Praying with the Spirit

When grief and suffering become too difficult even to express its are grown that's too deep for words not grown that society says it all.

It says more than you can understand or anyone else can understand you find yourself in a black hole us into the spirit comes alongside the darkness. You can see to Renewing Your Mind on the web and if you're like me, your prayer life is ramped up and recently this pandemic has caused us to realize just how utterly dependent we are upon our heavenly father. And for many people. Prayers of taking the form that Derek Thomas just described a groaning too deep for words. Let's turn to the book of Romans to discover a new, very deep personal care of the Holy Spirit, but studies together and Romans eight.

Chapter were calling the S chapter in the Bible and halfway through and this lesson is going to focus just on two verses versus 26 and 27 hundredths we have seen in previous studies.

Paul has been addressing the role of the Holy Spirit in the application of redemption in the life of a believer and he said many many things about the Holy Spirit, but hearing these two buses. He addresses yet another aspect of the spirits role and function.

And that is as an intercessor. He intercedes for us. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses is already told us how the Holy Spirit helps us sends the Holy Spirit helps us by encouraging us gifting us, leading us, leading us in this particular chapter 2. Acts of mortification and growth in grace. He testifies a witnesses with our spirits that we are the children of God, enabling us to refer to God as Abba father. But hearing this 26 he talks about something else, something a little different.

How the Holy Spirit helps us in prayer with trials and temptations. Is there trouble anywhere. You should never be discouraged. Take it to the Lord in prayer and all of us. I think this Christians will readily testified that there are times when it is difficult. We don't know what to pray for, and we don't know how to pray for it, and the promise that's given to us here and it's a promise, and it's a wonderful promise is that the Holy Spirit will come and help us in our time of need it since thing is nuts to think that the disciples Jesus's disciples found it difficult to pray and they asked him, Lord, teach us to pray in Jesus gave them a model prayer our father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. And somehow we revert to the King James language relief say the Lord's prayer as though that was the form in which Jesus gave it, and of course it was originally probably in Aramaic and then translated into Greek to mount in our gospel's times and there are seasons and there are particular issues and circumstances in our lives where we find prayer a struggle and so first of all I want us to think about that part of it.

The struggle of prayer. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness.

Send all his drawing attention to the fact that we are weak week because we live in the context of the previous verses in a world that's out of drawing to the world that's in disorder.

In a world that's given over to futility. I will that's in the class a world where you work and labor and fonts and thistles come in its place. I will that's often frustrating when things happen that make no sense that unexpected and unwelcome, and you take it to the Lord, and you say, why, and we think of Job, for example, a man who nurses everything in here is this is children and businesses, wealth, and he eventually loses his health and he asks God why and he struggles struggles greatly and for 30 chapters source so we enter into Job's struggle – it's a struggling prayer because he's talking to God and he's talking at length stood guard and he's having a conversation and sometimes it's a shouting match more than a conversation in the accusations and strained relationships. Some Job sparked with God didn't we think of Elijah and he sitting under a juniper tree and he's fleeing from Jezebel who was threatening his life friend. He's in a moment of darkness and despair, and the think is probably wrong to oversight apologize that passage is think is suicidal and accept that the interpretation and blessing the Christians can get suicidal. Sadly, they can but I don't think that's what's happening in Elijah's case. I think Elijah is saying. My life is done for Jezebel is going to get me one way or another. So Lord, don't let her get the glory you kill me off and don't give her the credit for it. I think that's part of what's going on in Elijah's thinking, but he's struggling and disturbing with Providence and he's struggling with circumstances and you think of the apostle Paul himself in second Corinthians 12 and the foreign in the flesh, what ever that was send let's now say it was something to do with his eyesight, which is a good degas as any, I think, and he does say to the Galatians seeing what large letters I've written to you and and he may have been referring to the fact that he was writing in large letters because of his eyesight and to pray 3×3 seasons of prayer. I think that the Lord would remove this thorn in the flesh and the answer was no struggling why and why me online now all we could think of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane fully incontinence human being of flesh and blood and human emotions in the human mind and human will and he saying father if it be possible that this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will but yours be done.

We shouldn't interpret that suggesting that because Jesus is divine and that something of his divine mind is operating in Gethsemane no.

This is his human finite mind and to struggling with Providence. He struggling with his call.

