The Complete Christian Prays for Wisom

[0:00] of James, while you're doing that, can I, as usual, remind you of the evening service. We will finish our series on the studies in Philippians. They will end tonight. Then we'll do a new series next Sunday night. The topic of tonight's sermon is very much to do with our giving to the Lord's work, not just financially, but as we dedicate ourselves to that. Paul ends his letter by thanking them for his gift, encourages them in that as they partnership with him, and here is an incentive tonight to keep serving the Lord, whatever gifts and abilities the Lord has given you. So, we will finish our series in Philippians this evening. I do commend that to you. Let's read from James. We began this two or three weeks ago, and we're reading up to verse eight. So, let's read from the very beginning, James chapter one, and we'll read the first eight verses. James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations. Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

[1:38] But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. We'll end our reading at the end of verse eight. Let's just ask for the Lord's help now as we come to his word together.

[2:06] Our loving Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you, Father, for the songs that we've been able to sing, written by man, yet expressed in our faith and praise to you. But, Lord, in this part of the service, we come to look at your word to us. And, Father, we pray that the word that came to us and brought us life, we pray that that same word, Lord, will cause us to grow if we're Christians here this morning. So, Father, may that life-giving word, Lord, find good soil.

[2:37] And, Father, give us ears to hear what you would say to us, not just as a church, but as individuals. Our desire, Lord, is that we walk humbly with you, that we worship you in spirit and in truth.

[2:49] So, Father, help us, Lord, in our pilgrimage through this land. Father, we do just pray that you'll bless your word to us now. We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. We're considering this letter of James, the half-brother of Jesus, leader in the church at Jerusalem. Paul and the other apostles would have reported back to James and the brothers there, the leaders there. So, James was well acquainted with the people that he ministers to. He knows how they are suffering, and he's writing to God's people scattered because of the persecution. So, James is writing as a pastor to people who are going through a hard time. I mentioned a website to you a while ago called despair.com. Here is their wee logo. It's, I don't know if you followed it. If you want to be cheered up, I commend this website to you, strange name in it, despair.com. And they have the wee strap line on their website, which says, Home of Demotivation or Demotivators. Their aim is to burst your bubble, really. And this is what they say, When we started despair, we had a dream to crush other people's dreams. But we knew, given our goal, we'd be in for a fight. After all, the motivation industry has been crushing dreams for decades, selling the easy lie of success you can buy. That's why we decided to differentiate ourselves by crushing dreams with hard truths. And it appeals to my sense of humor.

[4:26] Here is one. I've mentioned this to you before. You can get these as posters, customer disservice, because we are not satisfied until you're not satisfied. I'm sure there are companies run their business like that, or that's certainly an impression you get. Here's another one which appeals to my sense of humor. You might not like it. Instilling the self-confidence kids will need to carry them through all the failure of their experience because they weren't taught competence instead. In other words, you're better to teach them competence rather than just affirm them, actually teach them to do something. There's also some good photographs. Here's another one, another poster. Opinions not welcome here. Why am I showing you this? Because this next one has to do with the topic that we're looking at this morning. Fragility. Inside every snowflake is a perfectly unique meltdown just waiting to happen. We marvel at the fact that we are fearfully and wonderfully made, and our experiences of life are very different from each other. We are unique, and we like to say, well, like that snowflake the Lord has made us, but we are very fragile. We are made of the dust of the ground. It doesn't take much for us to go into meltdown. Even on Wednesday, we were looking at our frailty and life and grief and how these things affect us. It doesn't take much for us to melt, for us to suffer. And that is what we're looking at very much in the book of James at this time. He's dealing with life's difficulties in this passage, in this part that we deal with.

[6:11] And his desire as God's people, when he's writing this, he's not just giving imperatives for the sake of it, because these are good things to do. He's telling us what a complete Christian, what a mature Christian should look like. This book is about Christian maturity, and that's why we call this series The Complete Christian. His theology is that the complete Christian, if you're a Christian here this morning, that you're expected to grow as a Christian. It's not enough that you're saved, and you made a decision way back when, and you can tell us how that came about, that since that day, we should be growing a bit like this. We plant here. We started with new life, and so forth.

