Women's Bible Study - February 21st, 2024 - Power of Prayer
First B Jackson
2024-02-21

Automatically transcribed. Where this and the recording disagree, the recording is the record.

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Testing. Hello. Good morning. Good morning, everybody. Let's prepare our hearts for worship.

Give Jesus give Jesus all of us, all our minds, all our hearts, all our souls. Jesus, we look to you, we turn our eyes to you, Our minds, our bodies, everything, every part of us, we wanna give glory to you this morning. Thank you for bringing these ladies in safely. We love you. We love you.

We wanna give our offering this morning, sacrifice of praise. We wanna give it all to you today. All that we have, Lord, all

whatever it looks like for

us each individually, we just present ourselves to you, surrender fully.

For this next song, you all know that Lord's Prayer. Right? Our Father, thou art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. We're gonna sing that this morning. We're gonna ask his kingdom to come and his will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

And as we sing this, let's just bring these these situations away heavy in our hearts this morning to the throne where only he could do what he can do. Right? Let's sing this together. Our father. Sing yours is the kingdom.

Know, I was listening to all of you guys singing, and it was just beautiful. And I felt God as picture of this mighty woman of God rising up for this time. We're not meant to be afraid. You know, he hasn't given us a spirit of fear. We are meant to rise up and be bold.

And as I was hearing you guys singing, you were singing, yours is the kingdom, you know, yours is the power and let heaven come, and it just inspired me so much. What if we all took the word of God for what it said and did what it says. So I just encourage you. Let's just go back into that, yours is the kingdom and just declare that boldly this morning. Over whatever situation might be on our mind this morning.

We'll just declare the word of God over it. Alright? For yours is the kingdom. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your promises. Thank you, God, that you have promised to never leave us nor forsake us.

You've promised in your word that the righteous the for effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. And so we take that promise this morning, Lord, and we ask for your kingdom to come and your will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. And for us to walk in tune with your spirit, God, to be led by you and everything that we do. God, teach us to abide in you. And thank you, God, that we get to gather this morning and for one more Bible study of this series.

And we just ask that you open our ears to absorb everything that you want us to hear, Lord, and that we can walk away just new today. Amen.

Thank you. Mhmm. Good morning. Good morning. Thank you, Ali and Shar.

So beautiful. Can you all hear me? Yes. Okay. Because it feels like I'm not very loud.

Alright. So today, we land the plane of James. I feel like it's been a short flight, don't you? So today we're gonna land the plane and I think that you'll agree with me, James' overall message to us, he gets a bad rap from some saying that he's a book of works but he's not a book of works, he's a book of discipleship. How do we follow Christ?

What does it look like if we're true followers of Jesus? And James gives us real practical examples of what that looks like And you might be going, well, exactly what does that word discipleship mean? Do you know what that word means? It means who we're listening to, who we're learning from, who we're following. And here's the thing, all of us are listening to some voice.

It's either the voice of the culture, the voice of media, the voice of social media, the voice of our friends, we're all listening to a voice and James is teaching us learn to listen to God's voice and follow him. I love what doctor Tony Evans says. He says, discipleship is the developmental process, we're all in process, right? The developmental process that progressively brings Christians from spiritual infancy to spiritual maturity. And that's why Paul says when you first become a believer, you're drinking milk and you should drink milk because you're a baby.

Babies don't eat a big sandwich. But at some point, you gotta go for the bigger meals, right? That's how we develop as human beings, that's how we develop spiritually. It's interesting because you know, last words are important, aren't they? And Jesus' last words in Matthew 28, Jesus said, go and make disciples.

Go and make disciples and baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Teach others to obey my commands and be sure of this, and I love this because throughout scripture, he always reminds us of this. He's like, it's not gonna be easy, it's not gonna be easy for you, it's not gonna be easy for them, but I will be with you always. I will always be with you. Just like Ali just said, he never leaves us or forsakes us.

So, James is really a picture of what a healthy disciple looks like, what an emotionally and spiritually healthy follower of Christ looks like. I love Ronald Ruhlhauser, he's an interesting author and this is what he says a healthy soul looks like. He says, first, a healthy disciple or healthy soul has a fire in her veins. She is energized, vibrant and living with the zest of full hope that life is ultimately worth living for. Now he says he too, I just changed it for us to she, but that is a healthy follower of Christ, right?

