When I first started serving as a pastor, I can remember another pastor pulling me aside, and like, hey, come here, let me tell you how to do this. It was like he was going to give me the trade secrets of pastoring. Right? Some kind of hack, like a pastor hack, and he's like, hey, if you ever go to a church, and you're a guest speaker, you should always preach on prayer. This is what he told me. He said, people are always having a problem with prayer. Those sermons always hit. That's what he said. He said, he and people will always be convicted, they should pray more. And so, I actually took his advice; I went and guest-preached on prayer. And I found out that talking about prayer is so controversial. It's a terrible thing to do as a guest speaker, because nobody, nobody likes you. They don't think prayer works, and they get frustrated with you. But we are going to have here tonight, perhaps one of the best passages in all of the Bible to explain both why prayer is a problem. Why is prayer so challenging for us? and perhaps the most encouraging passage on prayer in the Scripture. So, I want to invite you to open up the Bible and go to Romans chapter 8, verses 26 and 27 with me. Romans 8:26-27. Romans 8 has been about the Holy Spirit and the work he is doing in our lives. And this is perhaps the most intimate, most relational thing yet that the Spirit is doing within us as he is interceding for us. He is praying for us to the Father. And so, we're going to talk about our prayer. And we're going to talk about the Spirit praying for us. And I hope that this will really be an encouragement to you. So, out of respect for God's word, if we could all stand up for the public reading of Scripture. We're just looking at these two verses, Romans 8:26-27. Please follow along as I read.
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
That's the reading of God's Word. Go ahead and have your seat. There's a handout there in your bulletin if you want to take some notes. We're going to really try to dissect why prayer is a problem. That's how I heard a pastor refer to it in a sermon about this text. He's like, prayer is such a problem for people. And this passage, flat out says that two things we learn about ourselves, and these might seem like harsh things, but these things are all setting up the encouragement that is to come later. Two things it says about me and you right off the top here in Romans 8:26. “Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our…” What does it say there, everybody? We are weak? All right. We need help. And I know there's a tendency within us for self-reliance. I don't know why this is, but I don't need you to help me, I'm doing just fine. But this is saying no, no, no, we have a weakness. And we are in need of help. And then it says just look at it specifically what is this weakness that we have for so whenever you see the word “for,” and we see it a ton here in Romans. “For” is always explaining what just came before it. Well, the reason we have weakness is we don't know what to pray for. As we are, we're not really even capable of praying the way that we really need to pray. We don't really know what we should be praying for. So, we need help because we're weak; specifically, we are weak when it comes to prayer, because we don't know the things we should be praying for.
And just to pick up on that thought, turn with me into the book of James. James chapter 4. And I want us to see how weak we are when it comes to prayer as James describes it here in James 4. James writes in this very hard-hitting kind of a way; it's kind of wisdom literature of the Greek Scripture here, and he just kind of gives you a bunch of thoughts that come at you very fast and he's talking about why we have quarrels and fights because we have passions. We have desires, we have a lust within us. And look at this, it says here in James 4:2, “You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.” And then he just says it like this. “You do not have because you do not ask.” Maybe you've heard that line before. Maybe you didn't know this is James 4:2. You have not because you ask not right.
So, the one reason that prayer is a problem. And you'll see we've got a lot of reasons that prayer is a problem here in the handout. Number one, prayer is a problem “because you don't pray.” That's the first problem that you've got. Most people that it seems like go to church these days would be happy to tell everybody else in the world that we're not a religion like the rest of the world. Christianity is not a religion. It's a relationship. But then when you actually talk to a bunch of Christians, they seem like they have a really hard time having a relationship, and they make it more into a religion. And prayer is how you demonstrate that you know God is there, you know that he cares. You know, he's your father in heaven. And you can show that you know who God is when you talk to him. When you ask your Father for things, when you know that he is there listening to you, and so you feel free to share with him your thoughts and to ask him to act for his namesake. So, one of the problems that we have with prayer is it's hard to do it, it's hard to be consistent with it. It's hard to wake up early and do it or find time in the middle of the day, or stay up late at night. A lot of people, if we took surveys here tonight, how is your prayer going? Is it steadfast, immovable? Is it kind of hit or miss? Is it rarely there? Seems like a lot of Christians are hesitant to check. Oh, yeah, I'm praying every day, plenty of time in the secret between me and God. It seems like a lot of people have not because we asked not, but that's just the beginning of the problem. Look at James 4:3. It says you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly; there is a wrong way to pray, and it is to spend it on your passions.
Prayer is a problem “because you pray selfishly.” Let's get that down for our second point there, a second dash. Prayer is a problem because you pray selfishly, your prayers are motivated by “me, myself and I,” here's what I need, want, or desire, here's something that I'm hoping that you're going to do for me. And yeah, you might pray for it to be God's will. Or you might pray for God to make it happen. But it's motivated with your own self-interest at heart. And God is not handing out idols. But I know a lot of people who've prayed for things and, really, they want those things more than they want God himself. And then they get angry at God when God doesn't give them what they've asked for. But really, why would God give you something just because you asked for it when that's really what you want, and you don't want him? See, you're asking wrongly. There is a user-error in prayer. Many people have prayed for things, and it was just because they wanted it. They weren't concerned if it was for God's glory, God's kingdom, and God's will. They just wanted it for themselves. And it flat out says in the Bible, if you're praying for your own desires, for your own selfish motivation, that's not going to work. God's not going to answer your prayer when your prayer is focused on you. So, if you don't pray, that's going to be a big problem. If you do pray, but it's all about you, that's not going to work.
