James 4 - Your Problem Is Not What You Think It Is

The Bible rotation at Ask For The Old Roads will be the Old Testament passage for a particular day, the New Testament passage, the Psalm and the Proverb. Since the last post was on Ezekiel, this post will be on today's New Testament passage, which conveniently is the fourth chapter of James.

There are lots of preachers who preach on the glorious promise in Mark 11:24:

"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."

While this promise is true, there should be a little asterisk, and at the bottom of the page, it should say "Terms and Conditions Apply." James 4:3 is one instance of those conditions.

What is envy? Envy is when I have anything less than joyful gratitude over anything someone else is, does or has. If I have envy in my prayer requests, I might as well just start over, and have a talk with God about the state of my heart.

As I read this chapter, I hear a dialogue in my mind's ear, as if James was anticipating the objections of his readers.

Some of his readers might think "All right, fine, my problem is that I believe getting what I want will make me happy. But So-and-so over there, they didn't do the right thing in getting what they have!" James 4:11-12 addresses that thought.

Other readers might think "I don't want to take what I want from anyone else. And I don't want to judge anyone else for what they have. I'm perfectly willing to work and to work hard for what I want." But it comes back to why I want what I want. Maybe God has a better plan for the use of my time, talent and treasure.

So how can I summarize James 4 in 140 characters? Here's my attempt: Wars and strife come from envy, avarice, judgement and self-will, which come from unexamined divided loyalties between God and the world