1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,120 There is no such thing as a Christian life apart from an understanding of and a participation 2 00:00:10,120 --> 00:00:17,940 in the power of the Holy Spirit. It's possible to use the right language. It's possible to 3 00:00:17,940 --> 00:00:26,520 be busy. It's possible to be involved in ministry. And yet, and yet, it's possible to be involved 4 00:00:26,520 --> 00:00:33,840 in ministry, and yet, and yet to miss the central core of what the Christian life is 5 00:00:33,840 --> 00:00:44,200 all about. We only experience that when the Holy Spirit is empowering us in every involvement 6 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:49,880 that we have. And that includes our praying. Already we have noted in chapter 8 of Romans 7 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:56,400 a number of the ministries of the Holy Spirit to believers. Those include, in verse 2, setting 8 00:00:56,400 --> 00:01:03,640 us free from the law of sin and death. He is the Spirit of life. In verse 9, He is the 9 00:01:03,640 --> 00:01:10,480 Spirit of God who dwells in the believer. And if anybody does not have Him in dwelling 10 00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:17,520 Him, He does not belong to Christ. In verse 11, He is the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus 11 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:25,000 from the dead, and He will raise our bodies from the dead. In verse 13, He is the Spirit 12 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:32,280 who empowers us in the Christian life as we put to death the deeds of the body. In verse 13 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:40,320 14, He is the Spirit of God who leads the sons of God. In verse 15, He is the Spirit 14 00:01:40,320 --> 00:01:48,200 of adoption who encourages the sons of God to speak to their Father and call out to Him, 15 00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:57,400 God, Daddy. In verse 16, He is the Spirit who bears witness with our spirit that we 16 00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:03,020 are the children of God. And so these are all the ministries of the Holy Spirit to us. 17 00:02:03,020 --> 00:02:10,000 Today we come to one that is just as significant. It is His work in our praying. And it says 18 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:18,320 in verse 26 that in the same way, the Spirit also helps our weakness. For we do not know 19 00:02:18,320 --> 00:02:26,120 how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep 20 00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:32,800 for words. And He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is because 21 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:38,920 He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that God causes 22 00:02:38,920 --> 00:02:44,800 all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are being called 23 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:52,640 according to His purpose. Heavenly Father, this is a very uncomfortable day. And on a 24 00:02:52,640 --> 00:02:59,600 day, a humid, hot day like this, it is difficult for us to concentrate on the Word. It is easy 25 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:06,720 to be distracted. And I pray that You will help us, nonetheless, to be able to focus 26 00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:12,960 our attention upon this Word. And may the Holy Spirit speak to us and apply the Word 27 00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:19,800 to our lives. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. 28 00:03:19,800 --> 00:03:25,840 The Holy Spirit has a work to accomplish in our praying. In our text today, there are 29 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:33,160 three insights that we gain that will help us understand the importance of this work 30 00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:42,240 of the Spirit. The first insight is in verse 26 where it says, we have a weakness in prayer. 31 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:55,080 It is true that the prayer closet is a battleground. Prayer is a war. We have an enemy who seeks 32 00:03:55,080 --> 00:04:05,280 to stop our every advance in this warfare. The battlefields of prayer include laziness, 33 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:16,040 the lack of discipline, ignorance of how to pray and what we should pray for, and discouragement 34 00:04:16,040 --> 00:04:22,120 from not getting answers to prayer as quickly as we think we should or in the form that 35 00:04:22,120 --> 00:04:30,880 we think we should. What is the answer to the battle of laziness? It is making prayer 36 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:38,640 a priority, frankly, because that is what it usually indicates when we fail to pray. 37 00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:43,280 The prayer is not really that important in our daily