2017 40 Days of Prayer, Day 26
The Abiding Presence of God:
A Life of Complete Dependence
Day 26
“In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;” Romans 8:26
Groanings too Deep for Words
“In the same way…” The Spirit groans within us “in the same way” that the creation groans (Romans 8:22) and that we ourselves groan (Romans 8:23). The Spirit helps our weakness by entering into our struggles and embracing our weaknesses. We face trials and difficulties in this present age. As we discussed in the previous verses, our knowledge of our future glory sustains us in the face of such difficulties. In the same way that the knowledge of our eternal destiny sustains us, so also the Spirit of God sustains us in our weakness. How severe is our weakness? Our weakness is so extreme that we often do not even know how to pray. The trials of this life can be so overwhelming that we struggle to articulate our requests to God. At times, we are so disappointed by this life that we are unable to give words to our hurts or to pray in accordance with the will of God. God knows our weaknesses. He knows our frailty. The Spirit of God functions in a variety of ways in the life of a believer, but one of the primary functions of the Holy Spirit is to provide comfort and encouragement. When Jesus described the coming Holy Spirit to His disciples, He told them, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper (Comforter), that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.” (John 14:16-17) Christ refers to the Holy Spirit as the “Helper” or “Comforter.” His strength comes alongside our weakness to provide comfort. In His work as our Comforter, He prays for us. The Holy Spirit takes our unspoken prayers and gives them words. He prays with us, for us, and from within us. He offers profound, emotion-filled prayers that express our deepest concerns to our Father. The Spirit, with “groanings too deep for words” takes our brokenness and turns it into a divine conversation, a Trinitarian request from God the Holy Spirit to God the Father because of our identity in God the Son. The Triune conversation is on our behalf. God is omniscient. The Spirit’s prayers are not for informational sharing within the Triune Godhead. God has full knowledge of everything. Paul’s primary point in all of this seems to be that God is completely aware of our struggles and He enters into our struggles with the emotional embrace as a close friend. The divine dialogue within the Trinity brings encouragement as God gives expression to our greatest longings and pains. It also gives us confidence. For we know that the One who cares enough to cry out within us during our trials will also bring us safely to our eternal destiny. “When we do not know what to pray for – yes, even when we pray for things that are not best for us-we need not despair, for we can depend on the Spirit’s ministry of perfect intercession on our behalf…our failure to understand God’s purposes and plans does not mean that effective, powerful prayer for our specific needs is absent.” (Douglas Moo, The Epistle to the Romans, New International Commentary on the New Testament.)
Prayer Focus
God, hear my prayer. Help me! I need You every hour, my precious Lord. Thank You for the gift of Your Spirit and for giving divine expression to my weaknesses. Please help me to serve You even in the face of disappointments and failures. I trust in You. Thank you for the hope of everlasting life. Please use the truth of my relationship with You along with the reality of my eternal destiny to steady my soul in this turbulent world.
From DL Moody’s Secret Power
THE SURE GUIDE
Turn to the sixteenth chapter of John, in the thirteenth verse, and read: “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” (John 16:13 ESV)
Now there is not a truth that we ought to know but the Spirit of God will guide us into it if we will let Him; if we will yield ourselves up to be directed by the Spirit, and let Him lead us, He will guide us into all truth. It would have saved us from a great many dark hours if we had only been willing to let the Spirit of God be our counselor and guide. Lot never would have gone to Sodom if he had been guided by the Spirit of God. David never would have fallen into sin and had all that trouble with his family if he had been guided by the Spirit of God. There are many Lots and Davids now-a-day. The churches are full of them. Men and women are in total darkness, because they have not been willing to be guided by the Spirit of God. “He shall guide you into all truth. He shall not speak of Himself.” He shall speak of the ascended glorified Christ.
What would be thought of a messenger, entrusted by an absent husband with a message for his wife, on arrival, only talked of himself, and his conceits, and ignored both the husband and the message? You would simply call it outrageous. What then must be the crime of the professed teacher who speaks of himself, or some insipid theory, leaving out Christ and His Gospel? If we witness according to the Spirit, we must witness of Jesus. The Holy Spirit is down here in this dark world to just speak of the Absent One, and He takes the things of Christ and brings them to our mind. He testifies of Christ; He guides us into the truth about Him.