PRAYER IS A PRIORITY (early will I seek God)
Philosophy behind my lesson; - Adapted from Ray Gonzales
Philosophy behind my lesson; - Adapted from Ray Gonzales
Try,(key word) to give you more than you
have heard before, to stir
your heart to know Jesus better, by prayer, His Word and fellowship - to give a
taste of the riches of God's goodness, an appetizer
- to move you to say in your heart
"I want more".
Last
week;
Two of the Bibles most noted "Pray
-ers";
David in 2 Samuel 7
Jesus instructions
to His disciples on how to pray from The Gospel of Matthew 6.
What about David's prayer
stuck in your thoughts?
What about Jesus instructions
stuck in your mind?
What about Psalm 63 do you
remember?
PRAYER IS
A PRIORITY (early will I seek God)
Prayer, Honors - God the Creator, LORD and Redeemer
Reminds - us that we are His creatures
(NOT
Creator, keeps us humble)
Prompts - thankfulness for all God
has provided
Moves - us to extend forgiveness to
others as we have been forgiven
(Testimony
of God's mercy)
Strengthens - our ability to obey
and keeps opens the way of repentance when we
sin and fall sort.
Extends - the borders of God's
kingdom by interceding for those who the Holy Spirit moves us to pray for.
Guards - our hearts against
unbelief, prayer is the exercise of belief and faith in Jesus
Christ our Lord and Savior.
Hebrews 3:12 (NASB95)
12Take
care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart
that falls away from the living God.
This week;
Book of James on prayer
A. The man, James;
James who was he?
The brother of the incarnate Son of God.
A Jew of the 1st century in a culture which was impacted by the Greeks
both in language and thinking. James is
the second child of Mary, the first of Joseph.
James life could be divided into two parts;
1st Pre conversion; brother of Jesus,
his relationship to Jesus may have been
the greatest obstacle to his salvation.
From all appearances James
family was normal, 5 boys at least two sisters.
Joseph was a craftsman, what we
would call a tradesman , "blue collar" someone who worked and taught his sons his trade. As a working class family they all worked together, took meals together and generally lived and slept in the same modest home.
They had years of seeing the lacks,
failures and needs of one another, except for Jesus. He always could
be counted on to obey and do His share
of the work. James being the oldest son after Jesus probably
heard more than once that "you
should more like Jesus". It seems James did not believe his brother was God until after Jesus suffered death and
resurrected. James would have been about
26 to 28 years old at the time Jesus began
His ministry, still not convinced Jesus claims were true.
2nd After conversion; a slave of God and the
LORD Jesus Christ
1 Corinthians 15:3–7 (NASB95)
3For I delivered to you as of first
importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins
according to the Scriptures,
4and that He was buried, and that He was
raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
5and that He appeared to Cephas, then to
the twelve.
6After that He appeared to more than five
hundred brethren at one time, most of whom
remain until now, but some have fallen asleep;
7then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles;
James was never the same after that
visit. All he did reflected someone who
encountered God.
B. "the bond-servant of God
and of the Lord Jesus Christ"
doulos
theou kyriou Iesou
Christou
1. James
description of himself in verse 1 ;
"doulos"=one
who is a slave in the sense of becoming
property of an owner (God)
"theou"=the
One supreme supernatural being as creator and
sustainer of the universe
"kyriou"=(a
title for God and for Christ) one who exercises
supernatural authority over mankind - Lord, Ruler, One who
commands
"Iesou"=Jesus
Christ of Nazareth
"Christou"=(the
Greek translation of the Hebrew and
Aramaic word 'Messiah')
James does
not reference any special relationship to his 1/2 brother but, someone of low
degree owned, all his desires and intentions subject to his
owner. Later as leader
of the church in Jerusalem James was known as "James the just", he was also called "old camel knees"
by Eusebius of Caesarea a Roman historian
and Christian polemicist who later became the Bishop
of Caesarea about AD
319.
James epistle is a
unique blend of wisdom in short bursts, some may not appear to be
obviously related but, they
are. It has been compared to
"Proverbs", a book with little
logical progression, both Proverbs and the book of James are considered "Wisdom
literature". James uses specific words
to link ideas and that is what we are to focus
on.
From his epistle we discern 5 notable
character traits about
James;
1st He was a man of true humility, he used a term to describe himself
as one who was subject to another not elevating himself
as Jesus 1/2 brother.
2nd He was righteous man, later known as "James the Just", warning
of trappings of sin and encouraging right living.
3rd He was a loving pastor, his mention and concern for the poor
is seen in his writings, calling all the members of the church
beloved.
4th He was a man of the word, he quotes and refers to the writings of Moses many times and the need for prayer.
5th He was a theologian, dealing with sin, law, faith, wisdom and
that God is One.
James various key ideas are for the practical
benefit for those who have that same profession as;
" James, a bond-servant of God and the
Lord Jesus Christ"
and
as well, those who are intrigued by having knees like a
camel's.
