Reaction Time
Been depending on my man to wheel me around.
While still laying low due to pain, I thought I’d get a jump on typing up the verses for a Bible study discussion on the book of James. I emailed the group saying... this is like in the book If You Give a Mouse A Cookie and how it references one things leads to another. If you give Jesus entrance into your heart something will lead to conviction and hopefully repentance.
Paige Brown gets in our business with these questions to challenge the format of our prayers.
Whew! I think Jesus just took Brillo pad to me, but it was needed.
One thing He has pointed out to me is my reaction time. While I still need improvement in the time I allow the Holy Spirit to take over the way I react to EVERYTHING…it’s a whole lot better than 40 years ago. As I’ve prayed through these prayers several times, I’ve realized how important it is to surrender control to the Holy Spirit over our senses. What we hear, see, smell, taste, and touch activates a reaction. I’m praying my first reactive response will become Max Lucado’s question….Would this please God?
HA. Fortunately, God's still working on me. I just received two texts and after a quick “NO” response to one…I came under conviction and initiated James’ 1:19 "quick, slow, slow” advice before texting any more. Bring back the Brillo pad!
James’ prayer list for us.
Paige Brown asks..."Have any of the instructions in James's letter prompted your fervent prayer and not only your conviction?"
Open up the book of James and please, brothers and sisters, tell me you come under conviction too!
God opposes everyone who is proud, but he blesses all who are humble with undeserved grace. Remember 4:6
It may take you a couple days to pray through these verses in James, but it's worth it.
Pray to the Father:
for joy in the midst of trials (1:2-4) Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
for wisdom (1:5) If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
for strength against your deadly desires (1:13-15) Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
for your anger (1:19-20) Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
for meek receptive hearts toward God’s word (1:21) Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
for your self deception (1:16,22,26) Don't be fooled, my dear friends; Obey God's message! Don't fool yourselves by just listening to it; If you think you are being religious, but can't control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is useless
for no favoritism and false distinctions (2:2-5) Suppose a rich person wearing fancy clothes and a gold ring comes to one of your meetings. And suppose a poor person dressed in worn-out clothes also comes. You must not give the best seat to the one in fancy clothes and tell the one who is poor to stand at the side or sit on the floor. This is the same as saying that some people are better than others, and you would be acting like a crooked judge.My dear friends, pay attention. God has given a lot of faith to the poor people in this world. God has also promised them a share in his kingdom that he will give to everyone who loves him.
for submission to the whole law of liberty (2:10-13) If you obey every law except one, you are still guilty of breaking them all. The same God who told us to be faithful in marriage also told us not to murder. So even if you are faithful in marriage, but murder someone, you still have broken God's Law. Speak and act like people who will be judged by the law that sets us free. Do this, because on the day of judgment there will be no pity for those who have not had pity on others. But even in judgment, God is merciful!
for works that prove the genuineness of our faith (2:14-14-17) My friends, what good is it to say you have faith, when you don't do anything to show you really do have faith? Can this kind of faith save you?If you know someone who doesn't have any clothes or food, you shouldn't just say, “I hope all goes well for you. I hope you will be warm and have plenty to eat.” What good is it to say this, unless you do something to help? Faith that doesn't lead us to do good deeds is all alone and dead!
for a bridled tongue (3:2-6) All of us do many wrong things. But if you can control your tongue, you are mature and able to control your whole body. By putting a bit into the mouth of a horse, we can turn the horse in different directions. It takes strong winds to move a large sailing ship, but the captain uses only a small rudder to make it go in any direction. Our tongues are small too, and yet they brag about big things. It takes only a spark to start a forest fire! The tongue is like a spark. It is an evil power that dirties the rest of the body and sets a person's entire life on fire with flames that come from hell itself.
for a tongue of blessing (3:10) My dear friends, with our tongues we speak both praises and curses. We praise our Lord and Father, and we curse people who were created to be like God, and this isn't right.
for a harvest of righteousness (3:17-18) But the wisdom that comes from above leads us to be pure, friendly, gentle, sensible, kind, helpful, genuine, and sincere. When peacemakers plant seeds of peace, they will harvest justice.
for realization of and repentance from worldliness that shows up in jealousy and ambition and resentment (3:14-15. 4:1-4) But if your heart is full of bitter jealousy and selfishness, don't brag or lie to cover up the truth. This kind of wisdom doesn't come from above. It is earthly and selfishness and selfishness comes from the devil himself.
4:1-4 Why do you fight and argue with each other? Isn't it because you are full of selfish desires that fight to control your body? You want something you don't have, and you will do anything to get it. You will even kill! But you still cannot get what you want, and you won't get it by fighting and arguing. You should pray for it. Yet even when you do pray, your prayers are not answered, because you pray just for selfish reasons. You people aren't faithful to God! Don't you know if you love the world, you are God's enemies? And if you decide to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.
for humility (4:10) Be humble in the Lord's presence, and he will honor you
for your superiority complex (4:12) God is our judge, and he can save or destroy us. What right do you have to condemn anyone?
for glad submission to the Lord’s will (4:13-15) You should know better than to say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to the city. We will do business there for a year and make a lot of money!” What do you know about tomorrow? How can you be so sure about your life? It is nothing more than mist that appears for only a little while before it disappears. You should say, “If the Lord lets us live, we will do these things.”
for the me-ward direction of your striving and possessions (5:1-5) You rich people should cry and weep! Terrible things are going to happen to you. Your treasures have already rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your money has rusted, and the rust will be evidence against you, as it burns your body like fire. Yet you keep on storing up wealth in these last days. You refused to pay the people who worked in your fields, and now their unpaid wages are shouting out against you. The Lord All-Powerful has surely heard the cries of the workers who harvested your crops. While here on earth, you have thought only of filling your own stomachs and having a good time. But now you are like fat cattle on their way to be butchered.
for patient longing and readiness for the Lord’s return (5:7-11) My friends, be patient until the Lord returns. Think of farmers who wait patiently for the autumn and spring rains to make their valuable crops grow. Be patient like those farmers and don't give up. The Lord will soon be here! Don't grumble about each other or you will be judged, and the judge is right outside the door. My friends, follow the example of the prophets who spoke for the Lord. They were patient, even when they had to suffer. In fact, we praise the ones who endured the most. You remember how patient Job was and how the Lord finally helped him. The Lord did this because he is so merciful and kind.
for suffering and sickness (5:13-15) If you are having trouble, you should pray. And if you are feeling good, you should sing praises. If you are sick, ask the church leaders to come and pray for you. Ask them to put olive oil on you in the name of the Lord. If you have faith when you pray for sick people, they will get well. The Lord will heal them, and if they have sinned, he will forgive them.
for a wandering sister or brother (5:19-20) My friends, if any followers have wandered away from the truth, you should try to lead them back. If you turn sinners from the wrong way, you will save them from death, and many of their sins will be forgiven.
for a tighter grasp of the Lord of Glory in both need and praise (5:13)? If you are having trouble, you should pray. And if you are feeling good, you should sing praises.
The Song
"Your Word" Hillsong
"Who You Say I Am" Hillsong
