James – A Game Plan for Trouble

This podcast is presented to you by Pastor Jason Burns and Access Church in Lakeland, Florida.

For more information, visit Access.tv.

So today, here's what we're doing.

We are in the book of James.

Everybody say James.

Yeah, man.

We're talking James.

We're going to be working through this book of the Bible.

Raise your hand if you were here when we did our Roman series.

We did a series last year around Romans, and that was incredible.

So many of you.

And so, man, it was incredible.

It's funny because ever since then, we've we've people have emailed us and DM'd us and talked to us personally and all of that.

Any way that people can communicate with us, they have said that they have loved that series.

And so, man, we thought, man, this summer we ought to go through another book of the Bible, and we have picked James, and it's such a good book.

And so you need to know this.

I'll leave Pastor, Pastor Jason.

Part of his role and responsibility is to pray and to process and to think and then say, okay, God, what do you want us to communicate?

And some of the series, you need to know this.

Some of the series that we do are intended to grow the church.

And that's really like if we do a message series on family or finances, or you know, usually at the beginning of the year we do uh really a spiritual directional series of man, this is where we're going.

And and sometimes we'll do series that center around our church, the culture, the DNA, what's the stuff that we're living for?

What's the stuff that, man, these are these are um codes of honor in our house and the things like that.

Those are all meant to grow the church.

Everyone say grow the church.

But then we feel like it's our responsibility to do the second thing, which is to grow you.

And we want we want you to come and to know the Lord and to find deep roots in the Lord in your relationship with him, and and really that's what we do with our weekend services.

We want you to know God and not just know him and then stop there, but we want you to grow.

And so I'm just telling you this because someone's asking the question, why are we going through a book of the Bible?

Why can't we talk about something else?

Because this is so important.

We need this uh because when we study these things out, man, we grow.

And it doesn't just grow the church, but it grows you.

Everyone say, I need to grow.

All right, for those that didn't listen, say I need to grow.

All right, let's do this, let's pray, let's make it happen.

Lord, we love you.

And for these next few moments that we have together, just praying that you speak to us, challenge us, change us.

In Jesus' name, amen.

All right, whenever you go through a book of the Bible, you really have to answer four key questions.

There's nothing like going through, uh going into a conversation, and the conversation has already started, and then you're like, wait, how do I jump in?

And then you take something out of context, and it's because you weren't there.

And so, what I want to do just for the next few minutes is kind of lay the foundation and the groundwork for where we're at with the book of James.

So that way, every week following you know, okay, this is where we're at, this is the backdrop.

Essentially, I want to give you the context so that you can get the content.

Does that make sense?

So here we go.

The first question I think you gotta ask is who's the author?

And the author is James.

Oh, you guys are so good.

It is James.

Now, what you have to understand is in the New Testament there's a few men named James.

And so this one that we're talking is is James the Just.

This guy, he is the one-half brother of Jesus.

Same mom, but way different dad.

Okay, so their family dynamics were just way different.

And so, if you know, like if you know, you know, this is the same mom, different dad.

I got a couple half-brothers myself, so I get this.

Now, here's the funny thing about James, half-brother of Jesus, but he doesn't actually believe in Jesus while Jesus is alive.

And isn't that crazy?

I thought that was just absolutely mind-blowing that you could live with Jesus, that you could walk with Jesus, that you could talk, you know Jesus' sleep patterns.

You know if he brushes his teeth or not.

You he is your half-brother, and yet you don't believe that he is who he says he is.

We believe James was around Jesus.

So no doubt he saw the miracles, and no doubt he saw all the stuff Jesus did, but yet he didn't believe.

I want to say this to you, both here in person and maybe online.

It is possible to come into an environment like this and be in the presence of the Lord and go to church and know the songs and do all the stuff, and it is possible to still not believe.

Now, the good news is if that's you and you're like, man, I'm still struggling through, I'm still trying to make sense of all this.

The good news is that you're in a great place.

We love you, we honor you, we want you to keep coming back, and we want to help you have your moment because James has his moment.

