In this episode, Pastor Jack provides a heartfelt update on the devastating fires in Southern California and appeals for support for relief efforts. Moving into the core message, hear a compelling discussion on the Christian’s response to life’s adversities. Explore the profound questions posed by James, and learn about the spiritual actions that can bring peace and resolution to our everyday struggles.
You see, we miss out on a lot of things because the notice comes in the mail and, oh no! And we’re running around like a loony, all stressed out, and God says, just excuse me, drop your, I sent that in the mail to you. To get you to fall to your knees to talk to me. But we immediately get the ball going. We’re movers and shakers in this world we are. What’s moving? What’s shaking? God says, just pray.
SPEAKER 01 :
This is Real Life. Welcome to Real Life Radio with Pastor Jack Hibbs. I’m David Jay, thanking you for joining us today as we listen, learn, and are challenged by God’s Word, the Bible.
SPEAKER 03 :
Hey, Pastor Jack here. I want to give you guys a quick update on what’s going on in Southern California in wake of the devastating and forever life-altering fires that have ravaged the Southland. Things have never been like this before. And I mean that where a fire has never been seen like this before, where the sky was aflame and the winds were blowing 80, 90 miles an hour, flames and fire horizontally. has devastated homes by the tens of thousands, and there’s over 150,000 people without a home. And I say all that, my friends, to encourage you to consider this. Please, please consider giving to the Samaritan’s Purse organization. Franklin Graham, we’re working with them. We’re on the grounds here in our own neighborhood, so to speak, of Los Angeles, Malibu, the Palisades, Eaton Canyon, Altadena, areas of Pasadena, and it is overwhelmingly epic. I promise you this, give what you can to Samaritan’s Purse SamaritansPurse.org. Go there and send support to them regarding the Southern California fires. Please do not send us any of your money. Do not send it to Real Life. Do not send it to Real Radio. Please send it direct. Your contribution is a 501c3 tax-deductible contribution to the right people. Samaritans Purse, and you can go to SamaritansPurse.org. Thank you very much.
SPEAKER 01 :
On today’s edition of Real Life Radio, Pastor Jack now continues with his series called The Book of James and a message titled Suffering, Prayer, and the Will of God. You know, before it became one of the books of the New Testament, the Book of James was simply a letter sent to the Jews who chose to follow Christ. And as new believers, James wanted to encourage them to pray in the midst of their suffering. You see, prayer is the Christian’s response to life’s difficulties. Prayer is not some last-ditch effort of what seems an impossible situation. So today, Pastor Jack teaches that there are three distinct questions asked by James that tell us what to do. If we’re suffering, let us pray. If we’re cheerful, let us sing praises. And if we’re sick to the point of death, let us call for the elders of the church. Now with his message called Suffering, Prayer, and the Will of God, here’s pastor and Bible teacher Jack Hibbs.
SPEAKER 03 :
James chapter 5, 13 through 18. As you turn there, a much disputed portion of Scripture and often misunderstood portion of Scripture. James 5, 13. Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick. And the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with natural passions or like ours. And he prayed earnestly that it would not rain and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again and the heavens gave rain and the earth produced its fruits. I don’t know what it is about announcing, often, prayer to someone or to people, or maybe a nation is called upon to pray. When we pray, or when we’re called to prayer, or when we call for a prayer, people so often go, is it that bad? We’ve been conditioned that way. You know what? How is it? I think we better pray. Oh my gosh. And it’s like an announcement of hopelessness. It’s like the world’s come to an end. And sometimes we Christians are often guilty of announcing it that way. Well, how’s it going? Or what’s the situation? Or how are they? Well, I think it’s time to pray. The Bible says that men ought always to pray and not to faint. It’s to be in our hearts. As Christians, listen, if you truly, I don’t want to put you in the hot seat at all, but you ought to be in the hot seat if this is not your situation and get in the cool seat right away today. But the fact of the matter is, if you claim to be a Christian and prayer for you is some kind of a very mechanical dead and liturgical, that is, I can’t pray unless I’m dressed in my robe, or I can’t pray unless I’m at the church, or I can’t pray unless there’s a priest or a pastor or a pope or a Billy Graham with me, then you know what? You’ve missed it. We are to be praying all the time without ceasing. Well, how can we drive? We are to be praying all the time without ceasing. How are we to go to work? We are to be praying at all times. Well, how do I walk the dog? Listen, it is an attitude Jesus is calling upon us to be involved with him on, an attitude. The Lord is with us. We do our work. We drive, especially when we drive, we pray. And we do all that we do talking to God in prayer. The Christian has this constant, constant link of communication. We’re often probably guilty of looking insane. We might be sitting at a traffic light and we might be talking to the Lord. Lord, what do you think? And there’s nobody else in the car. Lord, I need to know what we ought to do. And you’re going, you know, Lord, I really… And you look over at the people next to you and they think you’re nuts. But they already think you’re nuts anyway. So you just keep praying. Why? Because we have a relationship with Him. We don’t pull Him out of His box and talk to Him and get done and then put Him in His box until next Sunday. No. Not in true relationship with God. James