[6:56] And John's theology, the verse that is the backdrop to every verse in this book, is verse 18 of chapter 1. Always keep that in mind. Whenever you read these imperatives, he, James says, God chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

[7:21] God chose to give you birth. You're a new creature. You're born again. You're made alive. All these various expressions that God uses. You're a new creature. And he did this through the word of God. It came to you. You read it. You heard it preached. And the God who said, let there be light, shone into your life that same power that created the world, created new life in you.

[7:47] You are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus. Why? Not just for salvation, but to do good works. There should be fruit. By their fruits, you will know them. And this is what God expects. You remember when Jesus cursed the fig tree? It seemed an impetuous thing to do, but he was a fig tree that's not producing as it should. It's symbolic as well of Israel, not showing the fruits that they should have done. But God, when God does the work, he expects us to be life. We are his workmanship.

[8:18] That is what this is about. It's not about guilt. The book of James, oh, just another thing to tear a strip off me. It's about growth. When we read these things, I pray, and I'm sure you pray, that the Lord will speak to us, and that the word that gave us life will also cause it to grow within us, so that we will become more Christlike, more—a bit like using Philippians as well—shining like stars. And really, that is what this is all about. Christians should think and act differently from the world in the face of trials. And last week, you remember, we looked at the first four or five verses. We gave it the title, The Christian Understands Trials. When the man in the street, as it were, wakes up on a Monday morning. He's hoping that fate or whatever, through the strength of his own arm, he'll have a good day.

[9:12] Things that come his way will either be fortunate or unfortunate, lucky or unlucky. He relies on other things. Whereas, if you're a Christian, you know that behind everything that comes your way is a loving, sovereign God who is working all things out according to the counsel of his own will as it relates to you.

[9:34] You are the object of his affection. The hairs on your head are counted. He loves you. And nothing happens by chance. And these are the things that Christians know. We understand this. We are different from the world. So, although persecution might come our way, personal sin, the troubles of life, the rain, the storm, the winds. God is a sovereign God, and he works in our life. And we know this. God is molding us and shaping us to be like his son. He wants us to become more obedient. He wants us to persevere.

[10:11] He wants us to live in such a way that he gets praised to the praise of his glorious grace because of what he has done. We are really his handiwork. Well, today, we are continuing on that same theme in these opening words in the book of James, that James understands the difficulty of life, and he's trying to remind them that even in the midst of this, you can rejoice because you know that behind this, God still has a plan and still has a purpose. He's doing something. His hand is upon you. But it's one thing to have a theology of suffering. Well, God is there, Pastor. I know he's sovereign, and I know he's doing this, that, and the other, but I'm still struggling. He knows that this is the case. And into this situation, he mentions verses 5 through to 8. He knows that it's one thing to have a theology of the sovereignty of God. In the midst of this, we need something else.

[11:10] We need wisdom. We need to know how to respond correctly to the things that are coming our way. And that is why, from verse 5, he now says, if any of you lacks wisdom, he knows it's not enough just to say, consider it pure joy. He knows that they will need wisdom. They will need to know how to understand what's happening, but also to handle it well, to know how to think and what to do.

[11:41] And that's why, verse 5, if any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, and so forth. And that's where we often go astray. A Christian who's gone through a hard time can go off the rails. They no longer do the right thing, think the right thing, and because of that, they're certainly not considering the trial pure joy. How can we stay on track in the midst of trials and difficulties, James tells us, through wisdom. You will need God's help and understanding, or just to be governed by him and know what to do. It's a big teaching. So, I want to look at three things. The mature or the complete Christian, James says, will basically do these three things. First of all, they will pray in the midst of trials and difficulties. He's not just, if you only had in your Bible verses 1 to 4, you'd think, I need to consider this pure joy, pure joy, pure joy, pure joy. You'd be just recanting this all the time. But the Bible tells us more. You know, as a Christian, you can pray. And this seems the most obvious, but it's not funny enough that the first thing we often turn to, we sometimes, we pray for the general things, we'll pray for big things, but often, at the beginning of trials and difficulties, we don't often do this. The first thing we should do in the midst of any trial and difficulty is simply pray. We looked at this earlier, so I won't labor this too much. We looked at this when we did Philippians, and everything with prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, every situation, we are to pray. So, that is what we are to do. It is a great resource. And James is saying, if you want to consider something pure joy, you will need to pray. It's not within you to just master this joy, but you need to pray. And Jesus says in the Gospel of John 16, 24, I think I've shared this with you before, it was one of the first promises that came to me after I became a Christian.