We have hope. We know that we're not here by accident, we know we're not here for nothing, we're here for a reason. And he goes on to say, the healthy soul starts to get this sense of where I came from, why I'm here, and where I'm going. And that's kind of how I start living my life. Why am I here?

Is it all about me? That's a miserable place to be. Or is it about representing Christ to others? And where am I going? Someday it's all going to be okay.

And that's what I love about James because James kind of unpacks what it looks like while we're here. Remember in chapter one, James reminds us, look, you're gonna have troubles here, but what it should look like for you as a follower of Christ is that you have this sense that it's going to be okay, that Jesus is with me, I'm not alone, and it's going to be okay. And remember, was interesting because James said, be quick to talk? No. He said, be quick to listen and slow to speak, and he certainly meant among each other because that's the sign of a good relationship.

But more than that, he meant with the Holy Spirit. He meant that when when you're struggling, be quick to listen to the Holy Spirit. Don't start a narrative that might not even be true. Go to the spirit first and be quick to listen to him. In chapter two, James talks about favoritism and we're like, okay, well that doesn't seem like a terrible sin, but he's like, any sin is sin before God.

And remember the power lines that go down? Any sin puts a kink in our power line and it stops the flow of the Holy Spirit, and it's like the lights go out. We don't want the lights to go out. We wanna keep the lights on. We want the energy flowing.

So James is like, take care of that sin. And he's like, and don't think you're just okay if you say you believe in God because even the demons do that and they're demons. And why are they demons? Because even though they know about Jesus, they don't respond to him. They don't respond in obedience.

They don't respond in submission. They don't respond and they never learn to have a relationship with him. James is like, don't be that person who says, yeah yeah yeah, I'm good, I believe in God. And then James three was a doozy, wasn't it? The power of the tongue.

And the power that this little thing has is pretty crazy. And he taught us that, you know, there is so much power in this tongue that you can literally bring healing to someone. You can speak truth and grace and love and heal a broken heart. But you can also, like a match, set a forest on fire. You can set relationships on fire and burn them down with that tongue.

And what was his bottom line? That everything we do flows from the heart. So get your heart right with Jesus and out of that overflow will come words that bring healing and life and actions that bring healing and life. And today, James closes chapter five, I think with a super important message for us today. He goes back to suffering and hardship and closes with prayer.

And I think it's a message that we need today but before he jumps into suffering, you can just see how James is writing and he goes, wait a second, there's an issue I need to address among believers. And he calls out those who have extra and don't use it for good. And he calls out the wealthy believers who are just using it on themselves and not only are they selfish but they're hurting others. And I was thinking about this and I thought, yeah, I can see that in my journey in life because what does money bring with it? It brings this spirit of power and this spirit of control.

And James is like, you better use that power for good because someday you're gonna stand before God and he's gonna say, what did you do with the blessings I gave you? Did you bless others? I remember years ago in California, a guy came to me and he said, Deborah, my business has just exploded and I have all this extra money and I'm a new Christian and he knew I was a Christian and he said, is it okay for me to have this money? And I said, let's go to God's word and see what God says. And I took him to first Timothy chapter six because Paul is teaching Timothy.

Timothy was a pastor just like James. Paul, Timothy and James all taught the same thing about money. And Paul said to Timothy, teach your believers this about money. This is first Timothy six seventeen through 19. He said, first of all, teach those who are rich not to be proud and trust in their money because it's very unreliable.

And can I tell you, especially in Orange County, California, Greg and I saw many wealthy people lose it all, completely get wiped out? It is unreliable. Their trust should be in God. Just keep your trust on God. And then it says, tell them to use their money for good.

Be rich in good works and generous, ready to share. And by doing this, you're storing up for yourself treasures as a good foundation that you may experience true life. And I was like, Brady, you wanna experience true life? Don't focus on yourself. Start giving that away.

