The Ninth Sunday after Pentecost (Romans 8:26,27)

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ  (Ro 1:7).  Amen.

“I can’t.”  Those are difficult words, aren’t they?  Because there is an admission behind them that causes us to swallow our pride.  “I can’t” means that we are unable to do something.  And we don’t like that.  We want to be strong and solid.  But we are forced to admit—sometimes stubbornly, other times sadly:  “I can’t.”
I am not talking about a physical challenge at the gym like lifting 500 pounds with your arms or squatting 1000 pounds with your legs.  (I doubt any of us is able to do either of those.  Very few can.)  But I am referring to a personal problem which is hard or a particular pain which is heavy.  Those can feel just like a huge weight on the ends of a barbell.  You are not immune to them.  I am not alone with them.  And finally we throw up our hands in frustration, “I can’t.”  Perhaps we say it to others.  Possibly we say it to God.  Where do we turn?
Enter the Holy Spirit.  He helps us as he prays on our behalf and as he prays for our good.  We read from …

Romans 8:26,27

Dear Fellow saints, holy in God’s sight through God’s Son,
If you scan the pages of Scripture, you come across some great prayers and some good pray-ers.  There is Jacob as he wrestles the Lord by the river, holding on tightly.  There is David as he writes so many psalms, strumming on his lyre.  Add to the list those like Abraham who prayed for some cities who were evil or Moses as he prayed for some people who were rebellious.  And some others like Nehemiah or Daniel.  We could go on.
And when you read those pleas, it is clear that their expressions are so lofty.  And when we examine our own attempts, they fall so short.  And maybe we come to the conclusion:  “I can’t.”
Now what?  Do we give up and shut down?  No.  We have the Holy Spirit.  Not only does he call us to faith, but he keeps us in that faith.  One of the ways is with his prayers.  When we struggle or when we stammer with ours,

Enter the Holy Spirit
1.  Who prays on our behalf  (26)
2.  Who prays for our good  (27)

