Pastor Richard A. Roberts - Trust In God's Timing

Oct 27, 2025

Devotional

Day 1: The Dangers of Selfish Motives in Prayer

When we approach God with requests, it is important to examine our motives. Too often, we ask for things out of selfish desires, seeking our own pleasure rather than God's will. This self-centeredness not only leads to disappointment but also distances us from God’s heart. True prayer is rooted in a desire to honor God and bless others, not just to fulfill our own wants. When we align our motives with God’s purposes, we experience His presence and provision in deeper ways. [33:01]

James 4:1-3 (ESV)
What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

Reflection: Think of a recent prayer you’ve prayed—what was your true motive? How might you reframe your request to seek God’s will and the good of others instead of just your own desires?

Day 2: Friendship with the World vs. Friendship with God

Pursuing the world’s values—such as wealth, status, and self-promotion—puts us at odds with God. When we love the things of the world more than God, we become spiritually unfaithful, giving our hearts to lesser things. God longs for a close relationship with us and gives us grace when we humble ourselves and turn away from pride. Choosing God over worldly pursuits leads to true fulfillment and favor in His eyes. [37:30]

James 4:4-6 (ESV)
You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Reflection: In what area of your life are you most tempted to seek the world’s approval or success? What would it look like to choose God’s way instead, even if it means going against popular opinion?

Day 3: Drawing Near to God and Resisting the Devil

God invites us to come close to Him, promising that He will draw near to us in return. This requires intentional action: resisting the devil’s temptations, cleansing our actions, and purifying our hearts. The enemy often distracts us with busyness or subtle temptations, but God calls us to humility, repentance, and a genuine relationship with Him. When we prioritize time with God and seek His guidance, we find strength to resist evil and experience His transforming presence. [43:39]

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

Reflection: What is one practical step you can take today to draw nearer to God—such as setting aside time for prayer or Bible reading—and how will you guard against distractions that pull you away?

Day 4: Do Not Judge Others—Leave Judgment to God

We are called to show love, compassion, and grace to those around us, not to judge or condemn them. Only God knows the heart and is the true Judge. When we judge others, we forget our own need for grace and risk becoming self-righteous. Instead, God wants us to learn to get along with others, forgive, and extend the same mercy He shows us. This humility fosters unity and reflects God’s character to the world. [46:46]

James 4:11-12 (ESV)
Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

Reflection: Is there someone you have been judging or holding a grudge against? How can you show them grace and compassion this week, trusting God to be the ultimate Judge?

Day 5: Trusting God’s Will and Timing Above Our Own Plans

Our lives are brief and uncertain, like a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. While it is natural to make plans and pursue goals, we must always submit them to God’s will, recognizing that He knows what is best for us. Trusting God’s timing means being content when things don’t go as we hoped, believing that He is protecting us and has something better in store. Humility before God leads to peace and confidence, knowing that every good thing comes from Him. [56:59]

James 4:13-17 (ESV)
Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Reflection: What is one plan or desire you need to surrender to God’s will today? How can you express trust in His timing, even if the outcome is different from what you expect?

Sermon Summary

So often, we expect people to be “cleaned up” before they come to God, but God’s way is the opposite—He calls us in our brokenness, just as He called Abraham while he was still worshiping idols. God’s grace is not reserved for the perfect, but for those who are humble enough to recognize their need for Him. The heart of the matter is not just about outward actions, but about the motives and desires within us. James 4 reminds us that quarrels and conflicts often arise from our own selfish desires, and that even our prayers can be misguided if they are rooted in self-centeredness rather than a desire to honor God.

We are warned against loving the world and its values more than God. The world teaches us to chase after money, status, and comfort, but God calls us to a different standard—one of humility, dependence, and trust in His timing. True blessing is not found in abundance or success, but in a heart that is surrendered to God’s will. When we receive blessings, we must remember they are not just for our own pleasure, but to be used for God’s purposes and to serve others.

Humility is the key to experiencing God’s favor. When we recognize that every good thing comes from Him, pride has no place in our hearts. We are called to resist the devil’s temptations to put ourselves first, and instead draw near to God, seeking His guidance in all things. This means spending time in His Word, praying with right motives, and being willing to let go of our own plans if they are not aligned with His will.

