Wednesday - The Letter of James (James 4:7-8)
Welcome to daily prayer. This week we will continue our journey as a church body
through James. This has been a convicting few weeks. May the Lord continue to search our
hearts and gently expose us this week as we walk through the beginning of James 4.
Change us, Holy Spirit, as we pray through your Word.
DRAW NEAR/GRATITUDE: Let’s begin this time with intentionally drawing near to Jesus.
Lord, I come towards you now. I want all that you have for me. I want to be close to you. I want
to truly know You. I want to be following you in all I say and do. Cleanse me today in this time
of prayer. Renew my mind and my heart. Renew a steadfast spirit within me. I am so thankful
for my relationship with you Lord.
SCRIPTURE: A Scripture reading from James 4:7-8
7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from
you. 8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your
hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between
God and the world.
A PRAYER OF CONFESSION/TRUST: Oh Lord, again we come before you with our divided
hearts. We are so prone to wander and give our hearts away to lesser loves, to anxious
thoughts, to worldly desires.
We cry out to you with King David after a major life failure,
1 Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your steadfast love; according to the multitude of
Your tender mercy and loving-kindness blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly and repeatedly from my iniquity and guilt and cleanse me and make me
wholly pure from my sin!
3 For I am conscious of my transgressions and I acknowledge them; my sin is ever before me.
Lord, I don’t want divided loyalty. I want to run towards you and away from the enemy and sin
as hard as I can. Thank you for coming close to me in every moment. Thank you for holding
onto me, thank you that drawing near to you causes the devil will flee. I do not have to fear his
schemes and plans because you are for me. You are with me. Sin does not rule me anymore
because your blood covers me. I humble myself before you Lord and say no to any pride
getting in the way of my neediness for you. I am completely dependent on You Jesus. I
surrender my loyalty to you now.
A PRAYER OF INTERCESSION: Lord, as a church body we ask you to humble us. Expose us
where our pride is ruling. Reveal to us areas in our lives that we have not surrendered. May we,
as a community be willing to go through the cleansing process of becoming humility. Lord, we
acknowledge this is not a quick or easy journey. Sanctification takes time and commitment. As
one author puts it… “a long obedience in the same direction”
Show us how to walk this journey
together, to help give each other grace and accountability, to run TOWARDS you and away
from the enemy together. We pray specifically for anyone right now who is struggling with a
particular area of sin or temptation. Jesus, give them the grace today to draw near to you. We
proclaim over brothers and sisters this truth—when they draw near to you, You WILL draw near
to them and the enemy will flee!
A MOMENT OF REFLECTION: As we meditate on the Scripture again, I want you to picture
yourself doing what this verse says…running as hard as you can away from darkness and into
the loving embrace of the Lord. What a powerful visual. Lord, may this be our posture as we
walk thru our day today.
SCRIPTURE AGAIN:
7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from
you. 8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your
hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between
God and the world.
MEMORY VERSE: Our memory verse is the Scripture reading from today. Let’s say it out loud
together now…
JAMES 4:7-8
“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."
CLOSING PRAYER: Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face and the things
of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.