Now go even further down here in James chapter 4, and look at verse 13. And one of the things people are praying for is they want to know God's will for their future. They want to know where they should go to school, who they're going to marry, what job they should have, where and what house should they buy? Where should they move? Where could I move where all the politics will match my own personal beliefs, where all the house prices will fit with my budget? Right? And for many people that clearly God's leading me out of the state of California, that's where those prayers have ended up, right? I mean, there's been a lot of that. Where should I go, for the future will come. Now you, who say today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit, yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. You don't know how to pray as you ought. You don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. You're like breath coming out of somebody's mouth on a cold day. Look, there it is, and then it's gone. That's who you are. He says here in James 4, picking it up now in verse 15. Instead, you ought to say if the Lord wills, that's how you pray, right? They're not, God make my will your will but God, make your will my will. If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that as it is you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So, whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him, it is sin.
Prayer is a problem “because you don't know tomorrow.” That's our third dash right there. There's a problem because you don't know what tomorrow may bring. You don't even know how many days you've got left. God has ordained all our days. God knows exactly how many more days each one of us has on planet Earth. We don't know how many more days we have. We don't know. It says you don't know God's will. You have to submit yourself to his will. And you should focus on the thing that's right in front of you. The thing that you have to do today, the thing that you know that you ought to do, but we don't pray as we are, we pray for tomorrow. And it's saying right here, you can't even know tomorrow. Look at you saying, here's what God wants you to do years in the future. The Scripture is flat out saying that's not how to pray; you don't know what's coming in the future. You don't know your tomorrow. Look at James chapter 5. He keeps going here. He says so many different thoughts. But he gets back to prayer again in James 5:13. And we saw that last week, if you were here, we saw that there is going to be suffering in this present hour, but there's coming a new creation, and there's coming a new body, and we are waiting for all the glory that is yet to be revealed. Was anybody here last week? Do you remember that? Do we have some things to look forward to? We have some things that are worth waiting for. Okay, well, we saw that because we are suffering now. And look at what he says here in James 5:13. “Is anyone among you suffering?” Well, the answer to that question is we have people in this room right now that are suffering, they're going through the trials and tribulations of life as we know it on planet earth. Well, if you are suffering, let him pray. When you're suffering, you should take those cares, you should take those anxieties, you should take those burdens. And you should humble yourself, acknowledging that you are weak, that you need help, that you don't know even maybe how to pray about those things. And you should cast those cares up to the Lord, knowing that he cares for you. Now, if you're cheerful, if you're rejoicing, if you're so excited about what's happening in your life right now... Is anyone cheerful? We've got those people here. We’ve got some people who are getting married this summer at our church. We’ve got two people who are graduating here, they just have or they're about to. We've got some people going through very exciting times in their life. Is anyone cheerful. Well, let him sing praise. Let's shout for joy. Let's rejoice in the Lord. Then it says this in James 5:14, “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.” I've been able to be a part of some of these times where people see that they're sick, and they reach out to the elders and we'll go to them, we'll pray for them, we’ll anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. Look at what it says here in James 5:15. “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” See, prayer is a problem. But there is also great power in prayer. Can I get an Amen from anybody in the congregation? Has anybody here ever been a part of praying for someone who was sick, and it seems like in response to those prayers, God does a mighty work to heal that person and raise them up. Anybody ever seen that before? I've seen that many times right here at this church. I've seen that where people looked like they were going to die, quite frankly. And that's basically what the doctor said was going to happen. And for some reason, God gave a group of people, a faith to pray for this person, to ask him to heal that person. And then that person made a recovery. I remember one day, I was there when the doctor said, I don't even know what other word I could use to describe this other than a miracle. And I don't even believe in God, right. So sometimes when you pray for people who are sick, God does a mighty work to raise them up, and there's thanksgiving, and people get very excited.
Look, God is answering our prayers. But go over with me to 2 Corinthians chapter 12 because here's an example where something was going wrong. This was either some kind of suffering to pray for, or some kind of sickness to pray for. This is 2 Corinthians chapter 12. And this is the apostle Paul, who writes Romans. This is him sharing his personal experience. And he has something happen here and it's become a famous story here in 2 Corinthians chapter 12. And you can see we'll pick it up in 2 Corinthians 12:7, that Paul had some amazing revelations. We know he saw Jesus on the road to Damascus, we know he had other heavenly visions. So, Paul got to see things that were things of the very glory of God, and it says here in verse 7, “So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited.” Now, I've spent time in my life trying to study what exactly this thorn in the flesh could be. And I've heard many different ideas. I don't know that I've been completely convinced exactly what this thorn in the flesh is, something people think it's some kind of physical infirmity. And that's one way we are weak is we get sick; our body breaks down. And we know that our body is groaning for the redemption that is yet to come. For when we see Jesus, we will be made like him, because we will see him as he is. Also, this could be a unique kind of persecution, a messenger of Satan, what like almost like an angel or some kind of evangelist of Satan, someone bringing a satanic message, demonic teaching, perhaps. So, I'm not sure exactly what this thorn in the flesh is. But look at 2 Corinthians 12:8. “Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.” Three times he goes before the Lord, and he's praying, hey, this thorn in the flesh is really bothering me. It's really painful for me. It's really kind of inhibiting my ministry. I don't know exactly what he says, but Lord, will you take the thorn in the flesh away? “Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in…” what everybody? Weakness. Okay, so here's the thing is we are going to pray against weakness. But weakness is who we are, and what we will experience. And so, there is no possible way that you can pray all the weakness away in your life.
