The Rabbi

We need to remember that we cannot fool God. He sees our heart and he knows what we are thinking, so if we are not asking with clear motives then He will know. We can put on a plastic face for those we are praying in front of but there is no plastic shield for our heart to hide it from God.
There is such a drastic way in which we pray and the way Paul prayed. Paul prayed to help deepen his relationship with God because he wanted to know God and please him. When was the last time you prayed like that? When was the last time you prayed just to give praise to God? Ever time we pray it does not need to be just about our needs physical, or worldly. In our heart we need to earnestly want to be in a closer relationship with him, we want to get to know him.
Are you the type of person who is mundane and wants to glide through life with all the comforts and luxuries that this world has to offer? If so then let me tell you, you are in for a boring and meaningless life. Why not spice it up on the right path? Christ's road is often laid with hardship and test but these are the things that bring you closer to Him. There is always some type of beauty or lesson in pain, which makes it worth it, you just have to be open and look for it.

James shows us just how far from God we really are, he makes it fairly clear that we do not genuinely know the God we say that we love and serve. We talk about grand things in service to the Lord. We talk about all the things that we have done for the Lord. We tell everyone all the things that the Lord has given us. But in all of our delusions of grandure, do we realy dipict the person of Christ as He really is? Sadly in all the talk, in all the lip service that we lend in the name of Jesus, we never tell anybody about all the things that we joyfully give up or the times of endurance in hardship, not just because it is required, but because it is our pleasure to do so for the one who Paid a debt that reaches beyond our understanding and bigger than the hights of our national deficit.

To many of us these days, think like the friends of Job, who gave him terrable advice...hardships are an oportunity for us as christians to put our money where our mouth is. To display our love, understanding, and identification with the risen savior. I know that James talks about works and faith and how they go together...but the truth of America today, is that we want the easy way out...we try to work our way to righteousness...we somehow try to use works to negotiate faith and righteousness...What we do not understand is that works without faith can accoplish good things, but, they are not only worthless, they are sin because they were not done unto the Glory of God.

Faith with out works is a good start...it may be dead, but the author of life is there to change all that...but works with out faith is a deception that blinds the multitudes to hold on to false hopes and remain in the bliss of darkness...this is one case were "ignorace may be bliss"...but it comes with an eternal price tag that is pretty hefty.

What are we truly willing to give up for the sake of Christ? Do not answer quickly, with the obvious and easy answer, everything...instead take inventory, questioning yourself...What am I willing to do or just how far am I willing to go for Jesus? If you ask yourself what you could live without, for example, your most prize posessions, or your favorite activities? If you have anything in your life that you can not "live without"...that is the starting point, the place to consider what you would do if Jesus ask you to leave them behind for Him...If we only maintain our faith in Jesus durring the easy times then what are we saying about Him? If we do not trust in Jesus all the time, is He anything more to us than fire insurance? People are watching and want despeately to know what is true, by liveing out our faith, especially durring the hared times, we can display the thruth of Christ, for all the world to see.

I find it rather comical that no matter what church you go into around these united states, over half of the prayer requests are for health issues. Please heal Aunt sallies leg, little billy has a runny nose, so on and so forth. Paul had some sort of physical thorn in the flesh i believe, and he never asked anyone to pray that it would get better. He did so himself, but didn't make it a prayer request

I think we get caught up in simple stuff like health issues, because it is easier than actually coming to church with an honest and open heart. Seriously, if no one in church admits that there is something wrong with them, how can we really pray for them. sure we all admit were sinners, and we love the grace of Jesus, however, we won't admit that our marriages are struggling because of lust. I won't admit I'm not in line with God because I openly choose to ignore the homework I have to do for stupid pleasures that only last a moment. How can we pray openly, genuinly with each other, if were not real with each other. Its just easier to pray for your stubbed toe to get better, then for your spirit to be humbeled

Rabbi,
I remember falling in love with James for his active faith. Remembering the poignancy of these verses in regards to our love relationship with Jesus that James seems to make so plain. Maybe it is because I struggle to get my life into the active realm of practice from theological possibility that I appreciate James’ invigorating challenge. I would recommend reading this chapter of James in the Message: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=66&chapter=4&version=65 .

