It's good to be here with you
this evening. Take your Bibles and turn with me to Romans chapter
8. Romans chapter 8. Our text will be found in verses
26 and 27 tonight. I've entitled this message, Our
Helper in Prayer. Our Helper in Prayer. Scripture says, likewise, the
Spirit also helpeth our infirmities. For we know not what we should
pray for as we ought. But the Spirit itself maketh
intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. For
he that searcheth the heart knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit,
because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the
will of God." Now, Paul here begins this with this word, likewise. In other words, he's told you
already many things that the Spirit of God does. There are many parts of our salvation
that belong to the work of the Spirit of God. First of all,
our regeneration. This is the work of the Spirit
of God. He says He is the One, He said,
for the law of the spirit of life hath made us free from the
law of sin and death. This happens at the new birth.
When we are born again, we are born again of the spirit. And
Paul makes a distinction to us who are born again. That word
born again, we say that, religious people just roll that off their
tongue. Are you born again? Are you born again? The word
means Born from above. That's exactly the literal translation
of it. Are you born from above? Or are
you born from religious ceremony or ritual? So when I say you're
born again, are you born by the Spirit of God? And he makes a
distinction between those who are and those who aren't. He
says in chapter 8, we walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit. What does he mean by that? We
don't do the wicked things we used to. That's how religion
sees that text. They say, well, we walk after
the Spirit. We don't commit fornication anymore. We don't do any of those
bad things. If you read this context, we've been through this
book for months. Have you read anything about
forsaking fornication yet or anything like that? No. What
is he talking about? He said those who are born again
of the Spirit We walk not after the flesh. In other words, we
don't look to the flesh for any merit for our standing before
God. That's what it is to walk after
the flesh. It's to mind the things of the flesh. It is to mind works,
religion. That's what it is to walk after
the flesh. My salvation is dependent on Jesus Christ alone, without
my works. You see, that's what one who
is born of the Spirit believes. We trust in Christ alone. And
He says, if you walk after the flesh, you'll die. What does
that mean? It means if you try to be accepted of God based on
what you do or who you are, then you'll die. But He says, we are
born again of the Spirit. We don't walk after the flesh.
What do we do? We live by the Spirit. We live by faith in Christ. And the second thing the Spirit
does is He comforts us. He regenerates us in the new
birth, gives us faith in Christ. But He also is a perpetual comfort. If you read verse 14, tell me,
is this not a comfort? As many as are led by the Spirit
of God, they are the sons of God. Is that not a comfort? You
that believe in Christ, what is the Spirit testifying of?
He said, you are the sons of God. I don't feel like a son. What does that matter? If you
believe in Christ and you're born of the Spirit of God, you
are a son of God. That's what the Spirit testifies. He's a comforter. Remember when
our Lord was about to be crucified and He was with His disciples
on that last evening with them. And He makes this statement.
He says, I go to prepare a place for you. Now what is He going
to die for? He said, I'm dying to prepare
a place for you in heaven. I'm going to prepare a place
for you. And if I go, what am I going to do? I'm going to come
again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, where's heaven? Wherever He is. That's where
heaven is. Wherever He is, that's heaven.
That where I am, you may be also. And so the hope then of every
believer is that Jesus Christ has accomplished our salvation,
isn't it? Isn't this comforting to know?
It's done. It's done. I know you don't feel like you
ever do enough. You don't. You won't. But I'm so thankful that my salvation
is something done and not something to be done by me. It's something
done by Him. He did it. It's complete. It's
full. But what about until he comes
back? He says he's coming back, but
he ain't come back yet. Until he comes back, notice this. He said, I will not leave you
comfortless. Isn't that amazing? Knowing our
strife and our trouble that is going to face us, he gives us
his spirit. And notice the name he gives
the spirit. The Comforter. The Comforter. The Spirit of
God has a job. And what is that? That is to
comfort you. Isn't that amazing that the Spirit of God... We often think the Spirit of
God is only sent to rebuke me. That's not so. He's here to comfort
you. He's the comforter. And behold,
the comfort of the Spirit during our doubts and fears is this.
