But Jesus replied to her, “You [really] do not know what you are asking for. Are you able to drink the cup [i.e., of suffering] that I am about to drink?” They [i.e., James, John and their mother. See Mark 10:35ff] answered, “[Yes] we are able to.”
James 4:3 - An Understandable Version (2005 edition) [When] you do ask, you do not receive it, because you ask from wrong motives, [just] so you can satisfy your own pleasures. More versionsKing James Version (Oxford) 1769 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Amplified Bible - Classic Edition [Or] you do ask [God for them] and yet fail to receive, because you ask with wrong purpose and evil, selfish motives. Your intention is [when you get what you desire] to spend it in sensual pleasures. American Standard Version (1901) Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may spend it in your pleasures. Common English Bible You ask and don’t have because you ask with evil intentions, to waste it on your own cravings. Catholic Public Domain Version You ask and you do not receive, because you ask badly, so that you may use it toward your own desires. Douay-Rheims version of The Bible - 1752 version You ask, and receive not; because you ask amiss: that you may consume it on your concupiscences. |
But Jesus replied to her, “You [really] do not know what you are asking for. Are you able to drink the cup [i.e., of suffering] that I am about to drink?” They [i.e., James, John and their mother. See Mark 10:35ff] answered, “[Yes] we are able to.”
But Jesus said to them, “You [really] do not know what you are asking for. Are you able to drink the cup [i.e., of suffering] that I will drink? Or [are you able] to be immersed with the immersion that I am [to be] immersed with? [i.e., to be overwhelmed with agony].”
For every person who asks will [certainly] receive; and the one who looks will [certainly] find; and to the person who knocks, the door will [certainly] be opened up.
And a few days later, this younger son gathered everything together and traveled to a distant country where he squandered his possessions in wild living.
But when this son of yours came [home], after having squandered all you gave him on prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’
Where do conflicts and fights among you come from? Do they not come from your [desire for] pleasures which produce inner conflict?
and we can be assured of receiving from God whatever we ask Him for, because we are obeying His commands [i.e., especially the one about loving others] and are practicing what is pleasing to Him.
And this is [how we can express] boldness in our relationship with God: Whatever we ask [of God, in prayer], so long as it is in harmony with His will for us, [we know] He hears our request.