He has his moment, 1 Corinthians tells us that after Jesus resurrects, he makes a special appearance to his half-brother James, and he says, Hey, yo, how you doing, man?

And James at that moment, he believes.

And isn't that the trip?

That's just crazy that he believes only after Jesus resurrects from the bit from the dead, but it doesn't matter.

He has his moment.

And then he becomes a leader in the church.

You see, after Jesus ascends back to heaven, there's some intense persecution that's happening to those that were believers, and disciples scatter and people scatter, but not everybody scatters.

In Jerusalem, James remains a pillar, a leader, like really their pastor of the believers there.

And that that is who James is.

He has an interesting nickname, and here's his nickname, Camel Knees.

This is a real weird nickname for real.

But this is what they call him.

James is sad, tradition says that he was such a devout man of prayer and of his faith that he's uh stayed for long periods of time preying on his knees, so much so that his knees developed long, thick calluses, and everyone called him.

So if you're looking to insult somebody, just say, yo, what's up, Camel Knees?

I don't know.

But this is James.

And this is him.

Now, that's the first question.

Who's the author?

Second uh question is this Who's the audience?

Who is the audience?

And the audience is Jewish Christians.

You see, in that day, those that were not of the Jewish uh heritage, those were called Gentiles, they had not yet uh come into the church in great number just yet.

So at the time, at the very beginning, James is simply writing to Jewish Christians.

He uses the term brothers and sisters or brethren about 15 times.

So we know that he's talking to people who already are in the faith.

They're already in the faith family, they already believe that Jesus is the Messiah.

He is who he said he is.

He's talking to Jewish Christians of that day.

And they were scattered.

Here's what I believe.

I believe that if he was talking to uh Christians of that day, this letter we're gonna read over the next few weeks can talk to believers and some of us in our day.

And I love this.

Here's the third question: What's the purpose?

The purpose is encouragement.

Yeah, James writes these chapters to encourage these guys to grow up.

Anyone ever told you to just grow up?

You need to grow up.

There's something about you that's like kind of immature, you need to grow up.

Maybe it's just me, but I've been told that before that I need to grow up.

And usually it's when someone says something, I'm like, oh, that's inappropriate.

And I want to laugh, but I'm trying to grow up, right?

And so this is the way that James writes.

He wants them to grow up.

Everybody say, grow up.

Here's the fourth question.

The fourth question, what's the central message?

Faith in action.

See, you what we'll discover over the next few weeks is that James writes uh what one theologian says is a gut punch to the believer.

James pulls no punches.

He's a leave no round in the chamber type of a writer, and you'll see that he writes, and and a lot of his statements are one-liners, and he just he's telling you what to do.

James, the whole book, there's 108 verses in the in the whole book of James, and half of those, everybody say half.

Half of those, 50, uh, 54 of those are in the command setting.

Those are, he wants you to do something.

So do this and don't do this and and and do it this way.

And so this is how we get the book of James.

Does that help you set up the scene?

You guys good?

Everybody good?

All right, I'm setting the scene.

Now I have a question, and this is total class participation.

You guys ready?

I need you to answer openly and honestly.

We're in church.

Do not lie.

Are you ready?

Have you ever been faced with trouble?

Raise your hand.

Let me just see.

Let's see.

Don't lie.

I told you you're in church.

Don't lie.

Okay.

All right.

Those online, maybe you've been faced with trouble.

I don't like trouble, but trouble, no doubt, is a part of our humane existence.

Here's what I think.

I actually think that trouble has the gate code to my house.

I don't know if you feel this way, but I think trouble has a spare set of keys to my house.

Have you ever been living life?

And it feels like trouble walks in your living room and stays a while.

Trouble.

Financial trouble.

Mental trouble.

Trouble in your family.

Trouble in your relationships.

Hang in the tension just a moment.

Life is full of trouble.

If you hadn't hit trouble right now, just keep living.

Trouble's on the way.

Some of us, when you just came out of some trouble.