Paul says, In verse 16, the Spirit itself beareth witness with our
spirit that we are the sons of God. How do you know you're a
son of God? I tell you what, there's a lot of doubts about
that sometimes, isn't there? A lot of fears. But I keep coming
to the same conclusion. Every time I've had doubts and
fears in my life, I've always come to this same
conclusion that I am a son of God. Now where did that come
from? That's the Spirit constantly
comforting you. That's His job, it's His work.
He comforts us. And by His word, listen, He tells
us also the truth about our existence in this world, doesn't He? God's
not a... I like the scriptures that they're... They don't put
on a facade, do they? They don't put up a front. The
Spirit of God that comforts us tells us this also, that in this
world we shall suffer persecution. We will. We will suffer persecution. We will suffer great trials. The Spirit testifies that we
must suffer. Look at that, He says, If children,
then heirs, verse 17, heirs of God join heirs of Christ. So
be that we suffer with him, we shall also be glorified with
him. Now get this, our amount of suffering
in this life does not contribute to that glory. I'm thankful to that, because
there are people who suffer more than others, and people that
suffer more, what do they expect? They expect a greater glory,
don't they? How can you get a greater glory than Christ? How can you
add, by your suffering, add to the glory of Christ? You won't.
You won't. Every believer is going to receive
the same, which is what? The glory of Christ. Can you
find anything higher? You can't. The Spirit of God
comforts us with this. And in our suffering, it is His
work to do this, to keep us. What a work. I tell you what,
to keep me in the faith during my suffering and after my suffering
requires the power of God. I will not be able to keep myself.
I know that. Have you ever been able to keep
yourself from sin? Anybody? Can you keep yourself
from sin? Well, how could you keep yourself
in the faith? You can't. So what is this? This is the
work of the Spirit, that we should always continue in faith. Peter says we are kept by what? The power of God. Unto salvation,
ready to be revealed at the last time. Now tonight, do you believe
on Christ? Do you believe on Christ? See,
that's the evidence of the new birth, isn't it? that we believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. And we have confidence. Paul
says we are saved in hope. Everyone who is saved by the
Spirit of God, we have a constant confidence. Where does that come
from? Do you generate that? Do you have any confidence at
all of heaven, holiness, the resurrection? Do you believe
that? What gives you such confidence?
Well, that's the work of the Spirit of God. The work of the
Spirit of God is to keep us and give us continual, perpetual
hope. And so we see His work in regeneration,
we see His work in our giving of faith, we see His work in
comforting us, we see His work in in testifying of our union
with Christ and our sonship and our heirship to keep us in the
time of suffering by faith. And so tonight the apostle says,
and likewise, there's another work, I'm going to show you another
work of the Spirit of God in everyone that believes. He says
this, likewise the Spirit helpeth our infirmities for we knoweth
not what we should pray for as we ought. I want us to look at
the part of this work of the Spirit, namely a helper in prayer. A helper in prayer. Now listen, prayer is a very
mysterious yet vital and necessary part of the believer's life. It is vital. Can you imagine living a life
without prayer? Any believer can imagine living
a life without prayer would be torture. It would be misery. If I had not access to God, it
would be misery. One said this, as faith is the
breath of spiritual life, prayer is the voice of faith. He had
a baby. and that baby is born, and there's
so much pain of the mother, so much confusion going on, what
is the only thing the mother is really listening for? She's
waiting to hear that baby cry. Now, if that baby don't cry,
there's something wrong, isn't it? But if a baby is breathing,
you listen to me, it'll cry. And this is true of everyone
who is a believer in Jesus Christ. What's the first thing you did
when you were born again? You cried, have mercy on me. Be sinner. And that, oh, pardon. Pardon me. Have mercy on me. You cried, Abba, Father, be merciful. You in faith look to Christ as
the grounds that the Father might have mercy on you. What was your hope of mercy?
