It is easy to laugh at these prayers. For one thing, they are our prayers – or at
least paradies of our own prayers.
Who among us has not prayed something silly and
selfish, or prayed for the wrong motives.
James opens chapter four with this teaching about
prayer:
4:1 What causes fights and quarrels among you?
2 You want something but don't get it.
You do not have, because you do not ask God.
So does that mean all we have
to do is ask God?
Are we like those teenagers
in the film clip praying that we win the election, or that God give us a nice
pair of leather pants?
No – James goes on with verse
3:
3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask
with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
When you ask, you do not
receive it.
All of us have prayed prayers
that were left ungranted.
James says that the reasons
our prayers may go unfulfilled is because we ask for the wrong motives. We see that in the prayers of the video we
just watched, but we are guilty of it as well.
We often ask for things that
are our will, not God’s will.
Why do prayers go unanswered?
Moses died on Mt. Nebo,
his prayer that he would be able to enter the promised land was refused.
Paul prayed three times for the removal of that "thorn in the flesh." He never tells us exactly what that meant, but whatever it was, he prayed earnestly that it would be removed from his life. But it wasn’t. Instead, he was compelled to make the best of it for the rest of his life.
Even Jesus prayed a prayer that was left unanswered. Jesus cried out in the garden, “take this cup of suffering from me.” He prayed that he would not have to suffer death on the cross. Instead he had to suffer the pain of it.
The Bible is full of unanswered prayers.
There are many reasons, it is more complex than a simple answer – but in James we see that one reason is that we sometimes misunderstand the nature of prayer. We pray out of selfish motives.
True prayer is God-centered.
But we often turn prayer into a self-centered activity.
In the New Testament book of James, we are told (James 4:3), “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”
The object of prayer is that God might be glorified. At times we think of prayer as an Aladdin’s lamp which we use to glorify self. We often think of God as a genie who is at our bidding and command.
A theologian once said, “Our prayers often reduce God to nothing more than a Cosmic Bellboy, who is neither very bright, nor very reliable.”
Can we not pray for ourselves? Of course, but we should pray for ourselves unselfishly. Unselfish prayer for self is prayer which seeks not self-centered comfort but Christ-centered conformity to the will of God. Prayer is not an end in itself but a means to a greater end which is to glorify God.
The Bible promises that God will hear our prayers. It never says that God will obey our orders – and sometimes that is the way we treat prayer. So of course, God may not answer such self-centered prayers.
There is no better example of a self centered prayer than that one that Jimmy Stewart prayed in the movie, Shannendoah, “We plowed this land, we planted it, we harvested it, we cooked it, but we thank you anyway.”
What is our motive for prayer? For some it is an empty ritual. We see that in the film clip from Meet the Parents, in which the poor groom to be has to pray before the meal, and for him it is a meaningless prayer because it is a ritual, nothing more. He is left gasping for words.
Paul prayed three times for the removal of that "thorn in the flesh." He never tells us exactly what that meant, but whatever it was, he prayed earnestly that it would be removed from his life. But it wasn’t. Instead, he was compelled to make the best of it for the rest of his life.
Even Jesus prayed a prayer that was left unanswered. Jesus cried out in the garden, “take this cup of suffering from me.” He prayed that he would not have to suffer death on the cross. Instead he had to suffer the pain of it.
The Bible is full of unanswered prayers.
There are many reasons, it is more complex than a simple answer – but in James we see that one reason is that we sometimes misunderstand the nature of prayer. We pray out of selfish motives.
True prayer is God-centered.
But we often turn prayer into a self-centered activity.
In the New Testament book of James, we are told (James 4:3), “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”
The object of prayer is that God might be glorified. At times we think of prayer as an Aladdin’s lamp which we use to glorify self. We often think of God as a genie who is at our bidding and command.
A theologian once said, “Our prayers often reduce God to nothing more than a Cosmic Bellboy, who is neither very bright, nor very reliable.”
Can we not pray for ourselves? Of course, but we should pray for ourselves unselfishly. Unselfish prayer for self is prayer which seeks not self-centered comfort but Christ-centered conformity to the will of God. Prayer is not an end in itself but a means to a greater end which is to glorify God.
The Bible promises that God will hear our prayers. It never says that God will obey our orders – and sometimes that is the way we treat prayer. So of course, God may not answer such self-centered prayers.
There is no better example of a self centered prayer than that one that Jimmy Stewart prayed in the movie, Shannendoah, “We plowed this land, we planted it, we harvested it, we cooked it, but we thank you anyway.”
What is our motive for prayer? For some it is an empty ritual. We see that in the film clip from Meet the Parents, in which the poor groom to be has to pray before the meal, and for him it is a meaningless prayer because it is a ritual, nothing more. He is left gasping for words.
The motivation of our prayer
may be nothing more than that of a superstition, rather than of a relationship
with God.
It’s like rubbing a rabbit’s
foot. Or reading a horiscope. Even people who don’t believe in superstition may
occasionally practice these, thinking, “What’s the harm?”