And so, prayer is a problem “because you are weak.” That's the fourth dash we want to get right there. That's what our text makes very clear. We need help in our weakness. We don't even know how to pray as we are. Because when somebody gets sick, what's your go to reaction when somebody you know and love has some kind of disease that's going to bring pain in their life? It's going to restrict movement in their life, or it could possibly, and their life, you love somebody, and some kind of sickness comes in their life? Do you want to pray for healing for that person every single time? Let's just think this through my brothers and sisters, are people going to get healed every single time? We are all destined to die, the wages of sin is death. It is only a matter of time for each one of us. These are the facts. It is only a matter of time, and eventually, our weakness, our physical infirmities will lead to our death is something that maybe some of us haven't really thought all the way through, that I would encourage you to consider if you haven't had the privilege of seeing God answer your prayer to heal somebody. It's a powerful thing when you see God heal somebody. But have you seen how that story keeps going? Okay, when somebody gets healed by God and it's like, wow, we prayed, God answered. We're pumped up. We're praising the Lord. It's not like that person then lives forever in a protective forcefield of the power of God, from here to eternity. Everybody that Jesus and the apostles healed, they all ended up still dying. None of them are still with us. I've seen people get healed. And then I've seen those same people die. I remember one brother here at the church. I remember I was on the phone with his mom and his mom was pleading with me. He's the one who could unite our family. He's the one that God could use to bring revival in our family. He's the one that God could really do a mighty work through. And the mom sold me on it. I got a group of people here together at church, we prayed for this guy, he made a recovery that defied anything the doctors could come up with. And he was walking again. Everybody was just like, wow, can you believe this really happened? That man proceeded to fall away from the faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Just because God does a miracle of healing does not mean there's not going to be more weakness, sickness, and death.
And so, we are always going to want the suffering to stop and we are always going to want the sickness to go away. But that's not always the way that it's going to work. And so we're going to be praying against weakness, when the point of some of this is weakness. In fact, weakness is when God shows up. Weakness is where grace is made. Perfect weakness is when you finally realize you can't do it, but there is an almighty God who definitely can. The point Paul is making is that you would be weak, and you would understand your weakness. And Paul gets the point. He doesn't keep going against God's will for his life. He embraces the weakness. And he says here, after he gets this statement, “’My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses.” If it's about me being weak, so then Christ can be powerful. Well, then let me be weak, he says. I’ll boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” When was the last time you looked at your spouse and said, I'm so content with the calamities that are in our life right now? Because isn't this great? I mean, I've talked to so many people about trials just at this church, just in the last eight and a half years. I can't even count the number of conversations that I have had with people about trials. And it's hard to even imagine a trial that somebody had to try to remember, a trial that somebody had, where at the end of it, they're not saying, can I tell you what God did in this trial? People who are telling me, this is the worst thing that ever happened to me, and before we're done talking about it, this is the best thing that ever happened to me. Because I now know God in a way I didn't know before. When I am weak, then I am strong. See?
See, the way you're really going to learn how to pray is when you realize you're not able to pray. The way you're really going to find help is when you admit that you need it, because you are weak, and incapable and powerless. But you know, someone who is able and powerful. And so, you want to let him help you see. There was something that happened in Paul's life. And the purpose was to show him his weakness. And of course, he did what we would all do. He started praying against the weakness, but the weakness was the purpose. And that's where he found the grace and the power of God.
So go back with me to Romans, chapter 8, verse 26, and 27. And let's embrace, like Paul does, let's embrace what he's saying here. Let's stop being offended by what he's saying here. Let's really see that we need help because we are weak. It says, this is supposed to be encouraging. This is supposed to be uplifting, but you can't be lifted up unless you realize that you're down if you think you're fine. If you're self-reliant, if you can just do it your own way. If you're not weak, then you're not going to be encouraged by this sermon here. Because the Spirit is going to help you in your weakness. But if you've already got it on lock, and you're okay, then you won't be lifted up with his help. But the Spirit is here to help us in our weaknesses, because we don't know how to pray as we ought. Okay, so we got to, if we're going to see what the Spirit does, if we're going to be encouraged maybe to new heights in our faith here tonight, we’ve got to start with an accurate perspective of who we are. And it is hard for people like us to pray, because when it comes to life, we are weak. And we don't really know the right things to pray for.
And so, let's get this down for point number one: “You want to make the confession, you need intercession.” Make the confession, you need intercession. The Spirit is praying for you. The Spirit is helping you by interceding for you, and you need this Spirit to pray for you. And so, we’ve got to confess. To confess something, to make a confession, it just means to agree. God says something is true about you. I confess God says Jesus is actually the Lord of heaven and earth. I'm going to give him the name above every name, and every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that my son Jesus, he's the Lord. Well, then you confess Jesus as Lord, you agree with God that Jesus is the Lord. God says, you're a sinner. You’ve fallen short of my glory. You don't live up to my standard. Okay? I confess I'm a sinner. I agree with God that I have fallen short. Well, this is saying that we have weakness, specifically, we have a weakness, and we don't know how to pray. Are you ready to raise your hand here tonight and say I don't know how to pray, I'm weak? When it comes to prayer, prayer is a problem for me. Well, then, you can be encouraged by the rest of this sermon. But if you can figure it out by yourself, this isn't going to mean anything to you.
