Submit Yourselves to God - James 4:1-12
Understand It
- What are the battles going on inside a person? (4:1-2)
- What is the root cause of fights and quarrels between people? (4:1-3)
- Why don’t people have what they want? (4:2)
- Why doesn’t God give some people what they ask for? (4:3)
- What does friendship with the world do to our relationship with God? (4:4)
- Whom does God oppose and favor? (4:6)
- When does God give us grace? (4:6)
- How did James describe the way we should come to God? (4:7-10)
- How does the devil react when a person resists him? (4:7)
- What does God do to us when we have an attitude of humility before Him? (4:10)
- How are we to speak to one another? (4:11)
- When we speak against a fellow believer, what attitude are we having toward God and His law? (4:11-12)
Apply It
- What sins of action and attitude do you need to confess to God today?
- What can you do this week to draw near to God?
- In what situations do you need to resist the devil this week?
- What can you do this week to help you bring more humility into your life?
Boasting About Tomorrow - James 4:13-17
Understand It
- Whose attention did James want to get? (4:13)
- What warning did James give to those who make plans for the future? (4:13-14)
- What could happen to destroy even the best laid plans? (4:14)
- To what did James compare our lives? (4:14)
- What is the best way to plan ahead? (4:15)
- What should we say when we are making plans? (4:15)
- What outlook toward the future does God want us to change? (4:16)
- What sinful attitudes often accompany the act of making plans? (4:16)
- How did James define sin? (4:17)
- How do we sin? (4:17)
Apply It
- What aspects of your life plans do you need to present to God in prayer this week?
- What can you do this week to place your plans for the future in God’s hands?
- In what part of your job or occupation do you need to do the good you know you ought to do this week?
