do the former (only meditate and gaze upon his beauty) without the latter become spiritually fat and lazy.

Those who attempt to do the latter (loving others sacrificially) without the former experience frustration and burn out. 

Though we experience God's love now by faith (i.e. in believing in his love demonstrated in Christ's work on our behalf), we also experience and participate in this love practically by acting in love toward others i.e. obedience. 

We must have both. The former fuels and drives the latter. The latter expresses, fulfills, and completes the former.

Some might argue, what about those times when God demonstrates his love through special provision in a given situation such as answers to prayer etc? If and when he does, he does so when we are advancing his kingdom and glory  i.e. living his love out to others, which is the second item above. If God were to bless us outside of this it would only strengthen self indulgence not a greater desire to pursue God for who he is, verses what he does. God then becomes a means to another end (i.e. a specific blessing for my exclusive benefit) and is no longer the end himself. 

Mat 7:7  "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 

Mat 7:11  If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!  

Mat 18:19  Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 

Mat 21:22  And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith." 

Joh 14:13  Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14  If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. 

Joh 15:7  If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 

Joh 15:16  You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 

Joh 16:23  In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. 24  Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. 

Jas 4:2  You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3  You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. 

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For a further discussion on the last point above click here.