How the Spirit Helps Us in Prayer - Romans 8_26-27
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Summary
In Romans 8:18-19, Paul reminds us that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that is about to be revealed in Christ Jesus. He also points out that even though we are free from the condemnation of our souls, our bodies must die so that they might be reborn.
Transcript
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Amen. Well, what a beautiful passage of scripture that we get to dive into today.
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Keep your Bibles open in Romans 8. We will be starting that shift to Romans 9 in just a few
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weeks. What a blessing these sections of scripture are. Over the past several weeks,
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we have been talking about the consequences of the fall.
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that the fall has had on humanity and creation.
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However, I'd like to emphasize the context in which all of these truths that we have
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been discussing, where they are sitting, and all the discussion around suffering and groaning
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for the restoration of all things comes off of the heels of probably one of the most encouraging
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passages of scripture, which is Romans 8.1, which assures us, and it says, quote,
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There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
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Even with that incredible promise, even with that incredible passage of Scripture,
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through Christ, we will not face condemnation for our sins.
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Paul points out, though, in verses 10 in chapter 8,
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that even though we are going to be free from the condemnation of our souls,
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That is that although our souls have been given new life,
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our bodies still must perish so that they might be reborn,
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And from this truth, Paul then discusses in verses 18 through 25,
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And despite the physical death that awaits our bodies
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and the significant challenges that we're going to face
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and our relationship as being Christians in the world.
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This is the context for which our verse today is sitting.
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We remember that the definition of glory is to be right.
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We want to operate as God designed us to operate.
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like the church we groan like a bride waiting for her groom but it's not just
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us who groan in anticipation it's actually the creation joins us in this
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groaning the broken mountain tops the polluted rivers the plants that are
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poisonous the animals that are eating each other everything is groaning for
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restoration of all things and last week i preached about how we wait how do we wait
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namely in christ we groan and we wait in patient hope
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and this is a hope that's not like the world's hope it's a hope that is a living hope according
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to first peter it's a hope sustained by the spirit of god that's helping us remain faithful
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and endures us as we wait for things to be made new.
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The bodies that are dying, the disease that we face,
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the sufferings that we have, the world that is broken,
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we have a living hope that sustains us in the face of that reality.
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Today in verses 26 through 27, Paul addresses directly
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the possible concerns of his Christian readers.
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He anticipates that his words might have produced a sense of human weakness.
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We're waiting for the anticipation of our own glory.
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And he doesn't want his readers to go to despair.
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He doesn't want the church to see all of these things,
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that we have this long wait for the renewal of our bodies,
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for the renewal of the world, and he doesn't want us to see this as a place of weakness and despair.
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How can we as sinners, even with a living hope, how can we endure the harsher difficulties of
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this life? And any of you who have had somebody die or have suffered with chronic illness or have
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had some sort of tragedy can understand how do we wait in patient hope for the return of Christ?
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how can we not be overcome in the face of trials in the face of difficulties how are we to remain
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patient in pain and to questions like these the apostle offers us a great comfort today
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he tells us that we will not be left alone but that we have the assistance of the spirit of god
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In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weakness,
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But the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
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But we can be smart Bible interpreters because we can start recognizing clauses in the text
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so that we can interpret our Bibles well, so that we don't turn into these Christians
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who have been saved for decades but can't properly interpret the Word of God.
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In verse 26, in the same way, this is a signal referring to a previous sentence.
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The comparison is referring to the way hope helps us persevere.
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In the same degree that the hope will persevere our souls in tribulation and in trial,
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in that same degree, the spirit of God will help us in our prayers.
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He will help us in our weakness. The overarching point that Paul is making in this entire section
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of scripture is that between the promise of future glory, the reality of having a living hope,
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and the great spirit of God helping us, believers can have an arsenal of tools and resources to
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sustain them in the sufferings of this present time as they wait for the glory
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of God to come we have all of these things at our fingertips we have promises
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of glory we have hope a living hope given to us we have the help of the
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Spirit of God and that even though the presence of suffering in this time are
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are intense. We're not alone. As we read earlier, John 14, 16, Jesus says,
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and I will ask the father and he will give you another helper to be with you forever.