I mean, God says you can have pleasures, there's nothing wrong with that. But your focus should be why did he give me all this? What am I gonna do with it? And God God made us, and I say this all the time and I remind myself of this, he made us to be lovers and givers. And that's when I'm feeling best about myself, when I'm loving the way he says to love and when I'm giving.

So James just wants to call that out and then he jumps into the meat of his message in verse seven. He says, Brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord's return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen. You too must be patient and take courage for the coming of the Lord is near.

And while you're waiting, no grumbling. Do not grumble because the judge is standing at the door. For examples of patience and suffering, dear brothers and sisters, look at the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. We give great honor to those who endure under suffering. For instance, you know about Job.

We've all heard about Job. He was a man of great endurance. You can see how the Lord was kind to him in the end, for the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy. Okay, some major takeaways from this. First of all, and this is on your handout too, notice James did not say when you're suffering and struggling, God's gonna change those circumstances.

He never says that. In fact, he drills right down into if those circumstances don't change, this is what you're to do. Number one, be patient. And what does his word be patient mean there? It means don't give up, hang in there, don't ever give up on God, just be patient, endure like Job did, hang in there.

And then he does what we see throughout Scripture other authors doing, he compares patients to a farmer. Okay, so I grew up in Ohio until sixth grade next to my grandparents who had an 88 acre farm. So I am a farmer's granddaughter, and I loved the farm. I was on the farm every day pretty much, and my grandparents had cows and chickens and pigs, and I would gather fresh eggs, and they had these huge gardens that I would always help my grandma in. And I learned a lot of lessons from that that apply to endurance.

First of all, I'm taking a list from David Gusick. I love his commentary on this. He said the reason James pulls in farmer in an analogy for endurance is that the farmer has to wait a long time with hope and expectation of a reward. And I can tell you, as a child, we would plant in the garden, and I would say to my grandma, Mom, I called her Mom, which my mom didn't love but she loved, and I would say, mom, where's the cucumbers? And did you ever see those little cookie cakes called Little Debbie's?

I was her Little Debbie girl and she would say, Little Debbie girl, be patient. It takes time. We plant the seed, the cucumber's coming. And it would take forever, but she always had that hope and expectation, she knew it was coming. Then David Gudzik says the farmer waits a long time in the waiting and the farmer works through the waiting.

And that was a picture of my grandparents. They were the hardest workers and they watered those fields, they pulled the weeds from those fields, they planted those fields, they were working while they were waiting. And my grandmother used to tell me, she used to say, we need rain. Without rain, these seeds aren't gonna be nourished. And she would look up to the heavens, calling on the Lord to bring rain.

And I think that's what we do in our waiting. We know what we need and we call up to the heavens and we ask the Lord to pour down the rain on us, Lord. The farmer waits despite difficult circumstances and many uncertainties. You know, sometimes we go to the garden and overnight, there was some pestilence that just ate all the leaves or the winds would blow and knock down the cornfields. And that's what happens to us in life too, that's why the authors always compare our life to a farmer.

We don't know when the winds are gonna blow up on us. And sometimes, we don't see it coming and it's nothing we did. It just comes up on us. And what would my grandparents say? Tomorrow's a new day.

We show up tomorrow, we work tomorrow, we do whatever it takes. And they had this attitude because they knew the harvest was coming. They knew there was going to be a harvest. So in our suffering, we never give up, we be patient. And number two, James says, be courageous.

Don't go all weak. You know what this word courageous means? It means to be stable and firm and this is a theme throughout James, isn't it? James is like, plant your feet on the solid rock and stop wavering, stop going, are you gonna show up, God? Are you good, God?

Are you there for me, God? Do you really love me, God? He says plant your feet and be solid. You know, one of my life verses is Joshua one nine and Joshua is about to take the people into the promised land and he's like, it's a land flowing with milk and honey, it's a land of prosperity, it's a good land. But they were afraid.

Why were they afraid? Because there were giants in the land. He's like, yes, it's a good place to go but there are gonna be giant problems there and there's gonna be giant problems for you and me. And Joshua said to them, be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged no matter what happens, do not be discouraged.

Why? Because he's with you. He says because the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go in this land. He is with you. So don't be afraid, be courageous.

