Submit, Resist, Draw Near, and Humble Yourself

7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to
God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you
double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning
and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you
(James 
4:7-10).

Do you want to feel close to God? Oftentimes we can feel like God is far away from us. Maybe
we feel that he is not listening or that he doesn’t care. We wonder if there is anyone out there or
if maybe God has abandoned us.

Of course these are lies, but if we want to feel the presence of God, James tells us how.
Like our verses for today tell us, it’s through submitting to God, resisting the devil, drawing near
to God, and humbling ourselves before God. We submit to God through seeking his will and
forsaking our own. We resist the devil by not giving in to his lies. We draw near to God mainly
through his word, prayer, serving, evangelism, and community, among other things. We humble
ourselves before God through repentance and confession.

If God feels far away, consider how these four aspects of this text could come alive in
your life to a greater degree.

Read Isaiah 55:6-7
• What are the promises of these verses?
• How do they relate to our verses in James?
• What is one way you can humble yourself this week?
• What is one way you can draw near to God this week?

Prayer
Our Father, thank you that you promise to draw near to us. There is nothing more in this world
that we need than that. We long for your presence. We know that in your presence is fullness of
joy and everlasting life only comes from you. Help us to submit, resist, draw near, and humble
ourselves before you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.