Dale Partridge - How the Spirit Helps Us in Prayer - Romans 8_26-27

00:00:01.000 Amen. Well, what a beautiful passage of scripture that we get to dive into today.

00:00:07.580 Keep your Bibles open in Romans 8. We will be starting that shift to Romans 9 in just a few

00:00:18.260 weeks. What a blessing these sections of scripture are. Over the past several weeks,

00:00:26.020 we have been talking about the consequences of the fall.

00:00:31.400 We've been talking about the consequences

00:00:33.740 that the fall has had on humanity and creation.

00:00:40.300 Humanity suffers because of sin.

00:00:42.340 We know this.

00:00:43.140 We have the curse of death upon us. 0.79

00:00:45.660 And for believers, we also suffer

00:00:47.620 for our association with Christ.

00:00:51.460 Creation suffers because God cursed the ground

00:00:54.180 because of Adam's sin.

00:00:56.020 I believe it was Genesis 3.17.

00:00:59.840 However, I'd like to emphasize the context in which all of these truths that we have

00:01:04.760 been discussing, where they are sitting, and all the discussion around suffering and groaning

00:01:11.480 for the restoration of all things comes off of the heels of probably one of the most encouraging

00:01:15.760 passages of scripture, which is Romans 8.1, which assures us, and it says, quote,

00:01:21.220 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

00:01:28.280 Even with that incredible promise, even with that incredible passage of Scripture,

00:01:36.420 through Christ, we will not face condemnation for our sins.

00:01:42.380 Paul points out, though, in verses 10 in chapter 8,

00:01:46.340 that even though we are going to be free from the condemnation of our souls,

00:01:51.220 that our bodies must die.

00:01:55.060 That is that although our souls have been given new life,

00:01:57.400 our bodies still must perish so that they might be reborn,

00:02:02.360 so that they might be purified or renewed.

00:02:05.880 And from this truth, Paul then discusses in verses 18 through 25,

00:02:10.960 the effects of the fall.

00:02:12.140 And despite the physical death that awaits our bodies

00:02:17.520 and the significant challenges that we're going to face

00:02:19.520 for our communion with Christ,

00:02:21.220 and our relationship as being Christians in the world.

00:02:24.400 He reminds us in verse 18,

00:02:27.060 that the sufferings of this present time

00:02:29.180 are not worthy to be compared to the glory

00:02:32.120 that is gonna be revealed in us.

00:02:35.940 This is the context for which our verse today is sitting.

00:02:43.280 He moves on in verses 19 through 23,

00:02:45.340 and he went on to discuss the groaning

00:02:47.540 that we have for the glory.

00:02:49.740 We remember that the definition of glory is to be right.

00:02:54.380 It's to be whole.

00:02:57.380 Something that is glorious is made correctly.

00:03:01.560 We want to be glorious human beings.

00:03:03.920 We want to be glorious husbands.

00:03:05.940 We want to be glorious wives.

00:03:07.360 We want to be glorious children.

00:03:09.160 We want to be a glorious church.

00:03:10.600 We want to operate as God designed us to operate.

00:03:14.140 And we groan for that glory.

00:03:17.160 We wait for that glory.

00:03:19.740 like the church we groan like a bride waiting for her groom but it's not just

00:03:28.860 us who groan in anticipation it's actually the creation joins us in this

00:03:34.020 groaning the broken mountain tops the polluted rivers the plants that are

00:03:41.620 poisonous the animals that are eating each other everything is groaning for

00:03:45.480 restoration of all things and last week i preached about how we wait how do we wait

00:03:57.000 namely in christ we groan and we wait in patient hope

00:04:04.760 and this is a hope that's not like the world's hope it's a hope that is a living hope according

00:04:09.800 to first peter it's a hope sustained by the spirit of god that's helping us remain faithful

00:04:14.760 and endures us as we wait for things to be made new.

00:04:20.320 The bodies that are dying, the disease that we face,

00:04:25.020 the sufferings that we have, the world that is broken,

00:04:29.280 we have a living hope that sustains us in the face of that reality.

00:04:36.240 Today in verses 26 through 27, Paul addresses directly

00:04:40.600 the possible concerns of his Christian readers.