[13:45] Apart from receiving forgiveness, which was, wow, you're forgiven, you're loved by God. But on the journey was this verse in John 16, 24, until now you have not asked for anything in my name, asking you will receive why, that your joy may be complete. In other words, if we are to rejoice and to know joy in the midst of trials, it will only come through prayer. And that's something we really need to take seriously. I was reading a blog earlier on this week, and the person writing the blog was saying that prayer is one of the most difficult things to do. And he said something I'd never really thought of before. He said, that's why a lot of the great theologians of today don't write books on prayer. They'll write books on theology and loads of other things, that even they struggle in this area. They don't become masters of prayer, and sometimes left to other prayer warriors. You can be a great theologian, a great mind, but to master prayer is quite elusive for Christians to really wrestle with God and to know what this means. As I said, strangely enough, we do not always do this.

[14:59] And therefore, if we don't pray, our joy won't be complete. We won't see trials as we should. We can become worried and stressed and anxious, and then that causes us not to pray. We can be angry and bitter and downcast. We don't see what God's doing in the situation. We just see that person.

[15:17] We see that situation. We see the situation we're in, and we get frustrated, and we get anxious, and certainly the joy would disappear. And behind all of this is often pride. It's, Lord, I can cope.

[15:31] I'm doing okay. Does prayer really work? Is God really hearing? And so forth. And we give up when Jesus tells us that we should pray and not give up. So, in the midst of trials, that is the first thing. If we are to consider joy, if we are to know joy and know peace, as Paul says, as James says, we must pray. It's as simple as that. But also, under this heading about prayer is corporate prayer.

[16:00] It's great. We've had good numbers out on Wednesdays. I don't know what you normally do if you don't usually come out with us, but I commend the prayer meetings to you. They really are such a joy. And to have so many folk there praying and sharing, I must confess, it's not a burden. I've been to some prayer meetings over the years. They are hard work. You just go, I'll be glad when I get back in tonight. You close the door. You can't wait until you open it back up again and go, one more, one less, when you're coming back, Lord. But that's actually an enjoyable meeting. And we receive strength and encouragement from each other. Corporate prayer is important.

[16:38] And it may be that you can't share with the whole church, but maybe you have a friend or one or two, and you're praying, but the heavens seem to be brass. Then ask others to pray for you. James, later on in this letter, in James 5, 16, will say this, confess your sins to each other, pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

[17:04] Your prayers might think, Lord, I'm struggling. I don't know the joy. Share it with somebody else. I wonder if you can pray for such and such. I always count it a great privilege. Occasionally, when somebody's leaving the church and I'm standing at the front door and somebody says to me, can you pray for this situation? And somebody, I know it's embarrassing, but somebody mentioned on Wednesday, if you know how to help me with this, pray or teach me or show me how I can best pray in this situation. That shows great humility to be able to say, Lord, help me. The prayer of a righteous person avails much. And it might be that the Lord is wanting you to do that. And just to share your difficulty with others, the Lord loves to hear the prayers of others, the others, there were others that struggled. Paul often said, pray for me, pray for me. I'm struggling in this. Jesus said in the

[18:04] Garden of Gethsemane, pray for me. Moses had to have people lifting up his hands, the mighty Moses, and he needed help. And just to acknowledge that afresh. I'm sure even as I say those words, you're saying to me, John, I'm fine. I'm okay. Maybe when it happens, and maybe it's happening more than we should know. Maybe we really need to avail ourselves of the prayers of others. It's a privilege to be asked to pray for somebody. And if you're asked especially, make sure you pray when people share that information. Pride, once again, is often our worst enemy there. So, prayer. Secondly, James tells us specifically to pray for wisdom. We need to pray for wisdom. If you like wisdom, that is the context of this. It's not just wisdom that we might be wise. It's not a completely different topic. The context of this is, in the midst of trials, you will need wisdom.

[19:04] It's not just to win at work quiz that we're going to be doing in February. It is to cope with what is happening. It's to especially know how to think and how to do the right thing.