And can I just tell you, whenever I do go weak and I'm fearful thinking, are you gonna show up for me, Lord? I always regret it because he always does. And I'm always disappointed in myself like, oh, why did I doubt you again when you have been so faithful to me? When my daughter was in first grade, she was very self aware. She had an older brother, so she watched her older brother and she wanted to read.

It was very important to her

to

read. And I went in for her teacher conference and the teacher said, Deborah, we've got a problem. Julia is crying every day because she has memorized the books but she can't read. And I said, okay, what do we do? And she's like, think something's wrong.

I think she might be dyslexic. And so we put her through all these tests and she did have a form of dyslexia. But can I tell you, her elementary years were brutal because she would sob and say, why can't I read like other kids? Why can't I read like Grayson? And one day she came to me and she said, Mommy, Jesus doesn't love me.

He loves Grayson. He doesn't love me. She was a tiny little thing. I said, Baby girl, he loves you more. You are extra special because he's going to show up for you in the most powerful, amazing way.

We're going to get through this. And when I was driving home from that teacher conference, I still cry when I think about it because her little heart was so broken. And I looked down on the conference sheet and they went to a Christian school, and you know what verse was on that sheet? Isaiah 4zero 31. Those who trust in the Lord, some translations say those who hope or those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength and they will soar on the wings like eagles.

And I would tell her, Baby, you're gonna soar. You're gonna soar. So fast forward, Julia is 31 today, do you know what her job is? Primarily, she reads. She interviews authors to see if their book would be a good TV show and she has to read all those books.

And I tell her, Jules, are you soaring on the wings of eagles? And she laughs. She goes, mom, it's so crazy. I read all the time and she can she can plow through a book faster than I can. So this is a lesson the Lord taught me.

Don't waver, Deborah. Focus on me, put your trust in me, it might take a while. It took all through those elementary years, but it was worth it. It was worth it. Number three, in the waiting, no grumbling.

No grumbling. Don't grumble against each other and don't grumble against God. And you know why James is saying this? Because we wanna grumble. We're tired, we're weary, we're suffering, our bandwidth is stretching like a rubber band to the point of breaking, so we're gonna grumble.

Our inclination is not to go sing praise songs. But you know what happens if we do it? It completely shifts our attitude. And I put some verses on here, this has worked for me. When I'm feeling really downcast and struggling, I I don't know why this works but it does because God knows how he made us.

In Philippians two, he says, start thinking about other people. Don't just keep worrying about yourself and your troubles, go do something for someone else. And Proverbs eleven twenty five says, The generous will prosper. Those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed. Doesn't that sound delicious?

Do you wanna be refreshed? Then do something for someone else and no grumbling. And finally, number four, Jesus is for you, he's for you, he's for you. It's gonna be okay. If there is one thing, if I had to summarize one thing in the Bible, it would be he is for you because in this world, we feel like he's not because circumstances are not always for us.

People are not always for us. I myself am not even always for me, but he is always for me. He is for me. James said, have you heard of the endurance of Job and seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings? Okay, why is Job in the Bible?

Because God wanted to show us if he took every possible thing that we value from us, he's still for us. What did he take from Job? I mean, talk about getting wiped out financially. Job was one of the wealthiest men of his time and overnight, he got wiped out. And then the most hurtful thing, I think personally, that could happen is the Lord took his children.

Okay, that right there, And not one child, he took all of them. And then Job himself suffered with these oozing sores. He couldn't even sit down, he couldn't lie down, he was so miserable. And just to put the nail in the coffin when he's suffering like this, his friends we're not like that in this community, but his friends were like, Job, seriously, you brought this on yourself. So repent and maybe God will have mercy.

And Job's like, well, no, I haven't been living in a pattern of sin. I don't have a kink in my power line. I've been repenting. No, I don't have any sin. And they're like, Job, you must have a sin in your life.

And this is what we call the retribution principle, and this is still taught today. But I think the Lord put this in here to teach us this is not true. Just as we should be annoyed with his friends saying this to him, what his friends were basically saying, the retribution principle is if you're a good person and you do good, then God will give you good. If you're an evil person, then God will give you evil. Well, I'm sorry.

