• God will not hear:
  • The wicked (Proverbs 15:8
  • One who turns away his ear from hearing (Proverbs 28:9
  • One who regards evil in his heart (Psalms 66:18
  • The sinner (John 9:31
  • Those who do evil (I Peter 3:12
• What about Cornelius?
  • The prayers of Cornelius were heard because he was not yet living under the new law.Under the system of law that he was subject to, he was living acceptably before God. He was not a Jew, so he could not be obedient to the new law until God allowed the gospel to be spreadto the Gentiles.
• God will hear:
  • One who does His will (I John 3:22
  • One who asks according to His will (I John 5:14
  • The Christian (Proverbs 15:8
  • One who follows Bible instructions in prayer:
    • To Deity (Colossians 1:3
    • Through our mediator, the MAN Jesus (I Timothy 2:5
    • In faith (James 1:6-7
    • If it be God’s will (James 5:14
    • With the spirit and understanding (I Corinthians 14:15
    • With right motives (James 4:3
    • Be forgiving (Mark 11:25-26
    • Be a doer of His will
• We hinder our prayer when:
  • We pray for forgiveness but do not repent.
  • We pray for forgiveness but do not forgive others.
  • We pray for the church to grow, but do not work.
  • We pray for souls to be saved, but do not teach.
  • We pray for the erring to be restored, but do not rebuke and exhort.
  • We pray for truth to abound, but cling onto error.
  • We pray for error to be exposed, but persecute those who teach truth.
  • We pray for a heavenly home, but do not serve.
  • We pray for the sick, but do not minister.
• Closing a prayer
  • Do not pray, “if we have been found faithful, give us a home with thee.”
    • There is no need to pray for this; God has promised it.
    • The need is to pray for strength to be faithful so we can receive that promise.
  • Does it invalidate a prayer if we forget to say, “in Jesus’ name”? No.

• Acts 4:36-37
• He encouraged.
  • Acts 15:35
  • Hebrews 3:13 - We are commanded to encourage each other.
• He fought for truth.
  • Acts 15:1-2 - Barnabas was no stranger to disputes. He was not just all encouragement all the time.
• He gave people a chance.
  • Acts 9:26-27 - He vouched for Paul.
  • Acts 12:25 - He took John Mark with him and gave him a second chance.

James 4:5. It was up to the translators to add these quotes. It does not seem that they should be here at all. The quote itself does not appear anywhere else in the Bible.

The language here is somewhat ambiguous in meaning and different translations take different approaches here.

Explanation 1: ‘Doesn’t it mean something to you that the Scriptures of old revealed this truth? God created us and jealously desires that we devote ourselves to Him.’

Explanation 2: ‘Doesn’t it mean something to you that the Scriptures of old revealed this truth? God created in us a spirit which we turn around and use to commit the sin of envy!’

Numbers 10:11 - Joshua 5:12

• Worse than everyone else.
  • I Corinthians 5:1
• The same as everyone else.
  • Matthew 5:46-47
• Better than everyone else.
  • Matthew 5:20
• Perfect, just as your Father.
  • Matthew 5:48