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The gospel is a humility maker. It is a humility maker. The heart that was once self-sufficient
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The soul that had no need is now quite needy.
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The pagan is blind to their own spiritual need.
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But the Christian is aware of his poverty.
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The question is, are you aware of your poverty?
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Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
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When the spirit is crushed, you want help.
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It is a natural reaction for the Christian to run for help.
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But when you're full of pride, your soul sees no need for help.
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When you feel competent, when you feel self-disciplined, when you feel self-reliant, you reject help.
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This is exactly why the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, the doctrine of the helper, is rejected by legalists.
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The legalist does not see their need for the helper.
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Legalism is the search for self-produced innocence, not divinely extended forgiveness.
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It's a systematic process of defending self, relying on self, explaining self, exalting self, and justifying self.
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Legalists are obsessed with self, not God, end quote.
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If you've ever experienced a church of legalism, you'll understand that.
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If you've ever experienced people who are trying to sustain their own justification
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or maintain their justification or earn their justification.
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I forgot who said it, but legalism obeys, but it never adores.
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seriously consider this question how are you living are you operating as a
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legalist even as a Christian or as someone in great need do you have a
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humble spirit that seeks the Lord on a regular basis are you an autonomous
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Christian or dependent on God for help do you work alone or do you even bring
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the small things the little things to God in prayer do you suppress the need
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for help or do you embrace the spirits need to help you overcome to obey these
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are revealing questions they should penetrate into the soul they should
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make you examine your own heart. The Christian must, by God's grace, learn to see their need.
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Recently, I've been studying prayer. I have been recognizing that God loves us too much to allow
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us to advance without prayer. Because when we advance without prayer, we attribute the advancement
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to ourselves. But when we come to the Lord in prayer for everything, for small things,
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for big things, for the ordinary things, for the extraordinary things, and when those things
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come through according to the will of God, we praise God for those realities. How is
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your prayer life? Truly. Are you a bedtime and morning prayer person? Or are you a throughout
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the day finding time, making time, getting before the Lord in prayer? Christians often
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need to be reminded of the words of Jesus in John 15, 5. Apart from me, you can do nothing.
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Apart from Christ, you can do nothing. I don't care what project you have in your life or what
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goal you have in your life or what aspirations you have in your life or what desire for maturity
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or sanctification you have in your life. You cannot do it apart from Christ.
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does your life represent that does your schedule represent that does your money
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the gospel leaves no room for self-sufficient men women and children
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And the more that we see our need, the more that we will appreciate the gift of the helper.
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In the second part of verse 26, if you look down, Paul tells us why we need a helper.
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He says, for we do not know how to pray as we should, but that the Spirit himself intercedes
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We're so blinded and ignorant to the ways of God
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we need the Holy Spirit to intercede and help us do so.
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Even our most sincerest pleas and petitions before the Lord,
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Imagine a young child comes to his father to fix.
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He's trying to find the solution for why this thing won't work.
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And he's frustrated and he's unable to find the solution.
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So he turns to his father and he asks for help.
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understanding that this piece needs to go there, needs to be twisted.
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He patiently guides the child, showing the right tools, the proper method to fix the toy.
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Similarly, when we pray without understanding the full scope of our needs,
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The Holy Spirit intervenes and he guides us and he shows us and he intercedes on our behalf
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and he helps us align our prayers with God's will.
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He helps us see what's wrong so that we can move forward.
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Whether it's in my own life and looking at my own heart
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or whether it's looking at my family or the brokenness
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in a particular church member or a situation that might happen in the congregation,
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I oftentimes can't put my finger on exactly what's wrong.
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But now I want to point out how the Spirit intercedes.
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The text says, with groanings too deep for words.
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In the previous verses, we've learned that creation groans.
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And now we learn that the Spirit of God also groans with us.
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This is an incredibly difficult passage of scripture to interpret.
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The word groan in the Greek means an intense yet inaudible sighing.
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Another definition is a strong expression of longing or desire.
