The Lord’s Will (James 4:15)

Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
– James 4:15

Oh, this is so good. This is where I want to encourage you—based on God’s words in James 4:15—to incorporate some version of the phrase “Lord willing” into your life on a regular basis.

James 4:15 pictures a life shaped by trust in God’s sovereignty.

The context in James 4:13–17 is powerful. James says many of us talk as though we control tomorrow: “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town, spend a year there, trade, and make a profit.” But James responds, “You do not know what tomorrow will bring.”

You do not even know if you will be here tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

So instead of confidently announcing your plans as if they were guaranteed, Scripture says: “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”

If God wills, you will be in that town tomorrow. If God wills, you will finish that task, make that appointment, or wake up in the morning. This is a posture of humility that every one of us needs.

Verse 16 says that failing to speak this way is boasting—boasting in arrogance. And James says such boasting is evil. In other words, it is spiritually dangerous to assume we control our future when only God is sovereign over it.

Yes, it is good to make plans. We should plan. But we must always remember—and often say—what James teaches:
“Lord willing, I’ll do this later today.”
“Lord willing, I’ll meet you next week.”
“Lord willing, these are my plans.”

James 4:15 teaches us to submit every plan to God’s will.

When you say Lord willing, you are reminding yourself—and others—that every plan we make is ultimately subject to God’s will. God alone is in control. God alone is sovereign. Only God’s plans will stand.

And when things do not go according to your plans, you learn to say, “I trust God’s plan is better.” Because it is.

O God, we pray that you would help us live humbly submissive to your will at all times. As we make plans for our lives—thinking about what today or tomorrow may hold—help us remember that everything is contingent on your leadership and your sovereign orchestration of our lives and the world.

Help us speak the way James 4 instructs us to speak: “Lord willing.” Not as a resigned uncertainty but as a joyful confession of trust—“God, we trust your will far more than our own. Your plans far more than our plans.”

We praise you that you are in control of all things—that you hold today, tomorrow, and the next ten trillion years in your hands. So we gladly say, “If the Lord wills.”

And help us live according to what we know you have willed: to love you with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength; to love others as ourselves; to make disciples of all nations. Help us be disciple makers today—leading people around us to Jesus and leading people around the world to know your love.

A Prayer for the Rtahu Amdo People

We pray especially for the Rtahu Amdo people of China—100,000 men, women, and children. God, we know it is your will that they hear the good news of your love. Please cause your will to be done among them. Reach the Rtahu Amdo people with the gospel. Use our lives, aligned with your will, to lead people near and far—including the Rtahu Amdo—to Jesus.

Help us live humbly submissive to your will today, tomorrow, and always. And help us speak in ways that reflect that humility.

We pray in Jesus’ name—the One who said, “Not my will, but yours be done.” Amen.