James 5:13
13 Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.

In one simple verse, James outlines the two ways we use prayer in our daily lives–either as requests for aid or as praise for requests answered.

Most of us likely do a lot of the “praying while in trouble;” I certainly do (especially while in traffic!). In fact, that’s how praying is viewed even by non-Christians…it’s something that is done as a last resort, when it seems nothing else will work. It’s also seen as something foolish to do, or something that weak or non-rational people do, at least in pop culture. Even Christians sometimes have trouble praying when it seems there’s “nothing to pray about,” i.e., no illness or trouble to ask God for help about.

But our prayers do serve another purpose beyond that. We can also pray when we are happy, as James depicts here; our words can be “songs of praise” to God, not only for what He’s done for us, but for Who He is. If we took time every day in prayer to affirm that God is Almighty and has everything under control, how much less stressed might we be? How much less worry might we have? It’s worth thinking about, and worth praying about.

Prayer isn’t just an “In Case of Emergency” type of communication with God; it can be our daily phone call to God, a chance to catch up and talk, to tell Him how much He means to us. And if that sounds like a silly thing to do, then consider this: if the only time your family members called you was to ask you for something, how strongly would you say they valued their connection with you? Our connection to God should be considered the same way–He is our Father, after all.

James 4:7
7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

This is much harder than James makes it sound. We humans don’t want to submit to anyone telling them what to do. But James makes no bones about anything in his short book, and this is no exception. In order to be Christian, we have to let go of our lives and trust that God is in control of it all.

Letting Go = Not Worrying, Raging, or Fighting, but Praying

But what does “letting go of our lives” mean? I think it encompasses all of the following and a lot more besides:

• Not being mad at yourself or others for being late
• Accepting your body’s small flaws
• Not confronting others who anger you, but praying for them
• Praying about the worry and guilt that torments you
• Not raging about how someone else slighted you
• Accepting a downgrade at work with grace

In each of these circumstances and countless others, God is still in control. Even in the bad times, God is there and God has you in His hands. Worrying, raging, and fruitlessly rumbling about in your life doesn’t do any good and indeed saps your energy.

Instead, being still and knowing that God is in control, letting God drive instead of trying to snatch the wheel away from Him, is submitting to His will. It’s about knowing that there is a purpose behind your temporary suffering, knowing that the horrible situation you’re in will be resolved in time (maybe not in the time you’d like it to be, but it will).

Letting God drive is not just about being passive, though–it’s about taking prayerful action when needed. If the situation at work is not resolving, for instance, and you’re concerned, pray about what to do–the calm and strength given to me through prayer is incomparable to anything else I’ve ever experienced. If you’re suffering pain, prayerfully considering and then asking about possible medical attention is key. But through all your prayerful action, there should be in the background a knowledge that whatever comes, God has the steering wheel and there is no need to worry.

Resisting the Devil by Living for God Rather than Self

Being willing to submit to God is part of being able to resist the Devil. When we are living for God’s glory rather than our own pleasures, we are suddenly accountable for every action. “Is what I’m about to do/tempted to do glorifying to God, or is this just for me?” It serves as a check for our behavior.

This is difficult, and it’s not an instant transformation. After four years of being in organized faith practice, I’m still dealing with guilt and worry over the anger and frustration I show on a daily basis–that isn’t glorifying to God. It may even make some people doubt my Christianity when I explode like that.

But I pray about it, really try to let go of the frustration instead of letting it pop out like a horrible jack-in-the-box of emotions. And the prayer, whether in the moment or afterward, has helped reduce the instances of explosion. Knowing God is still in control, no matter who has frustrated me or insulted me, is a comfort. Even though somebody else made the free-will decision to be a rear end to me, they’ll be accountable to God for that, just as I’ll be accountable for my anger.

Rely on God

He knows where He’s going, even if the road in some places is not paved yet, even if the car seems like it’s going to jostle completely apart, and even if the Devil runs alongside the car yelling and screaming at us. We just have to stop asking “Are we there yet are we there yet are we there yet?!”

James 1:22-24
22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word and does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

James doesn’t mess around in these verses–he tells us to “follow directions,” and he means business!

Now, as a fairly rebellious kid, always wanting to know WHY a rule existed rather than just following it, this passage gets to me. And I think a lot of modern Christians and people who might be curious about Christianity wonder about the Bible in the same way. Why do we, as Christians, follow the rules and codes listed–and why should we?

To be truthful, some of the Old Testament rules, like the rules about what to eat and how to prepare sacrifices to God, are not really part of our modern Christian livee anymore. We don’t, for example, consider pigs “unclean” meat anymore (if we did, barbecue places in the South would go out of business very quickly!). Thus, many nonbelievers might wonder: “Well, if you’re not following some of it, why bother following any of it?”

The answer to that lies in the New Testament. Jesus elaborates on the “new” (but really old) rules with His disciples and everyone else He speaks to. No longer does God seem concerned with the ritualistic practices of food consumption, dress, living spaces, construction of the Ark of the Covenant, etc. Now, God is concerned with the more spiritual, life-lesson rules–how to treat others, how to conduct your life in a Christian fashion, how to be faithful, how to forgive, and so on.

These, I believe, are the parts of the “word” James refers to in this blunt-force passage. We may not be following Leviticus to the letter, but we do have a responsibility to live as Jesus taught (which is just like God taught in the Old Testament). When we forget to live as Christians (and I’m just as guilty of this), we are like the guy who looks in the mirror and walks away, forgetting our identity as Christians for that moment.

We can’t just listen to Jesus’ teachings about life and think, “Oh, that’s a nice way to live,” and not do it. We must ACT as Christ told us, as indeed God told us. When we are faithful, forgive and help others, do things for God’s glory rather than our own, we are following directions. Gratitude for our salvation is but one reason why.