PRAYING IN THE SPIRIT: DIRECTION

God knows what we do not know. He sees into a future we cannot see. The all-wise, sovereign Lord knows how answering our prayer might have implications on others, far beyond anything we could dream possible. Some of the best answers are those God denies. We may ask for something we think would help and it would actually hurt. Other good answers are not just those that are denied, but that are delayed. It may be a matter of timing—that if God granted the answer today, it would be bad, but granted tomorrow is best.

Then, there are times the burden is so heavy we cannot articulate it, even if we knew what was best, and all we can do is groan. This is how Paul put it in Romans 8:26-27, “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. 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.” There is a lot of groaning in this world, and ample mention in this chapter: the groan of creation in sin (Rom.8:22), the groan of Christians in suffering (8:23), and now the groan of communion in supplication (8:26). But, the Spirit of God takes our feeble prayers and translates them into a powerful petition to God, and always according to His will.

We have two children—our oldest daughter and youngest son—that have juvenile diabetes. That means—barring a miracle—they will be insulin dependent the rest of their lives. Each day, numerous times a day, they must prick their finger, check their blood and inject insulin. If they don’t get enough insulin then they are endangering their lives should the blood sugar go up and stay up too high. But, there is also the risk of too much and the blood sugar dropping to hazardous levels. It is an inexact science.

One night, our son Corey was going into hypoglycemic shock in his sleep. What we heard from him was groaning. He was helpless to tell us what was wrong and helpless to do anything about it. But we knew what the groans meant and what needed to be done! We got some syrup in his mouth and got him awake enough then to eat a bit and he was fine. We responded to the groans!

So, God’s Spirit hears our groans, when we are burdened and don’t know what to say. Have you ever been there—when all you could do was groan? I have experienced that—weeping, writhing on the floor, weary and worn, and all I could say at best was, “Oh God!” and “Dear Jesus help!” Then, the Spirit lifted my groans to glory and presented a powerful plea to God in perfect harmony with His will.

The Spirit not only gives us passion and power in prayer, but purpose in prayer. He gives us the desire, dynamic and direction for prayer. He is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.