Our Perspective on Control vs. God’s Perspective

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Faith and Reality (James 5:1-20) – Part 3 - Prayer

Day 3 – Our Perspective on Control vs. God’s Perspective (v. 13-20)

So we’ve seen that wealth is not what we thought it was and now we see time itself is not what we think it is. What’s next? Well, it’s another big one. Control is not what we think it is. We have the delusion that we are in control of our lives.

In August 1994, a Korean air jet skidded across a rain-soaked runway and rammed into a safety barricade in Cheju, Korea. All 160 passengers escaped to safety, just moments before the plane exploded into flames. So what caused this near tragedy? According to news reports, the pilot and co-pilot had gotten into a fist fight over who was in charge of the landing controls. Obviously, one of the pilots has the right to land the plane and wouldn’t give it up. The other pilot wouldn’t give up fighting for that right.

Often we are the same in our walk with God. We operate under the delusion that we are, or ought to be in control of our own lives.

So how do we fight back against that delusion? James tells us that whatever our circumstances – whether hardship or happiness – we should pray.

Prayer is the ultimate acknowledgement of reality.

Prayer is more than petition.

If we really think closely about how we pray, I think we will find that often our prayer life is characterized primarily by petition – asking God to do something for us or for the people around us. We treat prayer as if its purpose is for our words to change the heart, mind or behavior of God. We might not think of it in those terms, but what we pray for shows that this is what we believe.

Even the idea of “taking prayer requests” shows that we think of prayer as some kind of cosmic vending machine where we put the right prayers in and out pops the blessing. Prayer is intended to be so much more. Our prayers should be more focused on asking God to conform us to His heart, mind and behavior. Prayer should change us.

But that’s not the only way that our prayer lives are defective.

Too often from our perspective: Prayer is optional.

Prayer is what we do to fulfill an obligation or when all else fails. We pray when something goes wrong.

Maybe once a year we reflect on the good things in our life and we say thank you before we eat a 12 pound turkey.

The truth is we just don’t act as if we believe that our prayer matters. We’ve been deceived into thinking that our most powerful resource is meaningless.

But in verse 16 James tells us that the reality is: “The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power.”

It has power to endure hardship. …power to praise God. …power to heal sickness. …power to see through the lies and deceptions to the real world.

And do you know why prayer is so powerful? It’s powerful because it is an acknowledgement of God’s power and the recognition that we don’t have any. We give up our illusion of control for the reality of God’s power when we go to Him in prayer.

When we act as if prayer is optional it is because we are deluded into thinking that we are in control of our lives. We act as if prayer does not matter because we think that we are the primary effective influence in our lives.

When we pray – we acknowledge that God’s power is greater than our own – we come to Him on our knees, humbling ourselves in acknowledgement of God’s reality.

That’s the ultimate acknowledgment of reality – If God is real – if God is who he says he is – if we truly come to know the reality of God – it brings us to our knees.

That’s the Solution: Practicing the presence of God.

It’s all through the book of James. When you face trials – he is there (James 1:2-4). When you seek him – he happily shares his wisdom with you (James 1:5-8). If you humble yourself and, “come close to God…God will come close to you.” (James 4:8).

That’s the ultimate reality – God is with all of us - all of the time – in every circumstance – in every trial – in every victory!

In a world of unreal things – God is the ultimate reality and prayer is the ultimate acknowledgment of that reality.

Prayer is how we allow God to open our eyes to the truth. And when our eyes are opened, when we finally see the unreal delusions that are enslaving us, we are made free to live in the fullness of God’s purpose for us.

And when that happens – when our eyes are opened – we will do all that we can to open the eyes of the people around us who are still trapped in their delusions. We will seek to restore wandering believers. James closes his letter with these words:

“19 My dear brothers and sisters, if someone among you wanders away from the truth and is brought back, 20 you can be sure that whoever brings the sinner back from wandering will save that person from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins.”

We are privileged to be a part of God’s rescue efforts. We become part of Christ’s mission…

“… to bring Good News to the poor. …to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free,” (Luke 4:18, Is. 61:1-2)

That’s reality – not this mundane existence that we have been deceived into thinking is real so that we will be trapped into forsaking our purpose. The truth is that our adversary is terrified that we will fulfill our purpose. So, he will do everything he can do to deceive us into inactivity.

The only way that we can find fulfillment – the only way that we can be what we are intended to be is to allow our faith in God to reveal reality to us.

And here is the key to it all…

In order for us to have faith that prevents us from being deceived, we must remember how God worked in the past, focus on doing His will in the present, and look to His promises in the future.

That’s the only reality that matters – Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb. 13:8).

And by our faith, we can be a part of his reality! We can have our eyes opened to the truth.

Discussion Questions: How’s your prayer life? What can you do to better practice the presence of God in all you do?

What are you doing today to help those around you who have drifted from the truth?

Memory Verse: “Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!” (1 Chronicles 16:11)