“Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.”
James 4:3-4, 6 KJV
James teaches us to live close to God. “And if you ask, you won’t receive it for you’re asking with corrupt motives, seeking only to fulfill your own selfish desires. You have become spiritual adulterers who are having an affair, an unholy relationship with the world. Don’t you know that flirting with the world’s values places you at odds with God? Whoever chooses to be the world’s friend makes himself God’s enemy! But He continues to pour out more and more grace upon us. For it says, “God resists you when you are proud but continually pours out grace when you are humble.”” We are not to pray sickly prayers that don’t get answers. God the Holy Spirit pursues us relentlessly but when we pursue friendship with the world, He takes it personally. That is why we open our inner motives to Him, humbly, so that His grace is poured into us to correct us, and we choose to be obedient to Him. So our proper response to God’s marvelous mercies is to surrender ourselves to God to be His sacred, living sacrifices. And live in holiness, experiencing all that delights His heart. For this becomes our genuine expression of worship. Amen!
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