Look in the world, there are evil people prospering, and there are very good people suffering. Did they cause that suffering? Sometimes, but many times, no. And Job didn't either. Job didn't.

In fact, his wife said to him, Job, seriously, just curse God and be done with it. And you know what Job said to her? My Redeemer lives. Job is like, I will not curse God. My Redeemer lives.

He is alive to my problems. He's not dead to me. He is alive. And what does redeemer mean? It means an advocate, a defender.

Job is like, I don't understand this, I don't know what's happening, but he will defend me. And then day after day, Job started saying, why is this happening to me? Why? And that's what you and I say, why? Why, Lord?

And the Lord teaches us something here through Job. The Lord took Job and he said, seriously, Job? Read Job 38, thirty nine and forty. He said, Job, were you here when I laid the foundations of the earth? Job, by your word, do the ocean waters stop at their boundaries?

Do you have that power, Job? Job, do you have the power to call up the dawn every day? In other words, the Lord was telling Job, I don't need to explain myself to you. I am God Almighty, you are my created, all you need to know is I will take care of you. And God never told Job why.

And we want to know why, but sometimes the Lord isn't gonna tell us why. And this is where our faith comes in. And how did it end for Job? Job forty two twelve says, The Lord blessed Job more in the second half of his life than the first. It ended up pretty well for Job because Job said, okay, I will not curse him, I will not turn my back from him, he's alive to me and I'm just gonna wait.

And God sorted it all out and worked it out for Job. So then James goes into prayer because when we're struggling through life, when we're walking through this life, James is like, keep the communication lines open with God. Don't overthink prayer, don't think that it has to be this good morning, dear heavenly Jehovah, how art thou today? It's not like that at all. It's just talking like I'm talking to you.

I talk to God all the time. There's a narrative running all the time in my mind. And James says in verse 13, are you suffering? Well, you should pray. What a concept.

Why aren't you praying? I just envision the angels You know, when I pray, I picture this mighty throne with this robe that just goes on forever and I really don't picture God the Father's face, but I picture Jesus sitting at his right hand and why is Jesus at his right hand? Advocating and defending us, interceding for us. But also, scriptures tell us the angels are around the throne twenty four seven and some of these angels, since the beginning of time, are stuck on one word, holy, holy, holy. Why are they saying that word?

Because he's they see. We don't see, we live by faith now, but someday we'll see too. They see his holiness and his goodness and his beauty and that's all they can say is holy, holy, holy. And I picture these angels looking at us going, okay, she's in trouble again. Why isn't she asking you, her great defender and advocate?

Why isn't she talking to you? Why is she calling her friend? Why is she grabbing a glass of wine? Why is she doing all these other things when you're just waiting to help her? Why isn't she praying to you?

James goes on to say, Are you sick? Then you shall call the elders of the church to come and pray for you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. Wow, okay, this verse is so often taken out of context. We're gonna drill down on exactly what James was saying. First of all, he's saying, elders, You don't always have to go to a pastor or a teacher in the church, although that's what the word elder means.

It also means elderly as in mature. Okay? Someone who's further along in their faith, who's strong in their faith, who's mature in their faith, go to them to pray with you. And yes, definitely go to a pastor or a teacher, but go to anyone who loves the Lord and who's following him. And what does an anointing with oil mean?

Well, we know from Mark six and Luke 10 that the anointing with oil was medicinal oils, that during this time in this culture, oils were used to heal, and oils are very healing. So James is saying seek the best medical attention possible and pray in the name of Jesus. That is the best thing you can do for yourself. He says in one John two twenty, just to drill this down, he reminds us that all of us have the anointing of the Holy Spirit over us, so we have a power that we can tap into, and James goes on to say, and the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well. The Lord will raise them up.

If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. Okay, first of all, James is saying some of you are sick because of your sin. You're living in this pattern of sin and it's literally making you sick. And you can think of things that make us sick, right?