We are also cautioned not to judge others, for only God knows the heart and the future. The people God brings into our lives—whether in church, marriage, or friendship—are opportunities for us to learn grace, patience, and forgiveness, just as God shows these to us. Our lives are like a mist, here for a short time, so we must hold our plans lightly and always seek God’s will above our own ambitions.

Ultimately, strength is not found in self-reliance, but in dependence on God. When we make Him our partner in every area of life, we find true success and peace, knowing that He is guiding, providing, and working all things for our good and His glory.

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Key Takeaways

1. God Calls the Imperfect, Not the Perfect God’s pattern is to call people in their brokenness, not after they have cleaned themselves up. Abraham was called while still worshiping idols, and God’s grace reached him in that state. This challenges us to see others—and ourselves—through the lens of God’s mercy, not human standards of worthiness. We must resist the urge to judge who is “ready” for God and instead trust His timing and calling. [31:05]
2. Selfish Motives Hinder Our Prayers and Relationships James teaches that many of our conflicts and unanswered prayers stem from self-centered desires. When we ask God for things with the wrong motives—seeking only our own pleasure—we miss the heart of true prayer, which is alignment with God’s will. The call is to examine our hearts, surrender our desires, and seek God’s purposes above our own. [33:01]
3. Humility Attracts God’s Favor, Pride Repels It God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Recognizing our dependence on God for every good thing keeps us grounded and grateful. When we boast in ourselves or our achievements, we distance ourselves from God’s blessing; but when we acknowledge Him as the source, we open ourselves to His favor and guidance. [39:59]
4. Resist Worldly Thinking and Draw Near to God The world’s values—chasing money, status, and self-fulfillment—are at odds with God’s call to humility and service. Drawing near to God requires intentional time in His Word and prayer, resisting distractions and the devil’s attempts to make us self-focused. As we prioritize God’s presence, He shapes our desires and leads us into true life. [43:39]
5. Trust God’s Will Over Your Own Plans Our lives are brief and uncertain, like a mist that appears and vanishes. Instead of boasting in our plans or pursuing opportunities without God, we are called to submit every decision to Him, saying, “If it is the Lord’s will.” Even when God closes doors or withholds what we desire, we can trust that He sees the bigger picture and is protecting and providing for us in ways we may not understand. [56:59]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[31:05] - God Calls the Broken, Not the Perfect
[31:47] - James: Addressing Conflict Among Believers
[33:01] - The Root of Quarrels and Selfish Motives
[34:20] - Conditional Promises and Forgetting God
[36:15] - Handling God’s Blessings Responsibly
[37:30] - Friendship with the World vs. Friendship with God
[39:59] - Humility and God’s Favor
[41:45] - Resisting the Devil and Drawing Near to God
[43:39] - The Importance of God’s Word and Prayer
[44:53] - Purifying Our Hearts and Seeking Truth
[46:08] - Humility Before God and Avoiding Pride
[46:46] - Do Not Judge Others
[48:44] - Learning Grace Through Relationships
[53:16] - Trusting God with Our Plans and Ambitions
[56:59] - Submitting to God’s Will in All Things
[61:19] - Boasting in God Alone
[61:57] - Closing Prayer and Offering
[64:40] - “Who Am I” Song and Reflection

Bible Study Guide

Bible Study Discussion Guide

Bible Reading

James 4:1-17 (ESV)

> 1 What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?
> 2 You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.
> 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
> 4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
> 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”?
> 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
> 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.
> 11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
> 12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?
> 13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—
> 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
> 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
> 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.
> 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Observation Questions

According to James 4, what are the main causes of quarrels and fights among believers? ([32:23])
What does James say about the motives behind our prayers, and why might God not answer some prayers? ([33:01])
How does James describe “friendship with the world,” and what does he say it leads to? ([37:30])
What does James say about making plans for the future without considering God’s will? ([56:59])

Interpretation Questions

The sermon mentioned that God called Abraham while he was still worshiping idols. What does this reveal about the kind of people God calls and uses? ([31:05])
Why does God oppose the proud but give grace to the humble, according to both James and the sermon? How does humility change our relationship with God? ([39:59])
The sermon warns against judging others, even those who seem far from God. Why is it important to leave judgment to God, and how does this affect our relationships in the church? ([46:46])
The passage and sermon both talk about the uncertainty of life and the need to say, “If it is the Lord’s will.” What does it look like to truly trust God’s will over our own plans? ([56:59])

