Esther Reading Plan – W8D4

Prayer

As you begin your time with God, where you are sitting or standing, put out your hands with your palm facing up. Ask God to speak to you from His word; to give you encouragement and strength for this day.

Bible Reading: James 4:1-10

Read these verses three times slowly.

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:

“God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble.”

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

Reflection & Questions

We’re continuing today in our readings on pride and humility. Today, James has a lot to say about the fruit of pride in our lives. He says that pride leads to quarrels, prayerlessness and to disconnection from God. If we see those things in our lives to any degree, we should step back and reflect on whether there is pride lurking in the corners of our hearts.

James also gives some very good instructions for those wrestling with pride. These are radical actions, but given the dangers of pride and that “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble”, a radical response is well justified. The pathway to humility is according to James is to:

• “Submit…to God” – in other words make your allegiance to Him alone, obeying his word.
• “Resist the devil” – when the devil tempts you to forsake God’s way, tell him no.
• “Wash your hands and purify your hearts” – realize that your actions and attitudes need to change.
• “Grieve” over your sin – take seriously the way you are broken and go before God with your sorrow. over that.

The fruit of this kind of change in our lives is that as we humble ourselves before the Lord, James says, “he will lift you up.” Humility before the Lord doesn’t leave us in our lowliness, because He lifts us up. And if He does it, it is right, secure and life-changing.

1. Consider the last week. Was it marked by conflict, prayerless or disconnection from God? If so, what part did pride play in that?
2. Consider James’ radical responses to pride. Do you need to do any or all of those?

Prayer

Pray in response to today’s reading.

Worship Song

You might use this song today to worship Jesus today: