59 Jas 4.3 Prayers for selfish ends are not granted

James 4:3 (ESV)

^3  You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

An example of such a prayer, which offended God, is described in Ps 78.18 when the Israelites, discontented with God’s food provision, complained that they weren’t getting the meat they wanted. Here’s the text in the ESV: Psalm 78:17–19 (ESV), “Yet they sinned still more against him, rebelling against the Most High in the desert. 18They tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved. 19They spoke against God, saying, “Can God spread a table in the wilderness?”

This psalm refers to the event recorded here: Numbers 11:4–6 (ESV), “Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, ‘Oh that we had meat to eat! 5We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. 6But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.’”