“But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” (James 3:17-18, ESV)
James pulls no punches as he exhorts his audience to behave in a godly manner. The people of God were behaving in an inappropriate and downright sinful manner towards their brothers and sisters in the Lord. They were engaging in gossip, slander, pride and with lack of hospitality and charity. There was a lack of peace due to infighting, covetousness, pride, boasting and selfishness. These resulted from a failure to heed the Law of Love that was given by Jesus (John 13) producing a church marked by worldliness. Such worldliness was an indication of a dangerous condition of double-mindedness. A Christian who loves the ways of the world and adopts them rejects Christ despite allegations to the contrary. James refers to such people as adulterous.
So James commands his audience as a whole to pray for wisdom from God. This requires great humility for such a prayer is an acknowledgement of our own sinful weakness, an admission most of us are hesitant to make. We want to appear godly and wise in the eyes of others, but wisdom from God is rooted in humility and human weakness. We must ask Him for wisdom so that we will know how to speak with grace, compassion and mercy to edify our brethren in Christ and build up the Kingdom of God.