Read Romans 8:26-27
The reality of the Christian life is that the more you put Jesus at the centre of your life, the more you will probably suffer for Him. Let me briefly illustrate. If you were to make a pact with God right now that you will put Jesus and His church first on your agenda then by next Monday you could be unemployed and facing severe rebuke and angst from your family members as they realise that they now play second fiddle to this Jesus character whom they’ve trumped over
In times of hardship and persecution it’s often difficult to know how to pray or what to pray. Our insides scream out and want us to pray for relief, for an end to the agony. Scripturally, our minds may be telling us that there’s more to come. And so we can be caught in a tug of war where we don’t know how to pray.
It’s in these times that the Holy Spirit living in us intercedes for us and prays for us with groans that words cannot express. Creation is groaning. We believers are groaning. Even the Holy Spirit is groaning for us as He intercedes for us. What that means is that the Holy Spirit seeks God’s will for us and helps us to know and to do the will of God. The Holy Spirit brings us and our plight before the Lord Almighty and brings His will before us so that we can know it and do it. Sometimes in the pain and rottenness of life we can do nothing but sit and weep in God’s presence. How comforting to know that God’s Spirit is interceding for us.
After this, we are given a wonderfully encouraging, though possibly cryptic, promise and assurance from God. God who searches our heart knows the mind of the Spirit as He intercedes for us because the Spirit always prays in accord with the will of God. We can be assured and confident that when the Spirit intercedes for us in groans that words cannot express, He is interceding for us according to the will of God. We can know that God will hear the Spirit because the Spirit is praying completely in line with God’s will.
Romans 8:26-27 starts with the words, ‘in the same way’. In the earlier verses we saw that creation groans with us as well. We groan in hope as we await our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. In the same way, the Spirit groans for us and on our behalf bringing that hope to bear into our lives. The Spirit creates patient endurance in us as He refocusses our heart and mind away from the things of this world onto the things of Christ and the new creation.
As such we are again confident that God will hear the groans of the Spirit for us and that these prayers will, at the very least, bless us with an increased hope as we regain sight of our heavenly target.
Prayer:
Having read today’s passage and notes jot down various prayer points in each:
Adoration:
Confession:
Thanks:
Supplication:
¨ Pray for cell groups as they meet today, tonight and tomorrow. Pray that the members would encourage and build each other up. Pray that more people would enroll in cell groups.
God wants us to depend on Him for everything, even our daily bread. He often puts us through tough times to draw us back to Himself in total dependence.
1. Have you ever experienced this Spirit groaning? Share it with the group.
2. How does the Spirit help us in our weakness?
3. What is our role in all of this?
Intro: Sometimes life can be so messy and so painful that we just don’t know what to pray. Sometimes we are so confused that prayer is virtually impossible. It’s then that the Spirit takes over.
Discuss how you’ve seen this in your own life and the impact it had in your life.
Read John 14:15-17
What does God want us to be doing?
what does Jesus promise to do for us?
Who does the Spirit Counsel? How?
Pray together God would equip you to endure tough and painful times in patient endurance and holiness.
Intro: It’s hard sometimes to know what to do or how to pray. Even more so when life is messy or rough. It’s in these times that we have to trust the Holy Spirit.
Discuss how you’ve seen this in your own life and the impact it had in your life.
Read John 14:15-17
What does God want us to be doing?
what does Jesus promise to do for us?
Who does the Spirit Counsel? How?
Pray together God would equip you to endure tough and painful times in patient endurance and holiness.
No comments:
Post a Comment