Friday, August 22, 2014
Romans 8:26-27 The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.
BE GLAD FOR YOUR PRAYER HELPER
In the section of Scripture from which the verses above are taken, Paul had written to the Christians of Rome about their redemption on the Last Day, when the glory they possessed as the redeemed children of God would be revealed and all the sufferings of their present life would fade into nothingness. But they were still living in a sin-cursed world filled with troubles. Being weak mortals they didn't always know what kinds of things to pray for. They were prone to fumbling for proper words to use in their petitions.
We can relate. We too look forward to heaven's joys. We know it will be grand. But in the time between now and then we experience troubles (family, health, money, work-related). In the midst of things weighing heavily on our hearts, we may pray for a long time about them and arrive at a point of grasping for words. We may inclined to say: "Lord, I've prayed about this problem for days on end, but I don't what to say anymore!" In such times how comforting to know we've got someone who steps in to make intercession for us according to God's will: the Holy Spirit!
It's like if you were to send a friend to the store with a blank check to pay for an item but don't what to write in the amount line, leaving it to your friend to fill in the proper amount. So when we pray to the Lord and we're not sure what to ask for, we can be sure the Holy Spirit, our divine Friend, will put the right thing in the blank for us. He will present our petition to our Father in the way that is good for us.
How can He do this? Because the Spirit knows us ... each one ... intimately. He knows what each of us needs and what will serve for our eternal benefit. He makes use of His omniscience when He intercedes for us before our Father's throne. What blessed comfort to know this!
