James 4:7-8

The Chapel Fort Wayne

James 4:7-8

Resist the Devil

August 18, 2023 • Pastor Josh Lewis • James 4:7–8

Have you ever lived in a household divided by the love of rival sports teams? Maybe you even felt obligated to root for both teams out of love and respect for your spouse or in-laws. When our loyalty is divided between two opposing forces, it’s impossible to give our all to either one. James, the brother of Jesus, writes a warning about our loyalty being divided between God and our love of sin. If we continue giving in to the devil’s temptations, we will continue to stumble and give God less than our full devotion. But when we submit our whole selves to God, we are better able to seek and follow His will for our lives! The closer we draw to God, the more we will be able to resist the devil and cause him to flee from us.

PASSAGE: James 4:7-8 - “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

PAUSE: James, Jesus’s brother, exhorted the early church to resist the devil! The daily pause is to draw near to the Lord, knowing that when we draw near to the Lord, the presence of the Lord is real and near to us. Come, Lord Jesus.

PRAYER: Father, thank you for your many promises. Help me to draw near to you. Create in me a humbleness and self-awareness to draw near to you. I beg you to deliver me from all temptations and ask for help to resist the devil.

Matthew 6:9-10

August 17, 2023 • Pastor Josh Lewis • Matthew 6:9–10

Have you ever heard someone say, "Trust me! I have a plan!" The way you respond to is going to depend entirely on who the person is. Do you know them well, or are they a complete stranger? Have they been trustworthy in the past, or have they said this before and let you down? Do you trust in God's plan--his will--for your life? We have talked a lot in this series about aligning our ASK with God's will. We know this in our hearts, but do we still wrestle with hoping that God's plan lines up with MY plan? Do we still truly wish it was our will that would come to pass? Don't feel ashamed, but recognize the weakness in our flesh that causes this. As we seek God's will, start by recognizing God for who He is--our perfect, holy Father in Heaven! We trust in His will because we know Him, and we know the plan for His Kingdom will unfold perfectly as He's planned. PASSAGE: Matthew 6:9-10 - 9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. PAUSE: When is the last time you reflected on the Lord’s prayer? Jesus taught us the 4/4 method of prayer. Prayer is upward to our Heavenly Father, downward to submission to his will, inward to daily needs, and outward towards the temptations that come our way. Meditate on the Lord’s prayer. PRAYER: Heavenly Father, your kingdom come, let your will be done in me.

Matthew 26:40-41

August 16, 2023 • Pastor Mike Fanning • Matthew 26:40–41

Prayer is a lot of things. It is surrender, it is praise, it is interceding for others. But don’t ever forget that prayer is also work. What I mean is that prayer takes effort and discipline. Because the flesh is weak and because we have an enemy that actively opposes us having a vibrant prayer life, we find that real prayer does not come easy. We often just don’t feel like going deep with God. We are too busy. We are too superficial. We are too tired. The truth is that it takes planning ahead and blocking off time and saturating your soul in His Word and then choosing to show up at your appointed time with God to make prayer work. And not just one time, but regularly as a rhythm of life. So lets wake up and get to the good work of vibrant prayer! PASSAGE: Matthew 26:40-41 And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? 41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” PAUSE: Our flesh would rather sleep than confront the messy decisions of life. If not sleep, we escape with our addictions, our binges, and our passions. Jesus encouraged us to pray against those temptations that wage within our flesh. PRAYER: Father, deliver me from evil. Lead me not into temptation. Create within my soul a desire to be constant in prayer and to fight against my flesh.

Matthew 26:39, 42

August 15, 2023 • Pastor Mike Fanning • Matthew 26:42, Matthew 26:39

In the journey of the Christian life we will regularly face the tension of “my will” verses “Thy will”! Jesus was clear that the spiritual journey of His followers would not be easy. It will be filled with trials, tests and persecutions. And in the midst of all this He calls us to be on mission with Him in the building of His kingdom. There are people to love that are hard to love. There are souls to be saved. There is an enemy on the attack against our hearts. And so prayer, real prayer, becomes essential. Jesus models for us the prayer of honesty in which we lay before the Father our desires and our fears. But then Jesus shows where all prayers must finish, the prayer of ultimate surrender. “Your will be done in my life. No matter what that means, where that leads. God give me the faith and the strength to live Your will, for Your glory!” Amen PASSAGE: Matthew 26:39, 42 - And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”… Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” PAUSE: Jesus taught us that our Heavenly Father welcomes honest prayer. Jesus did not want to suffer and die. He begged his Father to take that cup of burden away from him. We can be honest with our Heavenly Father, it’s okay. PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I desire to be honest in my prayer life. I openly admit that life is hard, I am struggling, and I want my story to be different.