Application Questions

The sermon challenged the idea that people need to “clean up” before coming to God. Is there anyone in your life (including yourself) that you have judged as “not ready” for God? How can you change your attitude or actions toward them? ([31:05])
Think about a recent prayer you prayed. Were your motives more about your own comfort and pleasure, or about God’s purposes? How can you start praying with a heart that seeks God’s will first? ([33:01])
The world tells us to chase after money, status, and comfort. In what ways have you felt pressure to live by these values? What is one practical step you can take this week to resist “friendship with the world” and draw closer to God? ([37:30])
The sermon said that humility attracts God’s favor. What is one area of your life where you struggle with pride or self-reliance? How can you practice humility in that area this week? ([39:59])
When was the last time you made plans without really asking God for guidance? What would it look like for you to start saying, “If it is the Lord’s will,” and truly mean it? ([56:59])
The sermon talked about using God’s blessings not just for ourselves, but to serve others. Is there a blessing in your life that you have been keeping for yourself? How can you use it to help someone else this week? ([36:15])
The pastor shared that God sometimes protects us by not giving us what we want. Can you think of a time when a “closed door” turned out to be God’s protection? How does this change the way you view unanswered prayers? ([59:27])

Sermon Clips

“You desire but do not have so you kill you covet but you cannot get what you want so you quarrel and fight. You want to get what you want. Uh you can't get it so that makes you a little irritated. He said that's what's causing you to fight with each other. So you do not have because you do not ask God. But he said, "But when you ask, you ask, you do not receive because you ask for the wrong motives." Right? You know how many people ask God for everything. Sometimes God is the last person we turn to when we want something, but he should be the first person we turn to when we want something.”

“That's why I always say um not everyone can handle God's blessings. You know that. Maybe that's why sometimes not everybody is blessed with abundance because they cannot handle God's blessings. Some people if God gives them too much they forget about him very quick. So God give them little by little until they learn um to be good as they said financial stewards of what God has given them.”

“And we too should know that when God gives us something it's not just for us. That's why he said there you ask right? and you ask for things but you ask for the wrong motives because it's all about you that you may spend what you get on your pleasures meaning it's all about yourself you think nothing about the other person so then he said in verse four you adulterous people and you're not talking about sexual adultery he's talking about you adulteress meaning to say you are showing more love to other things maybe to God's blessings and other things that God has given you instead of to God you show in which you but you should love God first, but maybe you love God second.”

“So he said, "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." What the world tells you, right? Even from high school or in school, get a good education so you can make more money. That's that's all they talk about. You want to be successful and rich and make money. Nobody tells you, "Hey, you know, after high school, if I were you, I'll go work for the garbage company and be a garbage man, right?" Nobody is proud of their child working for a guy. Would anybody here be proud of their child working as a garbage man, right? Until you find out how much money they make. Or even a janitor. Oh, why don't you go be a janitor in the BART system, right? He said, "I don't want to be a janitor. They make like $200,000 a year, right? And and over time even more more than what they make. See, we don't we don't think we think worldly ways. We don't think godly ways. You know, our goal is to make money. If the goal is to make money, then get a job that makes money. Does it matter what you're doing? Doesn't matter to you what you're doing. Especially if you get a job that nobody wants. There was a time nobody wants to be a garbage man. It's in the 70s and 80s."”

“You know, even without God's Holy Spirit, God is the one that gives life to us and he wants us to have a relationship with him more than anything else because he wants us to be a light for him. He wants us to represent him in our relationship with him. So he said, "Don't you or do you think that scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us?" But he gives us more grace, right? God gives us grace. God is very graceful. If you would look at your life and seriously evaluate your life, you can probably say that you perhaps you deserve more punishment for the neglect you show to God. So that is why the scripture says God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”

“If you're weak, if you're nobody and you think you're something, then God doesn't bless you that much. You have to realize that you need God in your life. Not about you, not about how smart you are. You know, when I was doing computer, when I was younger, I used to think, "Wow, I'm I'm smart with computers." But after I, you know, I sit down and God comes to my mind and then God puts in my mind, you know, think about it. You didn't, you didn't uh you didn't go to school for those things and yet you know them. So who do you think gave you that ability came from God? So you have to humble yourself and realize when a lot of people talking about talking around you and talking about boasting about what they have done the schools they have gone to you have to be humble and said you know I was all given this by God didn't come from anything it came from God and we should know that all the blessings as the Bible said every good and perfect gift is from above comes from God verse seven submit yourself then to God resist the devil meaning to say resist everything the devil wants you to The devil wants you to think it's all about you. It's all about yourself.”