So James is saying, confess that sin. Richard Wohr says, sins prevent the energy of God from flowing through us, the love of God from flowing, they are self erected blockades that cut us off from God and hence cut us off from living the abundant life. So James is like, oh my gosh, can you please deal with your sin? Remember last week when we talked about David, how David committed the most egregious sins? I mean, David basically knocked down all the 10 commandments, and yet God says, This is a man after my own heart.

Why did God say that? You know why? It's what James is saying. Because David, of course he felt shame and of course he felt disappointment, but he didn't stay there. He took that sin out of the darkness and he put it before the Lord and he said, Lord, here it is, I did this, I'm owning it.

Will you shine your healing light upon this darkness? Will you heal me? Will you forgive me? And every time the Lord says, yes, yes I will. There will be consequences, I mean, baby died with Bathsheba, there were consequences.

But then David had four sons who followed the Lord and one of those sons became the wisest man and a great king. So God says, yes, David, I will forgive you because David always brought it out of the darkness and he set it before the Lord and maybe James is saying to you, what is that sin that you just are so afraid of bringing before the Lord that has kept you stuck, that has kept you in shame? James is like, bring it before the Lord. You're gonna experience a healing. And what does he mean when he says he will heal and raise us up?

Well, first of all, this isn't always physical healing. Sometimes, yes, we get physical healing, but not always. I mean, want you to consider that today, followers of Christ, disciples of Christ will die because they're sick. Did they not have faith? Maybe, maybe not.

Paul certainly had faith. Paul had more faith than anyone and he begged the Lord to heal him and the Lord said physically, no, I won't, Paul. I will not because I'm gonna use it for a greater good. And when there's a greater good involved, God will not heal us physically. What James is saying here is God will rise us up out of the stress and the worry and the fear.

He will rise us up and heal us emotionally, he will heal us spiritually, but sometimes he will not heal us physically and it doesn't mean that we don't love the Lord, it doesn't mean we don't have faith. In fact, first John five fourteen says, this is the confidence we have in approaching God, that if we ask according to his will, he hears us. Now, do you think when Jesus was on the cross and he said, Lord, oh my gosh, I'm in pain, take this cup of suffering from me. Do you think Jesus had faith? Jesus had faith.

Jesus is faith. How did he end that prayer? How did he end it? However, not my will but your will be done. And why didn't God take that cup of suffering and heal him right then and there?

He wanted to save us. There was a bigger picture. And sometimes God says no, just like with Job, because there's a bigger picture, and we wouldn't even understand it. In Matthew six and John 14 and Matthew seven, Jesus is teaching his disciples about prayer. You know what's so interesting about prayer?

His disciples watched him perform these incredible miracles. They watched Jesus do these things that were just like, wow. And yet, what is the one thing they went to Jesus and said, can you teach us? They said, Jesus, can you teach us how to pray? That's the one thing they really wanted.

And Jesus gives them the model prayer in Matthew six, which these girls didn't even know I was gonna say today, and they sang the Lord's prayer, which was amazing. And he he teaches them the model prayer and in John 14, he teaches them to ask in Jesus' name and in Matthew seven, he teaches them that God knows how to give us good gifts. But there's a theme with Jesus' teachings about prayer. Never once did he guarantee us physical healing. But you know what he guaranteed us?

God's goodness and God's presence and God's grace. Have you all seen The Chosen? There's a clip that just, man, it spoke to me, and I wanna share it with you today because it's a clip about healing, and I think they did such an amazing job with this. If you haven't seen The Chosen, you can get a free app from Angel Studio and just airplay it on your TV. There are many ways to see it.

Is it? There it is. Awesome.

Master. Mr. James.

May I have a moment? Of course. I am. Forgive me. I'm not always confident to speak.

Slow

to speak. It's a very good quality.

I wanted to ask you a question, please. So you are sending us out with the ability to heal the sick in lane. Yes, that that is what you said. Yes. So you're telling me that I have the ability to heal.

Forgive me. I just find that difficult to imagine with my condition, which you haven't healed.

Do you want to be healed?

Yes. Of course, if if that's possible.

I think you've seen enough to know it's possible.

Then why haven't you?