schedule. Therefore, we need to 38 00:04:43,280 --> 00:04:47,880 discipline ourselves into prayer. What about ignorance of prayer? When we don't know the 39 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:55,080 basics, we need to go to the Word of God and learn what prayer is all about. One of the 40 00:04:55,080 --> 00:05:00,800 advantages of our directed prayer this morning earlier in the service was that Skip used 41 00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:09,560 the various parts of real prayer. We began with adoration, then confession, petition, 42 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:15,880 and thanksgiving, ending again with adoration. Those are the steps of praying. We can't 43 00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:19,880 pray successfully if we are ignorant of what prayer is all about. The devil wants to keep 44 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:27,280 us ignorant. Likewise, he likes to keep us ignorant of the prerequisites of praying. 45 00:05:27,280 --> 00:05:31,760 Did you know it is possible to go through the motions of prayer and not pray because 46 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:39,000 we haven't met the prerequisites? Let me just mention five of them to you. One prerequisite 47 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:48,360 for praying is an honest and complete confession of sin. In Psalm 66, 18 it says, If I regard 48 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:53,840 or if I cherish iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. And so if there is 49 00:05:53,840 --> 00:06:00,320 some sin that I am hanging on to, my prayers will be unheard and ineffective. I have to 50 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:08,120 begin with an honest and complete confession of sin. Secondly, there needs to be harmony 51 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:15,480 in the marriage. In 1 Peter 3, 7 it tells me that if my wife and I are having a spat 52 00:06:15,480 --> 00:06:23,080 and we don't get that settled, that my prayers will be hindered. Did you ever think about 53 00:06:23,080 --> 00:06:31,160 that? If your marital relationship is not harmonious, it is advantageous for your prayer 54 00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:39,560 life that you get that straightened out. Because this harmony in that marriage relationship 55 00:06:39,560 --> 00:06:47,760 causes our prayers to be hindered. Thirdly, a prerequisite for effective praying is healthy 56 00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:57,160 motives. In James 4, 3, James says, You ask and do not receive because you ask amiss, 57 00:06:57,160 --> 00:07:02,440 that you may consume it upon your own lusts. In other words, he is saying we ask sometimes 58 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:09,740 and don't receive because our motives are lousy. The word amiss there means diseased. 59 00:07:09,740 --> 00:07:14,440 We have diseased motives. Instead of asking for something for God's glory, we want it 60 00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:24,120 because we want it for our own use. That hinders prayer. And fourthly, James tells us that 61 00:07:24,120 --> 00:07:28,120 a prerequisite for prayer is faith. That should go without saying, shouldn't it? But we need 62 00:07:28,120 --> 00:07:37,640 to say it. In James 1, he says that if we ask doubting God and allow ourselves to be 63 00:07:37,640 --> 00:07:47,520 wavering like the sea, then we will not receive what we ask from God. Prayer in faith is what 64 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:54,920 God honors. And finally, a prerequisite for prayer is unity in my relationship with another 65 00:07:54,920 --> 00:08:01,760 believer. If I come to the point of prayer and I remember that I have not forgiven someone 66 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:08,680 for what he did to me, or if there remains an unresolved conflict or offense between 67 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:14,640 myself and another believer, then my prayers are not going to be heard. I need to stop 68 00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:21,960 what I'm doing right there and get that offense resolved. Making the apology, extending the 69 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:27,760 forgiveness, getting the understanding of the offense, whatever it involves, I need 70 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:35,160 to stop my praying and go get that straightened out and then come back to prayer. Those are 71 00:08:35,160 --> 00:08:43,000 the conditions for prayer. Satan wants to keep us ignorant of those. And then discouragement 72 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:49,720 is such a problem with many people. Often people, because they do not get the answers 73 00:08:49,720 --> 00:08:54,360 that they wanted when they wanted them, begin to think things like, well, I guess I'm not 74 00:08:54,360 --> 