But let him ask in faith, without any doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed.
Parallel translations
- KJV But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
- BSB But he must ask in faith, without doubting, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
- NKJV But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
- NASB But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.
- NLT But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Such asking must be in faith, without wavering, since the doubter is as unstable as a wind-tossed wave. Confidence in God's character is essential to prayer.
Overview
James qualifies the promise of verse 5: the request must come in genuine trust, not divided allegiance. The "doubting" in view is not honest uncertainty but a settled instability that questions whether God is good and reliable. The image of a restless wave vividly captures a heart that cannot commit itself to God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Matt 21:21–22Jesus answered them, “Most certainly I tell you, if you have faith, and don’t doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you told this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it would be done.
- Heb 11:6Without faith it is impossible to be well pleasing to him, for he who comes to God must believe that he exists, and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him.
- Mark 11:22–24Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God.
- Eph 4:14that we may no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error;
- Heb 10:23let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering; for he who promised is faithful.
- Heb 13:9Don’t be carried away by various and strange teachings, for it is good that the heart be established by grace, not by food, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited.
- 1 Tim 2:8I desire therefore that the men in every place pray, lifting up holy hands without anger and doubting.
- Jude 1:12–13These are hidden rocky reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you, shepherds who without fear feed themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
- 2 Pet 2:17These are wells without water, clouds driven by a storm; for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved forever.
- Gen 49:4Boiling over like water, you shall not excel; because you went up to your father’s bed, then defiled it. He went up to my couch.
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Christ at the center
The wisdom from above and the royal law of love are the life of those who belong to 'our glorious Lord Jesus Christ' — faith in him made visible in works.
How James 1:6 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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