Because I trust you. What? Little James, precious little James, I need you to listen to me very carefully because what I'm going to say defines your whole life to this point and will define the rest of your life. Do you understand? In the father's will, I could heal you right now.

And you'd have a good story to tell. Yes? Yes. That you do miracles. And that's a

good story. But there are already dozens who can tell that story. And there will be hundreds more, even thousands. But think of the story that you have, especially in this journey to come if I don't hear you. To know how to proclaim that you still praise God in spite of this, to know how to focus on all that matters so much more than the body, to show people that you can be patient with your suffering here on earth because you know you'll spend eternity with no suffering.

Not everyone can understand that. How many people do you think the father and I trust this with? Not many.

But the others, there's so much more.

So much more what?

I don't know. Stronger, better at this.

James, I love you, but I don't want to

hear that ever again. I know how easy it is to say the Song of David that I fearfully and wonderfully made, But it doesn't make this any easier. And in this group, it doesn't make me feel like any less of a burden.

A burden? First of all, it is far easier to deal with your slow walking than it is to deal with Simon's temper. Trust me. Are you fast? Do you look impressive when you walk?

Maybe not. But these are things the father doesn't care about. You are going to do more for me than most people ever dream. So many people need healing in order to believe in me, or they need healing because their hearts are so sick. That doesn't apply to you.

And many are healed or not healed because the father in heaven has a plan for them, which may be a mystery. And we remember what Job said. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. When you pass from this earth and you meet your father in heaven, where Isaiah promises you will leap like a deer, your reward will be great.

So hold on a little longer. And when you discover yourself finding true strength because of your weakness, and when you do great things in my name in spite of this, the impact will last for generations. Do you understand?

Thank you, boss.

A man like you healing others. Oh, out of sight. I can't wait to hear your stories when you return. Shannen, myself, Shiloh, and James. Remember, you will be here.

It's only a matter of time.

So powerful, isn't it? Ken Barth says, When we clasp our hands in prayer, it is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder and darknesses in this world. And that's why James is reminding us to pray. This past weekend, I got to go to Orange County to visit some friends and Joan sends her gratitude of prayers, and I got to see Joni, she's looking great, that tongue is healing beautifully, and Joan received her miracle, praise God, right? The other reason I went to Orange County is my friend of thirty plus years, we raised our kids together, Jane, was having her birthday.

Luke, can you show a picture of Jane? This is Jane. In March, Jane called me and said, Deborah, strangest thing I have with the doctors calling drop foot. I can't use my foot. Then Jane broke her foot and her foot never healed.

This was in July. Jane came to see her and her husband came to see us and she was limping. And she said, I'm going home to have more tests done. The doctor thinks I have ALS. Do you all know what ALS is?

It is next level. I have walked through cancer, I have walked through heart disease with friends and loved ones, I have walked through loved ones just dying in every possible way. But ALS is something entirely different because Jane's brain and her mind is still 100%, but her body is beginning to fail her. In November, I went back for her daughter's bridal shower and Jane was with a walker. And next picture, Luke.

And today Jane is in a wheelchair. This is progressing so quickly. And I can barely understand her, which is why I went back this weekend to celebrate her birthday because it's probably the last time we can talk. And I said to Jane, You know I'm praying for a miracle, Jane. And she said, I know Deborah.

And I said, what else can I pray? And she said, here's the thing, from here on out, it gets really ugly because she's having a really hard time swallowing, so what's next is Jane can't swallow and Jane won't be able to breathe. So the feeding tubes are next and then the breathing tubes. And she said, I don't want that. If God isn't going to heal me this side of heaven, would you please pray, and this is why I'm bringing this up, because James ends with the prayers of a righteous person are powerful and they have wonderful results.

I am asking you to please join with me and pray that the Lord would show Jane mercy if he does not heal her, and I believe he could, and I'm gonna pray that, but if that is not his perfect will that he takes her in her sleep, that she does not go through what is coming. And I believe in faith that one way or another, God is gonna give Jane her miracle. I believe that. And I I know that you'll pray with me because you did with Joan and Joan is so grateful and I I love these two girls and I love Jane and I hate seeing what's happening to her family but I know, I know the Lord is moving even when it doesn't make sense. The prayers you can show the last picture, Luke.