00:04:47.580 He anticipates that his words might have produced a sense of human weakness. 0.62

00:04:52.780 Wait a second.

00:04:54.140 We're groaning.

00:04:55.680 We're waiting for the anticipation of our own glory.

00:05:00.460 And he doesn't want his readers to go to despair.

00:05:03.340 He doesn't want the church to see all of these things,

00:05:06.800 that we have this long wait for the renewal of our bodies,

00:05:10.080 for the renewal of the world, and he doesn't want us to see this as a place of weakness and despair.

00:05:17.080 How can we as sinners, even with a living hope, how can we endure the harsher difficulties of

00:05:22.820 this life? And any of you who have had somebody die or have suffered with chronic illness or have

00:05:28.740 had some sort of tragedy can understand how do we wait in patient hope for the return of Christ?

00:05:34.180 how can we not be overcome in the face of trials in the face of difficulties how are we to remain

00:05:46.960 patient in pain and to questions like these the apostle offers us a great comfort today

00:05:55.460 he tells us that we will not be left alone but that we have the assistance of the spirit of god

00:06:00.940 who prays for us in our weakness

00:06:03.440 when we do not know how to communicate

00:06:05.240 the deepest sorrows of our hearts to him.

00:06:11.700 Verse 26, look down at your Bible.

00:06:15.780 Read along with me. 0.94

00:06:17.560 826 says,

00:06:21.120 In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weakness,

00:06:26.740 for we do not know how to pray as we should,

00:06:29.340 But the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

00:06:38.700 Now, the Bible is a complex book.

00:06:44.460 But we can be smart Bible interpreters because we can start recognizing clauses in the text 1.00

00:06:49.200 so that we can interpret our Bibles well, so that we don't turn into these Christians 0.73

00:06:52.560 who have been saved for decades but can't properly interpret the Word of God. 0.81

00:06:56.720 The apostle opens up with a comparison clause.

00:06:59.340 In verse 26, in the same way, this is a signal referring to a previous sentence.

00:07:06.200 In the same way to what?

00:07:07.760 What are you referring to?

00:07:11.860 The comparison is referring to the way hope helps us persevere.

00:07:17.740 The Spirit helps us to overcome weakness.

00:07:20.640 In the same degree that the hope will persevere our souls in tribulation and in trial,

00:07:26.420 in that same degree, the spirit of God will help us in our prayers.

00:07:33.080 He will help us in our weakness. The overarching point that Paul is making in this entire section

00:07:39.640 of scripture is that between the promise of future glory, the reality of having a living hope,

00:07:45.660 and the great spirit of God helping us, believers can have an arsenal of tools and resources to

00:07:53.400 sustain them in the sufferings of this present time as they wait for the glory

00:07:57.840 of God to come we have all of these things at our fingertips we have promises

00:08:04.560 of glory we have hope a living hope given to us we have the help of the

00:08:10.800 Spirit of God and that even though the presence of suffering in this time are

00:08:15.720 are intense. We're not alone. As we read earlier, John 14, 16, Jesus says,

00:08:25.620 and I will ask the father and he will give you another helper to be with you forever.

00:08:33.200 The gospel is a humility maker. It is a humility maker. The heart that was once self-sufficient

00:08:41.440 becomes acutely aware of their insufficiency.

00:08:46.300 We need help.

00:08:48.800 The soul that had no need is now quite needy. 0.99

00:08:54.280 No pagan wants help from God. 0.95

00:08:59.040 The pagan is blind to their own spiritual need.

00:09:03.840 But the Christian is aware of his poverty. 0.85

00:09:07.680 The question is, are you aware of your poverty?

00:09:11.440 And Jesus said in Matthew 5, 3,

00:09:15.220 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

00:09:20.380 When the spirit is crushed, you want help. 0.96

00:09:23.980 It is a natural reaction for the Christian to run for help. 1.00

00:09:33.020 But when you're full of pride, your soul sees no need for help. 0.84

00:09:37.620 You're unaware of your need.

00:09:42.160 When you feel competent, when you feel self-disciplined, when you feel self-reliant, you reject help.

00:09:50.180 And that is the way of the lost.

00:09:53.140 This is exactly why the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, the doctrine of the helper, is rejected by legalists.