So, there's this problem that we have, and I understand it to some degree, I can relate to it. But it's kind of a ridiculous problem on set. I was with some of the brothers from this church, we were having a time of fellowship, we were out having dinner together. And the time for the bill came, there's a whole booth of us brothers sitting together. And now it's time to pay for the meal. And one of the brothers he's one shrewd dude, right? And he finds a way to get the bill and his cards already out. And he's like, already paying and all the other brothers realize that our bro is about to pay. He's about to pay for our food. And it's like, how dare you, brother? You know what I mean? Like, what are you thinking? And I mean, it's like, guys reaching, fast cards coming up quick. No, here's my card. How dare you pay for me? I mean, you can't pay for my food, bro. Right? I mean, that's what it is. It's like, why is there this thing that rises up like, I don't need anybody else paying for me. I'm over here sitting next to the guy like, this is super cool. He's going to pay for my dinner tonight. I'm really enjoying this. I'm going to go eat more meals with that guy. You know what I'm saying? Why is there this thing that rises up when you don't need to pay for my food? I thought we were friends, right? I mean, that's how it is. I have eaten with so many people, I might be talking about some of you specifically. I've eaten with so many people at this church. And I'm saying, hey, bro, let me get your lunch. You caught it last time. How dare you try to get my lunch two times in a row? Right? I mean, it's like, why are we so angry about this? You just got all the money you need in the world? Is that what you're saying? Like you don't need any help. You couldn't use some encouragement from somebody, a little gift from somebody? You're just fine. There is a pride of life within us. There is a self-righteousness within us. There is a I’ll figure it out. Just me, just my family. We don't need anybody else. Yes, you do. You really need a lot more help. Some of your biggest problems is you can't admit how much help you need. And you will go dying at not asking anybody for anything. And this is saying something we should know about ourselves is our weakness. And if the Spirit is showing up to help us, we should say yes, please, I could use some more of that.
Go with me to Luke chapter 10. Here's, here's another passage where it uses this same word of help. This is Luke chapter 10. And it's a story you might be familiar with. It's about two sisters, Martha and Mary. And here in Luke chapter 10, Martha, she's going around, she's busying herself with serving. So this is Luke chapter 10. And you want to look with me here, verse 14, is really the key verse. But we'll start in Luke 10:38. And maybe you know this family. There's Martha and Mary and their brother, Lazarus, and their friends with Jesus. We get to know them through the Gospels, Jesus does one of his amazing miracles of healing, when he raises Lazarus from the dead, and that causes all kinds of glory to be given to God that comes on in John chapter 11. Luke 10:38-40. “Now as they went on their way, Jesus[a] entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching.” Jesus just came over. He's teaching at your house. Mary's like, I'm getting a front row for the teaching of Jesus. Now, Martha's over here, look how it even puts it here in verse 40. “Martha was distracted with much serving.” What an interesting way to say it. I thought serving was a good thing. Martha is missing Jesus through the serving, is what it says. “And she went up to him and said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.’” Hey, catch an eye. I'm over here doing this all by myself. And look, my sister's just listening to your sermon. She's just enjoying the teaching. She's like sitting at your feet. She's basking in the words that you're saying. She's probably having the best experience of her life. Can you tell her to stop that right now and get over here and help me serve you? I wonder how many people here are so busy serving Jesus that they're not even ready to admit how much help they need from Jesus. See, they're not even really sitting at his feet and hearing what he has to say. And so, this help here is a real thing. See, and Martha, she kind of got stuck in this trap that a lot of people get stuck in, which is I'm going to go do all these things. And then as I'm trying to do all these things, I realized I've bitten off more than I can chew. It's kind of like, here's how I thought about myself, here's the reality of what I'm able to accomplish. And now my pride is meeting reality. And it's causing all kinds of anxiety. And now I'm casting out some desperate need for help when it would have been a whole lot better if I just admitted I needed help from the jump. And maybe we all could have listened to Jesus’ teaching, and then he could have miraculously whipped up some dinner for everybody. You know what I'm saying? I mean, because that's something he's prone to do. Right? And so, Mark, look at what the Lord answered her, ““Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.’” I'm going to say, Martha, look what Mary's doing. That's what we should be doing. She's chosen something which will not be taken away from her. When you humble yourself before the Lord, he will always lift you up. When you ask for help, you will always find grace in your time of need. The problem is your pride. The problem is you think you can do it.
When you realize that you need help, you will always find that help. You have no help because you ask for none. But when you ask for help, it turns out that the Spirit, this is what is so encouraging about our text, the Spirit is already helping you whether you ask for it or not. Whether you acknowledge it or not, whether you know about it or not. On that morning that you miss your alarm, and you're frantic, and you’ve got a lot to do, and you're running out the door, and now you're driving to work and you're saying, I didn't read my Psalms. I didn't pray. Now I don't even feel ready for the day. Do you know that the Spirit is already helping you? Because the Spirit is already praying for you? Did you know that? Did you know that the Spirit that God has given you, the Spirit of life who lives in you, he prays for you? He intercedes for you. He knows you're weak. He knows you don't even know what you should be praying for. And so, he is helping your weakness by praying for you. He is praying in your place.