Was Jane blowing out her birthday cake and that's her beautiful daughter beside her. The earnest prayers of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. I believe that. Do you believe that? I believe that.

That's why we do prayer requests every week. I believe the Holy Spirit moves and I believe he's gonna move here too. Lord, we just, we thank you for your word. We thank you, Father, that your ways are higher than our ways and your thoughts are higher than our thoughts. I don't understand so many things.

Jane, for example, just a lovely person minding her own business, taking care of her family and now she has ALS. But I know and believe in my heart that you are always working good. And I know that this time here is so short that the truth is if you do take Jane home, I'll be there soon too. And I just thank you for the hope we have in you. And Jesus, I just picture you as my ark.

And I was telling Jane that, that you are the arc where we run for protection, where we run for provision, where we run for your presence. And thank you that you offer that to us, that you promise you will never leave us, that you are there for us, and that you are our great advocate and redeemer. Bless these ladies, Lord, as they go about their Wednesdays without coming here. I'm going to miss them. But thank you for every Wednesday that you've given us.

In Jesus' holy name, amen.

I keep having the same old dream that I'm drowning in a sea. Waves are rising all around, flood as far as I can see. And all of a sudden, wrapped up in line, I hear the heavens cry. My son So when the floodwaters rise and the sun goes dark, you'll be safe in my arms. I hear them laughing, making jokes while I work on my boat.

In the sky. Then all of a sudden, through all the noise, I hear still small voice saying, build yourself an ark, let me heal your broken heart. So when the floodwaters rise and the sun goes dark, you'll be safe in my yards.

So, father, help us

will be safe in your arms.

Now it's time to go to our small groups, I guess. I love you all and

oh, I guess, okay. Julia has a

announcement. Thank you, Valerie.

This is beautiful. I'm gonna take this off here.

You have to be thankful for those that have these beautiful voices. Like me, just let out a joyous noise. Share. Yes. Let's just do this.

Well, thank you all for coming to attend the James study. I was talking to Deborah earlier. It was such a committed group. You came week after week and an extra shout out to the moms who bring the babies. They were equally as committed, and we're just so very thankful.

I I would like to encourage you to give some thought as to what your best takeaway from James was. What's what was the takeaway that you're conscientiously focused on in your daily walk, and can that be something you focus on during Lent? It's one thing to just come and get the head knowledge, but it's a completely different thing when you can actually apply it to the heart and and become closer to Christ walking, in his dust. So I want to encourage you, to give that some deep thought. And I would also like to thank, several people.

First, when you would come in, you would see Arlen and Susie's beaming smiles welcoming you. So thank you, Susie and Arlen, for your welcoming. And then you'd meet Louisa, who would check you in and offer you a name tag, she had various supporters with her during the time. And Louisa, thank you so much. You don't all know what a big job that really is behind the scenes, but she handled it beautifully.

And then Casey, Susie Baldock, and Addie, who set up the refreshments every week, thank you so much for coming in early and staying late to make sure that that was all taken, Ally, for their beautiful voices and commitment to to worship music. To Luke, thank you, Luke, for all the AV. It really does help us online also. So that's and then let's all give a round of applause to God's messenger, Deborah. So I would like to encourage you over this summer not to let all this just, you know, blow away.

I send the recaps out so that you have a condensed version of something that's just, you know, it'll five little pages. You can read one a day or a week or what. Just keep it fresh in your mind when you when you aren't in study, and so you're continually focusing on, you know, the head to the tongue thing and all the other lessons we've learned from James. And her video reminds, if you haven't seen the chosen, by all means, make that a summer project and begin to read John because the book of John will be our next study. We're gonna begin the Wednesday after Labor Day, which is September 4.

So make a note of that now for eight weeks. No hair appointments on Wednesday mornings. The one thing you can never change. Right? So, September 4 to October 23, we will be studying the book of James.

So you might wanna get a little head start reading that. I'm sorry, John. John, not James. We can read James again if you want. Yeah.

Okay. Alright. So at this time, we're gonna break out into our small groups, and you can share what you learned in the final chapter. Thank you so much.