THE PROBLEM OF PRAYER
James 4:1-10
Things looked bleak for the children of George Muller’s orphanage at Ashley Downs in England. It was time for breakfast, and there was no food In the dining room, long tables were set with empty plates and empty mugs. Muller prayed, "Dear Father, we thank Thee for what Thou art going to give us to eat." Immediately, they heard a knock at the door. When they opened it, there stood the local baker. "Mr. Muller," he said, "I couldn’t sleep last night. Somehow I felt you had no bread for breakfast, so I got up at 2 o’clock and baked fresh bread. Here it is." Muller thanked him and gave praise to God. Soon, a second knock was heard. It was the milkman. His cart had broken down in front of the orphanage. He said he would like to give the children the milk so he could empty the cart and repair it. Source Unknown.
How do you react to a story such as that? Wonder? Skepticism? Disbelief? If you are like most Christians, you consider it to be an inspiring story of what happened to someone else somewhere else, but has never happened to you.
But the difference between George Muller and the average Christian is that Mueller was a man completely given to prayer. He was one of those men who prayed for hours each day. Everything he did, just like breakfast that morning, was bathed and wrapped in prayer.
Mueller prayed. We don’t. Well, at least not with the same fierceness.
So the question becomes: If prayer is so powerful and so necessary, then why aren’t we a more praying people. What keeps you and me from spending hours each day on our knees?
In our passage today, James says “You have not because do not ask!” But why don’t we ask? What is the problem of prayer?
James gives us that answer as well. According to James, the problem of prayer is:
I. THE PROBLEM OF PERSISTENCE (1-2)
A. Prayerlessness is a symptom of self-reliance
“What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you?”
1. Born of self-centeredness - “your pleasures”
2. Exhibited in self-gratification
a. pleasure = “hedone” = hedonism
b. That pattern of living that seeks for pleasure above all else.
Luke 8:14 “And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.”
3. Resulting in self-defeat
a. It gives us a Lust that is never satisfied - “you lust and do not have” = “epithumea” = strong desire
b. It causes us to Envy after those things that are out of our reach – “envious and cannot obtain”
c. It causes division in all aspects of our lives
1) “you commit murder” –not literally, but spiritually
1 John 3:15 Any one who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
2) “fight and quarrel” – lit “wars and struggles” instead of peace and unity
Galatians 5:19-20 “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these . . . strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension… “
B. Prayerlessness is solved by self-determination
“You do not have because you do not ask”
1. Determining that God is the true provider of our needs
2. Determining the necessity of persistent prayer
Note: The end result of self-seeking is “have not”. Self efforts will never satisfy our needs. Only through prayer can we open up the floodgates of heaven and receive the deep needs of our souls.
II. THE PROBLEM OF PASSION (3-4)
A. Directed toward wrong motives – “you ask and you do not receive because you ask with the wrong motives”
1. Motives that are driven by self needs rather than God’s plan.
2. “wrong motives” = “amiss” KJV = “kakos”-.
improper, miserable, ill, diseased
3. We ask for things from a perspective that is diseased by sin and causes us to be self-seekers rather than God-seekers.
Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you”
B. Derived from wrong relationships
1. We are in a “love relationship” with the world
2. “friendship” = “phileo” = non-romantic love
a. Which is “hostility toward God” NAS; “enmity with God” KJV
b. TO BE FRIENDS WITH THE WORLD SYSTEM IS TO BE AN ENEMY OF GOD.
c. A type of spiritual adultery! “you adulteresses…”
3. We enter a love relationship with the world when we:
a. conform to it (rather that to God)
b. develop relationships within it that hinder our
relationship with God
c. prefer its pleasures more than we do God’s
presence
d. make it the measure for our lives (and our
church)
Note: “This spirit exists in all cases where no worldly interest is sacrificed for religion (but) where everything that religion particularly requires is sacrificed for the world.” (Barnes Notes, James-Jude, p. 70)
Note: Wrong motives move us to pray for things that satisfy OUR plan and OUR needs rather than the PLAN of GOD.
III. THE PROBLEM OF PRIDE (5-10)
A. That struggles with God for control
1. As evidenced in the battle between flesh and spirit
Romans 7:23 “but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members.”
2. As evidenced in the battle of our relationship with God.
a. Verse 5 has troubled scholars for centuries.
b. It could be translated two ways:
1) God desiring us through the Spirit which He made to dwell in us
2) That the Spirit in us causes us to desire God.
Note: The bottom line is that we are driven to determine who will be in control.
Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer." John Bunyon
B. That is determined by submission
1. We will ultimately submit to God or the Devil
a. Submit to God and Resist the Devil
1. The Devil with flee (7)
2. God will draw near (8)
(OR) b. Submit to the Devil and Resist God
2. The paradox of exaltation
a. “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” 6
b. “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will exalt you” – 10
Conclusion:
James concludes with ten commands in verses 7-10 that we must do to reestablish a prayer relationship with God: submit, resist, draw near, cleanse, purify, grieve, mourn, weep, turn, and humble yourselves.
You might remember it as a three stage task: 1) Resist the Devil, 2) Draw near to God, and 3) humble yourselves.