[19:19] And that is the need of any moment of trials. It's not always just knowledge. We need to say, Lord, how am I to react in this? That's a good prayer. That's why Paul, James, is confident the Lord. Well, answer that prayer. You're going through a hard time. Lord, help me not to sin against you. What should I do? What should be my attitude in this thing? Should I be disliking this person, disliking this situation? Do I have a free hand to do whatever I want? Or should I be regulated by your word? Lord, give me wisdom. Wisdom is different from knowledge. It's not just knowing things. It's correctly applying that knowledge. And we need very much wisdom in our days. One of the commentators likens this wisdom to driving a car. You might know how to drive a car.

[20:08] You might say, John, I can drive. I've been driving for years. But can you drive one in the ice? Can you drive one through the potholes and avoiding bad drivers? That's a different thing. My daughters have not long passed their test. And one of them just had a bump in the car. And I remember thinking, good, at least she's got that out of the way. She'll soon realize that it's not that easy.

[20:34] Nobody was hurt. She wasn't traveling at speed. Maybe that's a wake-up call. You just never know. And when I first passed my driving test within a year, I slid on the ice, bounced off the curb, smashed into a lorry wheel, which was quite good. The lorry wheel was fine. My car was written off. And I thought, wow. I'm saying it's one thing to be able to have a theology. But how do you apply that theology? How do you apply the knowledge? That is what we need. We need wisdom. And we often don't react as we should in the midst of trials. And that's why we need wisdom. It's a bit like God's people of old. Remember in the wilderness, when trials came. They saw the miracles. God had delivered them. They're the Lord's people. They're on the way to the promised land. But they struggled.

[21:26] How did they struggle? They struggled in three ways. First of all, they longed for the past. And the rabble, we are told in Numbers 11, began to crave other food. And the Israelites started wailing and said, if only we had meat to eat. We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlics. Great that they're even rhyming off their usual shopping list. There's my shopping list that I had in Egypt. Yeah, what happened to these?

[21:57] And, but now we have lost our appetite. We never see anything but this manna. If they needed anything, they needed wisdom. They needed to know what God was doing and to trust God. Instead, they longed for the past. And this is what we often do. We were talking about grief. The definition of grief is we set ourself a course of life. Something happens. It may be a long goal, a short goal. Something happens, cuts us off. Things don't go as well. And we grieve for the thing that we have lost or the person that we have lost. It's a good definition of grief. And that is what they are doing. They are grieving, but they need wisdom to know and to understand what God is doing. And because in the midst of this, this wailing, this complaining, God responds to this. Moses heard the people of every family wailing at the entrance of their tent. The Lord became exceedingly angry and Moses was troubled.

[23:02] Whenever we hit out at God in the midst of trials, it's a dangerous thing to do. We need wisdom and we need to ask for wisdom. So that was the first thing that they had, they wanted to go back to the past, but they were fearful of the future. In Numbers 14, later on, why is the Lord bringing us into this land only to let us fall by the sword? We should choose a leader, go back to Egypt. In other words, they looked at the past, but they also were fearful of the future. And this is what we sometimes do.

[23:33] And maybe even Monday, Tuesday of this week, maybe even as you sit here, you're fearful of the future. I was saying that it was interesting, we got a phone call last night from somebody in another church, somebody about our age. Same problem we were looking at on Wednesday about, being anxious about being able to afford their own funeral. And they phoned up with the same thing.

[23:57] I thought, wow, you must have heard our meeting on Wednesday. They were saying, I don't know if I've got enough money. She was going around various folk and that was her problem. Fearful of the future.

[24:08] How is the future going to work out? And we don't consider, that's even a trial that's still waiting us. We're not even near yet. It's funny, isn't it, how we can do this. We're struggling to trials that are real, but we struggle even in the anticipated trials that are coming our way and forgetting that His grace is sufficient. We need to come. Lord, I'm anxious about this. I'm anxious that I don't think wrong or act wrong. Give me wisdom. How should I cope with this? And behind all of this, people were angry with God. They were angry with Moses. But it really, we are told in Numbers 20, a few chapters on again. They quarreled with Moses. Why did you bring the Lord's community into this wilderness?

[24:51] Why did you bring us out of Egypt into this terrible place? Their thinking was wrong. Their wisdom was wrong. They're hitting out at Moses. They're blaming him when really it was God who brought them out. It was God who brought them there. And sometimes in our problems, we exclude God and we blame others. It can happen so, so easily. So, we need to pray. We need to ask for wisdom.

[25:18] We need to know that God might be humbling us or whatever. We need to do this. Here is a book that I read a number of years ago. If any of you read this book, oh, good, Stuart. It's not very well known.

