Are you hearing me? Are you really listening?
James final message to us about our prayer life is rich in wisdom as we would expect. The words are few but the lesson is great and must be internalized so that we will not fall for the voices of our noisy world but fall on our knees. “Old Camel Knees” teaches us to pray, confess, listen, and respond to the God who saves us with gratitude, praise, and humility while praying for ourselves and praying on the behalf of others!
James reminds us that God listens. Our prayers are not just a spiritual, pious exercise of faith but it a direct communication to God on the throne who turns His head to listen! Sincere prayer, in Jesus Name, brings us in close communion with the God, the Father who loves us more deeply than any human could on earth. He knows our hearts. He knows our needs. He calls us by name! I reminded of the Psalmist who writes of God’s tender call to us to talk with Him;
“My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.” And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.” Psalm 27:8
Pray, confess, listen, respond to God as we talks with us.
James 5, The Message
Destroying Your Life from Within
5 1-3 And a final word to you arrogant rich: Take some lessons in lament. You’ll need buckets for the tears when the crash comes upon you. Your money is corrupt and your fine clothes stink. Your greedy luxuries are a cancer in your gut, destroying your life from within. You thought you were piling up wealth. What you’ve piled up is judgment.
4-6 All the workers you’ve exploited and cheated cry out for judgment. The groans of the workers you used and abused are a roar in the ears of the Master Avenger. You’ve looted the earth and lived it up. But all you’ll have to show for it is a fatter than usual corpse. In fact, what you’ve done is condemn and murder perfectly good persons, who stand there and take it.
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7-8 Meanwhile, friends, wait patiently for the Master’s Arrival. You see farmers do this all the time, waiting for their valuable crops to mature, patiently letting the rain do its slow but sure work. Be patient like that. Stay steady and strong. The Master could arrive at any time.
9 Friends, don’t complain about each other. A far greater complaint could be lodged against you, you know. The Judge is standing just around the corner.
10-11 Take the old prophets as your mentors. They put up with anything, went through everything, and never once quit, all the time honoring God. What a gift life is to those who stay the course! You’ve heard, of course, of Job’s staying power, and you know how God brought it all together for him at the end. That’s because God cares, cares right down to the last detail.
12 And since you know that he cares, let your language show it. Don’t add words like “I swear to God” to your own words. Don’t show your impatience by concocting oaths to hurry up God. Just say yes or no. Just say what is true. That way, your language can’t be used against you.
Prayer to Be Reckoned With
13-15 Are you hurting? Pray. Do you feel great? Sing. Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you’ve sinned, you’ll be forgiven—healed inside and out.
16-18 Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn’t rain, and it didn’t—not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again.
19-20 My dear friends, if you know people who have wandered off from God’s truth, don’t write them off. Go after them. Get them back and you will have rescued precious lives from destruction and prevented an epidemic of wandering away from God.
WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?
Prayer fills us with the knowledge of God’s rich, relentless, love and compassionate care for us. Prayer is communicating where we are, what we are feeling at the time, with questions for the One who wants to take us farther in our faith. When we pray, God is already at work in our hearts to transform our feelings of weakness into His strength.
Paul confesses and teaches;
“I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.
Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, NLT
James reminds us to heed the advice of the prophets of God. I’m reminded of the words of Jeremiah to the exiles who were God’s own;
“I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 29)
ANYONE can pray to God! Max Lucado writes;
“Your voice matters in heaven. He takes you very seriously. When you enter his presence, the attendants turn to you to hear your voice. No need to fear that you will be ignored. Even if you stammer or stumble, even if what you have to say impresses no one, it impresses God, and he listens. He listens to the painful plea of the elderly in the rest home. He listens to the gruff confession of the death-row inmate. When the alcoholic begs for mercy, when the spouse seeks guidance, when the businessman steps off the street into the chapel, God listens.
Intently. Carefully. The prayers are honored as precious jewels. Your words do not stop until they reach the very throne of God.”—Max Lucado, Encouraging Word Bible
Respond to God by listening to each other like God listens to us! Listening is an art form in our noisy, quick fix world. Someone who truly leans in to hear what we are saying, without judgement, is a rare gift. Someone who listens without mentally preparing their quick fix response back to us is wise. Someone who listens without thinking of who they will tell next what you have shared is trustworthy. Seek advice from trustworthy people know and commune with God.
“Love each other as I have loved you,” said Jesus. Listening is loving. Confess to those who love you, care enough to listen to you and then pray with you in Jesus Name.
James closes with concern for those who have wandered off God. We all have family and friends who we love dearly who wander and wonder if God still exists, if Jesus really died and rose again to save them from their sins. Some have just walked away. James says to go after them! This begins with passionate prayer in Jesus Name with a listening heart who has given ourselves completely to Him. Our renewed minds must think more like Jesus than the world as we “go after them” with His words of compassion. We remember, Jesus saves. We do not. We know that Jesus calls, convicts, with deep love for His own who are wandering sheep without a shepherd. So we listen to Jesus first who gives us the right words to say at the right time. Sometimes, we just listen as the lost express themselves out loud to a trusting ear while God works on their heart.
Pray to our God who is ready to listen.
Confess with a heart’s desire to be made right with God.
Listen to what He says.
Respond to His leading believing Jesus is coming back soon.
Lord,
Thank you for your word that teaches us how to respond to you and others with a love that surpasses human understanding. Thank you for listening. Thank you for making us strong even we are weak. Help us to love, listen, care, and respond to each other like you respond to us.
In Jesus Name, Amen
Daily Manna (Coffee with Jesus) 