00:10:00.480 The legalist does not see their need for the helper.

00:10:05.160 One theologian said, quote,

00:10:07.000 Legalism does not need God.

00:10:09.660 Legalism is the search for self-produced innocence, not divinely extended forgiveness.

00:10:16.200 It's a systematic process of defending self, relying on self, explaining self, exalting self, and justifying self.

00:10:23.520 Legalists are obsessed with self, not God, end quote.

00:10:28.520 If you've ever experienced a church of legalism, you'll understand that.

00:10:35.720 If you've ever experienced people who are trying to sustain their own justification

00:10:41.680 or maintain their justification or earn their justification.

00:10:47.440 I forgot who said it, but legalism obeys, but it never adores.

00:10:54.540 Legalism obeys, but it never adores God.

00:10:57.040 It never runs to God for help.

00:10:58.580 It never relies on God.

00:11:02.300 How are you living?

00:11:03.280 seriously consider this question how are you living are you operating as a

00:11:10.060 legalist even as a Christian or as someone in great need do you have a

00:11:16.540 humble spirit that seeks the Lord on a regular basis are you an autonomous

00:11:22.780 Christian or dependent on God for help do you work alone or do you even bring

00:11:31.600 the small things the little things to God in prayer do you suppress the need

00:11:41.540 for help or do you embrace the spirits need to help you overcome to obey these

00:11:53.560 are revealing questions they should penetrate into the soul they should

00:11:57.460 make you examine your own heart. The Christian must, by God's grace, learn to see their need.

00:12:08.240 Recently, I've been studying prayer. I have been recognizing that God loves us too much to allow

00:12:18.780 us to advance without prayer. Because when we advance without prayer, we attribute the advancement

00:12:25.560 to ourselves. But when we come to the Lord in prayer for everything, for small things,

00:12:34.340 for big things, for the ordinary things, for the extraordinary things, and when those things

00:12:41.100 come through according to the will of God, we praise God for those realities. How is

00:12:45.920 your prayer life? Truly. Are you a bedtime and morning prayer person? Or are you a throughout

00:12:57.360 the day finding time, making time, getting before the Lord in prayer? Christians often

00:13:08.640 need to be reminded of the words of Jesus in John 15, 5. Apart from me, you can do nothing. 0.98

00:13:18.000 Apart from Christ, you can do nothing. I don't care what project you have in your life or what

00:13:23.940 goal you have in your life or what aspirations you have in your life or what desire for maturity

00:13:29.100 or sanctification you have in your life. You cannot do it apart from Christ.

00:13:32.920 does your life represent that does your schedule represent that does your money

00:13:40.460 represent that does your heart represent that

00:13:44.240 the gospel leaves no room for self-sufficient men women and children

00:13:51.860 we are weak creatures that need help

00:13:57.360 And the more that we see our need, the more that we will appreciate the gift of the helper.

00:14:06.340 In the second part of verse 26, if you look down, Paul tells us why we need a helper.

00:14:14.780 He says, for we do not know how to pray as we should, but that the Spirit himself intercedes

00:14:21.660 for us with groanings too deep for words.

00:14:27.360 Our need runs deep.

00:14:28.660 We don't even know how to pray.

00:14:33.560 We don't even know how to properly pray.

00:14:38.140 We're so blinded and ignorant to the ways of God

00:14:41.140 that even our sincere pleas,

00:14:43.240 we need the Holy Spirit to intercede and help us do so.

00:14:49.060 Even our most sincerest pleas and petitions before the Lord,

00:14:52.900 we still need help.

00:14:58.220 Imagine a young child comes to his father to fix.

00:15:03.180 He's sitting there trying to fix a broken toy.

00:15:06.440 He's trying to find the solution for why this thing won't work.

00:15:10.220 And he's frustrated and he's unable to find the solution.

00:15:13.460 So he turns to his father and he asks for help.

00:15:16.720 And the father, understanding the real issue,

00:15:19.480 understanding that this piece needs to go there, needs to be twisted.

00:15:23.160 He patiently guides the child, showing the right tools, the proper method to fix the toy.

00:15:30.520 Similarly, when we pray without understanding the full scope of our needs,

00:15:34.860 we don't understand how to fix the problem.