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it's something that's difficult to explain until you've groaned
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think about this statement think about the statement with groanings too deep for words
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in either definition groaning can only derive from a relationship a caring relationship to
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groan with someone or to groan over someone or to groan for someone nobody in this room groans
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for the needs of a person that we do not know because we have no relationship and no love
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however the spirit of god in whom we live and find our spiritual existence intercedes for us
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with such genuine care and with such fervency to support our prayers that he essentially
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blends our prayers and petitions with his spirit resulting in a heartfelt groaning
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The question you have to ask is, how can the Holy Spirit groan?
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Robert Haldane, the great theologian from the 1800s, wrote a commentary in the book of Romans.
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hearts that groan but the operation and emotion of this groaning is from the
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Holy Spirit in other words when the spirits intercession combines when it
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blends together with our prayers our petitions transform into a deep
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groaning that aligns with the will of God it's a mystery it's a mystery it's a
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spiritual reality, where the spirit somehow groans with us. F.B. Meyer once
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wrote, he said, quote, these groans signal life, not death. They are hopeful, not
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despairing. They are pangs of birth, not throes of death. Out of the agony of the
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present comes the new heavens and the new earth, new bodies and new glorious
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beings, end quote. So these are groanings of goodness. They're groanings waiting for the
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restoration of all things. Ultimately, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can see the gap
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between now and the restoration of all things in the future. We can see the loss and we can also
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see redemption. We can see our need and we can see the coming
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wholeness, but in that waiting, we groan. If you have any
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spiritual maturity at all, you have groaned. You've longed for
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the restoration. You've looked upon the culture and you've
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looked upon the earth and you've looked upon the brokenness
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and the murder and the thievery and the lying of this world
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and you've groaned. More than that, you've looked upon
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yourself in the mirror of your soul and you've seen the blackness that remains
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that the Lord is continuing to sanctify and you long for the restoration of all
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things we know we must suffer we know we must die when we struggle to communicate
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the depths of these things when we struggle to have any degree of
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suffering that is above average which is coming for all of us and when we can't
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communicate the depth of the sorrows clearly in our prayers the Spirit does
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it for us we need the Spirit of God to illuminate and direct us and when he
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does, it results in this divinely caused groaning. Think about it for a minute. When was the last
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time you had such an intense moment of prayer that you were groaning spiritually? I'm not saying
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that this should be a regular daily occurrence, but it should occur. It should occur. And if it
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doesn't occur, you ask the Lord, oh Lord, reveal to me my need. Reveal to me my
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brokenness so that I might seek you in inaudible words. Now someone reading this
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letter might think, how can groaning act as an effective prayer? Groaning is
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everything but clear. In fact, it's generally wordless. How is this an
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effective means of communicating our needs to the Father? To these questions,
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Paul says in verse 27, and look down with me. He says, and he who searches the
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heart knows what the mind of the Spirit is. That could be translated as knows
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because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
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So these spirit-directed groanings, while unclear to us,
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are incredibly clear to the Father by way of the Spirit.
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They are plain because the Spirit of God that directs these unclear prayers
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conveys what we cannot because he understands what we do not understand.
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for the spirit of God to examine your own heart
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In fact, most of my sincerest prayers have been wordless prayers
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They are, in truth, spiritual groanings to God.
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And while I might not be able to fully articulate those prayers
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or the depth behind them, the Spirit of God can.
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and the father who sees and understands my heart
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because the spirit of God is communicating that to them.
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man looks on the outward appearance but the Lord looks on the heart this was
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the big shocker to the disciples Jesus could see the heart he said it's not
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about just your actions it's about your thoughts you've heard that it was said
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do not commit adultery but I say to you even if you lust after a woman in your
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heart you've committed adultery with her Jesus was a law amplifier he came in to
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make sure that people understood that it's not just what you do it's what you
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think and in fact if you're doing something and you're not thinking
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correctly with the heart it's actually wrong he's looking at the heart Proverbs
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21.2 says, every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart.
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There is lots of counterfeit pastors and Christians, people who can sound great,
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who can communicate clearly, but there is no heart. I want to spend a moment talking about
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the heart. You can pray the most eloquent prayer or sing the most theologically correct
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hymn, but if the heart does not reflect the substance of the words that are leaving your
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mouth, it does not matter. So when you guys were singing today, if it was empty, we call
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that empty, prayerless praying or empty, praiseless praise. It's going through the motions. It's
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worthless to the Lord because your heart's not there. It's babblings. You
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come to this place to worship. Your heart ought to be right.