It was Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And we who cry to God, we know
it is His blood that has given us access. Isn't it? When you pray, you know you're
heard because of one thing. the blood of Christ. Now, go
to Hebrews. Hebrews, look at chapter nine. Not gonna spend much time here,
but I want you to see what the Spirit teaches us at the very
beginning. This is what he teaches at the
very beginning. Now, Paul has made a great, the apostles made
a great effort to show forth Christ as a high priest. that
all of those other high priests and all of those other sacrifices
were only a type and a picture of Jesus Christ, the great high
priest. And you know those other priests,
they went into that veil once a year. They went into the presence
of God only one time every year, and not without blood. They had
to have blood to go in there. But consider your great high
priest. He didn't use the blood of bulls
and goats. Look at verse 12. He said, neither by the blood
of goats and calves, but by His own blood. He entered in, how
many times? How many times did Jesus Christ
enter in with His own blood? Once. And what did He do when
He did that? He obtained something. He got
something those other priests never got. He got eternal redemption. He obtained it! He grabbed it!
It was His! Look at verse 24, "...and Christ
entered not into the holy place made with hands, which are figures
of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the
presence of God for us. Nor yet should he offer himself
often, as a high priest entered then to the holy place, every
year with blood of others. For then he must have often have
suffered since the foundation of the world. Listen to me, that's
exactly what the Catholic Church believes. That he is of necessity
crucified every time they pass out a cracker and some wine.
They believe that he must be re-crucified. Blasphemy, friends, that is absolute
and clear, plain blasphemy. Our Savior died once. Look at
what it says. But now once. At the end of the
world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
Himself. And as it is appointed to man once to die, but after
this the judgment, so Christ was once offered to bear the
sins of many. And unto them that look for Him
shall appear the second time without sin unto salvation. 14
of chapter 10. And this is the result of that
high priest's death. The result of it is what? He
hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. You that are
believers in Christ, what did He do for you? What did His offering
do? It perfected you forever. Wow! That's astounding to us. It's amazing what His blood has
done. But look at this. There's more. It's just a bountiful
supply that keeps on giving. Look at this. Look at verse 19. It says, Having therefore, brethren,
boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. Not only
did He enter in there one time, and when He did, He obtained
our redemption one time. He got it. He perfected us forever
when He did that. When He died, what happened to
the veil? That thing that separated everybody
else from God. Remember, only the priest could
go in there, nobody else. Only the high priest could go
in there. But when He died, the veil was rent from the top to
the bottom. That veil is speaking about His
flesh. When His flesh was rent, what
did He do? He made the way open. Now He says to you, Come boldly. You may come into the very presence
of God without reservation. Without doubt. Listen to me.
Without terror. Remember that mountain, Sinai,
when God was giving the law? What did Israel say? to Moses? They said, you go up for us or
we'll die. You know what Christ did? Christ went up for us. And now
He says this, better than Moses, because when Moses had to come
down with the law, you still couldn't go up there. But now
Christ has done something. He's honored the law. He's perfected
the law. And now He says, come on up. Come on up. It's safe. You're
welcome! Come boldly into the presence
of God. This is what prayer is. It is
actually entering into the presence of the Almighty God without reservation
or fear. That's what He says to us. He
has now and forever made open access to us before God. Paul says to believers, be instant
in prayer. You don't have to find the right
setting. You don't have to find the right mood. You don't have
to burn some candles and get it real dark and try to make
yourself feel like you can come. That has nothing to do with it.
You would drive down the car and instantly you could be in
the presence of God. That's it. You don't have to make a show. You
don't even have to say a word. You can do it in your head. Why? Because Christ has made
it clear. That's why I can go there. That's
how I can go there. He's made the way openly. And
listen to me. You can go there because He perpetually
intercedes for you. You know what was the problem
with those other priests? Other than their offering was not good
enough, they were not good enough. They all died. They all died. You had a good priest, he lasted
a few years and he died and you may have got a cruddy priest
the next time. But one thing about this is Christ
ever lives to make intercession for you. That's good because I need constant
intercession. I need a perpetual high priest
to stand between me and God. And because of that I can come
to Him. But notice what Paul says, go back to your text, now
that you have access. That's what prayer is. Prayer
is access. You have access by Jesus Christ. When? All the time.