00:15:40.020 The Holy Spirit intervenes and he guides us and he shows us and he intercedes on our behalf

00:15:48.240 and he helps us align our prayers with God's will.

00:15:51.840 He helps us fix the problem.

00:15:53.620 He helps us see what's wrong so that we can move forward.

00:15:57.960 As a pastor, this happens to me all the time.

00:16:01.940 Whether it's in my own life and looking at my own heart

00:16:04.400 or whether it's looking at my family or the brokenness

00:16:06.480 in a particular church member or a situation that might happen in the congregation,

00:16:12.400 I oftentimes can't put my finger on exactly what's wrong.

00:16:17.440 I know that there's something wrong in me

00:16:22.620 or around me or in our family

00:16:24.780 or in the church or in that person

00:16:26.560 or in that couple or in that family

00:16:28.380 but I can't put my finger on what's wrong

00:16:31.320 because I can only see the outside

00:16:32.960 and I can't see the heart

00:16:35.140 and so I need to ask the Spirit's help

00:16:43.780 to direct my prayer

00:16:44.720 Lord, I don't know

00:16:47.440 I don't know what's going on.

00:16:51.360 I know that there's some gross motive in me.

00:16:55.060 You know.

00:16:56.880 Remove it.

00:16:58.960 I don't know what's going on with that couple.

00:17:01.940 But you know.

00:17:04.780 And as I groan in prayer,

00:17:07.560 the Lord makes that clear.

00:17:10.400 Not to me, but to the Father.

00:17:15.040 And so we've discussed why.

00:17:17.440 The Spirit is to intercede.

00:17:21.120 But now I want to point out how the Spirit intercedes.

00:17:26.340 The text says, with groanings too deep for words.

00:17:31.180 Groanings too deep for words.

00:17:34.160 In the previous verses, we've learned that creation groans.

00:17:38.220 We learned that we ourselves groan.

00:17:41.180 And now we learn that the Spirit of God also groans with us.

00:17:45.740 This is an incredibly difficult passage of scripture to interpret.

00:17:52.820 The word groan in the Greek means an intense yet inaudible sighing.

00:18:05.480 Another definition is a strong expression of longing or desire.

00:18:10.580 it's something that's difficult to explain until you've groaned

00:18:17.580 until you've experienced inaudible longing

00:18:25.940 think about this statement think about the statement with groanings too deep for words

00:18:35.200 in either definition groaning can only derive from a relationship a caring relationship to

00:18:44.320 groan with someone or to groan over someone or to groan for someone nobody in this room groans

00:18:50.260 for the needs of a person that we do not know because we have no relationship and no love

00:18:54.380 and no connection and no no care

00:18:56.640 however the spirit of god in whom we live and find our spiritual existence intercedes for us

00:19:06.420 with such genuine care and with such fervency to support our prayers that he essentially

00:19:14.780 blends our prayers and petitions with his spirit resulting in a heartfelt groaning

00:19:21.100 a groaning.

00:19:27.280 The question you have to ask is, how can the Holy Spirit groan?

00:19:34.280 How can the Holy Spirit groan?

00:19:38.640 Robert Haldane, the great theologian from the 1800s, wrote a commentary in the book of Romans.

00:19:44.360 He said,

00:20:14.360 hearts that groan but the operation and emotion of this groaning is from the

00:20:20.240 Holy Spirit in other words when the spirits intercession combines when it

00:20:28.760 blends together with our prayers our petitions transform into a deep

00:20:33.080 groaning that aligns with the will of God it's a mystery it's a mystery it's a

00:20:41.720 spiritual reality, where the spirit somehow groans with us. F.B. Meyer once

00:20:50.480 wrote, he said, quote, these groans signal life, not death. They are hopeful, not

00:21:00.780 despairing. They are pangs of birth, not throes of death. Out of the agony of the

00:21:06.280 present comes the new heavens and the new earth, new bodies and new glorious

00:21:11.420 beings, end quote. So these are groanings of goodness. They're groanings waiting for the

00:21:23.020 restoration of all things. Ultimately, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can see the gap

00:21:28.860 between now and the restoration of all things in the future. We can see the loss and we can also

