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Text: James 5:13-18 Review: “Any of you suffering?” “Are any of you happy?” “Are any of you sick?” “Any of you committed sins?” (happy, sad, sick and sinful... that pretty much covers it, right?) ● According to James, prayer is the “rhythm” of life. Life affords us the greatest opportunity to develop our understanding and practice of prayer. It allows us to start where we are; with what we are familiar (best way to progress in any relationship). Philippians 4:6 says, “…in everything, prayer”. ● One of the reasons that I continue to pray, amidst the host of serious questions and doubt is that it was obviously important to Jesus; he modeled it. And, the objective of the Christian life is not just to believe in Jesus, but to adopt the beliefs of Jesus as my own. It is to be convinced that Jesus came to show us the way to be most fully human. ~ Most often, God will not violate the governing principles he has established. He chooses to work in and through creation to restore creation. God seems committed to the arduous process of working within and alongside hesitant and defective humanity in order to re-establish his rule. ● I am becoming more convinced that God seems to have ordered things in such a way that he can genuinely respond to our requests; that God is affected by humanity; responsive to us. “How would we understand Jesus’ repeated invitation to ask, seek and knock?” Prayer would be an absurd notion; it would be psychologically impossible! ● The scriptures often use the phrase “God relented” or “God changed his mind” to indicate that he takes into consideration the actions of humanity when determining his course of action. We find the principle in Jeremiah 18:7-10. “7 If I announce that a certain nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed, 8 but then that nation renounces its evil ways, I will not destroy it as I had planned. 9 And if I announce that I will build up and plant a certain nation or kingdom, making it strong and great, 10 but then that nation turns to evil and refuses to obey me, I will not bless that nation as I had said I would.” ● The actual Hebrew word for “relent” is used in (4) passages where, in response to an individual’s request, God changed his mind (Exodus 32:14 “So the Lord changed his mind about the terrible disaster he had threatened to bring on his people”. ; Jeremiah 26:19; Jonah 4:2; Amos 7:3-6) ● Sometimes, God seemed to defer to the requests of humanity for another, equally effective means of accomplishing his purpose (i.e. Moses and Aaron: “I’m not eloquent…” “God said, ‘What about your brother Aaron?” Exodus 4) ● We’ve heard the challenge, “What about the scriptures that say that God doesn’t change?” (Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8; Romans 11:29). In context, those scriptures refer to the unchanging nature of God and his plans; that nothing that happens in the natural order of things could ever thwart the fulfillment of God’s overarching purposes for his creation. I don’t think this diminishes God in any way or makes him “subject to us”- I actually think this makes God even greater!... that he has the capacity to utilize any number of ways of achieving his purposes. ● If it’s true that sometimes, the God of the universe does things “because I ask”, could it also be possible that some things don’t happen because “we don’t ask”? (just a thought!) ● So, within the realm of created-order (God’s way of ordering his world), we must always be conscious that there will be things that… … we cannot do, … God won’t do for us, … God won’t do without us. ~ Prayer demonstrates that we refuse to accept things for the way they are. Living in the kingdom (way of life where what Jesus wants to happen- happens) demands more than inner-discontent or merely voicing our disapproval with injustice, indifference (lack of compassion) and pride. It compels us to make an appeal for the kingdom to come, but also challenges us to “be” the kingdom; to live out the principles of the kingdom and establish it in every opportunity and every relationship. ~ Frequently, we are God’s answer to prayer! (or, many of my prayers I can answer myself!) I think that we’re mostly disappointed that we have not experienced God in the more spectacular ways we’ve encountered in the story. God’s occasional “feats of strength”, while certainly getting our attention, but they proved less than effective in sustaining long-term devotion (1 Corinthians 10). ● So, when we ask God to comfort a friend/neighbor who is hurting, our expressions of comfort are often the answer to that prayer; when we pray for that one that appears disenfranchised or isolated, our coming close answers that prayer… you get what I mean. ~ Don’t give up! ● I have a tendency to give up for a host or reasons: frustration due to my lack of understanding, the circumstance becomes too demanding, lack of timely results to name a few. Sometimes I give up on prayer because it doesn’t seem to be working, or it’s working for you and not for me! ● Jesus understood that these tendencies are inherent in us all, so he takes the normal approach, he tells us “stories with a point” (parables).
(to be continued) |