Anytime. Every time. Now notice this. He said, likewise the spirit
also helpeth our infirmities. Infirmities. Because of the infirmities of
the flesh, we have trouble in prayer. You have trouble praying? Listen, I know I have access.
I know I have access. I know that Christ is interceding
for me and I know that He has made the way open. I know that.
Yet at times I cannot pray. And other times I just will not pray. Remember that hymn? He said,
"'Tis a point I long to know, oft it causes anxious thought.
Do I love the Lord, or no, am I His, or am I not?" In that
song, in that poem, he says, why is prayer a task and burden? You found prayer to be a burden?
Why is that? Isn't that a contradiction of
what prayer is intended for? It's intended for your good.
And yet we see it and we feel it within ourselves. Why? Because of the infirmities of
this flesh. You, if you have ever been this
way, believer, where you just can't pray, you feel so cold. Have you ever felt so cold? And there's times that I just
feel so cold and don't think my prayer would get above the
ceiling. So what I do, I just don't bother with it. I just
quit. Why is that? Because the infirmities of this
flesh If you're in such a condition
as this, I do hope this text now will encourage you, because
that's what it's intended for. It's intended to encourage you.
I want to have three things, three things I want to give to
you. First of all, the help the Spirit
gives. What is this help that the Spirit
gives? The Spirit helpeth our infirmities. Secondly, I want
to see what the Spirit puts in our hearts when we pray.
What is the work of the Spirit when we are praying? What does He put in there? And
thirdly, what is the end of all prayer? What is the purpose of
it and the end of it? Look at this, infirmities. He
said, likewise the Spirit helpeth our... What are these infirmities?
What are they? They are both physical and spiritual.
Believers, we confess this, that I am full of infirmities. I am
full of them, physically and spiritually. Mentally, I am full
of infirmities, weaknesses. So what do we mean by weaknesses? We suffer sickness and pain,
we suffer grief and sorrows, we suffer mental illnesses. I know this is not mentioned
in church enough, but it should be. The old people used to call it
melancholy. We call it depression. Same thing. Same thing. We deal
with these infirmities of the mind. We deal with the infirmities
of this flesh. We are constantly surrounded
by these things. But not only this, we have spiritual
infirmities. Consider the conflict that is
in us every single day with the old and new nature. Is that not
an infirmity? Does that not bring you to the
earth? It brings me down to the ground. This fight, this struggle
within. I'm going to give you an illustration. Faith. Are you often weak in
faith? Weak in faith. You know weakness
in faith is not what we normally think it is. The weakness of
faith oftentimes appears when we think we're the most strong.
When you think your faith is the most strong, listen, it's
probably the weakest. In chapter 14 and 15, and we'll
deal with this a ways away from this, but in chapter 14 and 15,
the apostle testifies of what weak faith looks like. You know
what weak faith looks like? It's somebody who's dependent
upon the law to help them. Anybody that is dependent upon
religious exercise is not strong. They're weak. And the strong
people know this. Those who are strong in faith,
they recognize that they're free from the law and they're not
looking to the law in any measure. How often do you look to your
flesh to measure your acceptance with God? What is that? That's weak faith. Because you're putting your faith
on something very weak. Yourself. Faith is not to look
to self. Faith is not to look to circumstances.
Faith is to look to Christ. And strong faith, what does it
do? It looks to Christ alone, regardless of what this body
or this world does. Strong faith looks to Christ.