00:09:03,400 good enough. God doesn't hear me when I pray. Or they think something else that discourages 75 00:09:03,400 --> 00:09:09,640 them in coming to the Lord. Satan loves to get us down. He loves to discourage us, making 76 00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:16,760 us think that our prayers are not getting through, when in fact they very well may be, 77 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:22,160 because we've met the preconditions. You see, Satan knows that if he can make a preemptive 78 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:27,960 strike in our prayer life, he doesn't have to worry about us. If he can stop us short 79 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:33,720 of being effective in prayer, then he's not going to worry about our witnessing or about 80 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:39,060 our teaching a Sunday school class or anything else we may do, because he has stopped us 81 00:09:39,060 --> 00:09:45,720 at the point where we become effective, that is, in our prayer life. So prayer is a war. 82 00:09:45,720 --> 00:09:51,360 It's a battlefield. But that is not what Romans 8 is talking about. The apostle says 83 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:57,600 here that we have a weakness. And all the things I've talked about so far are not weaknesses. 84 00:09:57,600 --> 00:10:03,360 They're battles. He defines for us exactly what the weakness is. Do you notice it in 85 00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:14,080 verse 26? We do not know how to pray as we should. He does not mean by that that we don't 86 00:10:14,080 --> 00:10:20,520 know the general content of prayer. We ought to. But he's saying that there are times 87 00:10:20,520 --> 00:10:29,600 when we do not know the specifics to pray for, partly because of our humanity. We don't 88 00:10:29,600 --> 00:10:33,760 know all that there is to know about every situation, so we don't know how to pray for 89 00:10:33,760 --> 00:10:42,080 it in its specifics at times. And sometimes we don't know how to pray because we are 90 00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:47,800 ignorant of what the Bible teaches. Here's what I mean by that. Let's suppose that a 91 00:10:47,800 --> 00:10:52,800 person comes to you and says, I want you to pray for my husband. I know that he's being 92 00:10:52,800 --> 00:10:58,520 unfaithful to me. I want you to pray for me and for him. How do you pray for that person? 93 00:10:58,520 --> 00:11:07,360 What are the specifics that you should mention to God on their behalf? If you will study 94 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:10,920 the Bible, you will find that there are some specific things that you should pray for the 95 00:11:10,920 --> 00:11:16,720 husband and for the wife. And so sometimes we don't know how to pray as we should because 96 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:21,600 we're ignorant of the Bible, and that's correctable. The fact that we have human weakness and can't 97 00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:27,880 know everything to pray for, that's not correctable. We have a weakness in prayer. We don't know 98 00:11:27,880 --> 00:11:34,560 how to pray as we ought. We don't know what the situation demands at the moment. A missionary 99 00:11:34,560 --> 00:11:38,920 can write us a prayer letter, and if it takes a week to get there, those requests may be 100 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:44,400 outdated. And even if the request is still valid, we don't know exactly what the need 101 00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:53,480 is at 9.30 that evening over there in the Philippines. We have a weakness in prayer. 102 00:11:53,480 --> 00:11:59,720 We don't know the what to pray for as we should, but that weakness is no excuse for 103 00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:05,480 not praying. And the reason is because of insight number two, and that is that we have 104 00:12:05,480 --> 00:12:13,160 a helper in prayer. And that helper is the Holy Spirit. He says in the same way the Holy 105 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:23,360 Spirit also helps our weakness. He says the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings 106 00:12:23,360 --> 00:12:31,280 too deep for words. You and I are not left to pray in our weakness by ourselves. Having 107 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:43,720 weakness, admittedly, God has given to us a helper. Now He says that the helper intercedes 108 00:12:43,720 --> 00:12:53,600 for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. In other words, there are sighs, there are 109 00:12:53,600 --> 00:13:03,880 groans of the Holy Spirit that come from within us that are too deep for words. Have you ever 110 00:13:03,880 --> 00:13:12,840 been to the place of not knowing what to pray? Of course you have. And perhaps you felt frustrated 111 00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:17,160 