THE DECLARATION OF DEPENDENCE (5 OF 10)
by Roger Thomas
Scripture: JAMES 4:1-10
This content is part of a series.
The Declaration of Dependence (5 of 10)
Basic Prayer
Roger Thomas
James 4:1-10
February 4, 2001
Independence and self-reliance are good qualities until they come between us and our God. Our human nature tells us to believe that God helps those who help themselves. The Bible teaches us to believe that God helps those who ask for his help. The Bible teaches us that what God wants from us is humility, trust, and dependence. He wants us to come to him in prayer as a first impulse, not a last resort.
Our text connects these important themes. James is one of the most simple and practical books in the New Testament. He doesn't pull any punches. You don't have to guess what he is talking about. Often, James, like Proverbs in the Old Testament, is a spiritual 2x4 between the eyes. The grand theme of James is "true religion." Or as he terms it in 1:27-- "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless." In James such religion is not about ceremonies, rituals, and rules—like the Jewish religion tended to emphasize—but practical compassion toward the poor and disadvantaged, self-control, especially of the tongue and temper, and a lifestyle and mindset that didn't just go with the flow of the moral pollution of the surrounding culture. He explains these three principles over and over again.
The practical compassion and the self-control are fairly easy to put yours hands around. The unpolluted lifestyle is a bit tougher. This is what James 4 is about. The world acts this way; we shouldn't. The prevailing non-Christian culture thinks this way; we must not. For example, most people think we should take care of ourselves and only ask for God's help as a last resort. People who know the Living God think and act differently. And when we don't, when we allow our lives to be polluted with the world's way of thinking, is when we get into big trouble. Individually and as a church, we regularly face the struggle about whether we will be ...
Basic Prayer
Roger Thomas
James 4:1-10
February 4, 2001
Independence and self-reliance are good qualities until they come between us and our God. Our human nature tells us to believe that God helps those who help themselves. The Bible teaches us to believe that God helps those who ask for his help. The Bible teaches us that what God wants from us is humility, trust, and dependence. He wants us to come to him in prayer as a first impulse, not a last resort.
Our text connects these important themes. James is one of the most simple and practical books in the New Testament. He doesn't pull any punches. You don't have to guess what he is talking about. Often, James, like Proverbs in the Old Testament, is a spiritual 2x4 between the eyes. The grand theme of James is "true religion." Or as he terms it in 1:27-- "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless." In James such religion is not about ceremonies, rituals, and rules—like the Jewish religion tended to emphasize—but practical compassion toward the poor and disadvantaged, self-control, especially of the tongue and temper, and a lifestyle and mindset that didn't just go with the flow of the moral pollution of the surrounding culture. He explains these three principles over and over again.
The practical compassion and the self-control are fairly easy to put yours hands around. The unpolluted lifestyle is a bit tougher. This is what James 4 is about. The world acts this way; we shouldn't. The prevailing non-Christian culture thinks this way; we must not. For example, most people think we should take care of ourselves and only ask for God's help as a last resort. People who know the Living God think and act differently. And when we don't, when we allow our lives to be polluted with the world's way of thinking, is when we get into big trouble. Individually and as a church, we regularly face the struggle about whether we will be ...
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