Effective Prayer

In his letter, James encourages prayer. Not just prayer, but effective prayer.

He addresses two issues that block prayer. The first is sin. We all experience the presence of sin, and failure to keep God's word. No one will be perfect in this life. The issue comes when we hang onto sin. Sin causes a breakdown in our relationship with God. His heart is still for us. But sin blocks God from expressing his love to us, and four us. If we turn from sin, are honest with wrong we commit, and turn our hearts back to God, he turns his heart back to us.

And if we lean into him with faith, God's heart is to respond t faith. The example James uses is Elijah praying for rain. Because of the wickedness of the king, Elijah prays for no rain. And it stops raining for several years. Then, he prays for rain, and there is a deluge. There is a lot of confusion about God's timing, especially as we see God sometimes respond immediately, and sometimes respond after a long time.

There is a story about a man, who prayed for the salvation of his friends. While he was alive, none of his friends chose to follow Jesus. Then, he died, and all of his friends decided to follow Jesus.

God always responds in his wisdom. God always responds with a heart of love. Our part is to keep trusting, keep praying, and remain patient.

Love Never Fails

This is the last characteristic in this list.

"Fail" in the original language comes from a word meaning to "fall." As in, it cannot stand anymore. I think the idea in both the original, and English, is pretty much the same. Love always works.

Love has the power to bring peace between enemies; to assure people of their worth, and value; to meet all kinds of needs. It attacks poverty. It attacks discrimination. It brings peace. It changes hearts.

Love Bears All, Believes All, Hopes All, and Endures All

When I started this, I had the feeling that these were four attitudes that were sort of associated. So, it seemed better to write one post for the four of them. I am now wondering if that is correct, but I am going to leave the post as is.

Bears All

The picture in the original language is protecting, or keeping, by covering. It acts as a roof over another person.

Love seeks the best for another person by coming along side them as they deal with issues, and gives support.

Believes All

The picture here is similar to English. It refers to being persuaded, or giving credit, to something. But it moves from there to placing confidence in what you are persuaded of.

Love seeks the best for another person by having a positive attitude about them. It has a realistic perspective, but it does not abandon them for their failures. It is committed to their progress, and well-bing. 

Hopes All

Here the picture is a favorable, confident expectation. It is not like the English which has a "maybe" component.

Love seeks the best for another person by always expecting the best from others. Again, it is realistic, but it does not give up, or abandon others. It does not project failure onto others.

Endures All

The picture given here is someone abiding, or bearing, negative issues calmly, and bravely. It is similar to the English patience. They both describe attitudes of peace, and calmness, when facing negative situations.

When considering love, negative input usually comes from other people. So, love seeks the best for others by not giving up, not blowing up, but continuing in peace, and serenity. Losing one temper is not a result of love. Abandoning someone is not a result of love.

Each of these characteristics express love by seeking the best for people, and seeking the best in people, and holding on when the worst in people appears.

Love Does Not Rejoice In Evil, But Rejoices With The Truth

Here we have another two sides of one coin.

One of the premises of the Bible is that God designed, and created, the world. He designed the physical. He designed the spiritual. He designed people. And part of the design is a lifestyle that agrees with God's heart.

He designed it like a road. People can walk in the center, on the right side, or on the left side. This gives cultures flexibility to function differently. But it also gives a definite right and wrong. Right means staying on the road. Wrong means getting off the road.

If we walk on the road, we live in agreement with God's heart. And if we live in agreement with his heart, we live in line with God's intended meaning, and value, for creation.

Because of the presence of sin, no one stays on the road 100% of the time. Some stay on the road more than others. But everyone gets a traffic citation, and we cannot pay the fine. Thankfully Jesus paid the fine for us.

Love seeks the best for others by striving to stay on the road. Love also desires the best for others. Love does not rejoice when someone else gets a traffic citation. It is not the best for them. It is not the best for ones they interact with. Love does rejoice when someone returns to the road. Even if it is only one tire. When someone agrees with God's heart, he agrees with the design of creation, and he lives more in the way of peace, and joy.

Love Keeps No Record of Wrongs

People do wrong things. Even followers of Jesus. Since, God says he will transform his follower's hearts. So, he will also transform all words, and actions, because they come from the heart. So, hopefully, they are becoming producers of more love, and less wrong. But there will always be wrong in this world. So, the question is: what do we do with the wrong? Especially wrong directed at us?

Jesus came into the world, and died on a cross. Now, all just condemnation of wrong has the potential to be forgiven. People receive forgiveness by agreeing with God -- they have committed wrongs, and Jesus' death covers the punishment for those wrongs -- and returning to the correct relationship with him -- he is our Father, so he is the one with ultimate authority over our lives.

There is a section in the Bible, where God tells one of his messengers to let people know that he will forgive our wrongs, and he will not remember them. 

The God who knows everything will not know ab out our sin?

God cannot un-know things. Just like we cannot erase a memory of a wrong done to us. Be he can ignore those things, and treat us as if they never happened. And love seeks the best for people by also ignoring any wrongs done, and treating people as if they did not exist. This is what forgiveness is about. There can be no peace at any level, if people hang onto the past.

Love does the best for people by giving freedom from the past, and room to move into the future.

During World War II, Corrie Ten Boom and her family were put into a concentration camp for helping Jews living in the Netherlands. Everyone in her family died in the camp. After the war, at an event, a man, who was a guard in the camp, came and asked for her forgiveness. After a short struggle, because of all the bad memories, she forgave the man. She gave the two of them new freedom.

Love is Not Irritable

Being "not irritable" or "not easily angered" is similar to being patient. The word in the original language means: to sharpen, to stimulate to anger, or to provoke.

So, love is not sharpened, is not stimulated to anger, or is not provoked. In difficult situations, love is expressed by remaining calm, and focusing on a solution for any interpersonal problems. And focusing on the value of the person standing in front of you. Being provoked to anger means a person is a focusing on injury, or insult. Love focuses on remaining calm to promote understanding, peace between people, with perhaps a temporary suspension of one's image, or rights. 

Love is Not Self-Seeking

Self-seeking is description of someone, only being concerned with his wants, desires, or needs. Self-serving, or selfish, could be other ways of expressing this idea.

Some self-focus is necessary. We do need to be concerned for our health. We do need to feed ourselves. But, there is a tipping point. Too much self-focus, and we lose sight of others' needs, and how we can be a solution to their problems.

Love seeks the best of others by being alert to other people, their needs, and how those needs can be met. And also surrendering time, energy, and, maybe, resources to meet those needs.

Love is Not Rude

I think most people understand rudeness as acting in a discourteous, or insulting, manner. All cultures have ways for people to interact with one another that communicate:

    - You are a person.

    - You have worth in society.

    - You have a right to be here, to live, and to enjoy life.

Cultures develop these modes of communication, so that every day interactions can be completed smoothly, and peacefully.

There are a number of ways rudeness can be acted out. Speaking boastfully, or arrogantly, for example. Disregarding the presence of another person is another.

Common courtesy seeks another person's best by giving honor to other people in everyday actions. For a follower of Jesus, it demonstrates that God sees you, God knows you, and you have worth in his sight. And we give the world a simple demonstration that we agree with God.