June 23, 2019 – Learning from James – From Struggling to Rejoicing

-                        The

From Struggling to Rejoicing


Psalms 42:1-5 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ As the deer pants for streams of water,
    so my soul pants for you, my God.
² My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
    When can I go and meet with God?
³ My tears have been my food
    day and night,
while people say to me all day long,
    “Where is your God?”
⁴ These things I remember
    as I pour out my soul:
how I used to go to the house of God
    under the protection of the Mighty One
with shouts of joy and praise
    among the festive throng.

⁵ Why, my soul, are you downcast?
    Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God,
    for I will yet praise him,
    my Savior and my God.

How does the Psalmist yearn for God (verse 1)?

What part of the Psalmist “thirsts for God” (verse 2)?

In your opinion, why would people ask the Psalmist “where is your God” (verse 3)?

When did the Psalmist remember the protection of the Mighty One” and the joy of the throng (verse 4)?

How did the Psalmist propose to remedy the downcast soul (verse 5)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

Mark 14:32-42 - New International Version (NIV)              

³² They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” ³³ He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. ³⁴ “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”

³⁵ Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. ³⁶ “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

³⁷ Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour? ³⁸ Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

³⁹ Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. ⁴⁰ When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him.

⁴¹ Returning the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. ⁴² Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”

Where did Jesus and his disciples go (verse 32)?

How did Jesus begin to feel (verse 33)?

What was overwhelming Jesus’ soul (verse 34)?

What did Jesus pray for (verse 35)?

In your opinion, why did could Jesus pray for the cup to be taken away, and also say “yet not what I will, but what you will” (verse 36)?

What were the disciples doing when Jesus returned (verse 37)?


How were the disciples to avoid temptation (verse 38)?


What did Jesus pray for the second time (verse 39)?


What had come when Jesus returned the third time from praying (verse 41)?


Who is the Son of Man delivered to (verse 41)?


Who was coming (verse 42)?


In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?


In your opinion, how are the Psalmist’s prayer path of panting for God, having tears as he poured out his soul, remembering going to the House of God, and then putting his hope in God in Psalms 42:1-5 and the prayer path of Jesus as He went into the Garden of Gethsemane with His soul overwhelmed and left with His request that the cup be taken from Him denied but still willing to go meet the betrayer similar?


Philippians 4:4-9 – New International Version (NIV)

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. ⁹ Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

When does Paul say to “rejoice in the Lord” (verse 4)?

Who is near (verse 5)?

What should we be anxious about (verse 6)?

How should we present our requests to God (verse 6)?

In your opinion, what does it mean that “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (verse 7)?

What are we to do with “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable” (verse 8)?

When will the peace of God be with us (verse 9)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how is the transition of the Psalmist from tears to hope in God in Psalms 42:1-5 mirrored in Philippians 4:4-9?

In your opinion, how is Jesus’ prayer in Mark 4:32-42 an example to us of Paul’s instruction to “in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God” in Philippians 4:4-9? 


James 4:1-10 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? ² You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. ³ When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

⁴ You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us? ⁶ But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:

“God opposes the proud
    but shows favor to the humble.”

⁷ Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

What do “desires that battle within” cause (verse 1)?

Why do Christians not have what they desire (verse 2)?


Why do Christians who ask not receive (verse 3)?


Who becomes an “enemy of God” (verse 4)?


What does God jealously long for (verse 5)?


In your opinion, why would God oppose the proud (verse 6)?


Who should we submit ourselves to (verse 7)?


Who should we resist (verse 7)?


When will God come near to us (verse 8)?


What should we change our joy to (verse 9)?


When will the Lord lift us up (verse 10)?


In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?


In your opinion, if our souls pant for God, like the soul of the Psalmist in Psalms 42:1-5, would we be coming near to God as James instructs in James 4:1-10?


In your opinion, what does Jesus’ prayer in Mark 14:32-42 teach us about how to avoid praying with wrong motives as warned in James 4:1-10?


In your opinion, how might the process of giving thanks for the things that we have been blessed with as we make our new requests, as Paul instructs in Philippians 4:4-9, help us overcome the desires that battle within us that James 4:1-10 warns us about?


In your opinion, what do these passages from Psalms, Mark, Philippians and James teach us about how to move from praying out of the desires that are within us to sincerely saying “not what I will, but what you will”?


In your opinion, how can we move from struggling to submit to rejoicing in the Lord?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)