About the Author
The book of James is considered to be written by James the brother of Jesus, which makes what he writes even more powerful. Why? Because James tried to stop Jesus. His family (brothers) thought he was crazy and didn’t believe Jesus when he said he was the son of God!
When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”
Mark 3:21
The After-Resurrection Conversation
After Jesus rose from the dead, he appeared to James (1 Corinthians 15:7). Can you imagine that conversation? I’m sure it was filled with lots of tears, repentance, forgiveness, and Jesus’ amazing grace. After that episode, James becomes Jesus’ biggest supporter. As one of the leaders in the Jerusalem church (Acts 15), he bravely proclaims Jesus as his Lord and Savior.
The Book of James
In the book of James, James captures so much of what Jesus said in a shortened form. It’s almost like he is saying,
“Hey, brother! I know there was a time in my life when I didn’t believe you, but now I wholeheartedly do and I’m following you! I’ve taken what you said to heart and sharing it with others because I don’t want them to miss out on the gems you have passed on!”
Praying James 1:2-3
Lord, help reset our hearts and mind. We often have a “why me” mentality and fall into complaining when trials arise. Help us to consider it pure joy whenever we face any type of trial because we know that through it you will grow our faith as long as we lean into you and don’t give up. Then we can look back and see all the awesome things you did to help us persevere. We will see how you can use our situation to encourage others. Praise your name for using even the most difficult time for your glory. In the One who walked this earth and suffered more than we can imagine to bring you glory – Amen!
James 1:4
Lord, you are amazing! You not only give us unlimited love and forgiveness, but you make us complete! You never promise this life will be easy, but you do promise that everything we do for you is worth it. When we get tired and frustrated, you cheer us on. You give us the strength to keep going. By focusing on you, we are able to see that we will not lack anything in the end. You will provide all we need for the here and now and bless us in heaven one day too! Thank you for being our biggest cheerleader and providing the Holy Spirit to help us focus on you so that we can let perseverance finish its work to make us mature and complete. In Jesus’ name – Amen!
James 1:5
Lord, we look to you for wisdom because you know all! We humble our prideful selves before you and admit that we do not. It blows our minds that you, the God of all, takes time to listen to each of us when we call out to you. You promise to give us wisdom and guidance, if only we ask and not doubt that we will receive it. Help us use this wisdom to better understand how to love you and others.
You are awesome and holy! Thank you, Lord, for all that you give us, from your son to your time to your wisdom. Thank you for such good gifts that draw us closer to you! In the One who taught us about how much you love us – Amen!
James 1:6
Oh, Lord! When we call out to you asking for wisdom and guidance, help us to wholeheartedly believe you will give it to us! Every day, you are growing our faith so that as we mature, our belief grows stronger and doubts stop affecting us like they did before.
If we have any doubts, help us call out to you like the father of the demon-possessed son, who cried out, “‘I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!'” And oh, how you helped him, Lord!
You rebuked the spirit and through prayer his son was healed! We praise you, Lord, for sharing such an example with us of how trusting in you and leaning on prayer is so powerful!
In the One whom we can trust to take our prayers to his Father’s throne – Amen!
James 1:7-8
Lord, you are holy and mighty! We know this to be true. We trust the truth of the Bible and see how you’ve worked in so many different ways. Sometimes we find it difficult to understand how you are working in our lives or what exactly you want us to do. Help us to continue to be in your word so we can discern what is from you and what is not from you. We ask that we will hear clearly what the Holy Spirit guides us to do. Help us to trust that he will help us in our prayers.
We ask that we will be bold and courageous in our prayers. Father, let us come to you, fully trusting that you will not only hear our prayers but answer them in accordance with your will. We praise you, Lord, for this avenue of prayer. In the One who redeemed our relationship with you – Amen!
James 1:9-10
James 1:11
James 1:13
James 1:14-15
James 1: 16-17
Oh, Lord, help us not be deceived by Satan’s temptations. He tries to make his “gifts” look so enticing. He wraps up death in a pretty package, that once unwrapped, delivers pain and suffering.
Instead, help us remember that you and you alone give amazing gifts. All your gifts bring life! Help us remember this even when those blessings and gifts come wrapped in trials. Drawing closer to you through these trials gives us the most precious gifts of all. In the One who showed us how obedience to you brings you ultimate glory and us glory as well – Amen!
James 1:18
Oh, Lord how blessed we are that in you there is only truth and love! Even more so that you chose “to give us birth through the word of truth.” What a precious gift! You have not left us in the dark but provided us the light and life we need to walk through this dark world and to be a light to others as well.
We praise you because when you give gifts, they are never for us to hold onto selfishly but to bless others with in the process. Help us to shine your light of truth so others may see your glory. In the One who is our guiding light – Amen!
I am a mother of 5 crazy, homeschooling children ages 10 & under, wife to an amazing man, and daughter of the King of the Universe!I enjoy reading, making my kids laugh, cooking, all things natural, learning to play guitar and dusting off my piano skills.One day I hope to run again, but until then I’m learning patience.
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I love this. I love to pray the scriptures and this is the first time I have seen James 1 being written out this way to pray.
Really nice way to pray through James. Loved this approach.
James is one of my favorite books of the Bible! I enjoyed this! Thank you for putting this together 🙂
I think it’s amazing that when we have run out of words, or lost our strength, God gives us what to pray. Thank you for this reminder.
This is such a creative idea! Loved it!
I really enjoyed this! Very creative idea!
A lot of wisdom in the book of James – I need to go back to study it
All of these are very inspiring. I love the book of James. The last photo is my favorite.
Wow! So many inspiring quotes (with pretty graphics) to share the wisdom from James. I love the reminder to not give into doubts as well as that God wants to give us wonderful gifts.
Wow, I’ve read James a few times, but every single verse is so powerful on its own too. And what a powerful statement toward our faith that his own brother changed his tune.
James 1 is one of my favorite passages in the bible! It’s helped me so much throughout my life. Can I just say how impressed I am that you have so many images in your post? I can’t imagine how long that took, so kuddos to you!
Kristi, this is so great! I have different scriptures that I pray, but I have never prayed through a whole chapter like that. Thanks for sharing that with us. – Amy
http://stylingrannymama.com/
Great Post, I’m doing Beth Moores bible study on James and this truly blessed me. Thank you
Our pastor is preaching through James right now, and I just love this approach to reading through the letter. Well done!
Beautiful post! I love the way you wrote it and broke down the Scripture.
[…] here to pray James 1 – Part 1 and Part 2, if you missed […]
Folks — I’m the worship director at Monocacy Valley Church near Frederick, MD. I really like your “Praying James” blog, especially the prayers related to specific verses. Our pastor’s fall sermon series in from James. Would it be possible to use some of your prayers in our worship? We generally project the words on our screen for that Sunday only. I also make sure we credit our sources!
Of course, you may use the prayers. Thank you for asking before using them and thank you for crediting the source!
Beautifully done. I was reading the book of James when the Lord lead me to make it into a personal prayer and I started to pray and decided to see if I could find a prayer for this book and was very blessed to pray this prayer! Thank you!