Some of us, when you walked in the doors today, you came in with some.

Trouble's a real deal.

Hang in the tension with me.

Here's some truths of trouble.

Here's the first one.

The trouble comes to everybody.

Oh, yeah, you came in and you look good from here, and I'm looking out.

I see you look good and you're dressed up and you brush your teeth and you've flossed your teeth.

You look good this morning.

But trouble comes to everybody.

No matter how someone looks on the outside, they are not exempt from trouble.

Some of us, it hits us in different stages, different ways, different kinds, different levels.

It feels like trouble is an equal opportunity offender.

Everybody can get some trouble in their life.

Here's the second thing: trouble can be unpredictable.

Have you ever been living your life, doing your thing how you do it?

And out of nowhere comes trouble.

2007 in Washington State, a couple was driving, celebrating their one-year anniversary, and as they're driving out of nowhere, a 600-pound cow falls off of a cliff 200 feet onto their car.

Now they survived, so I felt everyone, oh my goodness, what kind of church is this?

But but but they survived.

But man, when I read that, it felt as though that's a good picture of life.

That sometimes I'm just doing my thing, I'm just living my life.

I'm just going down the highway of life and out of nowhere.

Trouble.

Here's the third truth of trouble.

Trouble hurts.

Oh man, trouble has this way of preying on my worst fears.

And trouble hurts.

Man, it hurts my self-image, my ego, my it helps, it hurts my reputation, it damages relationships, it damages friendship.

Trouble hurts.

Here in the tension of this moment, we have to ask the question.

Then what do I do when trouble hits?

If this is all real, if this is all palatable for all of us, if this is all relevant for all of us, what do I do when trouble hits?

I'm so glad you asked.

We have now arrived at James chapter one.

If you have your Bible, go there.

James chapter one.

What I want to give you today, just for the next five hours, here it is.

I want to give you, no, I'm playing just for the next few minutes.

I want to give you a game plan for trouble.

Oh, because trouble is waiting for many of us.

So I want to give us a game plan from the book of James.

So don't get mad at me.

I'm just going straight from the book of James.

Here's the game plan.

Number one, what do I do with trouble?

Rejoice in trouble.

And this seems weird.

This is how how do I do this?

Why would I rejoice in trouble?

I got you covered.

Let's begin reading.

James says it this way.

James starts it off.

A servant of God.

And I love this word servant.

This was the Greek word doulos.

This is someone who gives of their life, of their own freedom, to serve in service of somebody else.

And so he says, I'm a servant of God.

He doesn't say, Listen, that's my half-brother.

So listen, no.

He says, Listen, I'm a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.

To the 12 tribes scattered.

Again, this is that those those Christians, those early Christians that had scattered among the nations.

Greetings.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you get the raise.

Oh, wait, he didn't say that.

Consider it pure joy when you get the job.

Doesn't say that.

Consider it pure joy when your kids are doing everything that you want them to do with no questions asked.

That would be nice.

But he doesn't say that.

He says, consider it pure joy whenever you face trials.

I say trouble because that's the 2024 version, but I think if James was here or when he was writing it, he said, trials of many kinds.

What's the first step?

Hold this here.

What's the first step in dealing with trouble in our life when we rejoice in trouble?

Now that's a little off-putting because when I'm in trouble, all I can see is trouble.

I don't know if you're like me, but when I'm in a troublesome place, I can't see anything else.

But he says, consider it.

So estimate it.

Um, some versions say count it.

Pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials.

There's this sense from his writing off the rip.

He just comes out swinging.

There's some this sense in his writing that trials are problems with a purpose.

I can look at my troubles, I can look at my trials with joy because it seems that they are problems with a purpose.

I want you to know this morning that your troubles and that your trials are not meant to draw you away from God, but they're meant to draw you to God.

So the problems that you face, the trouble that you may be facing online, if you're with us, maybe you're going through something.

You need to know this that trials are problems with a purpose.

And what's the key in this first, this first level of getting through the trouble?

Joy.

Somebody spoke on this last week.

I don't know who he was.

