Monday, August 11, 2025

           James is a small letter near the end of the Bible that was written by Jesus’ half-brother James.  The word “practical” seems good to describe the message of this small, five-chapter book.  It teems with practical guidance for how to live as a follower of Christ.  In James 4:8, we read, “Come near to God and He will come near to you.”  Those eleven words read simply enough.  And they sound easy to understand.  But it can be challenging to come near to God.  The noisiness and busyness of life can often enslave us.  Indifference and procrastination can drive well-meaning and well-intentioned individuals into a stagnant spiritual life at best or a wandering away from the Lord at worst. 
            There is a promise in that command from James 4:8 that we need to see.  If we come near to God, He will come near to us.  There are no hesitations or parentheses around this promise.  We draw near to God and He draws near to us.  It can be easy to see our faith and even prayer itself as a “break-in-case-of-emergency” kind of thing.  We turn to God in a crisis or when we cannot figure out what to do by our wits and talents.  Like we might ask a stronger friend for help in moving a heavy piece of furniture, we often turn to God when we discover that we are too weak or frantic to do what needs to be done.  But, otherwise, we stay in our lane and manage things on our own. 
            A.W. Tozer had much to say about prayer.  He wrote, “prayer at its best is the expression of the total life.”  Our prayers are only as powerful as our lives.  In the long pull we pray only as well as we live.”  Tozer saw an unbreakable relationship between how we live and how we pray.  If we live in surrendered and submitted ways to the Lord, we will pray as we walk and live each day.  Prayer becomes less of an occasion to intercede for something unattainable by ourselves and more of an unending, ongoing conversation with the Lord.  Prayer becomes as normal and functional as breathing or moving our feet and fingers 
            A bit further in James 4, we read, “humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up” (James 4:10).  To humble means we acknowledge just how much we need the Lord—how utterly lost and rudderless we are without Him.  When we humble ourselves, we realize that faith in Christ is a necessity and not a luxury.  A walk with the Lord is essential for our very survival and perseverance.  To navigate life without the Lord’s faithful, hovering, abiding presence is an awful thought to ponder.  A practical way to pray is to keep in contact with the Lord throughout the day.  A brief two-minute walk may allow you a chance to exhale the world’s battles and trials while you inhale the grace and presence of the Lord.  Keeping a notebook close by to jot down a few sentences of prayer, praise and petition might lead to a change in how the day’s story is unfolding and playing out.  Prayer becomes less of a thing to do and more about who and what we are as God’s people.
            Tozer suggested that if we draw near to God, we will soon discover that a holy and surrendered life becomes the rich and fertile soil for prayer that changes the world around us in ways we might never-before have imagined.  A surrendered life also realizes that this world is neither the end nor the fulfillment of what God has planned and designed for those who love Him.  Spend some time with James today.  Let these five brief but rich chapters lead you to more practical ways to walk with the Lord.  Have a great Monday!