THE PROBLEM OF PRAYER
James 4:1-10
Things looked bleak for the children of George Muller’s orphanage at Ashley Downs in England. It was time for breakfast, and there was no food In the dining room, long tables were set with empty plates and empty mugs. Muller prayed, "Dear Father, we thank Thee for what Thou art going to give us to eat." Immediately, they heard a knock at the door. When they opened it, there stood the local baker. "Mr. Muller," he said, "I couldn’t sleep last night. Somehow I felt you had no bread for breakfast, so I got up at 2 o’clock and baked fresh bread. Here it is." Muller thanked him and gave praise to God. Soon, a second knock was heard. It was the milkman. His cart had broken down in front of the orphanage. He said he would like to give the children the milk so he could empty the cart and repair it. Source Unknown.
How do you react to a story such as that? Wonder? Skepticism? Disbelief? If you are like most Christians, you consider it to be an inspiring story of what happened to someone else somewhere else, but has never happened to you.
But the difference between George Muller and the average Christian is that Mueller was a man completely given to prayer. He was one of those men who prayed for hours each day. Everything he did, just like breakfast that morning, was bathed and wrapped in prayer.
Mueller prayed. We don’t. Well, at least not with the same fierceness.
So the question becomes: If prayer is so powerful and so necessary, then why aren’t we a more praying people. What keeps you and me from spending hours each day on our knees?
In our passage today, James says “You have not because do not ask!” But why don’t we ask? What is the problem of prayer?
James gives us that answer as well. According to James, the problem of prayer is:
I. THE PROBLEM OF PERSISTENCE (1-2)
A. Prayerlessness is a symptom of self-reliance
“What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you?”
1. Born of self-centeredness - “your pleasures”
2. Exhibited in self-gratification
a. pleasure = “hedone” = hedonism
b. That pattern of living that seeks for pleasure above all else.
Luke 8:14 “And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.”
3. Resulting in self-defeat
a. It gives us a Lust that is never satisfied - “you lust and do not have” = “epithumea” = strong desire
b. It causes us to Envy after those things that are out of our reach – “envious and cannot obtain”
c. It causes division in all aspects of our lives
1) “you commit murder” –not literally, but spiritually
1 John 3:15 Any one who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
2) “fight and quarrel” – lit “wars and struggles” instead of peace and unity
Galatians 5:19-20 “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these . . . strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension… “
B. Prayerlessness is solved by self-determination
“You do not have because you do not ask”
1. Determining that God is the true provider of our needs
2. Determining the necessity of persistent prayer
Note: The end result of self-seeking is “have not”. Self efforts will never satisfy our needs. Only through prayer can we open up the floodgates of heaven and receive the deep needs of our souls.
II. THE PROBLEM OF PASSION (3-4)
A. Directed toward wrong motives – “you ask and you do not receive because you ask with the wrong motives”
1. Motives that are driven by self needs rather than God’s plan.
2. “wrong motives” = “amiss” KJV = “kakos”-.
improper, miserable, ill, diseased
3. We ask for things from a perspective that is diseased by sin and causes us to be self-seekers rather than God-seekers.
Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you”
B. Derived from wrong relationships
1. We are in a “love relationship” with the world
2. “friendship” = “phileo” = non-romantic love
a. Which is “hostility toward God” NAS; “enmity with God” KJV
b. TO BE FRIENDS WITH THE WORLD SYSTEM IS TO BE AN ENEMY OF GOD.
c. A type of spiritual adultery! “you adulteresses…”
3. We enter a love relationship with the world when we:
a. conform to it (rather that to God)
b. develop relationships within it that hinder our
relationship with God
c. prefer its pleasures more than we do God’s
presence
d. make it the measure for our lives (and our
church)
Note: “This spirit exists in all cases where no worldly interest is sacrificed for religion (but) where everything that religion particularly requires is sacrificed for the world.” (Barnes Notes, James-Jude, p. 70)
Note: Wrong motives move us to pray for things that satisfy OUR plan and OUR needs rather than the PLAN of GOD.
III. THE PROBLEM OF PRIDE (5-10)
A. That struggles with God for control
1. As evidenced in the battle between flesh and spirit
Romans 7:23 “but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members.”
2. As evidenced in the battle of our relationship with God.
a. Verse 5 has troubled scholars for centuries.
b. It could be translated two ways:
1) God desiring us through the Spirit which He made to dwell in us
2) That the Spirit in us causes us to desire God.
Note: The bottom line is that we are driven to determine who will be in control.
Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer." John Bunyon
B. That is determined by submission
1. We will ultimately submit to God or the Devil
a. Submit to God and Resist the Devil
1. The Devil with flee (7)
2. God will draw near (8)
(OR) b. Submit to the Devil and Resist God
2. The paradox of exaltation
a. “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” 6
b. “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will exalt you” – 10
Conclusion:
James concludes with ten commands in verses 7-10 that we must do to reestablish a prayer relationship with God: submit, resist, draw near, cleanse, purify, grieve, mourn, weep, turn, and humble yourselves.
You might remember it as a three stage task: 1) Resist the Devil, 2) Draw near to God, and 3) humble yourselves.
Early African converts to Christianity were earnest and regular in private devotions. Each one reportedly had a separate spot in the thicket where he would pour out his heart to God. Over time the paths to these places became well worn. As a result, if one of these believers began to neglect prayer, it was soon apparent to the others. They would kindly remind the negligent one, "Brother, the grass grows on your path." Today in the Word, June 29, 1992.
Has grass grown on your path? Do you have a problem with persistence in prayer? Have your passions directed more efforts to the things of this world than to God. Has pride robbed you of the blessing of humility?
What is it that you want? Are you asking?
Has grass grown on your path? Do you have a problem with persistence in prayer? Have your passions directed more efforts to the things of this world than to God. Has pride robbed you of the blessing of humility?
What is it that you want? Are you asking?