is going to be talking to us about prayer. He’s going to be talking to us about suffering prayer and the will of God. Why is it that some people, when we pray for them, they’re healed supernaturally? And then why is it that we pray for some people and they’re not healed at all, at least according to our definition of healing? Why is it on Friday that we went and we anointed Ashton with oil and we stretched out our hands and prayed for him and he went to heaven instead of going to Gird Street where he lived? Well, I like to look at it this way. God had a better thing in mind. What are you praying for in your life? What’s going on in your life? Oh, God, please do this. Please do that. What if God’s got a better plan, much better than what your command is? You see, that requires letting go and letting God take control. Now, Lord, if I don’t get that contract, this company will fold. God knows exactly what he wants to do with your company. God knows exactly what he wants to do with your life. We don’t get on our soapbox and stand up and pray upward unto God, informing Him. God, I’m in need. Oh my gosh, I’m sorry. I’ve been running the universe. I didn’t see you there. We’re living from check to check. You are? I thought you had millions. We’re not informing Him of anything. Something happens in life. Oh no, how could this be? Back up and realize God knew it was coming. We’re going to look really, really this morning, we’re going to look at really one very, very important point from verses 13 to 18, and that is the Christian’s response to life’s difficulties. The Christian’s response to life’s difficulties. And you might be saying, well, I’m not in any of these difficulties. Yes, you are, and you will see. He says to us, right now, beginning verse 13, the Christian’s response to life’s difficulties. James says, is anyone among you suffering? In fact, let’s read for a moment. He has three questions. Second one, is anyone cheerful? Third one, is any among you sick? Watch this. James makes a wonderful announcement. James is saying, there are those who are among us who are suffering. There are those who are among us who are cheerful. There are those who are among us who are sick. Three specific questions, three absolute actions that the believer is to take. Very, very important. Jot it down in your notes. Three questions, three definite responses that the believer is to take. Very, very important. He says, is anyone among you suffering? This word suffering applies to every one of us in this room. In fact, if you’re not a Christian this morning, this word even applies to you, this word suffering. And I might ask you just on the face value of our meeting right now this morning, are you suffering?
SPEAKER 02 :
And you might say, no, I’m actually feeling pretty good.
SPEAKER 03 :
Things are going okay. Things are all right. Somebody might have asked you this morning coming in, how are you? Fine. And things are fine. But James uses a word here in the original language that implies that every person, especially the Christian, but every person in this room is suffering. Well, how do you know that? Because the word to suffer here is to undergo hardship of emotions. Are you under emotional stress? The word also means to go under the affliction of mental anguish, emotions, mental anguish, also to be under spiritual pressure. The word can also be used as like a pressure cooker. You ever seen a pressure cooker? Those things are scary, you know. You put the stuff in there and you strap on that lid and you bolt it down and this thing’s sitting in your house. It’s like a rocket in your kitchen. Something blows up, the thing’s gonna go through the wall. That’s the word, pressure. You see, now, is anyone of you suffering? Let me put up my hand. I’ve got to tell you, this last week, for me, and the demands placed upon my life, it was nuts. Last week seemed to have been about a day and a half long. You know all those kind of weeks? It just… Too many people died last week in this church. We had to be too many places too far away at the same time. Suffering pressure, tension. Now, I’m a dangerous nut here because I like pressure. I like when they say, I know this job normally takes eight hours, but we need it done in two.
SPEAKER 02 :
I love that kind of stuff.
SPEAKER 03 :
Bring it on. I just thrive. I love it. I love that stuff. That can be mistaken for like madness or being crazy. There is this love that many of us have for like a challenge. That’s not what he’s talking about. He’s talking about being under the screws, the clamp of life. And every one of us go through it right now. We all do it. Is any among you suffering? James’ question is a rhetorical. Absolutely is the answer. Every one of us are suffering. Just after last service, somebody was walking out of the building, and we so much appreciated this, but he had his phone off during the service and turned it on walking down the hallway. Well, his phone rings, and I’m talking to somebody. His phone rings, and I immediately reached in my pocket to grab my phone. I’ve been programmed by stress. Something go on in your life, and it’s like, look, when a beeper goes off, everyone, I’ve seen you do it. It says in the bulletin, put your beeper on vibrate. Well, you forget, or it goes off. The beep, beep, beep, beep. And everyone, it’s so funny from this vantage point. People are going. Everyone’s slapping their pants. Where is it? Is it mine? Stress. Pressure. Everybody’s under it. The Christian’s response in life’s difficulties is, is anyone stressed? Sure. What do you do? You call all your friends first. No. You call your best friend first. No. What does it say? Let him pray. Implying the stress, the suffering of life, listen, will become manageable, easily dealt with. We’ll have victory over. If we do what, people? Pray. But we don’t. We get into a situation, oh my gosh, I’ve got a call, and you get on the phone. Don’t do that anymore. Stop it. When pressure comes, and the pressure we live in from day to day, pray first. Go to God first.