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E.M. Bounds in his book, The Pastor in Prayer says, quote, one of the most first
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necessities of prayer is to get rid of prayerless praying. Prayerless praying is
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often beautiful in word and in execution it has the drapery of prayer in rich and costly form
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but it lacks the soul of praying it has been said that prayerless praying is a heartless performance
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a senseless routine a dead habit a hasty and careless action it has no life gives no life
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is dead and breathes out death prayerless praying is insincere it has no honesty in heart we name
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in word what we do not want in heart end quote i don't know about you but i've been there
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One is without the heart and one is with the heart.
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This is why David pleaded with God in Psalm 51.10.
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Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
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Have you asked the Lord to create a clean heart in you?
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Your bitterness or your self-concern or your self-aggrandizement or your lack of focus
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or your secret sin or whatever desire it may be,
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have you asked the Lord to create a clean heart in you?
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It is not that God is not concerned with our words.
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That's the other ditch, that words don't matter.
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And if the root is bad, then the fruit is rotten.
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We want to be praying theologically accurate prayers.
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We don't want to be singing songs with false doctrine.
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We want to be preaching sermons that are aligning with the scriptures.
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In fact, the deeper your theology goes, the higher your prayers will go.
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because deep theology opens the heart to the truths of God.
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And when the heart is too heavy, and those times will come,
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every one of us will have some sort of sick bed, death, or an immediate loss of a loved one.
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Every one of us are going to have the time that comes when the heart is too heavy to communicate.
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You're going to feel like you can't communicate.
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In their mind, I don't even know if their thoughts are there.
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either in our own lives or in the lives of our spouses
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And when those moments come and you're concerned
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that the prayers aren't clear we get to rest on the reality that they are clear
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that the groanings of our heart will be clearly communicated to the Father a
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poet once wrote in the depths of our silent cries the spirit speaks where
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language dies with wordless groans our hearts confide guided by him our needs
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supplied. Oh, spirit in our longing sighs, translate our prayers to reach the skies.
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With every groan, you make them clear to God the Father ever near.
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So in the end, in the end of this awareness of our weakness, our need for the helper,
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that the Holy Spirit will clarify the needs of our hearts
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our present sufferings are not worthy to be compared
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who has no hope. God has not left us as the wicked who has no help. God has not left us
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with the unbelieving nation that has no future. No, God has given us the spirit who gives us
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unquenchable hope and gives us unending help to work our prayers and our lives according to the
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will of God. And this is the context. And I want you to pay attention because next week
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and onward is going to be a very important and incredible portion of scripture. In fact,
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I would say the next few sermons are some of the most important texts in all of the New Testament.
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And this is the context that we have been going through in Romans 8,
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which is for many Christians, the very next verse is the most comforting text in the New
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Testament look down your Bibles it reads and we know that God causes all
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things to work together for those who love God to those who are called
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according to his purpose this passage of Scripture is the very next verse coming
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off of the heels of our context here after everything that's been said it is
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this profound truth where the Apostle arrives while we may suffer and even our
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suffering is worked together every element of our weakness every element of
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our death the timing of it the sufferings of this present time the
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creation the fall of it the groaning everything works together for the glory
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of God and for our good that is where the Apostle is going nothing in the
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Christian life is meaningless. Nothing is without hope. We can trust that God will providentially
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work all things together for your good and his glory. But we'll save that for next week.
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Let's pray. Father, we thank you. We thank you, Lord, for the clarity that you have not left us
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wondering. But Lord, that you have communicated to us
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Lord, about the things to come, about the restored bodies
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Lord, we thank you that you have given us hope and promises and
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help. Lord, we ask that you would teach this congregation
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Lord, that you would take them to a place where their heart groans.
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Lord, that they would know that you will carry by your spirit
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the truths, the clarity of those groanings to your ear.
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Father, we thank you for all of these truths in your son's name.