00:21:37.600 see redemption. We can see our need and we can see the coming

00:21:42.960 wholeness, but in that waiting, we groan. If you have any

00:21:47.200 spiritual maturity at all, you have groaned. You've longed for

00:21:52.580 the restoration. You've looked upon the culture and you've

00:21:55.280 looked upon the earth and you've looked upon the brokenness

00:21:58.240 and the murder and the thievery and the lying of this world

00:22:01.020 and you've groaned. More than that, you've looked upon

00:22:04.540 yourself in the mirror of your soul and you've seen the blackness that remains

00:22:08.980 that the Lord is continuing to sanctify and you long for the restoration of all

00:22:13.180 things we know we must suffer we know we must die when we struggle to communicate

00:22:27.940 the depths of these things when we struggle to have any degree of

00:22:33.340 suffering that is above average which is coming for all of us and when we can't

00:22:40.960 communicate the depth of the sorrows clearly in our prayers the Spirit does

00:22:46.420 it for us we need the Spirit of God to illuminate and direct us and when he

00:22:57.340 does, it results in this divinely caused groaning. Think about it for a minute. When was the last

00:23:07.640 time you had such an intense moment of prayer that you were groaning spiritually? I'm not saying

00:23:16.040 that this should be a regular daily occurrence, but it should occur. It should occur. And if it

00:23:26.400 doesn't occur, you ask the Lord, oh Lord, reveal to me my need. Reveal to me my

00:23:32.700 brokenness so that I might seek you in inaudible words. Now someone reading this

00:23:45.460 letter might think, how can groaning act as an effective prayer? Groaning is

00:23:52.180 everything but clear. In fact, it's generally wordless. How is this an

00:23:58.980 effective means of communicating our needs to the Father? To these questions,

00:24:04.200 Paul says in verse 27, and look down with me. He says, and he who searches the

00:24:10.140 heart knows what the mind of the Spirit is. That could be translated as knows

00:24:17.360 what the Spirit is saying or communicating.

00:24:22.180 Second half of that verse says,

00:24:23.280 because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

00:24:27.920 So these spirit-directed groanings, while unclear to us,

00:24:32.820 are incredibly clear to the Father by way of the Spirit.

00:24:37.040 They are plain because the Spirit of God that directs these unclear prayers

00:24:40.920 conveys what we cannot because he understands what we do not understand.

00:24:45.580 do you see the need

00:24:50.820 for the spirit of God to examine your own heart

00:24:56.000 to communicate and to convey to the father

00:25:00.680 what you truly need

00:25:02.340 because you don't even know your own need

00:25:04.620 that's what this is

00:25:07.220 attempting to get across here

00:25:12.020 we are so often concerned with words

00:25:14.700 but God is concerned with the heart.

00:25:19.240 In fact, most of my sincerest prayers have been wordless prayers

00:25:24.400 or babblings or utterances at most.

00:25:30.560 They are, in truth, spiritual groanings to God.

00:25:35.960 And while I might not be able to fully articulate those prayers

00:25:39.440 or the depth behind them, the Spirit of God can.

00:25:42.560 and the father who sees and understands my heart

00:25:45.640 is able to comprehend them.

00:25:48.240 He's able to comprehend them

00:25:49.620 because the spirit of God is communicating that to them.

00:25:55.980 First Samuel, I'll think about this

00:25:57.500 just to take a side note here.

00:25:59.480 First Samuel 16, seven, it says,

00:26:02.420 but the Lord said to Samuel,

00:26:04.020 do not look on the appearance

00:26:05.500 or on the height of his stature

00:26:07.120 because I have rejected him.

00:26:09.280 For the Lord sees not as man sees.

00:26:11.580 man looks on the outward appearance but the Lord looks on the heart this was

00:26:18.840 the big shocker to the disciples Jesus could see the heart he said it's not

00:26:31.400 about just your actions it's about your thoughts you've heard that it was said

00:26:37.700 do not commit adultery but I say to you even if you lust after a woman in your

00:26:42.940 heart you've committed adultery with her Jesus was a law amplifier he came in to

00:26:50.420 make sure that people understood that it's not just what you do it's what you

00:26:54.140 think and in fact if you're doing something and you're not thinking

00:26:58.280 correctly with the heart it's actually wrong he's looking at the heart Proverbs

00:27:05.020 21.2 says, every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart.

