What does James mean when he says to not doubt?
I remember participating in a Bible study once in college. The speaker was going over passages in Scripture about prayer. He turned his attention to the Book of James:
“Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord, being double-minded and unstable in all his ways.”
The teacher emphasized that anything we ask will be given to us, so long as we don’t doubt. He quickly doubled-down on his statement, encouraging us to take the verse at face value and not read more into it.
Even back then a red flag shot up in my mind. I couldn’t articulate why this interpretation was wrong, but I knew it wasn’t right.
Maybe you’ve been taught a similar thing. Or maybe you’re going through a season of doubt or uncertainty, and these verses don’t exactly encourage you. I would like to propose that in his context, James is not addressing doubt the way we often address it.
James is not demanding the Christian to pray with confidence and willpower, but rather surrender to our Father who cares for us.
Double-mindedness in the Book of James
From beginning to end of his letter, James is calling his audience to repentance and be wholly devoted to the Lord. Many of them seem to be divided in loyalty, resorting to favoritism, neglect, and greed. (James 1:27, 2:1-7, 3:13-18, 4:1-17, 5:9)
Whatever the exact situation was, a phrase James uses against them is “double-mindedness”:
“The word double-minded (dipsychos) means literally ‘double-souled’, a suggestive indication of the depths of the division within this person.”
In my opinion, chapter 4 is the heart of the letter, where James give a bold call to repentance:
“Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”
In addition to double-mindedness, I believe James loosely addresses the main topics he plans to speak about in the first chapter:
James 1:2-4, 12 Enduring Trials -5:7-8, 10-11, 13-20
James 1:5-8, 13-15 Double-mindedness -2:1-11, 14-26, 3:10-18, 4:3-10, 5:12
James 1:9-11 Warning to the Rich -2:1-7, 4:2-3, 4:13-17, 5:1-6
James 1:19-21, 26 Warning against Anger and Cruel Talk -2:12-13, 3:1-18, 4:11-12, 5:9
James 1:27 Call to care for those in Need -2:1-11, 15-17
So what does this have to do with doubting?
James’ usage of the word “doubt”
James assures his audience that if they endure their trials faithfully they will lack nothing, but if they are lacking wisdom in the midst of their trials to ask God. James describes God as caring and generous. But if they are to ask this generous and caring Father, they are to ask in faith, not doubting.
The verses that follow give us an explanation of what James means: “That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord, being double-minded and unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:7-8) With double-mindedness in mind, and how James repeats this rhetoric throughout the letter, it seems that James is not addressing doubt as emotional uncertainty but rather active disloyalty to God.
“Doubt translates a word (diakrino) that means basically ‘to differentiate’. From this root idea it was extended to include the ideas of ‘judging’ (1 Cor. 14:29) and ‘disputing’ (Acts 11:2) and hence, in the middle voice, ‘to dispute with onseself’, ‘to waver’, ‘to doubt’. James uses the same word in 2:4 to describe the ‘distinctions’ or ‘divisions’ which an undue attention to rich people can create in a church. The word suggests, then, not so much intellectual doubt as a basic conflict in loyalties—as, for instance, between God and ‘Money’ (Matt. 6:24) or God and ‘the world’ (Jas. 4:4)”
It seems like this is one of those circumstances in English Bibles where the word is technically an accurate translation, but can be easily misunderstood in our modern context. When James says to not doubt, he means that when we go to God in prayer, we seek Him and not turn to other gods or ungodly people. He alone is our God.
Conclusion
When we pray, we should seek the Lord to do the impossible. But when we ask, let's not rely on our confidence or “performance” in prayer, but rather in the God who saves. And if you’re not feeling confident when praying, know that God understands. All it takes is faith the size of a mustard seed.
Bibliography
Moo, D. (2015). James: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL. IVP Academic.
Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.