Go back to Romans 8. This is what it says. It says the Spirit helps us and it says he intercedes for us. And it says he intercedes for us two different times in these two verses. The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We’re weak. We don't know how to pray as we ought to, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us. And he does these groanings that are too deep for words. And so, God, who searches the hearts, he knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because here it is, again, the Spirit intercedes for the saints, according to the will of God. So, intercedes is a word we use for prayer, when you pray on behalf of someone else. So, you're not praying is a problem for you. You're not really totally praying the way that you should be. Did you even know that the Spirit is praying for you, that the Spirit is bringing all that would be God's will for you? As God searches your heart, what God's looking for in your soul, the Spirit is already praying those things to God on your behalf. Usually, when we think of someone interceding for us, it's not the Spirit. Usually, this word is associated with our Lord Jesus. And we're going to get to that in Romans chapter 8; look ahead at verse 30. And when we get to Romans 8, we've got some amazing passages left in Romans chapter 8. Next week, Romans 8:28; the whole sermon on that one verse next week. But look ahead at Romans 8:34, “Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.” Here you are feeling like your day is already out of control. How are you going to keep up with all that's going on? And what an encouraging thing to know that the Spirit is already interceding for you? And even as you pray, Christ is interceding for us, claiming us to be his people, claiming that he's already purchased us with his blood. He already called us by name. Here's Jesus and the Spirit. They are already praying for you. Did you know that you have prayer warriors, prayer partners, and they are the members of the Trinity? God himself is praying to God on your behalf. What an encouraging thought. Father, I don't know exactly what I should pray for. That's true. The Spirit does know exactly what to pray for you and is praying it for you. Wow, what a cause. Except go back to Romans 8:26. Here in Romans Chapter 8. it says that this is happening. And it's not even something we participate in. We don't even have to pray to turn this on. This is something that's happening outside of our cooperation or our instigation. It says here in verse 26, the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. So, this is something that Spirit himself is doing. The Spirit is not waiting for you to do it. And then he does it. He's just doing it on your behalf.
The Spirit is helping you because he knows you're weak. He knows you don't know what to pray. So, he's praying the things that God would be searching for in your heart. And look at what it says, “The Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings.” Now that word might stick out to you because it's the third time we've come across it now in Romans 8. If you were here last week, go back up to verse 19. Remember that we saw that the creation is waiting with eager longing, the creation that was subjected to futility, and his bondage to corruption is Christ’s groaning, it says, for a new creation. Look at Romans 8:22. It says, “For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.” And then Romans 8:23 went on to say, “not only is the creation groaning for the new heavens and the new earth, but we ourselves who have the first fruits of the Spirit groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons.” And what are we groaning for? We're groaning for the redemption of our bodies, the resurrection of our physical being, we want to see who Jesus is, and we want to be made like him. So, this is now the third groaning, the creation is groaning. We ourselves, in our bodies are groaning, and now the Spirit is groaning on our behalf. Now all of these groanings are not audible groanings. Sometimes, you might hear your family member’s stomach growl, and you might look at them and raise your eyebrow like, did you just say something? Anybody else have those conversations? Right? Sometimes people are even trying to interpret what that stomach growling meant in my house, right? What does that mean about you? Have you had too much to eat? Not enough to eat? What are you saying exactly? Are you digesting? Does anybody else have these awkward conversations, where you're what that was, was that kind of groaning coming out of you there. But these groanings are not audible groaning. Some of you may have heard that this passage is talking about some kind of secret private praying in tongues. If you read this in Greek, there is no way that you would come to that conclusion, the Spirit is doing groanings. And look at how it explicitly says about those groanings, they are too deep for words. I don't know exactly why they translate the Greek here “too deep for words.” It literally just could be translated, “not speaking.” The Spirit is groaning, not speaking. They're not words is the whole point. The Spirit, it's not something you're going to hear. It's not something you're going to participate in. It's something beyond space and time. It's something that's happening in the Spiritual realm. It's something that you can't see, you can't feel, you can't experience. You wouldn't even know it was happening if you weren't here tonight, studying that it is happening from God's word. But when you are weak, and you don't even know what to pray for, you can take heart because the Spirit is already praying exactly what you need for you. That's what it says, the Spirit, he's already in your heart. He already knows what God is searching for in your heart. And he's already praying, he's already interceding on your behalf. The Spirit is already lifting up your requests to God. See, God the Father is searching your heart. The Spirit is speaking to the Father, and they're on the same page. Here's God's will for your life. That's exactly what the Spirit is asking for your life. Like perfect prayer is already being done on your behalf. And you may have never even known it until we just got into these verses tonight. Or you might not have known these verses say that. And you might be going through days and weeks of your life, always feeling discouraged, always feeling like I wish I could pray this, or I wish I was better at prayer. I wish I would feel closer to God, I wish I would know that he would hear me I wish I really knew for sure that I was doing God's will for my life. What this is saying is the Spirit is already praying that for you. And so, you should take heart; you should be uplifted that even though you feel weak, his power is made perfect in your weakness. That's a really powerful thought to think that the Spirit is already praying on my behalf. He's interceding for me.