He was handsome, but but somebody spoke on joy, but joy is the it was me.

Joy is the key to facing the trials in this life.

Because happiness is what's happening, but but I can't always control what's happening, but I can control my joy.

Joy is what getting me, is what's getting me through the storm.

It's this inner stability that God's got everything under control, and I can hang back and relax, and I'm gonna be okay.

He says, consider it all joy.

I love when he says that whenever you face this, when you face this, because this is a certainty, in this life there is trouble.

Jesus said in John 16, 33, in this world you will have trouble.

I didn't say that.

Jesus said it, you will have trouble, but take heart, for I have only so it's gonna happen, but the reality is they are trials with a purpose, and you can face it with joy.

In other words, what I'm trying to get you to understand is that it's all a matter of perspective.

It is totally a matter of perspective.

Okay, so I went to college from 2010 to 2014, and and I remember one of the professors, I can't remember who he said it, but but this statement just took me out and it stayed with me ever since.

He said, When in doubt, zoom out.

When I'm in doubt, when I'm in trouble, when I'm in trial, when I don't know what's going on, zoom out.

I need to take a higher perspective on that which I'm going through.

It's the reason why in sports, uh sporting events and things like that, especially football, that you'll see coaches and coordinators that that sit high up and they're looking down from some sort of a press box or some sort of a suite, and they're looking down because when you're in the trouble of life, when you're in the thick of the game, it's hard to see everything that's happening.

So you need somebody else who has a higher perspective, a higher view to look down on you.

Are you getting this this morning?

So it's a it's a it's a matter of perspective.

Let me just say it like this that our out uh outlook determines outcome.

So James is starting off talking to these Christians that that very well could lose their life because of their faith.

The very beginning of his book, he says, here's the game plan for trouble, consider it joy.

In other words, what he's saying is look at it from this perspective.

The way you look at a thing determines uh the outcome, determines how that thing is gonna be viewed.

And so if you start with joy, there's a good opportunity, there's a good possibility that you're gonna end with joy.

Does this make sense to you this morning?

That James is just trying to get them to understand when you face all the stuff, because you will.

And when you do, start with joy.

The likelihood that you'll end with joy is so much higher if you start with joy.

So look at those situations, look at that trouble, look at those problems, and know you know what, there's something underneath the surface.

I get this sense from James that that it's our decision on how we want to look at trouble in our life.

I get this sense that he's saying there are problems with a purpose, and so all you gotta do is look at it from the right perspective.

No doubt God can use our trouble.

No doubt God can bless us in the middle of our trouble.

If you're facing trouble today, here's what you need to know that in all things God works together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose.

Somebody say amen.

That there's promises that when you go through it, you're not going through it alone.

God, there's something brewing on the other side.

There's something that God wants you to get, God wants you to see, God wants you to do.

And so when I'm facing my troubles, it's not like, oh man, here we go.

I can do that, but the likelihood that I'm gonna end up bitter, broken, upset, all of those things is super high.

But when I see trouble and I greet it with a smile, oh man, it'll change the outcome of this trouble and this situation.

This is the game plan.

I'm just trying to give you this from James.

First, rejoice in trouble.

Here's the second one: respond to the testing.

All right, how do I deal with trouble in my life?

Respond to the testing.

This comes straight from the Bible.

He says, uh, verse 3, because you know that the testing of your faith uh produces perseverance.

Another good translation of this is is uh endurance.

He says, let perseverance, let endurance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

I love this.

Now hold this up.

He said, You know, this is something that you know, the testing of your faith produces endurance.

I need to let you know that faith is tested through trials, not produced.

In other words, when you're going through trials and trouble in your life, what we're doing is testing how much faith do you really have?

And James is that type of writer that he wants you to know, man, like listen, there has to be these moments where you figure out what you got in the tank.

And so all the teachers in the room, you know this.

You give tests.

One of the reasons why you give tests and you administer tests is because the students need to know where they're at.

And you have a good idea because you've been teaching them probably where they are, but that test will illuminate that which is already in them.