in that moment because you didn't know how to phrase your request to God. You didn't 112 00:13:17,160 --> 00:13:25,040 know what the right thing to pray for was. At that instant, the Holy Spirit came to help 113 00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:30,720 you in your prayer life. And though you may not have heard a sound or been aware of it, 114 00:13:30,720 --> 00:13:38,440 the Holy Spirit used your prayer burden, that pressure from within you, as an occasion to 115 00:13:38,440 --> 00:13:47,360 lift to God a request on behalf of that need. When it says here that the Spirit helps our 116 00:13:47,360 --> 00:13:53,720 weakness, it uses an interesting word. It means to lend a hand together with someone 117 00:13:53,720 --> 00:14:04,240 else. It means to come to the aid of someone or to take a share in something. It's beautifully 118 00:14:04,240 --> 00:14:11,120 illustrated for us back in Luke 10, where I invite you to turn. On an occasion, Jesus 119 00:14:11,120 --> 00:14:18,240 was traveling and came to the village of Bethany. There he visited with some of his favorite 120 00:14:18,240 --> 00:14:27,000 people, Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. It says that Martha welcomed him into her home, Luke 121 00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:34,320 10, verse 38. She had a sister called Mary who, moreover, was listening to the Lord's 122 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:39,960 word seated at his feet. So you get the picture. Jesus came into the home. Martha welcomed 123 00:14:39,960 --> 00:14:47,160 him in. Immediately he sat down, and there were disciples and others, and Mary, who sat 124 00:14:47,160 --> 00:14:54,240 there listening to Jesus speak. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations. 125 00:14:54,240 --> 00:14:59,200 Mary Martha was concerned about the meal. Now there are some women like that, and I'm 126 00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:05,720 not unhappy for them at all. I enjoy people who enjoy cooking. She was out in the kitchen 127 00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:10,880 banging the pots and pans around, trying to get the oven warmed up, getting things ready 128 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:14,400 for the meal that was going to be necessary for this crowd of people who happened to pop 129 00:15:14,400 --> 00:15:22,000 in on them. It says she came to the Lord and said, Lord, do you not care that my sister 130 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:29,760 has left me to do all the serving alone? Tell her to help me. You parents have heard that, 131 00:15:29,760 --> 00:15:38,600 haven't you, before? Mom, make him help me. Do the work. Well, here Martha, a grown lady, 132 00:15:38,600 --> 00:15:45,160 comes to the Lord and gives a similar complaint. She says, Lord, tell her to help me. Now when 133 00:15:45,160 --> 00:15:49,920 Martha used that word help, she used exactly the same word that Paul uses in Romans 8 of 134 00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:55,480 the Holy Spirit. Now Martha was not saying, Lord, I want to sit in here. You tell Mary 135 00:15:55,480 --> 00:16:00,520 to go in the kitchen and do the work. But what she said was, Lord, tell her to come 136 00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:07,000 in here and help me. Give me a hand so we can work together. Now Jesus kindly rebuked 137 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:11,720 Martha and told her that Mary actually had chosen the better thing to do. But the point 138 00:16:11,720 --> 00:16:17,040 I want to make is that verb help. Because you see, the Holy Spirit helps us. It does 139 00:16:17,040 --> 00:16:22,640 not mean that you and I should not pray because the Holy Spirit will pray for us. But it means 140 00:16:22,640 --> 00:16:29,960 that as we pray and we come to these times of weakness, that the Holy Spirit is there 141 00:16:29,960 --> 00:16:36,680 to help us, to lend us a hand. And even though we cannot utter in verbal form what the petition 142 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:44,440 is, the Holy Spirit will nonetheless pray through us and intercede for us with groanings 143 00:16:44,440 --> 00:16:48,200 too deep for words. 144 00:16:48,200 --> 00:16:53,880 Now there are some additional insights that I want to point out to this very special ministry 145 00:16:53,880 --> 00:17:00,320 of the Holy Spirit. Go back to John chapter 16 for a moment and look at verse 23. This 146 00:17:00,320 --> 00:17:05,360 is a favorite prayer promise that a lot of people like to look at. But they often overlook 147 00:17:05,360 --> 00:17:13,360 something that is significant in this verse. Verse 23 of John 16, And in that day you will 148 00:17:13,360 --> 00:17:20,320 ask me no question, truly, truly, says Jesus to his disciples here, if you shall ask the 149 00:17:20,320 --> 00:17:27,120 Father for anything, he will give it to you in my name. Look at verse 26, In that day 150 00:17:27,120 --> 00:17:33,040 you will ask in my name. And I do not say to you that I will request the Father on your 151 00:17:33,040 --> 00:17:37,080 behalf for the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I 152 00:17:37,080 --> 00:17:39,480 came forth from the Father. 