Thoughts on James 5:7-20

James is finishing his letter and wants to remind us of one two very important things: patience and prayer.

Patience
On my way home today, the taxi driver was talking to me. He said that no matter how well a taxi driver can drive, if he gets impatient with other drivers, he loses all his skill. I was thinking about how teaching is the same way. If I as a teacher lose my patience, I make unwise decisions. I think this is true in whatever we do.

This is why I think James writes about how important patience is in the end of his letter. James writes that just like a farmer, we will receive a reward when we are patient. The difference is that our reward is so much greater than any prize we could think of. I was just watching this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdUGoFTfP7w&feature=related. It is a boy and his parents talking about when he got really sick and almost died. He went to heaven and then, because of his dad's prayers was sent back to earth. In the movie, the boy says "I learned that heaven is real, and you're going to like it." I don't know about you, but I am really excited to go to heaven! Now I just need to be patient and work to get more people to come with us to heaven.

When I get impatient, for something, I tend to get angry at other people, even if it is not their fault. James tells us to be careful not to fight with others. He says the judge is standing at the door. This reminds me of being a kid and not wanting to get in trouble when my parents were around, so when I fought with my sister it was usual when my parents were not around. God is around us all the time, and he will judge us if we are angry with those around us.

James tells us to look at the prophets from the Old Testament as examples of patience. Job was a man who served God with all his heart. Satan said he only did this because God gave him good things, so he asked God if he could test Job. Satan destroyed Job's fields and home, killed his family, and gave him a painful skin disease. Job just kept worshiping and serving God. In the end God rewarded Job with much more than he had in the beginning. James uses Job as a great example of patience.



Prayer
James gives lots of examples of when we should pray and talk to God. God always wants to hear from us, no matter what we are going through. He wants to be our closest friend and know all our thoughts and feelings.

Then, James boldly says that anything we pray and believe will happen, will actually happen. If we have confessed our sins and told God that we want to change and be like Him, he makes us righteous. "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." Once we have been made righteous, we can ask God anything and he will answer us, because if we are really trying to be like God, we will ask for things God wants.

James 5

In our bible study at school, we read through most of James, but didn't quite finish it. This week we are going to finish the last chapter of James.

Read James 5:7-20
vs 7-8
What is James reminding the people of God to do?
Why do you think he would he compare patient people to farmers?
vs 9
In verse 9, who is the judge?
What does it mean when it says he is standing at the door?
Why should that make us stop grumbling about each other?
What does it mean to grumble about each other?
vs 10-11
Who should we look at as examples of patience?
How does God treat those who are patient, even in hard times?
vs 12
Why should we not take an oath (make promises)?
vs 13- 18
In verses 15 and 16, what does James say will happen when we pray with faith?
When you pray, do you really believe that God will answer your prayers?
vs 19-20
What do you think verses 19-20 talking about? 

Where the name came from

Where does the title of this blog, "Walking in the Truth" come from?

In 3 John 1, John is writing to another Christian named Gaius. John had heard that Gaius was being faithful to God's word. Gaius was showing love, even to strangers! Therefore, John said in verse 4, "I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth." John was so happy to hear about the way that Gaius was living and showing his faith by his actions. How awesome it would be to be like Gaius, who showed God's love in such great ways that people just had to tell others about him.

Questions to think about:
1. What does it mean to walk in the truth?
2. How can I live like Gaius?
3. Who is someone I know that lives in a way that shows God's love to other people? If you think of someone, I encourage you to tell them. This will be very encouraging to them. 

We have enjoyed studying the book of James together!  Now that it is almost time for summer holiday, we wanted a way to keep digging into God’s word together.  This blog is here to help you keep studying God’s word over the summer holiday.  We will be studying various passages looking at who God is.  Each week, Miss Mejia or Miss Chaplin will post passages to read, along with some questions to answer and some things to think about.  Please feel free to add comments and questions in the comments area.  You can also e-mail us with additional questions that we can work through together.

Don’t worry if you get behind, or can’t participate a week.  Just jump back in as we walk in God’s truth together.  At the end of the summer, if you’ve participated, you can bring your Bible journal to Miss Mejia or Miss Chaplin for a prize.  However, the real prize is knowing God more!  Have fun digging in to God’s word as we walk in truth together!