00:27:13.200 There is lots of counterfeit pastors and Christians, people who can sound great,

00:27:22.920 who can communicate clearly, but there is no heart. I want to spend a moment talking about 1.00

00:27:30.980 the heart. You can pray the most eloquent prayer or sing the most theologically correct

00:27:36.720 hymn, but if the heart does not reflect the substance of the words that are leaving your

00:27:41.060 mouth, it does not matter. So when you guys were singing today, if it was empty, we call

00:27:48.880 that empty, prayerless praying or empty, praiseless praise. It's going through the motions. It's

00:27:59.400 worthless to the Lord because your heart's not there. It's babblings. You 1.00

00:28:04.660 come to this place to worship. Your heart ought to be right.

00:28:10.340 E.M. Bounds in his book, The Pastor in Prayer says, quote, one of the most first

00:28:16.900 necessities of prayer is to get rid of prayerless praying. Prayerless praying is

00:28:24.960 often beautiful in word and in execution it has the drapery of prayer in rich and costly form

00:28:33.280 but it lacks the soul of praying it has been said that prayerless praying is a heartless performance

00:28:40.800 a senseless routine a dead habit a hasty and careless action it has no life gives no life

00:28:48.400 is dead and breathes out death prayerless praying is insincere it has no honesty in heart we name

00:28:57.120 in word what we do not want in heart end quote i don't know about you but i've been there

00:29:09.200 every one of us have been there

00:29:11.040 and it's wicked

00:29:16.120 it's as wicked as thievery

00:29:19.680 to walk before the Lord

00:29:23.240 and to babble

00:29:26.200 beautifully without the heart

00:29:29.340 the two prayers before Christ

00:29:33.760 the beautiful pharisaical prayer

00:29:37.820 or the publican petitioning.

00:29:42.920 One is complex.

00:29:44.900 One is, oh Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.

00:29:49.180 One is without the heart and one is with the heart.

00:29:52.480 Who leaves this place going justified?

00:29:55.340 The publican.

00:29:57.700 The publican.

00:30:01.420 This is why David pleaded with God in Psalm 51.10.

00:30:05.520 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

00:30:10.980 Have you prayed that prayer?

00:30:13.420 Have you asked the Lord to create a clean heart in you?

00:30:16.480 Your bitterness or your self-concern or your self-aggrandizement or your lack of focus

00:30:23.740 or your secret sin or whatever desire it may be,

00:30:30.820 have you asked the Lord to create a clean heart in you?

00:30:34.840 It is not that God is not concerned with our words.

00:30:43.460 That's the other ditch, that words don't matter.

00:30:46.740 It's just the heart.

00:30:51.220 No, the heart is the root of our words.

00:30:53.700 And if the root is bad, then the fruit is rotten.

00:30:57.080 But we want also mature mouths.

00:31:01.220 We want to be praying theologically accurate prayers.

00:31:04.760 We don't want to be singing songs with false doctrine.

00:31:09.620 We want to be preaching sermons that are aligning with the scriptures.

00:31:13.980 God cares about both.

00:31:16.220 It's not either or.

00:31:18.500 It's to mature in your praying.

00:31:20.040 It's to mature in your theology.

00:31:21.660 It's to mature in your praise.

00:31:22.780 In fact, the deeper your theology goes, the higher your prayers will go.

00:31:27.020 The higher your praise will go.

00:31:28.280 The higher your worship will go.

00:31:30.220 because deep theology opens the heart to the truths of God.

00:31:41.320 And when the heart is too heavy, and those times will come,

00:31:46.500 every one of us will have some sort of sick bed, death, or an immediate loss of a loved one.

00:31:52.600 Every one of us are going to have the time that comes when the heart is too heavy to communicate.

00:31:57.640 and when the sorrows come to mind

00:32:00.680 and when the tragedies come

00:32:02.700 and the pain is too intense,

00:32:04.580 at that point, when the words are not there,

00:32:07.320 the spirit intercedes

00:32:08.640 and directs those unutterable groanings

00:32:11.380 to the father according to his will.

00:32:17.220 When that time comes,

00:32:18.660 you're going to need to remember

00:32:19.580 this passage of scripture.