During World War II, General Patton was given the task of rescuing some soldiers trapped behind enemy lines. The weather was not cooperating, however, and the tanks could not reach the men, nor could the planes provide proper air cover. So on December 8, 1944, Patton called on Chaplain James O’Neill and asked, “Do you have a prayer for good weather? We need a break in this weather if we are to win the war.” O’Neill looked through some prayer books and couldn’t find the right one, so he composed the following prayer.
"Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee, of Thy great goodness, to restrain these immoderate rains with which we have had to contend. Grant us fair weather for Battle. Graciously hearken to us as soldiers who call upon Thee that, armed with Thy power, we may advance from victory to victory, and crush the oppression and wickedness of our enemies and establish Thy justice among men and nations."
When the chaplain delivered a copy of the prayer to the General, Patton ordered the minister to make 250,000 copies and to see that every soldier in the Third Army got a copy. Two days after the copies were distributed, there was a break in the weather and the Americans were able to advance.
A few months ago, I saw an interview of one or Patton’s soldiers who had kept his copy of that prayer. He said he used it whenever he was in trouble. He said the prayer at the deathbed of his mother, and it didn’t heal his mother. He said the prayer when he was diagnosed with cancer, but it didn’t heal him. He concluded that prayer didn’t work at all.
But prayer had been nothing more than a superstitious ritual for him. Saying that prayer at the deathbed of his mother was meaningless, because it was not a prayer for his mother to be healed. It was a prayer for moderate weather and success in battle. That prayer had been answered.
But for this man, repeating the words of this prayer had become little more than a rubbing of the rabbit’s foot.
Prayer is sometimes spoken without any faith or belief.
In the New Testament book of James, we read in chapter 1, verse 6, that when a person prays, “he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”
There are times when some doubt is natural and good. It can be an important part of our faith journey.
During World War II, General Patton was given the task of rescuing some soldiers trapped behind enemy lines. The weather was not cooperating, however, and the tanks could not reach the men, nor could the planes provide proper air cover. So on December 8, 1944, Patton called on Chaplain James O’Neill and asked, “Do you have a prayer for good weather? We need a break in this weather if we are to win the war.” O’Neill looked through some prayer books and couldn’t find the right one, so he composed the following prayer.
"Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee, of Thy great goodness, to restrain these immoderate rains with which we have had to contend. Grant us fair weather for Battle. Graciously hearken to us as soldiers who call upon Thee that, armed with Thy power, we may advance from victory to victory, and crush the oppression and wickedness of our enemies and establish Thy justice among men and nations."
When the chaplain delivered a copy of the prayer to the General, Patton ordered the minister to make 250,000 copies and to see that every soldier in the Third Army got a copy. Two days after the copies were distributed, there was a break in the weather and the Americans were able to advance.
A few months ago, I saw an interview of one or Patton’s soldiers who had kept his copy of that prayer. He said he used it whenever he was in trouble. He said the prayer at the deathbed of his mother, and it didn’t heal his mother. He said the prayer when he was diagnosed with cancer, but it didn’t heal him. He concluded that prayer didn’t work at all.
But prayer had been nothing more than a superstitious ritual for him. Saying that prayer at the deathbed of his mother was meaningless, because it was not a prayer for his mother to be healed. It was a prayer for moderate weather and success in battle. That prayer had been answered.
But for this man, repeating the words of this prayer had become little more than a rubbing of the rabbit’s foot.
Prayer is sometimes spoken without any faith or belief.
In the New Testament book of James, we read in chapter 1, verse 6, that when a person prays, “he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.”
There are times when some doubt is natural and good. It can be an important part of our faith journey.
Who was one of the famous
doubters in the Bible?
Thomas.
Thomas.
He doubted. Of course he did. He was told news that needed to be
vetted. He demanded evidence of the
resurrection. If not for him, people
would have said the apostles accepted the news of the resurrection based not on
faith, but on gulliblilty. But he
insisted on proof. “Unless I see the
holes in his hands and touch the scars and put my hand in his side, I will not
believe,” he said to his other friends.
Then he sees with his own eyes the risen Lord, and is given the
opportunity to touch the risen Christ, but Thomas is satisfied. And not only satisfied, he is the first to
say, “My Lord and My God.’ His process
of doubting produced a stronger faith.
But there comes a time when
you have to make a commitment and stop doubting.
And that is one of the
continuing themes of the Epistle of James – it is time to make a
commitment. It is time to get serious
about faith. It underlies the issue of
what James is getting at with his theme of “Faith without works is dead,” and
it is part of what James is talking about with prayer.
Get serious. Get real with your faith.
This is what James means in the
following verses:
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil,
and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you.
Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9
Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.
10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
James is not saying we can
never laugh or be joyful, but he is stressing the seriousness of our
faith. And he is trying to drive home
the need for repentance and self examination.
This eighth verse, “Come near
to God and he will come near to you” sounds so much like the catch phrase I’ve
often seen in recent years, “If you don’t feel close to God, who moved?”
We often feel distant from
God because we are the ones who have moved away from him.
James tells us, Come near to
God and he will come near to you.
James is repeating something
he has brought up before – this business of judging others. He wants us to be doers of the word, not
judges.
We’ve talked about this earlier
in James, how we are not to judge other people, but to drive this home we’ll
end with a video about Christians who judge.
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