But consider this. When we see somebody who is following
after the law, they think they're strong in faith. You say, look at that guy. You
know, man, he's so in tune with God that he won't watch a television
program because it may enter sin in his heart. Oh, his faith
must be so strong. No. If he's depending on not
watching television making him closer with God, no, he's weak,
Paul said. But now you that are strong in
faith that are leaning only to Christ, you know what our weakness
would be? Self-righteousness. What will we do? We look down
on a man like that. What is that? Self-righteousness. You see the infirmities we face?
They're constant. Either one in the spectrum or
the other. Full of infirmities. Full of them. But here is the result of the
infirmities of the flesh. We know not what to pray for
as we ought. That's what this happens. Why?
What these infirmities yield is this. I know I need to pray. I know I should pray. And even when I do, guess what?
I don't even know what to pray for. As I ought to know. So apart from the work of the
Holy Spirit, you'll never know what to pray for. This is the work of the Spirit.
If you ever pray from the heart, if you ever pray anything that's
right, it's not you. It's the Spirit of God working
in you to pray. This is especially true when
we are weak, weakened by our afflictions. In these times of
weakness, We are prone to ask God to remove the trouble. That's
a first instinct, isn't it? When you hurt, what's the first
instinct? Tell me. What is it? I want out. Have you not considered that
that may not be good for you? No, you hadn't considered that
at all. Because that's a first reaction of everyone who comes
into affliction. Everyone who comes into trials. But in these times we should
consider this, that our God is full of compassion, full of mercy. Our great High Priest, the Scripture
says, is touched with the feelings of our infirmities. You know
there is not one pain that you've ever experienced that He has
not had worse. He understands what you're going
through. He's not devoid of understanding
of your pain, of your affliction. He's touched with the feelings
of it, and He is compassionate about it. He's merciful. He knows
your frame. Don't you understand that? Don't
you think He knows your dust? You're weak? He does. And so I want you to understand
this at the offset. There are no restrictions to
prayer. God never says you can't pray
for this. Now there are times that believers
have prayed something amiss and God has corrected them. But they
did pray it. How many times have you prayed
things amiss? And God comes in and says, that's not good for
you. That's not good for you. There's no restrictions to prayers.
Ask what you will. Make your requests known unto
God. Is that what the scripture says? Make your requests known
unto God. Bring all your weaknesses and
sicknesses before Him, all your grief, all your tears, come boldly
with Him and lay them out. I think of every time I hear
that, somebody said, lay out your petitions. I think of Hezekiah. Hezekiah surrounded by his enemy,
no hope of ever getting out of it. What did he do with those
letters? Those letters of the enemy. He took them in before
the Lord and he just, he laid them, he spread them out on the
ground. And he laid down and wept. He
said, here they are. That's how you take your prayers
before God, whatever it is. Take it in there. Be instant
with it. God is compassionate and merciful
and He tells us to do so. Yet here's the rub, isn't it?
When we do that, we must leave the answer to our prayers in
His hands. What you want to do is you want
to lay your petitions out and you want to demand an answer
that you want. That's our instinct. That's the
infirmity of the flesh. I'm hurting. Take this away. If we lay out our prayers, it
is in God's hands to either give it or deny it. Is not our trouble given to us
of God? Is not this infirmity given to
us of God? We may ask Him to deliver us, but true prayer trusts His grace
to know what is best for us. True prayer recognizes God's
word. He said, I know my thoughts towards
you. Don't tell me what I think about
you. I'll tell you what I think about you. Thoughts of peace
and not of evil. We must trust his grace to know
he knows what is best. and what is best for His glory.
This is the work of the Holy Spirit in prayer. Remember the
Apostle Paul when he was exalted to the third heavens and the
Lord, He said in 2 Corinthians 12, He said, so that I might
not be exalted above measure. Now, he only knew that after
the thorn. He didn't know that While he was experiencing the
thorn in the flesh, he said, ìThe Lord sent a thorn in the
flesh, a messenger of Satan to beat me. And I asked the Lord
three times that He might deliver me from this.î And what was his answer? ìMy grace is sufficient for you.î
Listen, listen to why. For in weakness is my strength
made perfect. In other words, my strength is
manifest when you're weakest. If you're strong, what are you
not going to do? You're not going to pray. If
you're not sick, you wouldn't need to go to a doctor, would
you? But if you're sick, what do you do? You go to a doctor.
