ADORATION – Reflect on God’s Greatness
GOD IS THE SOURCE OF ALL GOOD IN THE WORLD
“Every good endowment and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” (James 1:17). God has given us some reflection of his sense of goodness, so that when we evaluate things in the way He created us to evaluate them, we approve what God approves and delight in things he delights in. When we realize that God is the definition and source of all good, we realize that God himself is the ultimate good that we seek.
PRAISE THE GOD WHO IS THE SOURCE OF ALL GOOD
Take a moment and consider some of the good things you experience. Speak words of praise and thanks to God for the goodness He has brought into your life. Praise God because He is always good.
CONFESSION: Confess your sins to God and receive his continued mercy.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
THANKSGIVING: Giving thanks to God for his specific blessings in our lives.
“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” Psalm 100
SUPPLICATION: Bringing our requests to God.
- Bring your personal prayer requests to God.
- Pray for our local, state and national leaders.
SCRIPTURE READING:
James 1:1-8 – Christian Standard Bible
Greeting
1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ:
To the twelve tribes dispersed abroad.
Greetings.
Trials and Maturity
2 Consider it a great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.
5 Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God—who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly—and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord, 8 being double-minded and unstable in all his ways.
SCRIPTURE REFLECTION:
The “single-souled (minded)” person can expect God to grant them wisdom. The “double-souled (minded)” person cannot expect wisdom from God. Why do you think this is true? Is it because God is going to be unhappy with the double minded person and punish them by withholding good, or is something else possibly going on here? Perhaps it is not just that God is withholding wisdom as much as they are not going to see God’s wisdom as being wise because of their double-mind. Jesus talked about the futility of offering pearls to pigs. This is not an insult to a pig; they simply have a different value system. What is a pig to do with a pearl? They can’t eat it! Give them some tasty garbage and they will be happy. The fool is likened to a pig. If you offer them pearls (wisdom), they don’t want it because they don’t see it as valuable. The double-minded person has a sort of spiritual “split personality.” They sort of want what God wants and they sort of don’t. In this state, they are not going to see God’s wisdom as of value. They are not going to receive it from him. If you want wisdom, you must first look to your heart and ask, “Do I truly want what God gives me? Am I fully his?” If the answer is “no,” or “I’m not sure,” that is the place to begin in your quest for wisdom and direction in life. Ask God to help you “want to fully want” him. Do some soul searching to make sure you are a person with a single not a double soul.