And God, the ultimate teacher, certainly knows how much faith we have.

And so sometimes he allows testing in our life so that we can find out.

He knows where we're at, but so that we can find out where I am in the process.

He says, when this happens, allow that test.

You have a chance, you have a decision to make.

How are you going to respond to the trials, to respond to the trouble in your life?

You need to know this that faith is tested through trials that's not produced.

And something's happening.

You gotta understand when you go through trouble, when you go through trials, when stuff is coming your way, and stuff you didn't hope, you didn't anticipate, you didn't want, you didn't ask for, you didn't desire, when you're going through those things, something on the other side is happening, and it comes from this Greek Greek word, it says perseverance or endurance.

It's this one, hoopamone.

I love this.

Hoopamone.

This is an active endurance.

It's my decision.

How am I gonna respond to the testing that God allows in my life?

Am I gonna grumble and complain?

Am I gonna throw a fit?

Am I gonna throw in the towel?

Am I gonna go backwards?

Or am I gonna allow myself to go through this so that I can gain a little bit of a little bit more endurance?

And this this endurance is active endurance.

This is not like I'm I'm watching a red light turn green or nothing like that.

This is like I'm under something.

The base of this word is to be under, to remain under, to stay under something because you know there's something happening, but you're staying under a heavy weight.

All my weightlifters, you know this that time under tension is a big deal.

If you want your muscles to grow and get that endurance and that strength, you have to stay under the tension, and that's what this is, because it's producing endurance.

So here's what I say to the trouble of your life it's your choice.

How do you respond to the testing of your faith?

Because it's critical.

Our response, we have to master that.

Here it is for your notes.

Our response to the testing is critical to the outcome of the testing.

So how I look at this, how I respond in these moments, dictates, man, what's gonna be the outcome of this.

I really wanted this week to for you to feel this and get this.

And I thought about this time when I went to uh I was in college and I remember uh the class was almost done, and and I was kind of sitting in the back left, and there were two guys to my left.

And the two guys to my left, um, as as time winded down, they they'd get up, they grab their stuff, they grab their computer, grab their bag, and they go to leave the class, and the teacher says, Hey, what are you guys doing?

And the guy's like, Oh, we're leaving, like, class is over.

And he said, No, no, class is, we still got a few more minutes.

Class isn't done.

I reflected on that this week because I thought to myself, how many of us, when our faith is tested, we want to leave class early?

How many of us, when when our faith is tested, we're like, I'm out of here.

I'm so far gone, I don't want any of this.

James would say, Listen, you need to go through that.

You need your choice to respond rightly to the testing that's in you.

Don't be a spiritual dropout.

Don't think to yourself, man, this is getting hard, this is getting tough, I'm throwing in a towel, I'm done, I'm over with.

No, no, no.

He says, no, respond rightly to that.

Because on the other side, here's what he says: that you will be, if you don't give up, you will be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

In other words, God's best is on the other side, but you got to get through this so you can get God's best for your life.

And so sometimes God will allow this to happen to our faith to illuminate, okay, where am I at?

And man, how much, how much more endurance do I need to get?

God's best for my life.

This is the game plan for trouble in our life.

Come on, you getting that this morning?

A man, it's all about rejoicing in the trouble, responding to the test.

Here's the third one request the truth.

When I'm facing trouble in my life, what do I do?

I rejoice.

Because something else is going to happen.

God's doing something.

This is a problem, but it's a problem with a purpose.

I'm responding in the right way, and then I request truth from God.

I love this from James 1.5.

It says this.

If any of you lacks wisdom, this is what he said.

This is how he opens chapter one.

And he'll explore some of these topics in the later chapters.

And so we'll get to those in a few weeks.

But for today, he says this.

If any of you lacks wisdom, and I'm so glad he said wisdom and not knowledge.

Because you do know there is a difference between wisdom and knowledge.

Knowledge is raw facts and information, but wisdom, wisdom is how do I apply this.

Let me put it to you like this.