When you have infirmities, what's the first thing you do? You cry
to God. You see what the purpose of the
infirmities is? That you might receive His strength in your
weakness. So are you sick? Are you weak? Ask Him. Lay it out. But then, we must resign to His
answer and His will. This, my friends, is the work
of the Spirit of God in prayer. If you do that, that's not you. That's not you. That's the Spirit. Now what does the Spirit teach
us to pray? Look at verse 26. He said, likewise
the Spirit helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should
pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for
us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Here is the help
of the Spirit in this. He teaches us what to pray. He teaches us what to pray. In
our afflictions, it's in our afflictions that
we are We best feel and see the infirmity of the flesh. The flesh
cries for relief out of pain. The body is moved to cry to God,
listen to this word, with importunity. Importunity. You know what that
word means? Persistence to the point of annoyance. When God moves on us with these
infirmities, what are we going to do? We are going to cry to
the point of annoyance. Our Lord tells us that in Luke
chapter, I think it's chapter 11, yeah, chapter 11. He says,
he taught them the prayer, the Lord's prayer, and he said, you
know, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom
come, thy will be done. And then he gives an illustration
of this. He says, how do you pray to God?
And he said, you got a friend. And he has a visitor come in
the middle of the night, and they ain't got no bread to feed
him. And the visitor's starving. He's hungry. So what does he
do? He goes to his friend's house, and he knocks on the door, and
he says, give me some bread. I got a friend come over, and he's
starving, and he needs some bread. And the friend is all nestled
in his bed, and he said, oh, just come back tomorrow. I'll
get you some bread tomorrow. And he just keeps knocking to
the point of annoyance till that guy gets up and gives him some
bread. He said, that's how you should pray. Pray until you get an answer.
Isn't that right? You can pray and ask God until
you get an answer. This is what the Spirit does.
He moves us to prayer, to the point of annoyance. You wouldn't
do that on your own. You'd give up. You'd quit. What
keeps you going back to God? That's what the Spirit of God
does. And He teaches us this. He even commands us. And so as
we seek to deliver, deliverance. And I like the way he said this.
At the end of that, he said, that's how you should pray. And
he said, if you had a son, and your son asked for a fish, would
you give him a scorpion? If your child asked for some
bread, would you give your child a rock instead of some bread? And listen to what he said, he
said, how much more your heavenly father should give unto you,
listen to what he's gonna give you, the spirit to them that
ask. What do you, in reality, if I
wanna really pray unto God, what do I need? I need his spirit.
I need his spirit to tell me what to ask for, because I don't
know what to ask for as I should. I may ask for something that's
totally, horribly evil and not know it. Consider that deliverance from
my trials. I was talking to a pastor this
evening, and we were discussing the trials that we were facing. And they are grievous trials,
grievous, painful trials. And the thought occurred to me,
what kind of preacher would we be had we didn't have these trials?
Had God delivered us from these trials, how bad would that be
for you? You see, the necessity of our
afflictions and the Spirit, how do I know that? The Spirit teaches
us these things. Teaches us what to pray. And
as we seek deliverance, the Spirit then brings to mind Our hope
of deliverance is what? What is your hope of deliverance?
It's the same hope you have in prayer. It's Jesus Christ and
Him crucified. And so in view of His love and
sufferings, in view of His grace, the Spirit moves us then to bow
to the will of God. What makes you bow to the will
of God concerning your afflictions? Who does that? You or the Spirit? It is the spirit of God that
moves us to bow to the will of God. I remember that prayer of
the leper. Lord, if you will, you can make
me whole. Now, who was he? Did he demand that? He knew he was able, but he knew
this, if he was going to be healed, he had to be willing. Sinful
men pray like this, Lord, you can, therefore you must heal
me. Listen, that echoes to me. That
sounds just like my flesh. Doesn't it? Lord, if I'm your
son, surely you must heal me. Instead, the Spirit teaches us
to pray like this, Lord, I know you can. I don't have any doubt
you can. If you will. If you will. The Spirit teaches us to pray
in humble submission. And so then, the Spirit then
will give us not only what to say, It will also comfort us
regardless of the answer. The Spirit of God, are you troubled? Has the Spirit caused you to
be impetuous in prayer? Then pray, pray without ceasing.
