Others pray with improper motives. The disciple James warns against such abuse of prayer, saying: “You do ask, and yet you do not receive, because you are asking for a wrong purpose, that you may expend it upon your cravings for sensual pleasure. ” ​ — James 4: 3.
उदाहरणार्थ, लॉटरीचे बक्षीस जिंकण्यासाठी किंवा एखादी पैज जिंकण्यासाठी काही जण देवाला प्रार्थना करतात.