153 00:17:39,480 --> 00:17:44,160 And so we have this great promise that we can come and pray in Jesus' name. But do 154 00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:56,040 you notice those first three words in verse 26? Verse 23, In that day. In other words, 155 00:17:56,040 --> 00:18:02,680 Jesus is saying to his disciples, right now you cannot do this. But in that day you can 156 00:18:02,680 --> 00:18:11,460 pray in my name and the Father will hear you. Now what does he mean by in that day? We find 157 00:18:11,460 --> 00:18:19,680 out by going back to John chapter 14. Beginning in verse 16 we have the answer. Jesus again 158 00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:24,920 to his disciples, I will ask the Father and he will give you another helper that he may 159 00:18:24,920 --> 00:18:33,880 be with you forever. Another helper means one just like me. That is, says Jesus, the 160 00:18:33,880 --> 00:18:41,920 Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it does not behold him or know him, 161 00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:47,680 but you know him because he abides with you and will be in you. In other words, Jesus 162 00:18:47,680 --> 00:18:56,640 says there is a change coming. This helper who is just like me, this Spirit of truth 163 00:18:56,640 --> 00:19:04,560 is now with you, but he will be in you. Verse 18, I will not leave you as orphans, I will 164 00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:09,100 come to you. In other words, Jesus says I am going to go away but I am going to come 165 00:19:09,100 --> 00:19:15,400 to you. I will come back. He is coming in the person of the Spirit. After a little while 166 00:19:15,400 --> 00:19:20,800 the world will behold me no more, but you will behold me because I live, you shall live 167 00:19:20,800 --> 00:19:29,040 also. In that day you shall know that I am in my Father and you in me and I in you. So 168 00:19:29,040 --> 00:19:36,480 in that day is used again. What day is Jesus pointing to? Well, he is looking ahead to 169 00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:43,480 the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. He is saying right now my beloved 170 00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:54,480 disciples, you may pray and you may ask me, but in that day I will have gone away and 171 00:19:54,480 --> 00:20:00,720 you will receive on that day another helper, the Spirit of truth. And beginning on that 172 00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:10,960 day you may pray in my name and exercise that authority. You see the point? The Holy Spirit 173 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:19,480 has been given to us in this age in a very special way to help us in our prayer lives. 174 00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:26,840 We see this further by what the Apostle says in Ephesians 6, verse 18. After explaining 175 00:20:26,840 --> 00:20:32,560 to us how important it is that we put on the whole armor of God, taking up each piece and 176 00:20:32,560 --> 00:20:41,040 putting it in place, he says finally, with all prayer and petition, verse 18, pray at 177 00:20:41,040 --> 00:20:51,980 all times in the Spirit. We are to pray in the Spirit. That is similar to what Jude says 178 00:20:51,980 --> 00:20:58,220 in verse 20 of his little epistle when he says, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves 179 00:20:58,220 --> 00:21:07,280 in the love of God. What does it mean to pray in the Holy Spirit? What it means is that 180 00:21:07,280 --> 00:21:13,720 the Holy Spirit energizes our praying. Just as we depend upon the Holy Spirit to help 181 00:21:13,720 --> 00:21:20,120 us in our witnessing and every other aspect of our Christian living, so we are to be consciously 182 00:21:20,120 --> 00:21:28,560 dependent upon the Holy Spirit as we pray. He is here as our helper. He is here as our 183 00:21:28,560 --> 00:21:37,080 teacher to teach us what it is to pray. I think it also means that he is working to 184 00:21:37,080 --> 00:21:45,160 conform our prayers to the very prayers that Jesus Christ would offer. I think really that's 185 00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:51,280 what it means to pray in Jesus' name. I am asking God what Jesus would ask for. I am 186 00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:58,320 praying in his name, in his place. The Holy Spirit takes your prayers and mine and he 187 00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:06,840 conforms those petitions to the petitions of Jesus Christ. Andrew Murray, a writer for 188 00:22:06,840 --> 00:22:13,600 a different generation but who is still powerful in speaking to us today by his books, says, 189 