This human condition after the fall seems bent towards a weighty selfishness, a turning inward that can pervert the purest intent. How terrifying, it really is. The Message on James 4.4-6 says, “You're cheating on God. If all you want is your own way, flirting with the world every chance you get, you end up enemies of God and his way. And do you suppose God doesn't care? The proverb has it that "he's a fiercely jealous lover." And what he gives in love is far better than anything else you'll find. It's common knowledge that "God goes against the willful proud; God gives grace to the willing humble." How many of us pray, converse with God like He is our intensely jealous and devoted Lover… how many of us are willing to give ourselves over to that love and to walk in that manner willing to lay aside ourselves and pick up another to walk alongside. It is never easy.

At Sukkot this evening, I listened to a group of Orthodox Jews discussing the state of the word, a Torah scholar expounding on the life span of the blessed Moshe and how “entertainment” and “retirement” are not concepts found within Judaism. It struck me how comfortable I have gotten used to being, in a state where I can reach out in thought to another without practically doing what I can for each need on the street corner… if just a kind word or a smile. Good behavior in spite of circumstances… returning to our Holy Lover, if He remains loving regardless of what we need Him to put us through or what He chooses to put us through, what convinces us that we can be so unloving. Self-focus ends us up nowhere but the narcissistic death… a broken heart because we are lonely but we have become our own idols, our own lovers, and are wholly insufficient to meet our own needs, much less those of others when so fixated.

But that’s where we all are at some point during the day, I think the relationship only progresses through doing. We too easily deny others for our own comfort, as you pointed out. What’s the trick of getting beyond ourselves? Just maintaining that constant refocusing on Jesus? May we let His Spirit work and meet it with our whole hearted work as well. A working faith, that plays out in every moment. Thanks for sharing.

Hannah

I think that we get so caught up in ourselves and our pride and just ask for something that can be seen by all, our health. We are to prideful to admit that we are imperfect or to show others our flaws. When we ask others to pray for us, it should be our struggles/sin we need prayer for that. I think it is still okay to pray for health, especially when it is serious, but to exclude all other things, is wrong. I remember one night at youth group we decided that the youth could only give prayer requests that did not deal with health. It amazed me how many people suddenly did not have prayer requests. We also told them it had to deal with them, not others. I think that there were about 4 requests out of 20 youth. I guess we just are to worried about what others think about us, but in reality we should be worried about what our God thinks of us. In reality what others think of us will fade away when we are in heaven, and all that will matter is what God thinks.

What are we looking for? We look to the world to satisfy what is a void. We can not understand while standing in it why things are not as they should be. As we look to God and ask to see the situations of our life through His eyes we begin to ask for different things. The satisfaction provided by God in our correct focus replaces confusion, fear and a sense of belonging to something better takes place. The message from the passage is it does matter what we focus on, think, say and do. What will give us those things promised is a focus on God.

Active submission to God would provide many lessons for ourselves and others. We want an easy good life more than we want to step back, humble ourselves, and allow God to be the one who exalts us but why. We have narrow vision. We can not get past the discomfort right in front of us and do not see how good it is on the other side. I guess it is a selfish problem once again. We do not see how it would benefit us; the glory would go to God. But there is reward in following His way too. God's glory and the reward are two positives that should outweigh whatever it is we are facing in our minds. In the test we must know in our hearts before hand that God's positives outweigh godless positives lest we turn our test into failed temptation. God please help me to be a humble worker for your exaltation and not my own. Let my faith in you be demonstrated daily and not a faith in my own accord.

