Daily Devotional - Persistent Prayer - Week 38 - Day 255 - Month of Prayer Day 12 - 9/12/25 - "Patience's Perfect Work"

Author: Sis. Joy Greer

“Patience’s Perfect Work”
Scripture: James 1:2-4

"My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”

Devotion:
Trials are not easy, and James doesn’t pretend they are. Yet he opens this passage with a surprising command: “Count it all joy.”  Now, I know this may seem strange, but James is letting us know that trials, though uncomfortable, are purposeful in God’s hands. When we are tried, our faith is being tested – not to break us, but to build us up to where God is calling us to be. It builds patience which is active perseverance through hardship.

But it doesn’t stop at patience. We’re told to let patience have her perfect work—to allow the process to continue until it accomplishes its full purpose. Why you may ask, does God want us to go through? The answer is simple, that we may be perfect and entire, spiritually mature and complete, lacking nothing. We often want to rush through rough situations, but true growth takes time. Seeds planted don’t produce a tree overnight, it has to be cultivated, watered, and sometimes uprooted and replanted in order for it to thrive. When we allow patience to complete her work, we have been shaped, refined, and prepared for the next level in God. Trust in His plan – He is the Great Gardner, and we only have to allow His will to be done in order to be whole.

Prayer:
Lord, I confess that I don’t always understand or enjoy the testing of my faith, but I trust that You are doing a good work in me. Help me to count it all joy, to endure with patience, and to allow Your refining process to continue until I am mature, complete, and ready for all You’ve called me to. Let patience have her perfect work in me. In Jesus Name, Amen!