Good Morning All,
Romans 8: 25; “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.”
There are a few portions of Scripture
which, in a few short verses, have a tremendously powerful message: Isaiah 52:13- Isaiah 53: 12 is one, Jeremiah
31: 31-36 is one, Matthew 28: 1-10 is one, John 3:1-21 is one, Ephesians 2:1-10
is one and Romans 8: 18-39 is one and there are others. For me, Romans 8: 18-39 is one of my
favorites; it offers us comfort to the highest level. It is as pure a “Gospel”
(the teaching of forgiveness and God’s comfort) as there is. If any of you who
listen to my sermons, I’ll let you in on a secret; if I ever get stumped or
lose my train of thought in a sermon, we’ll end up in Romans 8:18-39. I could have, and probably will eventually
use most of that passage for devotions but for today we’ll look at verse
25.
Think of a time when you felt totally weak
and helpless. For most of us it is when
we watch a loved one die especially if it is from a lengthy illness or
debilitating disease. We are helpless to stop it; we struggle to give comfort
and we don’t know what to do or even how we should pray. Perhaps you experienced this with your own
visits to a doctor as you fought your own health battles. Perhaps you have experienced pain from the
damage to a relationship with a loved one.
This can be especially difficult if the loved one is experiencing pain
of their own, either emotional or physical, and the lash out at us. Suffering
pain is difficult, whatever kind it is. Watching someone who is in pain,
whatever kind it is, is just as difficult if not more so.
Sometimes it isn’t even pain; it is just
the feeling of helplessness when you have no answers for someone. I recently listened to a lady who had lost 5
nieces and nephews to drug and alcohol related events; she had just gotten the
news that a sixth one was in a motorcycle accident. She asked me,” What do I do to stop
this?” I felt a level of weakness
because she wanted a five-point plan to resolve the issue to her desires and I
didn’t have one for her. But we did pray.
Sometimes her words were only groans and sighs, she prayed a lament of pain,
but the Holy Spirit prayed with her and more importantly prayed for her
speaking her pain to the Father in the language and method that was needed.
That fact can be a great source of comfort
for us. There are times when we don’t
even know what or how to pray. We get
all the way to,” Dear Father” and then we are stuck; no words, no coherent
thoughts, just a numbness within us. The Spirit prays with us and for us
speaking what we can’t. This is part of God’s grace for his Church, the body of
believers (us). God sends his Spirit to us to pray for us and to comfort us
even when the right words don’t come out; God hears our every word, our every
thought, all the pain we have. So, when
you pray don’t worry about the words, whether they have a “churchy” enough
quality or not. God listens to the heart
and sends comfort for the soul.
Dear Father in heaven,
we pray for those who cannot pray for themselves. For your children who are
experiencing pain which they fear they cannot bear. Hear them Lord, send your
Spirit of Comfort and Hope that they may find peace in You. Hear us as we pray
for them and move us to be the hands of that comfort. In Jesus’ precious name
we pray, amen.
God’s peace,
Pastor Bret
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