Now let's think about Romans 8:27 because it says, “and we know here he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit.” Now that reference, “he who searches hearts,” if you're a student of the Hebrew Scriptures if you're familiar with the Law, Prophets and the Writings, then you would know who the searcher of hearts is, you would know who's the one whose eyes are going to and fro over the whole earth. And he doesn't see people as we see them. He doesn't see us as skin and as bones. He doesn't see us on the external appearance, but he sees us as souls, and his eyes are going all over planet earth, looking for those whose heart is after him, whose heart is blameless for him. Here's God. God is the one God, the Father in heaven, the one who sits on the throne, the one who sees or knows or he is the one and he's seeing you for who you really are. So, God is searching your heart. And that's the reference there at the beginning of verse 27. The Father, he is this heart searcher. And really, Jesus is also the heart surgery. You could say, the Spirit knows your heart. I mean, this is something about God, he's the one who really knows your soul. And he searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit. So, here's the thing, God the Father, who's looking into your heart, he knows what the Spirit is thinking, he knows what the mind of the Spirit is, it's his Spirit, they are one. So, the Father's searching into your heart, he knows what the Spirits think. And the Spirit is given to the Father. Look at what it says in the second part of the verse here, it says, “The Spirit intercedes, praying on behalf of the saints, that's all of us who have been set apart, all of us who are God's people according to the will of God, or it just says, according to God. God's searching your heart, hoping he's going to find these certain things. And the Spirit is already praying those things to God. So, there's something that's happening there, the Spirit that God put within you, is bringing requests of who God would want you to be, and what God's will for your life would be. And God's already searching for that, he's already hearing that, he's already knowing that from the Spirit, there's a whole kind of prayer going on, and you may not even be aware of it. If you didn't have a verse like this teaching you about it, this kind of prayer is not dependent on you in any way. This is just what God is doing in your life. And so do you know that God evaluates you, God thinks about you different than any other person. You might get close with other people, you might share with people deep things of your soul, you might tell people secrets you've never shared with anyone else. You might live with people and love people. And over time, they really hear you say a lot of things. And they really see you do a lot of things. And they really feel like they get to know you on a deeper level. Or they get to know who you really are. God sees who you really are every single day of your life. God knows exactly what you're thinking. He knows exactly how you feel. He searches your hearts, and God, see, God is Spirit. And those who worship him have to worship him in Spirit. And in truth, God has a completely different criteria to evaluate your life than you do. You are a prisoner of the moment. You are trapped in a certain space and a certain time, and God is looking at your life from an eternal perspective, God is seeing and thinking things about your life you couldn't even possibly comprehend right now. And so that's how God is searching you. And that's the way the Spirit is speaking to him. The conversation that the Spirit is having with the Father on our behalf is way above our pay grade, my friends, and even your best prayers, even your deepest prayers, even your most sincere and earnest moments where you cried out to God with all your heart, and you know that he heard you. And you know that he answered you, that doesn't even come close to touching what the Spirit is saying on your behalf. That is happening for you. That's what this says.
And so, wow, I got to realize what's going on. And I got to start getting my mind onto these spiritual things, rather than just reacting to all the things that I can see and feel. I mean, point number two, let's just get it down real simple like this: “The Spirit is praying for your Spirit.” The Spirit is praying for your Spirit. That's what it says here. Wow, I'm waking up. I feel late. I feel rushed. I feel like my day is already getting outside of control. The Spirit is already interceding for you. The Spirit already knows God's will for you. What God is searching for in your heart. And it's not just that God knows what you need, it's not just that God knows what you need before you ask him, it's that the Spirit has already asked him on your behalf. Have you thought that through? Is that the reality that you're living in that I'm living here in space and time? I'm seeing all these things, but there is a conversation going on that I've only heard about where God, he is seeing my Spirit, he is seeing my heart. See, the heart is who you really are. It's not just your feelings. It's not just your emotions. The heart is the real you that lives inside this tent of a body. You are not a body, you are a soul who has a body, and when you are absent from the body, your soul is going to go somewhere else. If you know Jesus to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord, can I get an Amen from anybody on that? So, you are a soul and God sees you as a soul? What sometimes the way I like to think about it is if you were going and you were cutting some cucumbers later today, and you cut off your finger, that would be pretty dramatic cucumber incident right there, right? Let's say you cut off your finger. If you lost your finger, would you still be you? If you lost your left arm? Would you still be you? Let's keep taking it. If they gave you a heart transplant, would you still be you? God is searching for the real you, the Spiritual you, the you that was made in the image of God.
Go over to 1 Samuel chapter 16. We’ve got to learn to think in spiritual ways. If we're always just living in our weakness, and always responding to physical sufferings and infirmities and sicknesses, then we're not going to get on the same page with God. And we're not going to see what God's will is in the Spiritual things that God wants to accomplish. God sees it differently than me and you, and we want the eyes of our heart to be open so that we can start seeing it from God's perspective, rather than our own weak human perspective. And that's what it said about David. This is why God chose David to be the king of Israel. This is why David became the type of Christ. This is why David is known as a man after God's own heart because it says here in 1 Samuel 16:7, when David's oldest brother this Gaston looking kind of a dude, right? This guy, you will if you saw this guy, you think he'll play in the NBA, he'll be really good at sports. He'll be the homecoming king, right? He'll be the most likely to succeed in the yearbook. That guy surely the Lord's anointed is before me when I see that guy. But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance.” This is 1 Samuel 16:7, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” God cares about the real you. And what did God see in David? Why did God choose David to be king? They go through all the older brothers, and then they have to wait for that younger brother who's out there tending the sheep. And oh, yeah, I guess I've got another son. Okay, well, let's bring him in. Okay, and here he is. And look what it says about this. Look at 1 Samuel 16:18. If you go down to verse 18, “One of the young men answered, ‘Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence.’” And here's the thing you want said about you. I don't know if you're musical. I don't know if you're athletic. I don't know if you're smart. If you're strong, if you're rich, but this is the description you want, “and the Lord is with him.” That's the guy. Let's get it. I want David to be the king because he has found favor in my sight. Now see, there was a time, and this is a story that has become world famous. This is actually one of the most popular stories in human history. It's the story of David and Goliath. It's regularly referred to by people who don't know the Bible, people who would not call themselves Christians, and it's kind of become the ultimate underdog story. And