Dan Herold | Romans 8:26-27 | 8/6/2017
Last week we heard how the life of a Christian is a life of hoping and longing for the day when we will finally see the joys of heaven which have been won for us by Jesus, our Savior. Life in this world is a constant struggle against sin, temptation, and even ourselves and our sinful nature. It truly is a struggle—a battle—and there isn’t anything easy about it. We can look forward to heaven and long for the blessings God has promised us, though, because we know that Jesus made atonement for our sins and reconciled us to God. Today we are going to look at one of the greatest comforts God has given us while we endure this struggle here on earth—prayer.
When mankind fell into sin the perfect relationship that we had with God was broken. There was a time when God and Adam walked through the Garden of Eden like they were best friends, but then Satan came, tempted Eve, Adam and Eve sinned, and that perfect relationship was shattered. The relationship was broken so badly that Adam and Eve couldn’t repair it on their own and they were ashamed of their sinfulness and ran away and hid from God. They ran and hid from the one who used to be their best friend!
Before the fall into Sin God and his people were able to communicate perfectly, but once sin entered into the picture the lines of communication were broken. God promised to reverse the effects of sin, though, and restore the relationship that people once had with God before there was sin. God promised that through Jesus, the savior of the world, he would restore the lines of communication between mankind and God. In other words, because Jesus has atoned for our sins and reconciled us to God we have the great joy and privilege to talk to our Heavenly Father at any time and any place through prayer.
Sometimes, though, we don’t make full use of this awesome tool with which God has blessed us. Sometimes we let Satan tempt us into thinking that we aren’t good enough to talk to God, or that we don’t know how, or God wouldn’t want to listen to us. Satan loves it when he can get us to think that praying is too hard for us to do because he knows the power of prayer. Satan knows that it is a super powerful tool for Christians to use in the battle against temptation and sin so we are constantly being tempted to think that prayer is one of those extra things we don’t really need to do or that it is too complicated for a regular old Christian to do.
Romans 8:26, 27 provides just the comforting reminder we need that one little word can be a lifesaver in our battle with sin. Prayer is just the tool we need to call upon our Almighty Lord who promises to answer us and to save us.
If you try to find a definition for prayer in the Bible you might have some difficulty. There isn’t a passage that tells us exactly what prayer is, other than talking to God, or how to do it. What you will find is a whole bunch of passages that describe what prayer can be and even some prayers that other people (like David, Moses, and even Jesus) prayed to give us examples of how we might pray. There’s even the Lord’s Prayer which Jesus taught his disciples as an example of what they should include in their prayers.
In our Old Testament lesson this morning we heard about how Abraham prayed. The exact words of his prayer aren’t the most important thing that were written down for us, but God tells us more about the way in which Abraham prayed. He kept coming back to God again and again. He never gave up. He knew how powerful and effective prayer is, so Abraham kept on praying. That shows us how we should pray. God wants us to come to him with every request, even the ones that seem small, and he wants us to keep coming to him in prayer until he makes his answer clear to us.
That can be very hard to do. There are four possible answers that God might give us to our prayers. He might say, “Yes.” He might say, “No.” He might say, “Wait.” Or he might say, “Here’s something better.” But as soon as God gives us an answer other than the one we want Satan is right there to try and convince us that our prayer wasn’t good enough or God doesn’t listen to us. That’s why we need the beautiful reminder Paul gives in Romans 8 that God does hear our prayers even when we feel like we don’t know how to pray or what to pray for.
In Romans 8 Paul says,
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“…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.”
Now, just think about that. How much effort do you put into a prayer? I think in general most of us give up pretty easy when it becomes difficult. If we can’t think of the right words we want to say, we give up on that prayer. If somebody puts you on the spot and asks you to lead a prayer, you might feel a little timid. The Holy Spirit, though, prays for us, “with groans that words cannot express.”
That’s some effort! The Holy Spirit is hard at work praying for you. Just think about what those words mean…the almighty God of the universe is straining so hard in prayer on your behalf that he is groaning and barely can get words out! That’s the kind of love God has for you—that he is willing to work so hard for you (after all, he was willing to suffer and die for you).
Now consider this, that is how the Holy Spirit intercedes for us when we don’t know what words to pray. When we have nothing to contribute the Holy Spirit prays for us so fervently that he prays in groans that words cannot express. Don’t ever think for a second that God isn’t fighting for you 24/7 365 days a year. Satan wants you to doubt God. He wants you to feel like you’re alone and that you have no help, but God is always fighting for you. Even when we can’t find the words to pray, the Holy Spirit is praying for us.
Verse 27 shows another detail of God’s great love for us that brings amazing comfort. The reason that we feel like we don’t know how to pray at times is because of sin. It’s our sinful nature that keeps us from finding the words that we want to pray. Since we have been reconciled to God we have that new man in us that is a child of God and wants to talk to him, but our sinful nature gets in the way.
Verse 27 says,
“He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.”
That verse is saying that the Holy Spirit is in us and he is praying the prayers that are pleasing to God even if we feel like we can’t find the right words to say. The Holy Spirit knows the prayers that are pleasing to God and he is praying them for us. So, when we are feeling weak we can take comfort in the fact that even in our state of human weakness God hears our prayers because the Spirit is praying on our behalf.
Prayer is an amazing and powerful tool that God has given us. All too often we let it go unused or under-utilized because we allow temptation and our sinful nature to get the best of us. God knows how powerful prayer can be in the battle against Satan and that’s why he even commands us to pray. At times, though, we just need a gentle reminder like the one in Romans 8:26,27 that one little word—prayer—can be a great help and comfort in our battle.
Satan is judged, our salvation is accomplished, our Savior stands on the battlefield victorious. Our sins are forgiven, we have been reconciled to God, and the lines of communication between man and God have been restored. Don’t let Satan tell you otherwise. Everything he has to say is a lie.
When he tells you that God doesn’t care about your prayers tell him that the Holy Spirit—God himself—is praying in groans that words can’t express. When Satan tells you that God doesn’t answer you prayers, you can tell him that he most certainly does because the Holy Spirit that dwells in you prays in perfect harmony with God’s will. When your own sinful nature tries to convince you that prayer isn’t worth your time and effort remind it just how powerful one little word can be. Turn back to God’s word for the reminder that we all need of just how powerful, wonderful, and comforting it can be to pray—to talk with God like you talk to your best friend because in Christ that’s who he is.
Amen.