Prayer Meeting 26/7/2022
The Spirit’s Help In Prayer
Our prayer for this study is entitled ‘Living by Prayer’. It’s from ‘The Valley Of Vison’ page 266; the book we predominantly read from.
O God of the open ear, Teach me to live by prayer as well as by providence, for myself, soul, body, children, family, church; Give me a heart frameable to thy will; so might I live in prayer and honour thee, being kept from evil, known and unknown. Help me to see the sin that accompanies all I do, and the good I can distil from everything. Let me know that the work of prayer is to bring my will to thine, and that without this it is folly to pray; When I try to bring thy will to mine it is to command Christ, to be above him, and wiser than he: this is my sin and pride. I can only succeed when I pray according to thy precept and promise, and to be done with as it pleases thee, according to thy sovereign will. When thou commandest me to pray for pardon, peace, brokenness, it is because thou wilt give me the thing promised, for thy glory, as well as for my good. Help me not only to desire small things but with holy boldness to desire great things for thy people, for myself, that they and I might live to show thy glory. Teach me that it is wisdom for me to pray for all I have, out of love, willingly, not of necessity; that I may come to thee at any time, to lay open my needs acceptably to thee; that my great sin lies in my not keeping the savour of thy ways; that the remembrance of this truth is one way to the sense of thy presence; that there is no wrath like the wrath of being governed by my own lusts for my own ends.
It’s prayer that motivates us, however, most the time we pray only when motivated. It’s prayer that is the catalyst to bearing our soul, not that we start with soul-bearing prayer. Let me read the verses for this study:
Romans 8:26-27
26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
John Calvin, in his commentary of this section in Romans writes:
The unbelieving do indeed blab out their prayers, but they only trifle with God. For there is in them nothing sincere, or serious, or rightly formed. Hence the manner of prayer aright must be suggested by the Spirit: and he calls those groanings, unutterable, in which we break forth by impulse of the Spirit, for this reason-because they far exceed the capacity of our own minds, and the Spirit is said to intercede, not because he humbles himself to pray or groan, but because he stirs up in our hearts those desires which we ought to entertain.
An unbeliever can but only pray trivial prayers. They cannot stir themselves to deep prayer. Okay, so you may say: ‘well at times my prayers are no better, and I do believe’. Yes, and that’s down to that prayer being over in seconds. No believer, no true believer, who enters prayer, no matter the state of their mind, no matter how trivial and how cold and callous they enter it, no matter how distracted they are, or guilt-ridden, will not in a short space of time experience the work of the Holy Spirit coming and taking over their prayer time, and drawing them into a deeper communion with God - where that prayer no longer wanders into obscure triviality and ends.
It's God, as Calvin says, who ‘knocks at our door, and thus opens for himself our hearts’. It indeed is not us who open our hearts. We hear it all the time, ‘open up your hearts to the Lord’. Yes, but that is not how it starts, we start mostly with (at best) a heart that’s lukewarm, and pensive, and a distracted mind.
A prayer that never gets away from distraction and into confession, is a prayer that the Spirit has not yet entered into.
Leon Morris writes:
The natural man does not groan over his weakness in prayer. Believers do, and this groaning is the work of Spirit in them.
It’s the Spirit working in us that causes us to groan; groan in sorrow, groan in guilt, groan in shame, groan in lack, grown in doubt. But groaning is for sure the work of the Spirit opening up our hearts. What are we if we have no deep feelings of all our infirmities or weaknesses, as they are called in the NKJV and the NASB? In fact, it says weakness in most but the King James version. ‘Weaknesses’ is a better translation because the word covers much more of the human condition. Notice here it says the Spirit helps our weakness.
Lenski writes:
The trouble is not only our weakness but also our inability to use our great means for obtaining strength as we should.
You see brothers and sisters, we do not only have weaknesses. We also have a weakness in seeking the means to overcome those weaknesses. Those weaknesses (well, most of them) will always be with us, but the greater battle is in our own inability to seek the strength we can obtain when we enter prayer. Your greatest weakness therefore is not the weakness itself, but the prayer you don’t enter into that allows the Spirit to open your heart, through groaning. It’s in that starting of prayer, and in the patience of that prayer, that the Paraclete, the Comforter comes, and opens our hearts.
Even if we still have not the most articulate words, the Spirit turns them into them as He intercedes on our behalf. See it as one giving language to a hurting child, or a wounded person who cannot speak or explain. Of course, there is always the wrong charismatic interpretation of this as praying in tongues, which is truly miles off.
John Macarthur says:
Contrary to the interpretations of most charismatics, the groanings of the Spirit are not utterances in unknown tongues, much less ecstatic gibberish with no rational content.
It’s important to note here, that the Spirit of God doesn’t just work in us to save us when we were dead in sins and trespasses, but the Spirit works in us when we are saved, but we not able to live that saved life to the full. How often are we walking in a place where we are not aware, or we are not focused, or carnal, or sinful, or worldly, or just downright not switched on as we should be as believers? The Spirit when we pray will bring us to a place of knowing, it will awaken us to pray the right prayers.
We are in ignorance and Spiritual limbo at times. We are saved but walking like we are not. We wouldn’t even know in those times what to pray for. Yet when we step into that realm, the Spirit takes over and our spirit is ignited. Isn’t it amazing how after we pray, we become so much more focussed on our purpose and our actions than we did before we prayed? All of a sudden, the will of God, doing things His way, thinking godly thoughts, become much clearer in our minds. Verse 27 tells us what becomes of prayers.
Romans 8:27
27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
How often do we pray the wrong prayers? How often do we pray in a way that is based on our pain, or worry, or concerns? How often do we pray in a way where we truly do not know what is best? How often do we pray with too much of our own agenda in mind? But mostly, and above all - we don’t pray because of the ongoing battle with sin in our life. Yet these verses from Paul ought to be so encouraging, because we have a helper in the Spirit who understands our struggles and battles.
Hebrews 4:14-16
14 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
The work of the Holy Spirit when we pray searches the heart and knows our needs, and knows our struggles, and in turn brings them into the will of God, that what we can’t even pray for, or attain, or even grasp, He does so on our behalf; it all starts with prayer.
A.W. Pink, in his book ‘The Holy Spirit’, in the section entitled ‘The Spirit Intercedes’ writes:
At no one point is the Christian made more conscious of his infirmities, than in connection with his prayer-life.
He continues:
The effects of indwelling corruption are such that often prayer becomes an irksome task rather than the felt delight of a precious privilege.
Prayer should not be something we fear due to failings. Prayer should not be something we avoid due to sin. Prayer should not be something we dread due to our mistakes or choices. Prayer should be something we ought to delight in due to whom we have interceding for us, and covering us, and helping us, and mourning with us, and leading us, and caring for us. All for the purpose of us becoming more like Him in nature and purpose, in order to bring Him glory.
Prayer is the solution, its where freedom is found. Don’t run from it; run to it - where you will be met with the Spirit who takes all we are and turns it heavenly.
Amen.
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