The Great Eight - Pt 19

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (Romans 8:26-27 ESV).

Our focus again today is on three verses in the Great Eight. At the end of our reading It says that in our weakness, the Spirit of God helps us because we don't know how to pray as we ought, and so the Spirit intercedes for us with “groaning too deep for words.” And it says that God the Father – the one who searches our hearts – knows the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit prays for us according to God's will. So God the Father always answers the Spirit’s prayers. We have been looking at several questions concerning the principles of this passage. Today I want to look at “what” the Spirit prays for us? What the Spirit prays for us is that God would bring about the decisions and circumstances that would most magnify Christ in our lives when we are at a loss as to what the specific will of God is because of our weakness. We saw in previous devotionals that this "weakness" is the same as the sufferings and decay Paul speaks of earlier. In other words, the sicknesses and calamities and challenges of life put us in situations where we are simply at a loss as to whether we should escape danger or stand, be healed or endure sickness, take a risk or stay safe. We just don't know. What we do know is that we want Christ to be exalted in our bodies whether by life or by death (cf. Philippians 1:20). This is what it means to be a "saint." So this is what the Holy Spirit asks the Father for, but he knows the will of the Father and he asks that the particular decisions and circumstances come to pass which will in fact magnify Christ best and work together for our good. I have said that this is relevant to all of us as we wrestle with various kinds of sickness and suffering. So, we can easily see how helpful it would be to hear from the Lord or to have the grace of complete wisdom. And it is certainly right to pray for that. But it may be that this situation will be one of those moments when we "do not know how we must pray" and instead groan over our weakness. Is it not wonderful that God is not condemning or ever criticizing us here for not having the faith (as some might put it) to discern his will. The Apostle Paul’s point is to encourage us and help us. Even when we don't know what we would like to know, and can’t pray with more specificity and assurance of God's will, we must not lose heart, but trust that God has his purposes in this and has provided for us in our weakness. The Spirit prays for us!