Category Archives: James

¹⁹ Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. ²⁰ Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. ²¹ So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.

James 1:19-21

Dear God, it is interesting that James prefaces the “filth and evil” with talking about anger. To just read verse 21 by itself, my mind might go to the things I watch, listen to, or read. But when I read more closely and check out the footnotes, it says the filth and evil is literally translated “abundance of malice.”

While I still have some malice in my life, I can feel the slow transformation in these areas. While I still am too quick to speak sometimes, I am getting so much better at listening and asking questions of others. The things I get angry about are fewer and fewer. Some Christians would say that I’m getting soft on sin or that I am not living in my convictions enough. I am too tolerant of others and I’m letting them die. But somehow it doesn’t feel that way. It feels like I am seeing people more and more with your eyes. I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt more and more. And so while I might not be living into verse 21 in isolation, in the context of verses 19 and 20, maybe I am.

Father, I don’t want to miss you. I don’t want to miss when you do, indeed, want me to be righteously angry about something. But I don’t want to miss the opportunity to love someone who needs loved. I was with someone recently who is so unsettled. Their spirit is so unsettled. If I were closer to that person (both physically, we are separated by over 1,000 miles) and figuratively, I would love to be able to minister to them a little. But there are plenty of people within my sphere who are like them. So help me, Father, to love well, to see others with your eyes, and to be a minister of your presence.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen

Believers who are poor have something to boast about, for God has honored them. And those who are rich should boast that God has humbled them. They will fade away like a little flower in the field. The hot sun rises and the grass withers; the little flower droops and falls, and its beauty fades away. In the same way, the rich will fade away with all of their achievements.
James 1:9-11

Dear God, these verses aren’t about being rich or poor, but about all of us being your children regardless of our financial state. I have nothing with any wealth I might have beyond an opportunity to serve you with it, and there is nothing additional wealth could buy me that would bring me more than you already give.

I have some things going on today that are important. First, I get the honor of giving the invocation at a local government meeting. Help me to be a blessing to them, but also to invite the Holy Spirit into that room. My words will be forgotten, so make this not about me trying to say anything meaningful, but to simply be an effective force for your kingdom to come into the world.

Second, there is something important happening at work, and I really need you to be in it. I need for the work done today to be good, to plant seeds that will find good soil, and for good fruit to grow. Help me to be part of that process and to encourage the best in all of it.

Father, I see poor people every day in my work. I see wealthy people as well. The sun rises and sets on all of us. We all get between zero and 110 years on this earth. Help each of us—help me—to find our purpose in you. Give us our daily bread. Nourish us. Forgive us as we forgive others. Keep us from temptation, and give me the strength to avoid and reject temptation when it comes to me. And please let everything I do be about bringing your kingdom onto this earth and your will being done on this earth as it is in heaven. Oh, Lord, I love you.

I pray all of this to you in Jesus and with the Holy Spirit,

Amen

¹⁹ Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. ²⁰ Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. ²¹ So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.

²² But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. ²³ For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. ²⁴ You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. ²⁵ But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.

²⁶ If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. ²⁷ Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

James 1:19-27

Dear God, there is a lot here. I wonder if I should bullet-point these instructions from James:

• Slow to speak
• Quick to listen
• Slow to anger
• Get rid of filth/evil
• Humbly accept your word
• Do what your word says
• Control my tongue
• Care for orphans and widows
• Don’t allow myself to be corrupted

That’s a lot for 9 verses. But I guess it all comes back to the same thing: Find my peace in you and let your Spirit flow through me. If the fruits of the Spirit are growing in me then I will care more about others than I care about myself. In the words of Ted Lasso, I will learn to be curious, not judgmental. I will listen. I will replace a lot of my anger with sympathy and empathy. Of course, I will hear your word and obey it. And I will keep myself from corruption because I won’t be looking for selfish gain.

Father, I adore you. I lay my life before you. How I love you. Jesus, I adore you. I lay my life before you. How I love you. Spirit, I adore you. I lay my life before you. How I love you.

I pray all of this submitted to your authority over me,

Amen

²⁷ Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

James 1:27

Dear God, in the midst of James 1, this sentence seems a bit random. Out of the blue, James mentions widows and orphans. Not letting the world corrupt me makes sense, but the widows and orphans is interesting. I think this verse, combined with Stephen and six others being put in charge of caring for widows and orphans in the early church (Acts 6:1-6). I’ve always remembered this whenever I’ve heard about a widow in need and tried to do things for them when I learn of the need. I hope someone does the same for my wife should I die first.

It’s also a reminder that you really want us to be about loving others. We are here to be your hands and feet. We are your Plan A and you don’t have a Plan B.

Father, Holy Spirit, please show me if there is anyone today, even in the midst of our vacation, to whom you want me to be a servant. I’m sitting here thinking of some of the times in the past when my wife and I were able to be a specific blessing to someone in a desperate situation. But for every one of those examples, I am sure there are a hundred that I missed. So nudge me when I need nudged. Give me ears to hear and eyes to see.

I pray this through Jesus life, death, and resurrection, submitted to your will over mine,

Amen

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. 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. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.
James 1:5-8

Dear God, this feels like me: asking you for wisdom and yet still keeping part of my faith in the world. Logic. Reason. Justice. My rights. I put stock in all of these.

Father, I’m really feeling it today. You’re all I have and I really need your wisdom. Speak to me. Raise up voices I can hear. Reveal your perception of my life and the events surrounding it to me. Whatever the outcomes, my they ultimately be for your glory.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.
James 1:22-25

Dear God, this last phrase could easily be taken out of context: “then God will bless you for doing it.” Other translations say something like, “They will be blessed in what they do.” (NIV) Either way, this could be interpreted as doing this for selfish reasons. As of to say, if I do what you say then it will improve my situation. But that’s not what James is saying because the people he’s talking to are living under persecution for their faith and he doesn’t expect that to get better. no, I think the blessed to which he’s referring here isn’t as much of the #blessed philosophy as it is being filled with the fruits of the Spirit.

The more I know you. The more I walk away from temptation and towards your presence the more my life will reflect you and the more your fruit will grow in and out of me. I’ve talked about the fruit of the Spirit many times with you before, but I do it because I think it’s the key. That’s the blessing you have for me. You want to give me love like you have. You want to give me a deep joy in all circumstances. You want to give me a peace that passes all understanding. Patience. Goodness. Faithfulness. Kindness. Self control. These are the blessings you have for me. They are what will see me through regardless the path you need for me to walk to accomplish your will.

Father, give me ears to listen to your word and the different ways you speak to me, and give me the courage and impetus to actually follow your words—whether it’s the things you want my heart to know and change, or the actions you need me to take. More than anything, I want the peace that comes from knowing I’ve given you all of me. I’ve given my utmost for your highest.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen

Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires.
James 1:19-20

Dear God, yes, quick to listen. I’m such a lousy listener. My wife is much, much better at it than I am. And some of my biggest mistakes have come from getting angry fast and communicating it. I can be a mess.

There is an issue at hand right now that is testing how much I believe this passage, and my willingness to learn from it. What are you doing in the lives of everyone involved? Where are they coming from? I have my assumptions, but I’ll bet I would be surprised to see the world from their perspective. I think I know their perspectives, but I really don’t.

Father, I submit to you. I submit to this passage and James’s wisdom from 2,000 years ago. Thank you for teaching me. Thank you for loving and guiding me. Thank you for using me however you will in this world as your ambassador.

In Jesus’s name I pray,

Amen