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July 20, 2008
Pentecost 10
Romans 8:26-27
Pastor Joel Zank

The Spirit is Our Prayer Partner!

(Romans 8:26-27)  In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. {27} And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.

In Christ Jesus who has given us the Holy Spirit to comfort and counsel and  us, dear fellow redeemed,

“I’m praying for you!” Those have got to be some of the most encouraging words we Christians can say to one another. To think that one of my brothers or sisters in Christ is taking the time to speak to God on my behalf means everything to me. I trust you feel the same way. Well, if a fellow Christian’s intercessions bring us encouragement, think of how much more it will mean to have God himself pray for us. And that’s exactly what God does, as St. Paul tells us in the Scripture before us. We’ll consider his words, taking this truth as our theme: The Spirit is Our Prayer Partner. He is our help when words fail us; and He is our guarantee that God hears us.

Typically when Christians offers to pray for us, it is because they know of some need that we have. It’s no different with our heavenly prayer partner. Paul says, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness” (v.26a).  The word “weakness” says it all. This is the apostle’s gentle way of reminding us that sin has touched and spoiled every facet of our lives. As Paul points out in the verses just prior to our text, the effects of sin in us and around us leave us groaning inwardly day by day.  We groan because of the downturn in the economy, and because of poor health. We groan because of the stress of work, or the stress of not having work. We groan because of a failing marriage, or because of our failure to find companionship. The list could go on and on, but you get the idea - sin brings nothing but suffering and pain, making our life in this world quite miserable too much of the time.

As one who has been touched by suffering, I say it’s too much; you probably say the same. But let’s be honest, God’s Spirit has taught us to confess the truth – that because we are sinners, misery is all we deserve, here and hereafter. We came into this world sin-ruined and damned, and one day would have gone out the same way, if not for the mercy of God – mercy of which Paul speaks so eloquently throughout this 8th chapter of Romans. In mercy God has bought us back from sin, has adopted us into God’s family, has reserved for us the glories of heaven, and until we get there has promised to make all things serve our good.

By these promises of his, God has worked in us new life. And by these promises he means to keep us his forever. Knowing this, believing it as we do, these promises of God and the bright future they offer us, should be the focus of our lives and the constant subject of our prayers. Right? I mean, in the big scheme of things, what is the short time we spend suffering on earth compared to the eternity of joy we will have with God in heaven?

I know the answer to that question, but I’m afraid I don’t always pray with my eye on the heavenly prize. In fact sometimes I just don’t pray, for any number of reasons, all of them sinful – I get too busy, I become too lazy, or I grow too discouraged, to the point where I have few if any words for God even though he invites me to talk to him day and night. Can you imagine that? I suppose you can because sin has left all of us Christians suffering from the same weakness. You and I must confess with Paul that in our sin-weakened state sometimes “We don’t know what we ought to pray for” (v.26b).

Perhaps it’s hard for us to imagine that the great Apostle Paul would have any difficulty praying, but he did. In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul speaks of a “thorn in the flesh” that was given him - “a messenger of Satan” to torment him. Whatever this problem was, it brought great pain and difficulty to the apostle’s life and ministry, so much so that he pleaded with God, not once, but three times to take the thorn away. God’s answer for Paul: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).  That sounds like a bit of a disconnect, doesn’t it? Paul prays, “Lord, take this thorn away!” And God answers, “Yes, Paul, you can keep your thorn and witness my powerful love at work in you and through you.” What happened there? You get the sense that you missed some of the conversation between Paul and God and, in fact, you did. That’s what Paul is telling us today. Inwardly Paul was groaning under the weight of some terrible burden in his life. His first thought: “the best thing for me would be to get rid of this problem.” So that’s what he prayed for. But the whole time Paul was groaning and praying, Paul’s prayer partner, God’s Holy Spirit was also busy, praying deep from within Paul, shaping and forming Paul’s groans into a prayer request that sought a far greater blessing from God than Paul could have imagined or hoped for, a blessing that would benefit Paul and others not just for a time but for eternity.

Friends you have that same prayer partner – the Holy Spirit of God. The Spirit has made your heart his home. He lives within you, not as a freeloader, but as one who is always busy working on your behalf. And good thing he is! So often you and I can’t see beyond the moment we’re living in and it shows in the prayers we pray or fail to pray. Troubles come into our lives or something wonderful happens to us and we don’t think to pray about it, or we do pray, but only about the here and now, not about the eternal good God has in mind for us and the people around us. But this is all the Holy Spirit thinks about. So from within your heart he takes the groans of your soul and the impulses of your faith and with them offers up to God a powerful prayer that human words cannot express. But if they could, those words would translate roughly into a petition that Jesus himself has taught us: “Thy kingdom come!” Or prayed another way: “Take what is happening to me, dear God – good or bad and use it to draw me and others closer to you; use what’s happening in my life to give me a firmer grip on your kingdom and a deeper desire to spread it throughout the earth.” Isn’t that a beautiful petition? This prayer, like no other, addresses the only things that will really matter come Judgment Day. Yet, in the weakness caused by our sin, we don’t always think to ask for such blessings. The best and most important words we could speak often fail us when it comes to our prayer-life, but don’t lose heart because “...the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express” (v.26c).

But if that’s true, if the Spirit prays for us, why should we pray? Because God wants us and invites us to pray and because prayer is a natural fruit of Christian faith. The truths in our text don’t discourage us from praying; they  encourage us to pray all the more. Dear Christian, just think, as our Prayer Partner, the Holy Spirit is our guarantee that God hears us every time we speak to him.

Is it not an amazing thought that the Chief Executive Officer of the entire universe wants to hear from us? Think of what it would be like to have the ear of the President of the United States – someone with so much power to act on your thoughts and requests!  Friend, you have all that and more, because you have a Father in Heaven who rules all things on your behalf. He wants to know what you’re thinking, so much so that he doesn’t even wait for your prayers to ascend to heaven. He comes looking for them. St. Paul refers to our God as the One “...who searches our hearts...”(v.27a).  Oh, but that’s not a very comforting thought. Our hearts are filled with so much garbage - lust, greed, hatred, jealousy – you name the sin and you will find it at home in our hearts. One peek in that door and God will slam it, never to return. You would think so, but listen to what St. John says in his first epistle: “...whenever our hearts condemn us...God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything” (1 John 3:20).  Our sinful hearts condemn us and rightly so! But here is the grace of God – our hearts don’t get the last word; God does and his word for us is, “Innocent!”

St. Paul says the same thing right here in our text. Listen again to verse 27: “And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.” Did you hear it? God called you his “saints.”  Remember what St. John said: God knows everything. Yes, that means he knows about our sins – all the ones I mentioned and the many more I didn’t. But God knows something else. He knows that he sent his own Son Jesus, to live a life of perfection as your Substitute. More than that, God knows how to use  Christ’s perfect life to cover all your sinfulness so that when he looks into your heart he sees nothing but holiness. That’s all he can see because he knows that your lust and greed, your hatred and jealousy, and even your weak prayer life, he knows that all your sins were charged to Jesus long ago and paid for on that Friday when Jesus took you place in hell as he hung dying on the cross. God knows that your sin-debt has been completely canceled, and so that you may know it too, God raised Jesus from the dead to show you that the Savior’s work on your behalf is finished once and for all.