The Study of James: Chapter 4:1-10

July 29, 2009

~Denise Grant

 

James 4:1 – “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?”  James tells us that arguing among believers is harmful and often results from the evil desires that rage deep within us – we want more of our way, more possessions, more money, higher status, and more recognition. When the desire rages strong enough, we battle to get our way. Instead, we should ask God to help us get rid of all that is selfish within us and trust Him to give us what we really need.

 

James 4:2-3 – “You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” James mentions the most common problems in prayer are:

• Not asking   
• Asking for the wrong things
• Asking for the wrong reasons

 

Do you pray to God? When you do, what do you talk about? Do you go to Him only when you’re in need of something? Do you seek God’s approval for what you already plan to do? Your prayers will become powerful when you allow God to change your desires so that they perfectly correspond to His will for you – “Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him” - 1 John 3:21-22.

 

James 4:4-5 – “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?” There is nothing wrong with wanting a pleasurable life. God gives us good gifts that He wants us to enjoy –“For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the world of God and prayer” - 1 Timothy 4:4-5.  But it is wrong to seek pleasure at others’ expense or at the expense of obeying God. Pleasure that keeps us from pleasing God is sinful - Pleasure in God’s rich bounty is good.

 

James 4:6 – “But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’” The cure for evil desires is humility – “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be lowly in spirit and among the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud.” Proverbs 16:18-19; Pride makes us self-centered and leads us to believe we deserve all we can see, touch, or imagine. It creates greedy appetites which exceed much more than what we need. The antidote to self-centered desires is to humble ourselves before God, realizing that we truly need nothing except His approval. “All of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”- 1 Peter 5:5 When His Holy Spirit fills us, we realize that the things that we have coveted are only cheap substitutes for what God has to offer.

 

James 4:7 – “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Although God and Satan are at war, we don’t need to wait until the end to see who will win. God has already defeated Satan –“He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” Revelation 12:12, and when Christ returns, Satan and all he stands for will be eliminated forever – “And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” Revelation 20:10. Satan is here – on earth - right now, and he is trying to win us over to his evil cause. However, with the Holy Spirit in our lives, we can resist Satan and he will flee from us.

 

James 4:8-9 – “Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn, and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.”  James gives five suggestions on how to draw close to God:

 

1)     Give yourselves humbly to God. Realize that you need His forgiveness, and be willing to follow Him.

2)     Resist the devil. Don’t allow him to entice and tempt you.

3)     Wash your hands – that is: lead a pure life and let your hearts be filled with God. Be cleansed from sin, replacing it with God’s purity.

4)     Let there be tears, sorrow and sincere grief for your sins. Don’t be afraid to express deep heartfelt sorry for what you’ve done.

5)     Realize your worthlessness. Humble yourself before God and He will lift you up.

 

James 4:10 – “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” Humbling ourselves means recognizing that our worth comes from God alone. We do not deserve His favor, but He reaches out to us in love and gives us worth and dignity, despite our human shortcomings.

 

O Lord,

 

  How very grateful we are that You continue to love us in spite of our short comings and failures. Help us see that this world offers us nothing compared to the goodness You have in store for us. Rid us of our selfishness and keep our eyes set only on You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Denise Grant - Just "clay" in the Master Potter's hands.

 

"If we ever forget that we are one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under." ~Ronald Reagan

 

“If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."  2 Chronicles 7:14