SPEAKER 01 :
You’re listening to Real Life with Pastor Jack Hibbs. You know, to hear more episodes and maybe catch up in the series, just go to jackhibbs.com. That’s jackhibbs.com. And for now, let’s get back to our teaching. Once again, here’s Pastor Jack.
SPEAKER 03 :
Listen, get your pen ready. I’m going to give you a really neat phone number. It’s really cool. No, truly, really, it’s a great phone number. It’s 1-800-Jeremiah333. Jeremiah 33.3 says, call me and I will answer. How do you like that? The thing is, we don’t call them. He says, call me and I’ll answer. And I’ll show you great and mighty things that you don’t know anything about. You see, we miss out on a lot of things because the notice comes in the mail and, oh, no. And we’re running around like a loony, all stressed out. And God says, just excuse me, I sent that in the mail to you to get you to fall to your knees to talk to me. But we immediately get the ball going. We’re movers and shakers in this world we are. What’s moving? What’s shaking? God says, just pray. Are you stressed? I am. Let’s pray. The Christian is to go to prayer. Why? Oh, just because we have promises like this available to us for real. Psalm 27.5 says, for in time of trouble, stress… He shall hide me in his pavilion, in the secret place of his tabernacle he’ll hide me, and he will set me up on a high rock. Doesn’t that sound good? He’ll hide me in his pavilion, and he’ll hide me in his sanctuary, and he’ll set me on a high rock. And you might be thinking, yeah, he’ll hide me in the pavilion and hide me in the sanctuary, and the thought to be set upon a high rock is so everybody can shoot arrows at me. No. That word means after he has hidden you, he sets you on a place where you cannot be touched any longer. You’re almost like Teflon. It just goes right off. Because you’re constantly in fellowship with Him. In all of life’s difficulties, every one of us need to be reminded to go to God in prayer. Driving down the freeway, at work, raising that hammer, or cooking up that meal, or whatever we’re doing, we need to be talking to Him. Why? Because He’s promised to hide me in His pavilion. Are people coming after you? He’s promised to hide you. and then set you in a high place. Psalm 37, verse 39. But the salvation of the righteous, remember those who put their trust in God, is from the Lord. He is their strength in time of stress and trouble, and the Lord shall help them and deliver them. He shall deliver them from the wicked and save them because He trusts in Him. What a great promise that is. And there’s a difference to those who put their rest in the Lord, who decide, you know what, I’m suffering. And Lord, I’m going to call out to you and I’m going to let this stressful situation be yours. Now, the hard thing is getting through to your head. If we can get through by the Spirit through your head today and get this into your heart, we’re all going to win. We’re going to be better fathers and mothers and aunts and uncles and citizens and everything if we just do this. It’s getting a new way of thinking into our minds. See, you and I think this is some fluffy little sermonette to like, you know, pop me up for a moment, but tomorrow’s Monday and I got that meeting at 6 o’clock. Listen, this is real. A man came up to me after last service and he said, with his lip quivering, he said, you talked about suffering. He said, my marriage is on the rocks, shot. And I said, it didn’t just crash into the rocks, you know. He said, what? I said, it didn’t crash into the rocks. It’s been heading that way for a long time, hasn’t it? Yeah. And I said, now it’s a crisis, isn’t it? Yeah. Yeah. And I said, you know, you come on in next week for biblical guidance, you and your wife. But I want to tell you something right up front right now. We’re not going to tell you anything new. You’ve been here a long time. We’re not going to tell you anything new. I said, you’ve been praying at home? No. You guys been reading your Bible at all? No. I said, this is how you get to where you’re at. You just don’t wake up and, oh my gosh, look, during the night, our marriage hit the rocks. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. It takes a long time of neglect, a lot of neglect to get to that point. Under stress, pressure, there’s a wonderful promise to those who are giving it over to God. In Psalm 55, verse 22, listen to this. Cast your burden on the Lord and He shall sustain you. He shall never permit the righteous to be moved, to be knocked off their foundation. And I thought about that. And I thought about those who I know who have this deep abiding walk with God. Do they suffer? Yes. But are they victorious? You betcha. Because they’re giving it over to God. You see, Mr. or Mrs. business person, homekeeper, whatever, I’ve got to grab my own bootstraps and pull myself out of this miry clay myself. Who’s going to help me? Get out of that frame of thinking. God will help you. If you’ll back up and give him the wheel, he’ll do it. You see, for most of us, I’m just talking to the men right now. Most of us guys, we have so much pride. We got to have the wheel. We got to have the thing. We steer the ship right into the iceberg or whatever the case might be. But as long as we’re in control, God says, let go. And I’ll sustain you. Something about people who just learn to give it, give that suffering back over to God. Three things, jot them down. Three things to look for. And listen, you can see them in people’s lives. And when they’re not there, you can see them. the results of these three things that I find very interesting about those who just cast their burdens over to the Lord. First thing is that they have a serenity about them. There’s just a serenity. Oh, they may be going a thousand miles an hour, but there’s just, the Lord’s going to take care of it.