00:32:21.240 You're going to feel like you can't communicate.

00:32:23.940 I've walked people through deathbed confession

00:32:27.580 and deathbed worship, moments of worship

00:32:32.620 in times of such sorrow and pain

00:32:35.520 that they can't even communicate.

00:32:37.340 In their mind, I don't even know if their thoughts are there.

00:32:44.000 All of us are going to have moments like that

00:32:46.660 either in our own lives or in the lives of our spouses

00:32:50.140 or children or our parents.

00:32:54.080 And when those moments come and you're concerned

00:32:56.660 that the prayers aren't clear we get to rest on the reality that they are clear

00:33:01.900 that the groanings of our heart will be clearly communicated to the Father a

00:33:08.280 poet once wrote in the depths of our silent cries the spirit speaks where

00:33:15.120 language dies with wordless groans our hearts confide guided by him our needs

00:33:21.540 supplied. Oh, spirit in our longing sighs, translate our prayers to reach the skies.

00:33:28.700 With every groan, you make them clear to God the Father ever near.

00:33:34.980 So in the end, in the end of this awareness of our weakness, our need for the helper,

00:33:44.200 our hope that is living

00:33:46.760 and the understanding that when we groan

00:33:51.060 when those things are unclear

00:33:53.980 that the Holy Spirit will clarify the needs of our hearts

00:33:57.120 to the Father

00:33:57.740 Christians are to be greatly comforted

00:34:01.900 in our present sufferings 0.91

00:34:03.460 our present sufferings are not worthy to be compared

00:34:07.480 to the glory that's going to be revealed in us

00:34:10.540 God has not left us as the pagan

00:34:13.200 who has no hope. God has not left us as the wicked who has no help. God has not left us 0.92

00:34:21.740 with the unbelieving nation that has no future. No, God has given us the spirit who gives us

00:34:31.560 unquenchable hope and gives us unending help to work our prayers and our lives according to the

00:34:39.620 will of God. And this is the context. And I want you to pay attention because next week

00:34:44.580 and onward is going to be a very important and incredible portion of scripture. In fact,

00:34:51.160 I would say the next few sermons are some of the most important texts in all of the New Testament.

00:34:57.600 And this is the context that we have been going through in Romans 8,

00:35:03.100 which is for many Christians, the very next verse is the most comforting text in the New

00:35:08.860 Testament look down your Bibles it reads and we know that God causes all

00:35:13.540 things to work together for those who love God to those who are called

00:35:19.960 according to his purpose this passage of Scripture is the very next verse coming

00:35:26.680 off of the heels of our context here after everything that's been said it is

00:35:31.540 this profound truth where the Apostle arrives while we may suffer and even our

00:35:38.380 suffering is worked together every element of our weakness every element of

00:35:43.360 our death the timing of it the sufferings of this present time the

00:35:47.620 creation the fall of it the groaning everything works together for the glory

00:35:53.200 of God and for our good that is where the Apostle is going nothing in the

00:36:03.300 Christian life is meaningless. Nothing is without hope. We can trust that God will providentially

00:36:11.920 work all things together for your good and his glory. But we'll save that for next week.

00:36:18.700 Let's pray. Father, we thank you. We thank you, Lord, for the clarity that you have not left us

00:36:28.380 wondering. But Lord, that you have communicated to us

00:36:32.360 in your word the truths about our

00:36:36.160 state, about our weakness, about our needs.

00:36:40.400 Lord, about the things to come, about the restored bodies

00:36:44.200 and the renewed earth.

00:36:48.020 Lord, we thank you that you have given us hope and promises and

00:36:52.160 help. Lord, we ask that you would teach this congregation

00:36:56.360 to pray, to pray deeply.

00:37:01.880 Lord, that you would take them to a place where their heart groans.

00:37:05.200 Lord, that they would know that you will carry by your spirit

00:37:09.060 the truths, the clarity of those groanings to your ear.

00:37:15.200 Father, we thank you for all of these truths in your son's name.

00:37:19.080 Amen.

00:37:19.380 Amen.

Dale Partridge - February 22, 2024

How the Spirit Helps Us in Prayer - Romans 8_26-27

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