He struggling with his mission as the Messiah and he has a limited knowledge of it within the confines of his human mind and tasting father. I give myself to you but is there not some other way as the inevitability now of the cross looms before him and his death seems imminent and he struggling with prayer, but weakness even in Jesus, a weakness because it is in this water weakness because he doesn't in his human mind know all of the data. Father, help me come to my aid in the ministry of the Holy Spirit in us this in some respects precisely the same ministry that is in Jesus. He was upheld by the Holy Spirit to perform the task and role of the mediator to walk through life friend meets God's demands that were placed upon him by the strength and power of the Holy Spirit. The struggle of prayer and then secondly, the helper of prayer.

Verse 26.

We do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings to deep for words. He intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

He helps us by interceding for us. And Paul uses the word here. Actually, it's a made-up word. I think it's a bit like German. The kids adding words onto the word and they get longer and longer and Paul uses the verb and then he fixes to that verb prepositions one meeting on Baja fall of and in place of, and what meaning against these he's helping us with SMEs helping us against us send the whole thing seems almost counterintuitive to let me give you an illustration of what I think he means here I was once given a piano. I was a minister young minister to children. They were just my daughter was just about reaching teenage years and she wanted to learn the piano and that we didn't have a piano and two elderly ladies said they were moving and said to me one day I would you like piano and wasn't sure about the piano. It was old and the 10 women that I think and later confirmed that he did have one form and at that.

So that was that. And more than that. It was heavy and it was very heavy and to get into our house. There were several flights of stairs under 90° main that you have to make and I thought deacons. This is what Deacon was so I asked the six of them to come sit it could some lunch for them and so you can imagine my artwork hiring this piano and and I've got a hold of it, but there are six young guys strong between working guys and I definitely had a hold of this piano night. I definitely felt as though my my muscles were flexing, but if I'd let go of that, nothing would've happened there wouldn't be any catastrophe.

I was I was there they were working with me. They were sometimes working against me and pushing me out of the way and so on. And I think that's the image that Paul is using sure about the Holy Spirit. We don't know what to pray for. We don't know what to say we don't know what God's will is in this particular matter in the spirit.

Sometimes I think the spirit comes into when he takes over and underneath pushes us to the side a little and he takes over and sometimes he just comes alongside and he pushes us further to the situation and the spirit who indwells us intercedes for us with this forest. Sometimes encouraging us and sometimes giving us insight and wisdom and clarity and energy on sometimes were just being kind alone. We do not know what to pray for as we ought to put the spirit himself the spirit himself.

The Holy Spirit was a person that we relate to and talk to and he communicates with us manual camps in the Enlightenment, of course, said that if God exists, he cannot perforate into the here and now there is the Newman that's the phenomenon I'm and whatever belongs in the Newman American stay in the Lumina but it can't perforate into the here and now and where seeing the effects of the Enlightenment to this very day, an inability to shorten Sutton about anything that's out there in the Newman or anything that's sucked model certainties to certainties since on and here is Paul talking about the Holy Spirit and is not up there in the Newman piece inside us. He's in union with us he's interceding with us. He's communicating with us he's helping us and he was on in verse 27 to say, and he who searches hearts and that's what the Holy Spirit does know is what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

And that's a very interesting statement doesn't it. The Holy Spirit knows us, but he also knows God knows God does well as anyone knows God because he is got is the third person of the Trinity team knows the mind of the father and he knows the mind of the son, and he knows his own mind and we can make those distinctions that there is a consciousness that is the father's on this a consciousness that is the summons and there is a consciousness that is the Holy Spirit, and yet these three are one God than a separate God's that one God, one in three and three in one, and your brain is beginning to hurt a little as you try to explore that and it always will. It is unfathomable but it is what Scripture reveals God to be one God in three distinct persons. What this text is saying is that the Holy Spirit knows the will of the father because the Holy Spirit is stamped, knows everything is the beginning, middle, and then continues have the stories going to turn out. He knows exactly what the father wants you to do in this situation to Ozzie stretches your hearts.

The father knows the mind of the spirit, the spirit knows the mind of the father so he is able to help you calm your over here.

The father is over here and he brings you together.

Actually, I love the way Connellan Nystrom puts it in the book on prayer coal authored with Jim paca but I love the way that she puts it, she says, the Holy Spirit fixes our prayers on the way out. Our prayers are unholy appraisal sometimes selfish. Our prayers have prayed within the confines of limited knowledge we don't want pain.

We don't want suffering. We want the easier course we want everything now and we want to quickly and we wanted it tenfold. And that's not God's will for us in the Holy Spirit has to fix that prayer. By the time it reaches the ears of the heavenly father. The perfect intercedes for us. Actually we have two who intercedes for us.

Jesus is our great high priest who ever lives to intercede for us in the book of Hebrews. For example, expands on the two great extent, so we have an intercessor at the right hand of God, Jesus, but we have an intercessor inside us in our hearts in the very core of our being the Holy Spirit. We have two interceding for us, not just one but two in every struggle in every difficulty in every trial that we face this the struggle of prayer and the help of prayer and then there's the success of prayer back to verse 26 likewise the Spirit helps us soon until the time in Greek the complex work. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for us, we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words is doing the groaning here is it the Holy Spirit or is it us. Now there's been a view and an interpretation that it's the Holy Spirit who does the groaning that the spinach is it what identifies with our struggle and he groanings along with our site. Don't accept that interpretation.

But that interpretation is out there and I think rather the groaning that Paul is referring to here is is our groaning, groaning too deep for words.

When you find yourself in a situation and facing a set of circumstances, and you just can't put it into words. Your emotions overwhelm you. You can't think rationally and all you can do is that holy society. It's a grown that's too deep for words not grown that society. The Christian society says it all.

It says more than you can understand or anyone else can understand you find yourself in documents you find yourself in a black hole as it were, in the spirit comes alongside the darkness. You can see, you can see one step in front of another never been to one of these caves, deep underground, and then they put the lights out and you wait a few seconds and it is completely dark.

There's no ambient light on like anything else, perhaps, that you've ever experienced. You cannot see the person standing right next to you that you can hear them breathing and the Holy Spirit is like that may be completely dark, but you can hear him anything and you can feel the warmth of his embrace as he helps you intercedes for you and makes your prayer successful.

That's the assurance that we have that God answers prayer. Even sinful press because he fixes them on the way up, intercedes, brings us closer and closer to the will of the heavenly father to five quick things in the morning to say it in terms of bullet points, five encouragements that come from this verse number one, you're not expected to know the will of God in all of its detail.

This is a beautiful verse that says don't be afraid if you don't know what God's will. This because that's what this verse is all about. That will be circumstances in which you have no idea what God's witness, or perhaps you do and you don't like it and you don't want to walk down it and she says student blanket and asked was there some other way conduct encouraging true in your distress.

God isn't just watching you. The understandings he hears your groans and he helps you is not just there for you passively standing beside is actively involved in the encouraging and lifting and throwing you to himself God's work for you isn't limited to what you can understand God's work for you isn't limited to what you can understand and would been to segue into that in the next lesson in verse 28 to hold that thought in your head to get to the next lesson that I things we don't understand that God is doing in our lives forcefully in your weakness and struggle. The Holy Spirit is praying against you so much. As for you and with you and even when it feels as though there is some tension. He draws you closer and closer and closer to the will of the heavenly father and interestingly the father always hears the Holy Spirit. He always hears the Holy Spirit the relationship between the three persons of the Trinity was likened by one of the early church fathers as a dance. The dance of the Trinity is the father is in the sun and the sun was in the father and the father and the son in the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is in the father and in the sun, and so when the Holy Spirit speaks the father always always always hears him so that's the confidence that you can have in prayer, not just our best and most eloquent prayers for the prayers that we have to learn distress. Prayers reenter when struggling to present our weakness and hears those principles. Prayers just science is a beautiful it is a beautiful thought and a great comfort, even when we don't know what to pray.

The spirit intercedes for us were glad you joined us for Renewing Your Mind. I'm Lee Webb and Romans chapter 8 describes the assurance the confidence and the privilege that all Christians enjoy in Christ, we would like to commend Dr. Thomas's entire series to you 12 messages onto DVDs and the focus is on Romans eight. Contact us today with your gift of any amount and will be glad to send it to you. You can call us at 800-435-4343. You can also make your request and give your gift online when you go to Renewing Your Mind.org Romans eight begins with these words, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, and it ends with a long list of things that will not separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. It really is a glorious chapter and worth the investment of deep study. So again request Dr. Thomas's series on Romans chapter 8 when you call us at 800-435-4343 or when you go to Renewing Your Mind.org and let me thank you for your financial gift of any amount. Your generosity allows us to minister to growing Christians around the world in these uncertain times during this time, when literally millions of people are quarantined in their homes. We made our entire library of teaching series available to stream for free.

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