1.  Who prays on our behalf  (26)
Let’s imagine that you are pumping iron at your local fitness center.  You want to push yourself.  You plan to do 8 repetitions on the bench press, but only can pull off 7.  The bar now rests uncomfortably on your chest.  And there it sits.  Enter a spotter.  He  (or she) grabs it and places it back on the posts above your head for you.  (It is embarrassing when that one does it with just one arm.)  That is critical.  How about when we pour out our hearts?  It is even more crucial.  Enter the Holy Spirit who prays on our behalf.
There is a lot of groaning  (and not just about doing the dishes).  The apostle Paul reminded his readers in Rome that “the whole creation has been groaning”  (Ro 8:22).  That is because sin touches nature and taints it too.  There are floods and famines, for example.  But not only that, “we ourselves … groan inwardly”  (Ro 8:23).
But we are not by ourselves.  We have the Holy Spirit  (Ro 8:23).  And we wait on tiptoes for the time when Jesus will return to take us to the glory of heaven instead of the grind on earth.
Joel told us about judgment day.  And Jesus taught us about the last day.
 The prophet shared that nations will gather in the “Valley of Jehoshaphat … the valley of decision”  (Joel 3:12,14).  He used the picture of the harvest being ripe.  But the reminder is that there is no reason for fear.  “The LORD will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel”  (Joel 3:16).  That is similar to what the psalmist David had us sing:  “The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer, my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge”  (Ps 18:2).
 The Savior showed with a parable of the wheat and the weeds.  On the final day, the angels will separate the two—believers and unbelievers.  Those who do evil will be thrown “into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father”  (Mt 13:42,43).  Because we are right with God, we will live with our heavenly Father forever.
In the meantime—between then and now, we have the Spirit’s sighs.  And he is not just a curious onlooker like someone who drives by an accident.  He is constantly available and continually active.  “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness”  (Ro 8:26).  It is like a mother who takes her son by the hand, leads him upstairs, and assists him in putting his clean clothes in the dresser.  We need the Spirit’s aid because of our “weakness,” a lack of ability.  Who of us hasn’t felt that?  And not just physically.  Paul spells it out:  “We do not know what we ought to pray for”  (Ro 8:26).  It comes down to a question.  And it is not, “What if I say the wrong words.”  There is no technical jargon.  It is simple and straightforward like a child with his dad.  It is this:  “What should we pray for that is in line with God’s will?”
As we make our way through our earthly life to our eternal life, there are those complicated situations and complex circumstances when we are at a loss as to what to request.  (It should not be because we are out of practice when it comes to prayer.  We have that privilege to speak to God anywhere and anytime.  Or because we have been distant from God’s Word and ignorant of his guidance.)  But it could come down to being absolutely unaware of what to pray.  It could be when there is a diagnosis from the doctor or when there is a difficulty with a relationship.  What is the content of our contact with God:
 Do we ask God to give us relief from it or resolve for it?
 Do we ask God to spare us or strengthen us?
Our tongues are tied like a boy trying to chat with a girl that he is sweet on.  (Perhaps he should stick to texting.)
Paul passes along the emphatic reminder that the Holy Spirit steps in:  “But the Spirit himself intercedes for us”  (Ro 8:26).  God the Holy Spirit, he is the very one who does that for us—for our sake.  It is his ongoing effort of the One who has brought us to believe in God who saved us to plead for us to God who supports us.  He is more than just a good friend who assures us that he or she will always be there.  That may not be.  It is with the Holy Spirit.  And he does that “with groans that words cannot express”  (Ro 8:26).  The Holy Spirit shares our hurts and speaks to the Father on our behalf with unspoken sounds like the thoughts in our minds.
So instead of being bashful—what if my prayers are foolish or childish?, we are bold.  God wants us to approach him in the day of trouble—with our cares and concerns  (Ps 50:15).  It can be from the forgiveness of sins to the support for the future.  And anything and everything in between.  If we wonder and waver, enter the Holy Spirit who prays on our behalf.  He is on our side.
2.  Who prays for our good  (27)
Let’s envision the bar is not laying on your ribs, but on your throat.  To clear up any confusion, that is not healthy.  It restricts oxygen from going into your lungs.  Enter a spotter who snags it off your windpipe.  That is valuable for staying alive.  So is the Spirit.  He is useful for going forward.  Enter the Holy Spirit who prays for our good.
Not one thing gets by God the Father.  He is the One “who searches our hearts”  (Ro 8:27).  And he doesn’t need fancy equipment like an X-ray or CT scan, a stethoscope or a microscope to do this thorough inspection like a hound dog sniffing every inch of the yard for the scent of a squirrel.  God knows everything  (Ps 139:1,2; Pr 20:27)—all the way to the deep, dark recesses.  He doesn’t spot any sin because he has scrubbed it all away with Jesus’ blood  (1 Jn 1:7).
And if he has that information, it is not surprising that he “knows the mind of the Spirit”  (Ro 8:27).  The Father is God.  The Holy Spirit is God.  (As well as the Son is God.)  They are one.  A wife may claim to know what her husband has in mind when it comes to supper, but not always.  That is not the case with the Father and the Spirit.  He knows what he is thinking and the way he thinks.  And they are in complete harmony.
And it comes back to the assistance of the Spirit.  “The Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will”  (Ro 8:27).  Jesus taught us to pray:  “Our Father in heaven, … your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”  (Mt 6:9,10).  The Holy Spirit prays that perfectly—what is in line with what God wants.  There are no misunderstandings or miscommunications.  And his desire is only for the best of his loved ones.  Or as Paul put it—“the saints”  (Ro 8:27).  That is, holy ones.  Because that is what the Holy Spirit has made us—free from sin and far from sin.  It is for us that he prays.  That doesn’t make us sloppy in our prayer life, but steady.  The Holy Spirit can take bumbling, fumbling prayers and make them beautiful, fantastic prayers.  And God hears them and answers them.  Enter the Holy Spirit who prays for our good—what is best and what is beneficial.
There will always be things that we simply cannot do—even all together.  But one of them is not prayer just like those heroes in the Bible.  We have the opportunity to pray.  We have the encouragement to pray.  And not only that, enter the Holy Spirit as he prays on our behalf and for our good.  With him, “I can’t” becomes “I can.”  Amen.

To the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ!  Amen  (Ro 16:27).


August 6, 2017