10-10-2024

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, Jeremiah 31: 31-36, Matthew 28: 1-10, John 3:1-2, Ephesians 2:1-10 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 you 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 those verses for devotions but for today we’ll look at verse 25.   

    Think of a time when you felt 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