So that's why Christians don't think God responds kindly with the responses we want to our prayers!! I now I see why!! Seriously though, I think that this is why believers walk around upset at God because the response to the prayer wasn't what was hoped for. Christians are selfish..me first..see I'm even selfish in naming who's most selfish!! God's will for us is obedience to what is written and spoken of in His Holy Bible! Simple to understand..difficult to follow. As the last line in the blog was that it would be wise to heed James' advice and try to commit to being humble. A commitment to humility? Is that even a possiblity..honestly?! I don't know if it is quite honestly..hopefully I will prove myself wrong! It's like I feel humble..but then right when I think "yeah man I am pretty humble.." there goes humility right out the door! Anybody like that? God your amazing! I love you!

Jeff W.

I heard about a recent book that was written by a Christian writer, (I can't remember the author or the title, but I'll try to find out) who took his atheist friend traveling around the country to different churches of all kinds, and then recording his friend's reaction to each, hoping in the process to convert him. the atheist remained calm, aloof, and unchanged. Large church or small, high church or low church, contemporary or traditional - none seemed to phase his unbelieving friend. Finally, he took him to one of the largest and well-known mega-churches in the US. (Willow Creek, I believe) There, his atheist friend was treated to spectacular music performances, exceptionally well-presented messages, and state-of-the-art facilities. To all this, the atheist replied: "So, you think this is what your God wants them to do?"
Perhaps this writer would have had better fortune if he took his atheist friend to the House of the Dying in Calcutta, where Mother Teresa labored for decades amongst the poorest of the poor; at least he would have seen Christ in action. Or maybe to a mission in South America, where he may have witnessed whole villages being converted to Christ in the midst of poverty unlike what most of us here in the US have ever experienced. It seems God is moving.....literally, He's moving out.....of the USA and working miracles in the so-called "third-world" countries. Absolutely remarkable things are happening in places like South America, Africa, China, and even India and India.
"Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance." it says in Psalm 33:12; the US is fast becoming the exact opposite of that.

I feel sometimes that when we ask for answers in our prayers we miss the opportunity. I can say that for myself I missed so many blessings that God had for my life. Other times God holds back because I don't need the thing that I am asking for or I am not ready for it so I feel action and faith play a part in our prayer life. God wants us to search for him and the answers through scripture and life. I feel most people don't and that is why they get upset and stomp around because they either get the answer but it wasn't what they were expecting or they missed the opportunity because they relied on themselves to get the prayers done. Action and faith is a balance we need to know when to act and when to have faith that God knows whats best for ourselves.

This whole topic brings to my mind the memories of other classes I have taken with you. I remember talking about obedience=blessing, disobedience=cursing and about how sometimes obedience=cursing (test) and disobedience=blessing (mercy). I think often we are too afraid to tell others of what is really going on in our lives because if they know maybe they will view our test as a curse instead of the test that it is. God has given us a blessing by giving us the test as it allows us an opportunity to mature. However, because we are so worried of what others will think of our test we often turn it into a temptation (making it into a curse it was never meant to be) simply because we are beginning to view it as others might. I think overall one of the worst qualities that a human has is that of caring so much about what others think of us. I know that some would say they do not do this, but that is simply not true. Everyone cares to some extent or another how others view us, but some people allow this to completely control their lives (this is when it is not good). When we allow our desire to have others view us a certain way affect how we view our relationship with God, and the things He sends our way we have a problem.
I think that it also goes back to the whole idea of trusting that we have had many speakers talk about in chapel. It is hard to trust. It is hard to take that risk in completely barring oneself so that others can see every flaw and every weakness. I think that this is one of the main reasons that today's churches/Christians are not truly maturing. In order to reach the maturity that we so desire (reorientation) we have to be willing to step out of the comfortable (orientation) that we have been living in and into the unknown and difficult (disorientation). In order to do this we have to trust. We have to trust that when other Christians see our weaknesses and flaws they do not cast us aside or disassociate, but instead also learn from the experience. I think that prayer is just a small part of the larger problem. Prayer is just the place that this flaw (unwillingness to be real) is shown.

Is it because we are lazy and afraid of being uncomfortable that we don't pray for a steep climb and volkswagon sized potholes? Would it not be wise to do so if spiritual maturity comes from such things?

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