unfortunately, most people see the story of David and Goliath through physical means; they see it with their eyes. They see a young man who can't even put on the King’s armor, and they see a giant, they see a guy who's nine feet tall, and a guy who's been fighting in the army since day one, and a guy who's got a big old spear of trash talking kind of guy, and look at David, and it's like, oh, look at this. Look at this little guy who's going to fight this big guy. It's like a David and Goliath match. That's a great example of how we in our weakness completely missed the point of the story. The story is not what's Goliath height to David's height? What's Goliath’s experience to David's youthfulness? The point is, Goliath is coming up to the army of Israel. And at this time in world history, everybody had gods. I mean, Israel was unique and that they had one God, YHWH. But all the nations of the earth were polytheistic in that they had multiple gods that they worshipped. And so, when Goliath shows up and trash talks the armies of the living God, the Lord of hosts, that means he's the God of armies, and this is his army, the people of Israel. YHWH is their God. So, when Goliath shows up and says, I could whip all of you guys, he's not just saying, I'm bigger, stronger, faster, meaner, and I'll kill all of you. He's saying, my God is more awesome than your God is what he says. It literally says the key word of 1 Samuel 17. This whole story is about Goliath defying the armies of the living God. He is denying God his glory. He's saying, we can beat you, because your God is a nobody, is what he's saying. That's what it's really about. It's about whose god is greater. What is the truth? What is real? It is a battle between evil and good, between the God of heaven and something made into an idol. That's what it's a battle about. It's not about people’s size. I remember preaching here in this room the first time that many of us realized that Goliath was a blasphemer, Goliath was trash talking God, he wasn't just taunting men. He was speaking against God. And so, this young man who has faith, who has a heart for God, God sees this kid's heart and he says, he's the one I want to be king. What does this guy have on his heart? He has his zeal for the glory of God. He has faith that the battle belongs to the Lord, and the Lord is going to win. And what does he do? He goes down to the riverbed, and he gets five smooth stones, because you know what the law says, you do to a blasphemer. You know what the law says you do to someone who says bad things against God and uses the Lord's name in vain. You stone them. That's what he did on the battlefield. It wasn't even a battle. It was him, saying, how dare you talk bad about God? Do you know who God is? And I'm going to do something today that the whole world is going to know. Not even Israel, but people in Huntington Beach and 2023, they're going to know what's about to happen to you that all people everywhere would know that there is a God in heaven, and the battle belongs to him.
See, here's a person who's thinking spiritually, not based on what he can see. Everybody else was looking at the lineup, the matchup, and he's seeing God and glory, and how dare anyone get in the way of my God, and he cut off his head for the glory of the Lord. And still most people miss the point of one of the most famous stories in human history. Because we are so weak, and we think so physically. We have to learn to think Spiritually, we have to learn that the Spirit is praying for our Spirit, you're in 1 Samuel, go over to the book of Jeremiah, Jeremiah, chapter 17. Jeremiah, chapter 17. Once you start going down that God is searching our hearts, cross references, there's a lot that you could do. We want to go to Jeremiah 17 here. And maybe you're familiar with this verse that defines the human heart. It says that our heart who we really are on the inside or Mission Control Center, where we're making our decisions, where we're deciding what we're going to think, say, or do. And maybe you know, this verse, Jeremiah 17:9. “The heart is deceitful above all things. The heart is desperately sick; who can understand it?” Your heart is so twisted, so warped by evil, that you can't even fully know what's going on. In your own heart, God can see who you really are better than you can see yourself. And as you study God's Word, the Spirit will use God's Word to convict you and to show you who you really are. You won't even know who you really are without hearing it from God's Word, because God he's the only one. Look at what it says. You might know verse 9, but look at Jeremiah 17:10. “I, the Lord” or I YHWH, “search the heart and test the mind to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” God is not evaluating people based on how much money they have in the bank, where they live, who their family is, how much they've done in their life. God's saying, no, I can look straight into your heart and then from your heart, I can see exactly what you've done. And I'm going to judge you according to what you have done because all of that has come out of who you really are. I mean, how many times did Jesus say that? It's not the things outside of a man that defile a man. It's the evil that comes from within them that defiles. So, see, God is searching our hearts. God cares about what you're really thinking in your soul. And you might be thinking about something different completely. And are you and God really evaluating your own life in the same way?
Let's get this down. Prayer is a problem “because we are writing our own story rather than seeking God's glory.” That's the reason prayer is a big problem for a lot of people here in the room, is because all my prayers have to do with my happy ending. All my prayers have to do with me, myself, and I, all working out in the here and now. And God is not focused on all of your happy ending, God is focused on your Ever After. God is focused, not just on your story, but the macro story of his glory. That's David, he was seeing it from God's perspective. That's why he was a man after God's own heart. David was starting to get a glimpse into the spiritual realities that this is all about. This isn't about me, and you and people knowing us at the end of this, this is about everyone worshipping God through his Son, Jesus Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. That's what the story's about. So, if you're praying for your kingdom, rather than God's kingdom, if you're praying for your will, rather than God's will, if you're praying for your name, rather than God's name, prayer is going to be a big problem. Because the Spirit, he's praying about the things that God's really searching your heart for. And you're over here praying for the things right now here in your life. And so, you can keep having problems with prayer. And you can keep praying for just here and now kinds of things. I mean, there are times we need to bring our needs before the Lord; there are big troubles that we have. But do you really pray for the spiritual things of God getting glory, God saving more people, God building up the people who are safe, setting them apart for his purpose? Are you praying for God's agenda or your own calendar? See, that's what the Spirit, the Spirit, he's bringing the things according to God, in his intercession for you. I wonder if we could know I wonder how different the Spirit’s prayers for me are from my prayers. And if I'm really going to pray, I want to align my prayer. What are the things the Spirit might be praying for me, I want to pray those things, too. I want to know what God's will is, and line up my will. I don't want to have my will and try to get God to come do my thing. I want to find out what God's will is, and I want to line myself up with him. Anybody want to say Amen to that?
Go to Psalm 139. Psalm 139. And God is searching our hearts. And here is David, he explains that so clearly, that God's already searched, God already knows. There are no secrets in the secret place between you and God. And he says, I can't hide from you, I can't go from you. You already know. You're the one who fashioned me, you know so much more than me. And so, look at Psalm 139:1. I want to encourage you to read this whole Psalm, and to really try to comprehend to the best of our ability, how much God already knows about you. And therefore, what must the Spirit really be praying for you? And I want you to be encouraged that that's already happening.