[25:35] And Charles Stanley is fairly well known. The Blessings of Brokenness. I remember somebody gave me this book a good number of years ago when I was going through a particularly difficult time.

[25:46] I was in the pastorate as well. And he said, here, I found this book very helpful. And he gave me this book. And it was all about being broken, the blessings of brokenness. The title itself seemed very contradictory. Brokenness. Who wants to be broken? Nobody. Anything broken doesn't seem to be any wisdom in that whatsoever. But it was when God's hand is heavy upon you and you're praying and things don't seem to happen, you need wisdom in this. So, that book was very, very helpful to me.

[26:20] I remember recommending it once to a ladies' meeting. And they all bought this and they put it on their church book stall and folk were buying this. And they were blessed by it. And then somebody discovered that Mr. Stanley left his wife and then took the book off. And I thought, really, is that worthy, just getting rid of the book? I don't know, shooting yourself in the foot, really. And the guy can still say some good stuff, regardless of what he's done in his life. Anyway, I commend that book to you, The Blessings of Brokenness. And it didn't change my circumstances. And nothing changed by reading the book except my attitude towards it and my prayer life towards it. Lord, what are you doing? Are you breaking me? Are you molding me? Reshaping me? I simply didn't know. Sometimes we always think the problem is the problem, when really the problem can be pointing to us as the problem. And that is a revelation. That is wisdom. Only wisdom can show you that. Only God can show you that. We can try and weigh it all up and try and sort it all out. And we just get it badly wrong. If you were ever watching the program, The Traitors, that was a confusing time. That was just confusing. What's happening here? Who's doing what to who? And just bonkers. And life is like that. It's very, very confusing.

[27:39] And we need to know. We need wisdom. Wisdom is understanding. Wisdom is practical. And James will say in chapter 3, verse 13, hear these words, Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in humility that come from wisdom. That is, that one verse, verse 13 of chapter 3, is really what James is. Who is wise? You might say you're wise. Well, show it.

[28:11] Show it by your good life. Not hitting out at God. Not doing foolish things. Not acting foolishly. Thinking foolishly. You claim to be wise. Show it by your good life. That you really are this first fruit of God. So, we really need this. God wants to give us wisdom. And he tells us, look at the encouragement in verse 5. You should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault.

[28:41] He gives it to all. I like that. Not just some of you. Not just the males or the females of the congregation or the old Christians or even the obedient Christians. He gives it to all without finding fault. James anticipates perceived barriers that might stop asking for wisdom. Lord, I don't know if I'm really walking with you. I don't really know if I'm the person I should be. Because God knows we need this, he will give it to us. John, you've been foolish. You're acting foolish. You're in the midst of foolishness. But now you're asking for wisdom. I'm not going to rake over what you've done in the past.

[29:20] I will give you this wisdom so that you will know how to respond from this point on. It is a great promise. It's worth making a fridge magnet of that verse and sticking it in your fridge. And every time you're going for the milk, you see it. He gives it to all generously without finding fault. So, we are to pray. We are to pray for wisdom. And thirdly and lastly, James tells us, we need to pray in faith. We need to pray in faith. There is a condition. Although he gives it without finding fault and generously, James gives us a condition. He says, but you need to ask in faith.

[29:59] Verse 6, you must believe and not doubt. When you ask, you must believe and not doubt. And the word that James uses for believing here is the same word that Paul uses in relation to Abraham.

[30:16] In Romans 4, against all hope, Abraham in hope believed. And so he became the father of many nations. Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead since he was about 100 years old, and Sarah's womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he promised. It is that. We come to God, and although we face the facts, he faced the facts, I'm old, her womb is dead. How is this going to happen? But Lord, you have said, and I am fully persuaded that you can do. I don't know how, I don't know the ins and outs, but I believe that you can do this. Sometimes Christians quote Ephesians 3.20, don't we? Now, to him who is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine according to his power that is within us. In other words, this is for the person who is spiritually minded. We need to come, and we need to be focused on the Lord. It's for a spiritual person, and that's what really James is getting at here. He paints a picture of the doubter. James loves illustrations. You can see he would be a good preacher. He loves illustrations, so he paints a picture here which is quite graphic. Verse 6, the doubter is like the wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. It doesn't take much imagination to picture this, does it? If you're watching the news at all, you stand at Fisher-Roe Harbour or any harbour, and this massive wave comes over, and these folk are standing there thinking, yeah, we'll get out of the way in time. And you can just picture this wave. It's unruly. It's doing its own thing. It's not tameable, and so forth. And James is saying the person that doubts is really like that wave. It is somebody who is—James actually says they're unstable in all—there's no stability to them. That is the picture that he's painting here. When the person is coming and they're not coming in faith, they're doubting, they're unstable. Now, what does this mean? It's basically somebody who doesn't really know what they want. They know God's agenda, and in part they want God's agenda, but not a hundred percent.