“And what what that does is that separates you from God. That's what that's what the devil is good at. He's good at separating us from the principles of God. And then once he does that, then he's able to destroy us and and make us go into destructive habits. You know, we see that happening. Uh if you want to look at that in a in a practical way, you you see that happening with um with a lot of people. Um even even in political parties so many people want to follow one one party and then now that party has has uh now they so stuck into this party and now this party has disregarded them right now they they feel stranded and that's how God is. He pulls you in. I mean that's how Satan is. He pulls you in to do something that makes you feel good for a while and after a while he just left leave you alone.”

“And it happens in churches. Satan comes and pulls a person out of the church, make them have a good time with their friends and then finally he take their friends away and then they feel so alone and they get depressed, feel like they have no one. But God is there all along. So God approaches the proud but shows favor to the humble. Submit yourself then to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. That's how we got to get rid of the devil. Resist him. Don't do what he wants you to do. He wants you to put yourself first and not God's first. Put God's first and God will put you first. And if you continue to put God first, the devil will leave you alone. Eventually, he will leave you alone.”

“Come near to God. Verse eight, and he will come near to you. Come near to God, meaning you need to say, spend time with God. I asked you last time, how many time how many people got a chance to read their Bible this week? Okay, one. this one. How many you ready to get a chance to read your Bible this week? See, you get distracted. You see, because that's what the enemy does. He distracts you with other things. I always say he doesn't always make you evil in in the way you would think, but he makes you busy, keeps you busy, put things on your mind, makes you don't feel like it. Yeah, I'll read it tomorrow. I'll read it later. But God speaks to us through his word.”

“That's how God speaks to us. We pray to God and we read the Bible at different times and so sure enough we find the answers in God's words in the stories that God has put in here that we can relate to. So come near to God and God will come near to you. Wash your hands you sinners and purified your hearts you double-minded. God say wash your hands mean wash your hands meaning stop doing the things that God doesn't want you to do. Your hands is what you do right? So wash your hands make your hands clean. Start doing what God wants you to do. Start spending time with God, talking to God. See what God wants you to do first before you do something. Ask God, God, is this what you want me to do? Should I do it this way? Should I really trust this person? Can this person be trusted?”

“Now, even though you may have a good relationship with this person, are they leading me down the right path? Am I going to a successful path or will this lead to destruction? So he says and double-minded, you know, because you may be pretending to be close to God, but you're not. God can tell. God can tell who are fake. You know, we have fake news. Recently, there's a lot of lying in the news more than ever. Lots of lies. You know, somebody called me last night. We're talking about it. And I asked them, "What news do you watch?" They said, "I don't watch any news." But then they quoted me something that I know that they could only get it from the news. You know, you need to know which news will provide you with truth.”

“And if you can't recognize the truth, then you're not close to God as you should be or you're not listening to God because God always reveals the truth. You know, Jesus said, "I am the truth, the way, and the life. If we're close to God, you will know the truth." So he says, "Grieve, mourn, and wail." You know, instead of instead of enjoying yourself all the time, you maybe you need to have some sadness, grieve, mourn, and wail, change your laughter to mourning, and your your joy to gloom. Don't be so prideful and being happy about the sin that you're in. Humble yourself before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

“But for us to say, you know, you're a liar and a thief, you're going to end up in hell or, you know, you or try to curse the person, you know, I hope you go out there and get hit by a car, you know, that's that's not good. Because we have eyes spirit is in us. We can see right from wrong. But don't pass judgment on people. I can go back to Abraham again. Abraham and his family worshiping idols, right? And if and if maybe one of the apostles or Paul have seen it, oh, we're going to kill him. We're going to stone him. God is thinking, "No, I'm going to call him. He's going to follow me. And he's going to be very faithful to me." And so is everybody else out there.”