SPEAKER 02 :
The Lord’s going to do it.
SPEAKER 03 :
Not to worry about it. They can grow fingernails. They’re not stressed. There’s a serenity. Cool, it’s fine. God knows. Another thing I’ve noticed about these kind of people is that they have a different perspective about how they look at things in life. There can be 10 people going, how are we ever going to go through this great wall? How are we going to get through this thing? And the guy who’s resting in the Lord walks up and says, have you tried the doorknob there on the gate? No. I mean, it’s 15 feet high. Well, yeah, but did you try the doorknob on the gate? No. They’ve got a whole different perspective because God’s talking to them. He’s able to get through it to them. Thirdly, I notice that they have an influence about them with people. They’re peaceful. They’re calm. And you know what? That’s pretty attractive if you ask me. There’s this peace. There’s this maturity about those who just give it back over to God. I want to be around them. I want to be around this kind of people. It’s good for me. Maybe I can learn some of this. Is it real calm? Are you under stress? Then pray. Are you grinding your teeth at night? Are you having cold sweats at night from the financial pressure? Pray. Oh, what’s God going to do? Open up like a cloud and have it? Yeah, actually, I know a guy in this church where God had a $17,000 check fall out of the sky and hit him. I mean, it didn’t hit him. It landed in his mailbox. Nobody knew where it came from. Nobody even knew about his problem. Unmarked. Nobody knew.
SPEAKER 02 :
Nobody knew a thing. The guy was in debt up to his ears, $17,000, and nobody knew a thing. He met with me to how can I tell my wife for $17,000? Nobody knew.
SPEAKER 03 :
Three days later, he hadn’t told a soul yet. How you doing? You tell her. I haven’t told her. I can’t tell her. He goes out to the mailbox because he was unemployed. He goes out to the mailbox. There’s a check, a cashier’s check.
SPEAKER 1 :
$17,000.
SPEAKER 02 :
I can’t explain that.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, yes, God, you’re going to do that to me? He might. But I don’t know if he ought to. Psalm 62, verse 6. He alone is my rock and my salvation. He’s my defense. I shall not be moved. Praise the Lord, huh, for that? Isn’t that great?
SPEAKER 01 :
pastor and Bible teacher, Jack Hibbs, here on Real Life Radio with his message called Suffering, Prayer, and the Will of God. Thanks for being here with us today. You know, this message is part of Pastor Jack’s series called The Book of James. It’s a series on true Christianity and how it creates a new way of living. And we’ll continue on the next edition of Real Life Radio. The cross. For a lot of us, it’s just a symbol that we wear around our necks, right? Display in our homes or maybe hang from the rearview mirror. But what if instead of being a decoration or accessory, the cross motivated and shaped the way we live every single day of our lives? What if it wasn’t about hiding or minimizing our sin, but actually crucifying it in order to move forward in the freedom that Christ offers? Born Crucified, it’s a book by Ellie Maxwell. In this book, you’ll discover what it truly means to live in a cross-centered life. This short but very powerful book is a classic for every Christian’s library. It reminds us that the cross isn’t just a symbol. It’s the key to victory over sin and the power to serve God effectively. Now, if you’re ready to experience the freedom and purpose found in a life centered on the cross, this book is one that you should get. Born Crucified. It’s available for a gift of any amount at jackhibbs.com slash real radio. That’s jackhibbs.com slash real radio. This program is made possible by the generous contributions of you, our listeners. Visit us at jackhibbs.com. That’s jackhibbs.com. Until next time, Pastor Jack Hibbs and all of us here at Real Life Radio wish for you solid and steady growth in Christ and in His Word. We’ll see you next time here on Real Life Radio.
