Ask

"You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it." James 4:2 (NLT)

When you don't have what you need, there is a certain desperation you have to get it. Here in this passage the Apostle James says, "you scheme and kill to get it." Now he may not have been referring to this method in the literal sense for everyone, but in the figurative sense you rely on your own means to get whatever you need whatever the cost. Which is his point.

He points out however, that the overarching reason you don't have what you need or want, is because you don't go after God for it. You don't ask God, because you're too focused on how you can get it on your own. This scathing rebuke and exhortation is mean to propel you towards God in your moment of greatest need. Your conduit for every blessing under heaven is God, so James here is saying why don't you try asking him repeatedly until you get an answer. He's going to respond at the proper time.