So what IS the solution? [Clean that fountain at it's source.]

     I left us hanging at the end of chapter 3, promising more discussion of self and a solution in chapter 4..... then I never wrote about it. Yet chapter 4 is clearly where the book of James comes to its climax.
     Reviewing chapter three, we bemoaned the fact that clearly blessing and cursing CAN both come out of our mouths. James says it can't, but we know all too well.......  James' illustrations lead us to consider the source, our unbridled mouth being just a symptom of a polluted source.
    It becomes clear where he's going immediately in verse 1 of chapter 4. "What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?" What is the source? The answer he gives is, your desires. What you want is off kilter.
     But what you want is also  so important that you fight and quarrel [and kill!] to get it. And it took me lots of rereading the passage to understand it isn't the thing that you want James is talking about, it's the self focus of wanting what you want. 
    Verse 3, speaking of prayer, says even when you ask God you ask with the wrong motives. Motives isn't quite the right word and it narrows our thinking a little too finely. We examine our motives. We think about why we are asking. Not wrong, but not quite right. The verse actually just says we ask wrongly, defined by "we ask for ourselves" or "to secure their own enjoyment ". [linguistic key]
    What actually makes that clear is verse 4. "You adulterous people!" James exclaims. We are so used to thinking we have a right to what we want. Our society is based on pursuing what we want. James draws a line in the sand. What you want/what God wants: which will it be. He reinforces the idea with the next line; "anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God." Line in the sand. Verse five brings it home. Why do you think scripture refers to God as a jealous God?
    "But he gives us more grace." [verse 6] Whew. That was a little frightening. Keep that idea of the line in the sand as you read the beautiful poetry of verses 6-10.

          God opposes the proud          but       shows favor to the humble.
                               Submit yourselves then to God.
          Resist the Devil                     and       he will flee from you.
          Come near to God                 and       He will come near to you.
                               Wash your hands, you sinners.
                               Purify your hearts, you double-minded.
                                                   Grieve
                                                   Mourn
                                                   Wail.
                               Change your laughter to mourning.
                               Change your joy to gloom.
        Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.

     Surely that is a poem or saying that was familiar to James' readers. It is written with too much symmetry to be anything else. And in this context it is the perfect poem to reach for. The scriptural use of the word humble always has to do with agenda. It asks, whose agenda are you following? Pride is following your own agenda. Humility is following God's agenda. Think about the famous Philippians 2 passage about Jesus' humility. He was obedient, even to death. His only passion was the will of God. That's what James calls pure, not double-minded. He would call that faithful, not adulterous. He calls it humble, not proud.
     So going back to why we don't get what we want when we pray... we ask wrongly, for ourselves and our own enjoyment. Wow. That makes you back up and tackle the whole issue of prayer again doesn't it? Surely effective prayer at this point will begin with a lot of repentance.