[32:51] They are doubting, they are struggling, and they are not solid, and so forth. So, James says such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. I know from counseling others, and maybe you know from speaking to others, you almost—when you're given advice, you almost know if they're going to carry it through or not, or whether they're unstable. You're saying things, but they're not latching onto it saying, isn't that great? Isn't that—wow, I love that verse. Isn't God great? Isn't He sovereign?

[33:26] And you can almost see them putting ice thingies into it, actually just latching onto it. But when you speak to some folk, their mind is drifting away, and they're not hearing what you're saying. And you know the minute you leave, you can put money on it, that they won't see it through. They will drift. They are unstable. It's like trying to harness water. They're just too fluid. They're like this wave, and you think, wow, they're just too flighty. It's hard to pin them down. The verse doesn't seem to be sinking through. And that's why James says they're unstable in all they do. It's not just in this area.

[34:04] They're that type of person that's doubting that they're running around here and there, and they don't know what it means to be still and to know that He is God. And many times we're like this, aren't we? We are just so flighty, especially if you're an achieving type person, a doer. You're that type of person where you just think, Lord, I'm just going to be running here and there. I'm struggling to trust, but I'm certainly like this wave tossed to and fro. We want the Lord, but sometimes we want our own agenda. And because of this, we're double-minded.

[34:38] That is what James is wanting to get across here. The Lord won't find fault, but if you're the type of person that's hard to pin down, that is not like Abraham, I'm looking at this. It doesn't make sense, but I'm fully persuaded that you will do this. I have a single mind for you. That person is stable. But if you're jumping from here to here, he says, that person must not expect anything from the Lord. Double-minded, unstable in all they do. It is the type of person they are. It is easy to restore a spiritual person. It's great when you just share a verse, and you hope that I hope I'm that person as well. If somebody comes, points out a verse, and you think, you know, you're right.

[35:26] You're right. Suddenly, you're back on an even keel. But others, when you think, I might as well be singing knees up, Mother Brown, because you're not hearing the word. There's not a verse sinking in here at all. I might as well take it to the ukulele, sing you a wee song. That's probably cheer you up more. Hard for that person to know the blessing of God, to know the joy in the midst of trials. Double-minded, unstable in all they do. So here then, James, as a pastor, as writing to Christians that are scattered, that are persecuted, that have lost material needs, family, friends, some martyred, and so forth, he comes right at the beginning and addresses their immediate need. Doesn't he start with talking about showing favoritism in the church? That's not their immediate need. This is their immediate need. And he really begins this letter with a bang.

[36:20] He shows them, first of all, there are purposes in their trials. God is always at work in what they're doing. But I know you might struggle to get your head around that. I don't know your specific thing he's saying. So ask for wisdom. Pray. And ask Lord to show you how to trust him, how to not do the wrong thing, to walk in obedience with him. But come with a single mind. Come to discover God. I challenge people with this if they're seeking God. Non-Christians, would you want to know God is real? Yeah, I want to know God is real. If God showed you he was real, what would that mean for you in your life? I don't know. I haven't thought. So I say to him, so you think God will show you himself, and then you'll just walk away and do your own thing. Do you have a single mind for God? If God showed you this, you'd fall at his feet, you would accept him as Lord, you'd follow him. That is what God wants, a single mind. That will you say, Lord, show me that I might walk right, that I might follow you. Does that make sense? Let's stand and we'll sing our closing song. It's an old one. Guide me,

[37:31] O thou great Jehovah. I never know if it's going to have the word Redeemer or Jehovah in that, but well, we'll stand and we'll sing this together. Let's use this as a prayer that the Lord will guide us in the midst of trials and difficulties.

[37:45] Behold me, O thou great Jehovah, build him through this barren land. I am free.