FBC Morning Light – October 12, 2022

A good Wednesday morning to you. We're reading today in James chapter 4, and the opening couple of verses of this chapter is really kind of challenging to us. It gets us to think about some of the conflicts that we have engaged in in the course of our days.

The Source of Conflicts in James 4

This opening passage says, where do wars and fights come from among you? Think about some of the conflicts that you've gotten into. What was at the root of those conflicts? I'm sure there's a lot of answers to that question, but here's the thing that James wants us to think about.

How many of those conflicts, how many of those wars and fightings that have occurred, maybe in your own home, in your marriage, with your children or your parents, if you were a child, how many of those things are rooted in your own internal desires?

As James goes on to say, where do these things come from? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You want something. You want something you think will give you pleasure, will give you satisfaction.

You want it, but you don't have it. That craving, that desire, causes you to be so agitated that you're just in a state of conflict with everybody. You're never satisfied, you're never happy, and you can't just get along because you have this unfulfilled longing, this unfulfilled desire within you for something that you want, but you can't have, you don't have.

Sometimes that conflict is because somebody else has it and you want it from them. That leads to conflict with that individual. What I really want to focus on is verses 2 and 3. It says, you lust and you do not have.

You desire, you strongly desire and don't have. You murder and you covet and you cannot obtain. It doesn't necessarily mean that literally, you don't literally murder somebody, but remember the whole attitude of hatred towards someone is the heart of murder.

You hate someone because they have something you want and you can't have. You covet and you can't obtain. You fight and war, yet you don't have because you don't ask. I wonder if he means by that that sometimes if we would just politely and graciously ask for something that we want, the person would be glad to share it with us, would be glad to give it with us.

Think about a couple of kids, two, three year old children playing together in a nursery and before long they're not playing, right? They're fighting. Why? Because child A has something that child B wants and instead of having the maturity and the words perhaps to ask and say, can I play with that for a while?

Would it be okay? Would you share that with me for a while? Instead of just simply asking, what's the child do? Tries to take it away and then that leads to a fight, that leads to conflict. Grownups can be just as guilty of that if we could just learn to be humble and gracious and make requests.

Maybe that which we desire would be granted. But then verse three, verse three, how many times have I asked for something and not received it? And it's a good thing I didn't. Verse three says, you ask and do not receive because you ask amiss that you may spend it on your pleasures.

In other words, I'm asking for something, praying for something, longing for something, but what I'm really asking for is just something that will gratify me. That's my main concern. I want to gratify myself.

I want to gratify my desires and so that's what I ask for. People can spend an awful lot of energy in prayer, praying for things that they just simply want, that they think will give them pleasure and will give them satisfaction, and they don't get it.

They don't get it. Why? Because they ask amiss. They're only interested in gratifying their pleasures. The thing of it is, it's good that we don't get those things. It's good that we're not so gratified by things that we just selfishly want to indulge the flesh, indulge our pleasures.

Now God very graciously gives us great gifts. He gives us all things to enjoy and he's very generous with his gifts. But when we take our eyes off of his glory, off of his purposes, we take our eyes off of the needs of others and all we think about is my pleasure, my satisfaction, and my prayer life is all wrapped up with me and what I want and what I think will give me pleasure.

Then it's a good thing when God says no, when he says no. So let's be thoughtful. What are we praying for? What are we asking for? How are we relating with others? Are we finding ourselves in constant conflict and at war with others?

Is it rooted in selfishness and wanting stuff for myself? James warns us against that. So Father, I pray that you would help us to take our eyes off of ourselves and to avoid the selfishness that ends up causing conflict and strife.

And I pray, Father, that our prayer lives would be marked with requests that ultimately are concerned with your glory and our good and the good of others. We pray this in Jesus' name and for his sake.

Alright, well have a good rest of your Wednesday. I trust the Lord will give you a good day. God bless.