00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:20,800 The Holy Spirit, descending from Christ to us, draws us up into the great stream of his 190 00:22:20,800 --> 00:22:27,520 ascending prayers. The Spirit prays for us without words, in the depths of a heart where 191 00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:34,400 even the thoughts are at times formless. He takes us up into the wonderful flow of the 192 00:22:34,400 --> 00:22:41,960 life of the triune God, though through the Spirit Christ's prayers become ours and 193 00:22:41,960 --> 00:22:50,520 ours are made his. Isn't that tremendous? What a thought! He goes on to say, Living 194 00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:55,360 in the name of Christ is the secret of praying in the name of Christ, and living in the Spirit 195 00:22:55,360 --> 00:23:02,400 is necessary for praying in the Spirit. Abiding in Christ gives the right and power to ask 196 00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:12,200 for what we desire. The extent of our abiding is equivalent to our power in prayer. In other 197 00:23:12,200 --> 00:23:21,360 words, as I abide in Christ, I have power in prayer. If I am not abiding in Christ, 198 00:23:21,360 --> 00:23:30,080 I have no power in prayer. The Holy Spirit is given to you and to me that he might energize 199 00:23:30,080 --> 00:23:36,840 our prayer. As we abide in Christ and appropriate the power of the Holy Spirit, as we have talked 200 00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:44,360 about in recent weeks, then our prayers are conformed to the prayers of Christ and God 201 00:23:44,360 --> 00:23:52,380 hears them and answers our prayers. You and I have a helper in prayer, and that gives 202 00:23:52,380 --> 00:24:02,600 us confidence in prayer. Verses 27 and 28 talk about that. Our confidence in prayer 203 00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:12,120 is really two-fold. It says, And he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit 204 00:24:12,120 --> 00:24:24,160 is. Many commentators say that it is God the Father, that he is the one who searches the 205 00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:29,800 hearts. Personally, I believe that it is God the Son, that this is the Lord Jesus Christ. 206 00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:36,880 Over in Revelation 2, verse 23, it says, All the church will know that I am he who searches 207 00:24:36,880 --> 00:24:44,800 the minds and hearts. That is a quotation of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, I search the 208 00:24:44,800 --> 00:24:51,880 minds and the hearts. Here it says, He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of 209 00:24:51,880 --> 00:25:05,200 the Spirit is. One reason that I enjoy going to Cub Foods is because the price is there. 210 00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:10,560 Another reason I enjoy going is because I like to watch them draw each of the articles 211 00:25:10,560 --> 00:25:18,580 that I buy over that scanner. Isn't that neat? Automatically, that computer is able 212 00:25:18,580 --> 00:25:23,560 to read that and write up on that piece of paper what I buy and how much it costs so 213 00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:28,960 that I can go back home and review my whole shopping spree and weep as I get to the bottom 214 00:25:28,960 --> 00:25:35,400 to see the total. A scanner is an amazing thing. You know what this verse is telling 215 00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:44,040 me? That in a way, that is what the Lord Jesus Christ does with our hearts. He continually 216 00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:57,080 scans. He searches our hearts. As He does that, the Spirit of God intercedes for us. 217 00:25:57,080 --> 00:26:04,280 He lifts His wishes, His desires, which are the will of God for us so that the Lord Jesus 218 00:26:04,280 --> 00:26:11,360 Christ sees those requests and lifts them in His high priestly ministry to God the Father. 219 00:26:11,360 --> 00:26:17,040 In that way, my prayers and even times when I don't pray and the Holy Spirit lifts 220 00:26:17,040 --> 00:26:23,720 His requests through me with groanings too deep for words, those requests are read by 221 00:26:23,720 --> 00:26:32,240 the Lord Jesus Christ and given to God the Father. I have that encouragement and that 222 00:26:32,240 --> 00:26:38,680 confidence in prayer that the Holy Spirit is interceding for me continually according 223 00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:45,040 to the will of God. I think this also involves a filtering process. Aren't you glad that 224 00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:50,640 God hasn't answered every prayer you've ever prayed? Some of the things we pray are 225 00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:58,560 so dumb. I remember visiting someone in the hospital one time and this person was praying 226 00:26:58,560 --> 00:27:07,360 and he was going in to surgery the next morning. X-rays had indicated there was something there 227 00:27:07,360 --> 00:27:13,800 and the doctor was quite concerned about that shadow, that mass. He wanted to go in and 228 00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:19,080 find it and see what it was. You know what this person prayed? Lord, help the doctor 229 00:27:19,080 --> 00:27:25,880 not to find anything. I thought to myself, now wait a minute, why are you praying that? 230 00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:29,360 You pray that the doctor be blind and not be able to see the mass that's in there? 