Category Archives: James

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.

James 5:16

Dear God, community is so important. I confess that going to church is not one of my favorite things. In fact, I don’t enjoy it much at all. But I need it. I need it for the teaching. I need it for the worship. I need it for the scripture. I need it for the service opportunities. And I need it for the community. I need to be sitting with others, develop relationships, and allow you to use some of those relationships to sharpen me. I also need to be there and intentionally available to that person who walks in and needs you.

Too many of us (including me) miss some of these aspects. We might show up, but we don’t allow the teaching or worship to penetrate our hearts. We don’t contemplate the scripture. We don’t look for ways to love others. We don’t seek out legitimate community. In essence, we don’t use church as a way to love you with all we have and live our neighbor as ourself. And we don’t let down our own walls enough to confess our sins to each other and pray for each other.

Father, as this is. Sunday morning, help me to use church for the community that it is meant to be. Give me the teaching I need. Help me to take a worshipful heart in and make it willing to be vulnerable and to reach out to others. Ultimately, be glorified through me so that I might grow closer to you and being the man you want me to be, and so that others might be drawn closer to you too.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. Do you think the Scriptures have no meaning? They say that God is passionate that the spirit he has placed within us should be faithful to him. And he gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.

James 4:4-10

Dear God, I wonder why James follows all of this humility talk with honor. It seems counter productive to make honor my motivation for being humble. That probably shouldn’t be the prize that I see at the end of my pursuits.

I will say, however, that some of the most humble people I know are the most honored. When I start to think of the people I know, from family members, to people in the community, to celebrities, the most admired are the most humble. I can’t think of one off of the top of my head who is arrogant. At least the ones I admire. But I suppose there are people who really like those who are arrogant. But I would say they are likely people who aren’t after your heart.

So, Father, please give me eyes for humility. I confess that I love to be honored. I love admiration. But that’s just my own sickness. I don’t want to pursue honor through acting humble. I simply recognize that I am a flawed person who needs a savior. I recognize the truth. Help me to live that truth authentically.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

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, there is something about James that has always seemed harsh to me, but maybe I need more harshness in my scripture. In this case, yes, I seek your counsel, but then, of course, I sometimes seek input from others. I feel like the discernment process is where your wisdom comes in.

I have a day full of meetings today. It starts at 7am and goes through to about 6:30pm. Sometimes, I am going to be making some hard decisions. Sometimes I’m going to be discerning between the counsel of others. Sometimes I’ll be leading the room and sometimes I’ll be following the leadership of someone else. This will be a good day to apply this verse and remember to literally pray more today and seek your wisdom.

Father, I just need to be more mindful of your today. Help me to be more in tune with what you are calling me to do. Fill me with your presence and peace and lead everyone today so that your glory will radiate through the work we do and our to our entire community.

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen

James 3:13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. 

Dear God, “meekness of wisdom” is a great phrase. Meekness is something that Solomon lost in his wisdom. 

I’ll confess that I often struggle with meekness. In fact, I doubt anyone who knows me would ascribe the word “meek” to me. Even having the audacity to share most of my prayer journals like this one on my blog is not meek. Do I need to perhaps be more meek in my approach? What would that look like given the leadership roles I have in different areas? Who is there in my life who is an example of meekness that I would want to follow?

Father, when I am stressed or going into an intense situation I always sing a little song to my self that I learned (I think at an FCA conference) when I was in high school. I just realized it has the word “meek” in it. I will close this prayer with that song:

Make me a servant, humble and meek

Lord, let me lift up those who are weak

And may the prayer of my heart always be

Make me a servant, make me a servant,

Make me a servant today. 

In Jesus’ name I pray,

Amen