8-4-2025

Good Morning All,

        Romans 8:26;” 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.”

     Have you ever been in a situation where you had no idea what to do or where to go?  One time I looked out our window at saw a reddish glow.  It was about sundown.  I got into my pickup and drove toward the glow.  It ended up that I had to stop and then climbed over a couple of fences to see it.  A neighbor was burning out a junk hole and it was slowly dying.  As I turned to go back to the pickup, I realized it was no longer dusk, it was dark.  It was cloudy so there were no moon or stars.  I was so intent on the glow that I didn’t pay that close attention to how I got there and now couldn’t figure out how to get back.  I was completely lost.  I only saw one yard light so I headed for it.  It was about a two-and-a-half-mile walk.  It was dark.  I ran into fences, I tripped into holes, I tripped over weeds; I had no clue where I was or where I was going until I walked up to the door and realized where I was.  For a while, I was completely and totally lost.

     There are times when we can know where we are and still feel that way.  It might be in the waiting room as a loved one is in surgery.  It might be when a loved one leaves in an angry fashion and doesn’t come back.  It might be when your child is ill and the doctors have no answers.  At times like this, we can feel lost and unsure of what to think or say.  Yet there are even tougher times as well.  What do you pray when a member of your family, who has struggled with life and health for a long time, goes into the hospital?  Do you pray that he comes back to your home or do you pray that God would heal him and take him to heaven?  How do we pray when our understanding sees one thing but our faith sees something else?  What do we pray when we don’t see a clear path to pray for?

    There are many times in our lives when we don’t know how to pray.  Do we pray that God strengthens a relationship or pray to let it die before it gets to serious?  How do we pray when we have no idea what to say?  These are examples of what the Holy Spirit does for us.  He prays for us.  So, when you don’t know what to pray, we really only need to pray for help.  We can pray, “Father, help!”  We don’t need a page long liturgical statement; we only need “Father, help!”  God knows our needs, our worries, our struggles and how we fit into his will.  We need to trust God’s love and the grace he has for our life.

Dear Father, there are so many times when we feel intimidated when we pray.  There are so many times we don’t know what to say.  So, Father, we say help!  Help our unbelief, our slowness to trust, our inability to love our neighbor.  Father help us to be your children.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret