Christian Living

The Spirit Prays

by Thomas Kirkpatrick
10/07/20
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“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; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” (Romans 8:26-27)

There are some mighty prayer warriors in this world, and I thank God each day for the ones who selfishly commit their time to be in conversation with God Almighty for the benefit of others by their petitions to the Lord. I spend a shamefully short amount of time in prayer each day. I feel shameful because this is what the Lord God wants more than anything is to have fellowship with each of us. Yet life distracts in the beginning, and in the end, we fail to finish in communion with our God. Yet, in my brief travels across social media, I see the captioned pictures of praise to the Lord and the call to prayer. I read through the prayer request that comes in an email, and I believe it is good to pray for others but wonder if they had first spoken to the Lord themselves.

I have and continue to pray for many, but I find people are quick to ask for prayer and slow to give God praise for answered prayer. Some ask for prayer but will not pray with me for their request. I can’t help but suspect that they feel God will not answer them but will answer mine. Can you see the problem here? We are drawn to prayer because He wants fellowship with us and not someone speaking for us. Perhaps people do not know how to pray, the disciples did not, and they asked Jesus how they should pray? “It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.” (Luke 1:11)

I went to court once to face a judge. I spent a certain amount of time preparing my thoughts before that meeting. But when I encountered the judge, the man who had to power to change my future, my planed words failed me. It was humbling to be in the presence of such power. When we bow before the Almighty God and Creator of all, it is a humbling moment. Only He is worthy of all our respect, love, and desire. The Prophet Isaiah was taken back in the presence of God and said that he was completely undone. (Isaiah 6:5) We are to the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. (Proverbs 9:10) That is not to be afraid but to give complete reverent respect to God, our heavenly Father. “Father, hallowed be Your name.” (Luke 11:2)

It may be that some of us do not know how to pray. I didn’t know how to walk once back then. But I learned to walk by falling, so it seems. That is the way with all that we do. We learn by the practice, and prayer is a practice.  One of the world’s greatest preachers and writers is Charles Spurgeon. I am sure it as a gift as we all have a talent. But talent has to be developed. Charles Spurgeon was also a man devoted to prayer. It is not that he spent hours at a time in prayer but that he spent a life in prayer. As the biographer, Arnold Dallimore wrote of Spurgeon. “Spurgeon was ever a man of prayer. Not that he spent any long periods of time in prayer but he lived in the spirit of communion with God.”

We must remember that we are human, and God is a Supreme Deity. How can a worm pray to a man, and how can a man pray to God? Through God’s Son Jesus, who came as a man and can sympathize with us. “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15)

As humankind, we are weak, but the Apostle Paul teaches us that the Spirit helps us in our prayers’ weakness. “In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness.” Our spirits know what is right in the sight of God, but the flesh is at war with our spirit. The flesh desires the things of the world in which it resides while the spirit desires the eternal things. Paul tells us to walk in the Spirit and be able to overcome the flesh’s desires. “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16)

God knows that we are weak, and He knows the temptation that we struggle with each day, but by His grace, His favor towards us, He will, through His Spirit, be more than enough to supply our need. We don’t live our lives in our power, for even the strongest of men will fall short of God’s glory. We live in the power of His Spirit, which gives us the strength of life. Therefore though we are weak in Him, we are strong. “And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

Jesus promised His disciples, which means you and me, a Helper to abide in as He abides in us. He is the Spirit of Truth that the world does not know, but we do because He lives within us. (Romans 8:11) God is Spirit, and the power is in the Spirit, and this is why we worship Him in the power of the Spirit in spirit and truth. “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24) Jesus promises that we will not be forsaken, and at conversion, we receive the Holy Spirit, which indwells us, and we live through Him. “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, 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)

It is why as we walk in the power of the Spirit, we can accomplish all things according to the will of the Father as the answer to our prayer, “Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10) With that belt of truth around us, we can with Paul say, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)

I still ponder the reality of how a human can pray in the divine righteousness of God even when I try to worship in spirit and truth. Often the one we lie to the most is ourselves, which means we often misstep in our prayers to God. “For we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” I have concluded that maybe prayer is more about listening than speaking on our initiative. Jesus tells us to come to the true point. “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.” (Matthew 6:7)

There are times that we pray outside of God’s glory. Janis Joplin’s song comes to mind. “Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz? My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends.” The Lord knows what we need, and He knows what we want. But we miss the truth that all we have and all we receive is to be used for God’s glory. The whole bases of bringing our tithes and offerings to the Lord to be used for His glory. Tithes and offerings are a part of our worship of Him. The Lord is our provider, and He will provide according to our needs and how we use the resource He gives us. What we are to do is seek His Kingdom and His Righteousness. That is our greatest need. “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:31-33)

We are an asking people because the Jones have so much. Keeping up with them is not a good motive beyond our selfishness. We are citizens of His Kingdom, and our motive is to promote His Kingdom and bring glory to His name. When we pray, we must pray in the correct motive, or it will be fruitless. “You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.” (James 4:3) If our motives are correct, then we can come boldly to the throne of His grace with the faith that He will answer our prayer. It may not be the answer we desire, but it will be the perfect answer at the perfect time. The trick is that we pray according to His will. “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.” (1 John 5:14-15)

It is also not so much what we say but what we desire in our hearts. “I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give to each man according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.” (Jeremiah 17:10) The Lord hears us “and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is.” The Lord God knows His plan and purpose, and the Spirit will direct our heart according to His will for our life.

“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)

The Lord God knows the end from the beginning, and having a plan and purpose for our life knows how to make our destiny victorious. For this reason and the greatest advantage to us, our Lord and Savior is at the right hand of God praying for us each moment of our life here in this world. “Because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” He knows the will of the Father, He knows the plan and purpose that we were created to accomplish, and He knows how to pray on our behalf in divine righteousness. When we pray, we pray according to the will of the Father for our life that we can bring glory to His hallowed name through His answer.

That’s why no matter what trials or tribulations we face in this world, we can be confident that all will work for good through the power of our prayers. Our good and the glory of our heavenly Father. “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)

Thomas N Kirkpatrick

First Baptist Church of Durant, October 5, 2017