231 00:27:29,360 --> 00:27:33,440 Lord, I pray the doctor won't find anything. Now I think the Lord knows what the person 232 00:27:33,440 --> 00:27:39,600 means in a case like that. That's not very intelligent prayer really. There are times 233 00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:44,400 when you and I ask things that are not really too smart and the Holy Spirit filters our 234 00:27:44,400 --> 00:28:00,240 praying. That's important. So what gets through to God is the will of God. The Holy Spirit, 235 00:28:00,240 --> 00:28:06,240 because of His ministry in our prayer lives, gives us confidence. Gives us confidence in 236 00:28:06,240 --> 00:28:12,920 prayer. Then it says in verse 29 that the other aspect of our confidence is this, that 237 00:28:12,920 --> 00:28:19,080 because the Holy Spirit is continually bringing requests to God on our behalf, we know that 238 00:28:19,080 --> 00:28:24,840 God causes all things to work together for good. To those who love God, to those who 239 00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:31,240 are the called according to His purpose. In other words, believers. Those last few phrases 240 00:28:31,240 --> 00:28:37,160 describe the true Christian, those who love God, those who are His called according to 241 00:28:37,160 --> 00:28:43,080 His purpose, which we'll talk about at a later time. He says that we who are His people 242 00:28:43,080 --> 00:28:51,520 have this confidence that God causes all things to work together for good. It does not say 243 00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:57,080 here unfortunately that all things will be good for the Christian. There are some things 244 00:28:57,080 --> 00:29:04,560 that are perfectly miserable. We still hurt, we suffer pain, we have heartache, we go through 245 00:29:04,560 --> 00:29:13,000 trials, we have disappointments. There are times that we weep. Sometimes living for Jesus 246 00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:22,800 Christ is right down hard. There are times when every day with Jesus is not sweeter than 247 00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:31,960 the day before. Because of the circumstances that we pass through in this world. This verse 248 00:29:31,960 --> 00:29:38,920 does not say that all things are good, but it says that God takes all of our circumstances 249 00:29:38,920 --> 00:29:46,200 and He brings them out to good. That's the confidence that we have. It's sort of like 250 00:29:46,200 --> 00:29:56,120 a pharmacist. If you were to take some of the ingredients in your medicine all by themselves, 251 00:29:56,120 --> 00:30:04,840 they might hurt you or even kill you. But a pharmacist takes the order of a physician. 252 00:30:04,840 --> 00:30:12,880 He takes the ingredients off the shelf, some of which are dangerous, and he blends them 253 00:30:12,880 --> 00:30:23,640 together and mixes them in the right proportion so that you have not poison but medicine to 254 00:30:23,640 --> 00:30:31,160 your life. My friend God takes the circumstances of your life and like a master pharmacist, 255 00:30:31,160 --> 00:30:41,480 He blends and mixes together all of the circumstances and brings it out for good, not for ill. 256 00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:48,080 You can trust Him. A beautiful illustration of this is Joseph, isn't it? Genesis 50 257 00:30:48,080 --> 00:30:57,120 and 20 is the Romans 8 and 28 of the Old Testament. Joseph was cruelly mistreated by his own brothers. 258 00:30:57,120 --> 00:31:04,800 And when it came time that they understood who Joseph was as a prince in Egypt, they 259 00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:10,860 were fearful for he could do with them at that point as he pleased. Especially after 260 00:31:10,860 --> 00:31:16,680 their father died were they frightened because that was his perfect opportunity to get even 261 00:31:16,680 --> 00:31:22,560 with them. And so in Genesis 50 they come to him trembling and quaking and fearful. 