C. Key words;
James 1:2 (NASB95)
2Consider it all joy, my brethren,
when you encounter various trials,
James approach starts in a unique way
linking "joy" with "various trails". Not just once having a different view
of "joy"
in Chapter 4:9 he tells us what "joy" we have should be
turned to gloom and links it to resisting the devil and humbling ourselves in
the "presence of the Lord."
This is not a natural way of thinking, "joy" and "various
trails" do not go together.
James 1:1 was the clue that James is "not a natural thinking
man". James has met God in the flesh and his world
is never to be the same.
James 1:3 (NASB95)
3knowing that the testing of your faith
produces endurance.
James is a man of "faith" and
uses the word 16x's in his epistle. For
James "faith" is always about action, it is not a theological term,
it connects to deeds. Orthodoxy is not
James message; Practice-doxy is.
James begins by telling us "faith" is always
producing or related to some action. He
begins with "endurance"
= "hypomone" = "capacity to continue to bear up under difficult
circumstances - endurance being able to endure" this word is associated
with hope and refers to that quality of character which does not allow one to
surrender to circumstances or succumb under trial. It is also translated
"perseverance" "steadfastness" and "patience".
James pulls the next two verses back
to "faith" in verse
3. "Endurance" is "faith"
in action and it's working has a perfect result, that perfect result is related
to wisdom. Let's read verses 4 & 5;
James 1:4–5 (NASB95)
4And let endurance have its perfect
result, so that you may be perfect and
complete, lacking in nothing.
5But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him
ask of God, who gives to all
generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
As wisdom is from God as James points
out and it is dispensed generously verses 6 - 8 detail the requirement to
receive that wisdom;
James 1:6–8 (NASB95)
6But he must ask in faith
without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like
the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.
7For that man ought not to expect that he
will receive anything from the
Lord,
8being a double-minded man, unstable in
all his ways.
James focus on faith moves from testing
to applying faith and this is
where his heart is. The key is "ASK IN FAITH". Stability is related to single
mindedness. James uses a root word which
also could be translated "believe, trust and faith"="pisteuo"
and is clear in making his point that receiving after asking depends on if one
doubts. As the saying goes "doubt
and do without, believe and receive".
Two other ideas James draws together is;
1. Humility, the realization that both life and riches are
passing. All of us are poor just some realize it, our position, education and possessions
count for nothing.
Do not be deceived by_______________?
2. Temptation is from our own lust, not God. Lust is the beginning of a process which moves
us to sin and results in death.
D. Key event;
Genesis 3:1–7 (NASB95)
1Now the serpent was more crafty than any
beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You
shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”
2The woman said to the serpent, “From the
fruit of the trees of the garden we
may eat;
3but from the fruit of the tree which is
in the middle of the garden, God has said,
‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will
die.’ ”
4The serpent said to the woman, “You
surely will not die!
5“For God knows that in the day you eat
from it your eyes will be opened, and
you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that
it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and
ate; and she gave also to
her husband with her, and he ate.
7Then the eyes of both of them were
opened, and they knew that they were
naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves
loin coverings.
After
reading those verses there two things which come to mind;
1. Knowing what God really said and doing it
could have stopped the
discussion.
2. Reason, is the greatest obstacle of
obedience and faith.
What
should the woman have done? RUN
E. Faith & Works;
James could be accused of being single
minded. When reading the Bible a sign
something is important is the frequency of its' use. In Chapter 2 from verse 14 to 26 James
relates "faith and works"
10x's. Could there be a pattern
here? Taking that same idea about the
frequency of use holding importance, two other words may hold the key to James
Epistle. "Ask and pray", if one word described a characteristic of
prayer it would be "faith," applying
that "faith"
results in "works".
When we want to imply someone is
inseparable from another person we say they are like "Siamese twins"
joined together. That is what James is
trying to tell us "faith and
works" are inseparable just as "pray
and ask" are inseparable.
Hebrews 11:6 (NASB95)
6And without faith it is
impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God
must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who
seek Him.
Matt. 7:13 Gate/small Way/narrow Destination/few
Faith Believe Trust realized
Entrance Travel Eventual
Justification Sanctification Glorification
pisteou
Review;
If we outlined James;
Testing of your
faith produces endurance
Pray (ask God for
wisdom)
Lust ends in death
(not enough prayer)
Hearers of the word
show true religion in word & deed
Faith & works
are always together
Pray with right
motives (usually for others)
Pray in faith (
remember Hebrews 10:6 )
Prayer of righteous
affects much
(prayer
and righteousness are friends)
Prayer saves souls
and cover a multitude of sins
(extends
the boundaries of God's kingdom)
James real message could be, "prayer
is the proof of our faith", that proof since Jesus told us in Matthew 6 to
pray in secret is known only by God. For sure He knows what kind of faith we have, if
our faith is measured by how much pray.
No wonder they called James
"camel knees", all he wanted to
talk about was prayer. I guess that is
what happens when you are
visited by God.
Like all good Bible lessons
you should leave this morning with two
questions on your mind;
1. Do I pray enough? If
you answer yes you need to repent from that lie to
yourself / if no ?
2. What I am going to do about it?
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