Knock and keep on knocking. Ask, keep on asking. But the Spirit also teaches us
to relinquish all the authority to the will of God. You can, if you will. I'll give you this last thing,
the end of prayer. The end of all spiritual, true
spiritual prayer is according to the will of God. Look at that,
he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the
spirit because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the
will of God. Why does God always hear us? Because the Spirit is constantly
making intercession for us. Listen to this, according to
the will of God. Why are you praying? According
to the will of God. Now, I told you prayer is a mystery,
right? Because God is sovereign. Everything
has already been determined. God said, declaring the end from
the beginning, from ancient times, the things that were not yet
done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. Why pray? because it is the will
of God that we pray. If you've ever prayed, know this,
God willed it, God determined it. This intercession, this intercession,
notice this, in the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the
saints. It's only intercession for the saints, only those who
are sanctified by God, The saints of God in prayer always
pray because the Holy Spirit dwells in us and He has taught
us to groan. Notice this. Look at verse 26 again at the
very end of that. He makes an intercession for us with groanings
which cannot be uttered. Do you groan within yourself?
Do you believe or are you groan? I want you to know that groaning
is a prayer. When you can't find the words,
groaning is enough. Why? Because the Spirit intercedes
for us according to the will of God. This is the will of God
that He intercedes for us. I often like to see it like this.
When I pray, I don't always know what to pray, and I ask for whatever
I will. I lay it out before God. But
I know this. Whatever is not good for me,
the Spirit of God intercedes. and whatever is good for me,
and whatever is for the glory of God, that is what rings in
the ears of God, and that is what God will do. What is good
for me, and what is good for His glory. You can be assured
of that. Why? That's according to the
will of God. So as we've grown before God, we must know this,
that everything is working according to the will of God. Therefore
God, the Holy Spirit, will put in your hearts, according to
His will, exactly what you need to pray. And when He does, what
does the Spirit of God teach us? The Spirit of God teaches
us this, that we must yield to the will of the Father. Did not
the Son do this? Our Lord Jesus Christ, did He
not yield to the will of God? He said, Father, let this cup
pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but
thy will be done. That's true prayer. The Spirit of God helpeth our
infirmities. Are you infirmed? In the flesh? In the Spirit, are you infirmed? Well good, you've got a helper.
Not just any helper, you have the Spirit of God to help you.
To sustain you, to keep you in prayer. And then as you pray,
He gives you the words that you need to say. And whatever is best for you
is what is lifted up before God, and that's exactly what God's
going to do. So what is the heart than to do. The Spirit of God
teaches us to submit to the will of God. And so have you submitted
to the will of God in your infirmities? Can you? Can you do that on your
own? No. That's the work of the Spirit
of God. And this is the work that the
scripture here is testifying is going to be done. It's done
every time you pray. Every time you pray, you are heard. You are heard. Not with the ears
of a callous judge, but a loving Father. And that's what we're
going to get into next. Remember, all things work together
for your good. Isn't that what's next? That's
what true prayer teaches us, what the Spirit teaches us. Are you that way all the time?
No. That's why you need to be taught. I'm a slow learner. I
don't know about you. I'm just a slow learner. But the Spirit
of God is constantly teaching us this. I pray God will help
you with this. Let's stand and be dismissed
in prayer. Glenn, dismiss us in prayer please. to save your country from its
suffering. Thank you Lord for this access. You've given us permanent rations
for meals, long periods, long periods to save our country
from its suffering. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. She won't come.