Knowledge is knowing what to say, but wisdom, yeah, it's it's knowing whether to say it or not.

You can hit that next one.

Yeah.

This is it.

Anybody that's been married or anybody in a serious committed relationship, you know you need some wisdom, right?

Fellas, raise your hand.

You know we need wisdom.

There's some stuff that you just don't say at the right time, wrong time.

You know what I'm saying.

So that's what this is.

And he says, if you need this, if you need to know what to do, when to do it, or when not to do it, ask God for wisdom.

Here it is, knowledge is this.

It's the ability to take something apart.

But wisdom, oh, that's the ability to put things back together.

So he says, if you need this, not do you need facts or information, but if you need the how to, if you need the the the how do I get through this thing, he says, you need to ask God for wisdom.

Do me a favor, let's go back to that verse.

I love that.

James 1.5.

If any man, and when he says man, or he says any of you, some translations say uh man, and if he says that, it just means if any of you.

This is a better translation here, but if any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God.

Come on, everybody say that.

Ask God.

Come on, real big and strong.

Ask God.

The reason why I had you uh repeat that is because so many of us, when we get in trouble, what do we do?

Hey, bro, what do I do?

Hey man, I'm in a I'm in a I'm in a bind.

Hey girl, how you doing?

I need some advice.

Whatever you do, right?

We call everybody.

And and please do call somebody.

Call your teacher, your coach, your counselor, your friend, your neighbor, I don't know, the teens in the room, call Pastor Bear.

He's amazing and it'll help you out.

Call me.

I don't care.

Call, but don't forget to call God.

And how many of us when we go through something, everybody else hears it?

And God said, they can't even help you.

I can help.

I have wisdom.

And James says, if any of you need wisdom, you ought to ask God.

And this is the thing about God, He gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

I love this about God.

So many times we get caught up in our own thinking, thinking like, okay, God doesn't want to help me, He's against me.

No, this is the opposite.

God stands at the ready to help us when you're facing trouble.

There's a verse in the Bible that simply says that He is an ever-present help in the time of trouble.

Some of you read your Bible.

You know that He's an ever-present help in the time of trouble.

So He stands at the ready to help you, but you gotta ask.

You gotta ask of Him.

And in verse 6, we're not gonna read it, but verse 6 He says, when you ask God, don't hem and haw and don't stutter and don't stammer and don't do that.

He says, Don't don't ask with a little bit of doubt in your heart.

Verse 6, he says this, when you ask Him, believe that you're gonna get that wisdom and do not doubt.

Anybody that does that is kind of back and forth.

And and sometimes in our life, you know this, we don't have stuff because we don't ask.

And we come in here and we think, okay, God, will you please?

I know that I messed up last week, but but if it would God's just saying, just ask me.

Like if you'll just ask me, I'm a giving God, I'm a good God, I'm a good God all the time, and all the time.

You know what?

God is good, and so he said, just ask me.

So turn to your neighbor real quick and say, just ask God.

Come on, somebody just say, just ask, just ask him.

James says he gives generously.

That means he's not holding anything back, and he's not, oh man, how can I trip them up today?

And how can I play a good cosmic game of hide and seek and they can't find me?

No, James said, just ask.

When you go through trouble, request the truth that you need, request the wisdom that you need, and God will give it to you.

I love that about God.

Here's the fourth step.

You guys tired of me yet?

You guys tired of me?

All right, you guys getting this?

Got quiet in here.

All right, the next one is this Let's even do what God says.

Remember, this is just chapter one.

He's just gonna lay some of these things out.

In the next chapters over the next few weeks, we'll get to some of the things he'll go in depth about.

But today he's just kind of introing everything.

Here's what we do.

And just in these first few verses, he's just giving us the game plan for trouble because it's real and it's coming at you.

And so when you come to this moment, you ought to know what do I do in trouble?

Receive and do what God says.

Jump down with me real quick.

James 1, 22.

Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves.

Do what it says.

Don't just hear what the word says and deceive yourselves.

Because when you hear stuff, do you think, okay, I got it?

