Thursday, October 15, 2009

Romans 8:26

Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. (KJV)
(NLT)(26) And the Holy Spirit helps us in our distress. For we don’t even know what we should pray for, nor how we should pray. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. (27)And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.

I was looking at a new calendar that I received from Ron Hutchcraft ministries this morning. On the month of June, there was a picture of two pairs of hands on some clay on a potter’s wheel. The caption, written by Ron Hutchcraft, said, “Prayer is a gift for you to give to people every day.” The large title of the month was “Encouragement.” Obviously, the larger hands were helping the smaller hands to form something from the clay on the potter’s wheel. An adult or more experienced person was “encouraging” a younger, more inexperienced person, to shape the clay properly. But the most encouraging part of the whole double page, for me, were the words on the calendar that said, “Lord Jesus, thank You for all the prayers You have prayed for me.”

As I thought about those words on the calendar – that Jesus was praying for me - our verse for this week came to mind. “For we don’t even know what we should pray for, nor how we should pray. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.” The Holy Spirit prays for us. He knows what is in our hearts and helps our words become expressed in “harmony with God’s will.” When we don’t know how to pray about a situation, God, through the Holy Spirit, will help us “with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.” Imagine that – our Saviour prays for us!

Another realization came to me from Ron Hutchcraft’s words: “Prayer is a gift for you to give people everyday.” How true that is! Prayer is powerful and we can give it to our loved ones, our friends, even our enemies every day. And we can ask the Holy Spirit to intercede for us when we don’t really know what to pray about a situation. He already knows what is in our hearts and what our sincere desires are.

Do you give the gift of prayer to someone, lots of someones or no one? Start sharing the wealth of prayer today! The Holy Spirit will help you! He prays for us!