262 00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:30,560 And you know what Joseph says to them? They expect the worst. And he says, all that you 263 00:31:30,560 --> 00:31:39,360 did to me, you intended for evil. And they did. But God has brought it out for good. 264 00:31:39,360 --> 00:31:51,080 There are some of you today that are in tough circumstances. The situation you face, you 265 00:31:51,080 --> 00:31:57,160 don't even know how to pray about it. May I encourage you today for the fact that you 266 00:31:57,160 --> 00:32:03,120 have a helper within you and though you may not know what to pray for, He does, and as 267 00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:07,880 you bow in prayer and that burden just rests on your heart and you're silent, not knowing 268 00:32:07,880 --> 00:32:15,400 what to say, God the Holy Spirit is lifting prayer requests to God the Father according 269 00:32:15,400 --> 00:32:23,600 to the will of God for you. And because of that will you please be confident that God 270 00:32:23,600 --> 00:32:30,480 is working in your circumstances? No longer resist and rebel and get mad and angry at 271 00:32:30,480 --> 00:32:40,080 God. I tell you there are some people so mad at God. A missionary friend of mine related 272 00:32:40,080 --> 00:32:48,400 a story that illustrates this touchingly. He was in Japan and a fellow missionary who 273 00:32:48,400 --> 00:32:58,200 had given up the luxuries of America such as they are and had gone to Japan with his 274 00:32:58,200 --> 00:33:06,560 little family, lost a child. The little child died despite the fervent pleading of this 275 00:33:06,560 --> 00:33:15,520 family with the Lord. At the cemetery this little body was being buried and this missionary 276 00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:31,520 said, this is the will of God for me and my family. We rejoice and choose to give Him 277 00:33:31,520 --> 00:33:45,840 that glory in it. There's a man who believes Romans 8.28, who though he weeps and though 278 00:33:45,840 --> 00:33:52,240 his heart breaks is able to say, God is going to bring this out for good. Will you believe 279 00:33:52,240 --> 00:34:00,080 that? Let me leave you with three brief applications to our lesson in the Word of God today. Number 280 00:34:00,080 --> 00:34:13,360 one, establish a daily priority of prayer in your life. Theoretically you may have that, 281 00:34:13,360 --> 00:34:22,520 but have you been keeping it? Have you been practicing it? Or have you gone to the battlefield 282 00:34:22,520 --> 00:34:30,240 and lost the battle in prayer? Listen, you make prayer a priority this week, will you? 283 00:34:30,240 --> 00:34:35,200 Establish a time when you and God will meet together. Let me encourage you as a part of 284 00:34:35,200 --> 00:34:41,300 this to study prayer. Get Andrew Murray and E.M. Bounds and the scores of other authors 285 00:34:41,300 --> 00:34:47,560 who have written about prayer and read them. That will help you understand prayer, but 286 00:34:47,560 --> 00:34:52,760 you don't want to learn to pray until you begin exercising it. Discipline yourself in 287 00:34:52,760 --> 00:34:58,700 prayer. Don't be lazy. Don't give up either. Don't get discouraged. Establish a daily priority 288 00:34:58,700 --> 00:35:08,560 of prayer. Number two, begin depending upon your helper to make prayer effective. Realize 289 00:35:08,560 --> 00:35:15,240 that you aren't left alone to pray. Depend upon the Holy Spirit. Ask Him to help you 290 00:35:15,240 --> 00:35:27,000 to pray effectively. Take time to listen quietly as He may impress upon your heart some petition, 291 00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:35,600 some what to pray for, some whom to pray for. And then search the Word as a part of that 292 00:35:35,600 --> 00:35:46,560 too. And finally, relax in God's sovereign work and loving purpose in your life. Instead 293 00:35:46,560 --> 00:35:52,360 of resisting and rebelling against God and your circumstances, will you today, like that 294 00:35:52,360 --> 00:36:03,240 missionary, be willing to say, Lord, I am in pain, I am in grief, I am uncomfortable, 295 00:36:03,240 --> 00:36:08,920 but today I thank you that you are working in my circumstances and I give you glory and 296 00:36:08,920 --> 00:36:17,440 thanks in it. Will you relax? Will you rest upon God's sovereignty? Will you be assured 297 00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:28,920 of His loving purpose? Heavenly Father, how I pray that you will make us effective prayers. 298 00:36:28,920 --> 00:36:36,120 It's much easier to talk about prayer or to read about it than it is to pray. All of 299 00:36:36,120 --> 00:36:44,280 us know that. And our need today is more in the area of practice than anywhere else. I 300 00:36:44,280 --> 00:36:51,160 pray that there will be some of your children here who will this week establish or reestablish 301 00:36:51,160 --> 00:36:57,720 prayers a priority every day. I pray that all of us may learn what it is to depend upon 302 00:36:57,720 --> 00:37:05,680 the helper you've given us in our weakness. And I pray that we may have confidence in 303 00:37:05,680 --> 00:37:13,120 prayer, knowing that as the sun searches our hearts continuously, that the Spirit is lifting 304 00:37:13,120 --> 00:37:19,040 up petitions on our behalf according to the will of God so that all of our circumstances 305 00:37:19,040 --> 00:37:28,520 are being worked out for good. Thank you for that blessed truth. In Jesus' name, amen.