Please pray – Lord God in heaven; We praise you Lord, we magnify the Holy name of Jesus. Father I pray to seek You and place You first in my life. Forgive me Lord of my iniquities and give me the compassion to seek out the lost. Allow the Light of Christ Jesus shine as a beacon for those who have fallen and need Hope. God, keep me from the enemy, guide me and lead me to Your Holy and precious Love, in Jesus name, Amen.
Did you know: David once had to act like he was crazy to escape prison. He babbled and wrote crazy things on the door jams and even drooled. Fascinating…
1 Samuel 21:13-14, 13 So he disguised his sanity before them, and acted insanely in their hands, and scribbled on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva run down into his beard. 14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man behaving as a madman. Why do you bring him to me?…
A few years ago, while building my business, I was part of a networking group that would refer business out to each other. Part of the meeting criteria was to give a 60 second commercial about our business to the group. Sometimes I would forget to prepare my commercial and would have to wing it. I’d think of what I wanted to say and prepare it in my mind and even rehearsed it. When it was time to give the commercial I would sometimes draw a blank. For the life of me I can’t remember what to say or how I wanted to say it? How many times have you walked away from a situation or a discussion and later you think of so many other ways you could have said it but didn’t, or how many “I should have said this or that,” but we didn’t? Too many for me to count. How about when you’re praying? Do you intend to pray for someone or a situation and your mind goes forty different directions none of which are the issues you wanted to pray about but we feel they should be prayed for? What about when in your prayer time and you just didn’t know what to pray about? You know you should, you know you want to, but just cannot get started? I think we all have run into this road block before. Scripture literally tells us to make time for prayer.
Colossians 4:2 2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful…
The bible references the word ‘prayer’ over 600 times. Devotion requires that we not only set aside uninterrupted time for prayer but time to listen also.
Joshua 1:8 …meditate on it (His word) day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
We must give God the time and attention He deserves in order to have a growing relationship with Him. Prayer is our most profitable activity. But what if we just can’t get there mentally or emotionally when we are trying to pray? What if we lose focus or are overwhelmed with life’s distraction? God has answered this question for us. He knows us, He knows we will sometime need help. He gave us a Comforter, an intermediate, an Advocate, a caring presence with the Holy Spirit.
Scripture is very deliberate in letting us know what the Comforter does for us; from guiding us on the path of righteousness, to protecting us from the enemy and giving us the power to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ with courage and truth, (and more). He is always there, “doing” for us. On our own, we struggle even cry out to God for help. So, like the disciples of Jesus, we have to ask, “Lord, teach us to pray”
Luke 11:1 Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.”
Thankfully, God has given us His Holy Spirit as a Helper who will teach us and remind us of His word.
John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
Among many of the tasks the Holy Spirit does, one of the most powerful and important tasks He does in our lives is helping us with our prayers. Now, why would God have His Spirit help us pray?
First of all, prayer is our way of communicating and connecting with God. It is the single most important principle for Christians to participate in. It is how we build an intimate relationship with God the Father. Think about that for a moment, you have a way of talking to the Creator of the universe and all that is in it. Remarkable!
There are times when we don’t really know what to pray for or how to pray for it. Maybe there are burdens in your life you are trying to carry by yourself and they take up too much of your focus. You can be discouraged, depressed, and overwhelmed by life in general at times. Or there may be sin in your life that need to be dealt with or forgiveness you have neglected to give and have been beat down by it that you have trouble facing our Merciful God.
These are key elements for the Holy Spirit to step in and intercede for us. Paul expressed this in Romans, that the Holy Spirit helps us when we pray.
Romans 8:26 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 groaning’s which cannot be uttered.
When we feel defeated and tired, the Spirit helps in our weakness and joins in our prayers. It is not done apart from us, on the contrary, it is with our quiet supplication that He steps in and intercedes for us. Let’s look at what Paul was saying here a little more closely. “…with groaning’s which cannot be uttered.” What does this mean? When the Christian’s prayers are too deep and too intense for words, when they are a sigh pushed from the heart than any sensible utterance, then we may know that they are prompted by the Spirit Himself. (Message translation of this verse is; “He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans.”). It is He who is praying to God for us. It is by the help of the Holy Spirit that we are able to pray,
1 Chronicles 28:9 …and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought.
Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as the “Comforter.” In John 14:16, He said, “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever” (NKJV).
The Greek word comforter; paracletos, which means “called alongside to help,” a helper, aide, or assistant. Some versions translate paracletos as the “advocate,” which is applied to Jesus in 1 John 2:1: “If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous” (NKJV).
The purpose of an advocate is to plead the cause of another—to be an intercessor. This is part of the work that the Holy Spirit has come to do in our life. Sometimes just a sigh or groan will do. Why only a sigh or groan? We don’t always have to put words to our prayers. The Holy Spirit will do the rest. He knows us better than we do and knows what is in our hearts and how to reach the Throne with our plea. I have done this many times when I don’t know what to say, or how to say it and just meditating on the love of Christ will put you in His presence. The Holy Spirit will comfort you as He approaches the Throne of Love with your hearts request.
I just know that if I am in pain or stressed or in a battle, I sometimes don’t know what to say or how to say it thinking I’m defeated. I sigh, I groan and sometimes I cry.
The Spirit, the “another” Jesus spoke of has been sent to us, He is here, today, for us and is with us always. By submitting ourselves to Him, He will take it from there. He reaches the Throne and intercedes on our behalf. What a wonderful, merciful God we serve. He loves us so much and does not want to be separated from us.
Romans 8:36-39, 36 As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; (constant battles) we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” (In harms way) 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (the promise of God Almighty)
I don’t know about you all, but verse 38 just fills my heart with joy and a deep sense of His Love. Nothing – nothing at all Saints, will separate us from Him.
Nothing is able or capable to stand between God and those He knows and loves. Why, you may ask?
Because He IS love. And because of His great love He makes a way for us to communicate with Him when we are at a loss for words when we are weighed down with circumstances consuming us and taking our focus away from Him. His great love gives us the opportunity to reach out to Him directly and He will pull us close to Him. Our Father desires us to be in His presence in every way and anything that stands between us He will remove it. Prayer is an acknowledgement of our dependence to God the Father. We petition the Spirit of God to do what we can’t do. To determine if prayer is a priority and if you want to have a more meaningful and intimate relationship with the Master; ask yourself these questions:
- How often do I pray?
- What prompts or hinders me?
- How can I make prayer a daily lifestyle?
- How confident are you that the Lord will answer your requests?
- What does God’s Word say about His faithfulness in answering prayer?
- Are you giving God your time?
- Is He a priority in your life?
Talk to Him Saints. He loves you more than words can express and depths we
cannot understand in our mortal minds.
Please pray with me – Heavenly Father, thank you for this time I am afforded to speak with You. We praise and honor You Lord; it is You that we seek and Your Love and Grace that we desire. Father teach us to lean on You for understanding and take our hand and guide us through this life so we may reach the promise of your Glory. Thank you for all you have done and are doing in our life. We Love You Father and ask for Your blessings on our lives and the lives of our families, in the mighty name of Jesus we pray, Amen.