I hope you'll be inspired to pray more after this service, I hope you'll have ideas about maybe different things. You could pray for how your prayers could line up with God's desires for your life, rather than your own desires for your life. But what an amazing thought to think God already knows me. God already sees the way that I'm falling short, the ways that I'm not lined up with his will. And the Spirit is already interceding those things for me to God. Wow, that should really lift us up. God searched me and knew me. And do you believe that God knows who you are, and he still sent his Son to die for you? God knows who you are. And he still loves you and adopts you and calls you his son or his daughter. I mean, God knows who you are. The real you, the part of you that you might try to hide from other people. Well, I wouldn't share that thought, well, I wouldn't admit to that about myself. God already knows it; his Spirit is already praying for you. And so, this is how you can possibly line up your prayer with what God already knows about you. Look at the end of the psalm, Psalm 139:23. “Search me, O God and know my heart.” Well, if you're the searcher of hearts, then go ahead. “Try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any grievous way in me. And then here's the prayer right here. “Lead me in the way everlasting.” Lead me in the ancient way. Lead me in your Holy way.
See, prayer is a problem “because some of us just want to have a happy day.” But God wants us to live a holy way. Let's get that down for our last one here. Prayer is a problem “because we want a happy day, rather than God's holy way.” And see, God, he's thinking about the way everlasting. God's got things going on in your life way beyond this present suffering, way beyond our infirmities, way beyond the way that bad thing felt yesterday. God's seeing it on a spiritual level, on an eternal level. And you want God to lead you in that way. And I'm trying to tell you, the Scripture is teaching you that the Spirit, the Spirit that God put in you when you were still in sin, in your flesh, God made you born again, God regenerated your soul, he gave you a new heart, and he put his Spirit within you. And even now God knows exactly who you are. And his Spirit is helping you in your weakness, even when you don't know exactly what to pray for. What is this way everlasting? What is this tomorrow? I don't know. What is this will that you have for my life? Your perfect will that you've planned out for me? What are those good works you saved me to do? What is the purpose that you really have for me? Even when you don't know the answer to that the Spirit is already praying for it. The Spirit is already interceding on your behalf. No wonder that so many evil things can be happening all around you. And God can work all of them for good, because the Spirit is already praying for you.
And so, I want to encourage you to pray more than you ever have before because you know that the Spirit is already praying for you. And what is he praying? What is God searching for in your heart? What is the Spirit praying according to God's will? And how can you line up your life and your prayers with the things the Spirit is already praying? They can happen, you can grow, you can live holy, you can do God's will, the Spirit is already interceding for it to happen. The Spirit is the one who will cause you to walk in those ways. The Spirit is the one who will enable you to obey that command. The Spirit is the one who will give you wisdom and guide you and lead you and someday you'll be like, wow, this went way better than what I was asking for. That's because someone else was asking for you the entire time. And so many of us are unaware that he's already there praying for us. And we should be sitting, whatever the Spirit is praying, will you show it to me? Will you teach it to me? Will you please lead me in the way everlasting? Let's pray to the Lord right now together.
Father, we just want to confess to you that we need help, that we are weak. And we don't know what you're doing behind the scenes of what we can see and feel. We have sufferings here. We have infirmities among us in our church, we have great trials and tribulations, we have persecutions. And we would just want to pray all these things away, we would just want everything to get healed and all the trials to stop and we would just want everything to go well right here right now. Father, will you open our eyes, open the eyes of our hearts, to see into the spiritual realm, that you're doing things that are beyond what we can see and feel. And that we're weak and we don't even know what to pray for. But God will you please lift us up and encourage us that your Spirit is helping our weakness and he's already interceding on our behalf. You are searching for something in our hearts, and the Spirit is already praying according to your will. So, Father, please search our hearts even here tonight. If there's some grievous way in us, if there's something we're doing that's grieving your Spirit, if there's a way that we're thinking that's not consistent with your will, if we're searching for our own glory rather than for your glory. Father, will you please lead us in your everlasting way? Will you please let us see things spiritually rather than just the way we naturally see them? Father, how amazing it is for us to think that your Spirit is interceding for us. I would imagine that some people have been here praying and trying and hoping, never knowing that this was happening. Father, will you please encourage us that that morning when we wake up and we're so in a rush, when we feel like our days already off to a bad start, and it's already going to be a fail, that your Spirit is already interceding for us? Well, you let us see that it's your Spirit that's doing the work in our life, that we could never do it. We are not able to do it. We are so weak, Father. We confess our pride to you. We confess our self-reliance, we confess that we even make prayer something we can do so we think we're right with you. When, really, we are so weak, and that's when we need your grace. That's when we need your power to be made perfect. Father, I pray that this week we could own our weakness more than we ever have before. Father, I pray that we would see that if we don't get your help, we're not going to be able, we're not going to do it. And that we have need and we can find grace, that there's power in your Spirit working in us. And then when we come to pray, you're already searching us in that secret place. And your Spirit has already been there, knowing what you're searching for, and already praying those things to you. That every single time we pray, we've already been prayed for. Father, will you open our eyes to see them? And let us go run into that secret place. Let us go back to that place, and let us just confess all of our weaknesses to you. Knowing that in that weakness, your power will be made perfect in us. God, we thank you so much for your Spirit. We thank you so much for these prayers that he's praying. We thank you so much for the Spirit's help because we need it. And we pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.