No, no, no.

James would say, no, no, no.

You don't got it.

I'll know you get it when you do it.

Does that make sense to everybody?

He says, don't just don't just hear it.

Don't just hear a good message from a great-looking brother.

But don't don't do that.

You leave.

I thought some of you would laugh more.

But when you leave, go and do what the word says.

Don't merely listen, but do what it says.

I'm guilty of it myself, but but but but I want to ask this question.

I don't mean any harm or I don't mean to be rude, but do you know what your Bible says?

I know my Bible's been through some wars here, so please don't make fun of me.

Sensitive topic, but do you know what your Bible says?

When's the last time you picked this book up?

Not for information, but for transformation.

So that God's word would get inside of you.

You would get in it, and it would get in you.

Don't just, how do I know what God is saying if I don't read what God is saying?

What's the game plan, game plan for trouble?

It closes out by this.

Don't just read this.

Do what it says.

And so many people they've marked their Bibles, but when you look at your life and you look at their life, you see that the Bible has never marked them.

They put a couple little things down, a couple good thoughts, but when you look at their life going out there, you can see, man, it hasn't really taken effect.

And so my question to you is has God's word taken effect in your life?

Troubles have a way of bringing us to a place where we're getting this thing like we never have.

That's why we need them.

Because you learn a whole lot through trouble.

Oh, you'll worship different when you're in trouble.

You'll read different when you're in trouble.

You pray on a whole nother level when you're in trouble.

So trouble is just a problem with a purpose.

Are you getting that this morning?

That's all it is.

And I love this from James.

So here's how I want to close.

I want to close just like this.

Give us a challenge, and then we're gonna pray and be done.

And here's my challenge this week.

We're in James 1.

So this week, here's my challenge.

Go home after you eat, after you take a Sunday nap, do all that good stuff.

But I want you to read James 1 by the time you come back next Sunday.

And then here's what I want you to do: make any notes that you need to, what sticks out to you, what is God saying to you, but then pray this prayer.

It's a three-fold prayer.

You ready?

And I'll say it slow in case you want to write it.

The first part is God, show me.

Show me, God, where might you be at work in the trouble of my life?

Then, God, I want you to help me.

Help me to endure.

Don't let me give up on the test.

Don't let me leave the class too early.

Don't let me, don't let me get so far down the line and then bail at the last minute.

No, God, show me, help me, and guide me.

That's what I want you to pray.

Guide me, guide me by your wisdom and by your word.

Let me not just listen to this and and read this, but let me actually do what it says and watch how God changes.

When you pray that over yourself, man, I guarantee you this week you will see a change.

How will God come through for you?

What will he do?

I don't know, but let's just be people that pray and then we'll stand back and watch and see what God does.

And oh, by the way, if you're here and you're like, man, my life's good, I don't have any trouble, that's awesome.

Praise God for that.

Do the same thing, but change your prayer and put somebody's name in that you know they are in trouble.

Oh, yeah.

If you know they're in trouble, say, God, show them.

Help them, guide them.

Whoever the them is, put their name in it and watch and see what God does.

Let's bow our heads and let's pray we're out of here.

I hope you got this today.

I hope you this really kind of sets us up for this series.

I think it's gonna be a great one.

But I do want to pray in part for those that feel like they're in some trouble.

I'm not asking you to tell me what it is, but I would ask, nobody's looking around, but would you just slip up your hand and just say, I'm in trouble and I needed this?

I'm in trouble.

Come on, there's hands going up.

Man, I'm gonna pray for you in a second.

Thank you, Jesus.

That's good.

You can put your hand down.

God, I pray right now, by your power and by your spirit, you would help somebody have power in the midst of their problem.

God, that you would go to those that raise their hand indicating I'm in some sort of trouble.

And God, I need you.

We sang it earlier that, man, we need you.

So would you go to them and help them?

Help my friend, my brother, my sister.

Lift them up, encourage them all the way from your word.

Give them wisdom from your word.

I pray in Jesus' name.