“You know, like we see in the video, you had a girl, guy smoking and and lady with tattoo and all this stuff. And we might think, you know, God would never call that person. But what the Bible said, Jesus came to preach the good news to the poor. He came to people, not just poor physically, but poor spiritually. Yes, we're not supposed to judge people because God brings them among us so that we can learn to get along with them. And that's what marriage is about. You know, you married your wife, your husband, and you got to learn to get along with them because when you're dating them, boy, they showed you the best. They're pretty, they're beautiful, they're handsome, they got the best behavior, cuz you haven't seen them in your natural habitat.”

“Once you get them in their natural habitat, you said, "Oh, no. I didn't know you were like this. I didn't know you were like that." You know, and that's true men and women, okay? That's what marriage is about. Marriage is so you learn to get along with somebody, right? That's what God is. Because God is teaching us how he's learned to get along, how he's getting along with us. He puts up with us and he gives us a little a little hint of it, a little taste of it when we get married. And we said, "Man, God, this the woman you give me or this the man you give me?" I didn't know they were like this. I don't want to deal with this. And God say, I'm dealing with you. You know better. You're no better than this person.”

“But even then uh God doesn't give up because you might have an unpardonable sin today and tomorrow you change. Either God's by God's grace he just give you understanding or you change or maybe you get hit by a car get up in the hospital and while you're sick you're thinking and then you change. God has his ways of changing you. God doesn't give up. God doesn't give up on you. So maybe he might allow it. He might take his protection off of you for a little while. Then when you when you get in trouble, he comes and you know comes back to you. Maybe in trouble you called out to him. But he doesn't give up.”

“So we should be careful to judge people. People that God bring among us is people that we should learn to get along with and and be friends with and show love to and compassion and mercy and grace to because that's why God bring them. That's why God gave you a wife, a husband, a best friend. That's that's the whole reason even with a best friend you have to learn to to to forgive your best friend. Trust your best friend. And Jesus calls us his friends. He gives us his friends. And and when Jesus was calling us his friends, he was calling us something better than even a blood relative friend because I told you everything. He said, "I told you everything."”

“Now listen, you who say today or tomorrow we will go to this city or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money. You see people in the Bible, you know, in biblical times as the Bible were written, they had money problems too. Money was the goal. Remember Jesus tell the disciples about you can't serve man and money and they say what did they say who can be saved because they all love money and it's the same thing today we love money we think about making money but sometimes we think about making money without getting close to God make money and we disregard God that's why I always tell people you come you pray you ask for a job pray for a job when you get in that job, you tell your boss, "Hey, boss, I got to go to church on Sunday."”

“And if God gives you this job, God will protect you. They will never think about letting you go. And I learned that I had to learn that when my boss asked me to come to work on the day I'm supposed to be in church. I thought he'd be mad at me when I finally got the courage to tell him, you know, he was a captain. No, captain. I need to be in I need I need to go to church. I go to church on Sundays. You know, I go to church. And he said, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know that. Sorry. And I kept you here. Sorry, why didn't you tell me? That's what he told me. Why didn't you tell me?" Then he never asked me to be uh come to to work on that time anymore.”

“So yes, he say you want to go to that city, that place, make business, make money. Verse 14, why you do not know what will happen tomorrow. You don't know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a midst that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Like the fog, you know, the midst is like the fog. here for a little while and he vanishes. So you make all these plans but you don't know what God has planned for your life. Verse 15, instead you ought to say if it's the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that. That's what we should say. God, if it's your will, this is what I want to do. If it's not your will, don't let me do it.”

“But God told me, "No, stay where you are. You get to work with your wife because we work in the same place, right? That's a blessing. go to work together, eat lunch together, see each other all the time. And so God say, "No, stay. You are more blessed. Stay there." And the people that I work with, God gave me a favor in their eyes. They like they like the way I work. They were happy with me. Even if the money was low, but I was I was content. I was happy. Then my friends lost their job and they called me back, "Richard, um, can you help me get back into the company?" And I called my boss and my boss say, "Yeah, we'll take them back."”

“Because God knows the future of that organization. And God knows the people there, too. You know, you may go there one day and everybody's nice and sweet to you. You may not be able to see everything, but God sees everything. And also, you don't know who's coming there. God knows who will come there afterwards, too. Maybe your boss might quit and somebody else takes over. God knows all that. He knows the future. So, if we ask God, you know, if it's your will, let me have it. If it's not, don't let me have it. And when you don't get it, don't be upset. Thank God for it. Say, "God, thank you. For whatever reason, you didn't give me this job. Thank you. Have confidence that God knows what he's doing."”

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