Pray the Word with David Platt is a resource from radical.net.

James Chapter 4, verse 15.

Instead, you ought to say, if the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.

Oh, this is so good.

This is where I want to encourage you, based on these words straight from God in James 415, to incorporate some version of the phrase, Lord willing, into your life on a regular basis.

So the whole context here in James chapter four, starting in verse 13,

is James saying, so many of you say, today or tomorrow, we're going to go into this or that

town and we're going to spend a year there and we're going to trade and we're making a profit.

And James says, you don't know what tomorrow will bring. You don't even know if you'll be here

tomorrow. What's your

life? You're a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. So instead of saying,

here's my plans, and this is what's going to happen, say, if the Lord wills, will live and do this

or that. If God wills, I'll be in this town tomorrow, but I don't know for sure. I don't even

know if I'm going to have breath tomorrow. This is a humble approach to life that we all need.

Verse 16 goes on to say, because you don't speak like this, you're boasting in your arrogance,

and your arrogance is evil. So don't assume you know exactly what's going to happen

in your life or exactly what's going to happen in the world when the reality is only God is

sovereign over that. And so, yes, it's good to make plans. It's good to say, okay, I'm planning

to do this or that this week. I'm planning to do this or that this week.

I'm planning to do this or that today.

But then always to have in your mind, and I think it's helpful to actually say, based on what we're reading here in James 415, Lord willing, I'll do this later today.

Lord willing, I'll meet you there later this week. Lord willing, I'll do this later today. Lord willing, I'll meet you there later this week.

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