NINTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST July 13, 2008 Romans 8:26,27

26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.

In the name of him whose love endures forever, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, dear blood-bought souls,

Ten men are vying for three spots on the U.S. Olympic power lifting team. Nine have hulking bone structures and are bulging with muscle everywhere. At six feet tall and 150 pounds the tenth is little more than skin and bones. A ten page report is expected by the company board of directors. Due to procrastination and some fires to put out the human resources director hasn’t even begun to put it together. The meeting begins in 15 minutes. How many of you would like to be in the position of the skin and bones power lifter or the human resources director? In each of these cases someone might say, “They don’t have a prayer.” Perhaps you have even used that phrase yourself a few times. What do we mean when we say that someone doesn’t have a prayer? It implies a situation that is seemingly so bad, so overwhelming, and so hopeless that not even God can help.
Is there any part of your life right now where you feel you don’t have a prayer? Is your life so complicated and mixed-up that you don’t even know where to begin a conversation with God? Paul wrote these verses to inform you that you’ve got a prayer through the Holy Spirit. As a child of God, your body is his temple. He lives in you. For that reason the Spirit is able to help you.
Life in this world is messy, A few verses before this text Paul wrote that we along with all of creation are currently in bondage to decay. Things break down: metal rusts, wood rots, joints wear out, vision is blurred, hearing is lost, injuries are sustained, property is damaged, families and people have conflicts. At times the hurt can be so bad, the frustration so intense, and the confusion so thick that we can’t even begin to understand our struggles much less know what to ask to fix them. Such is our weakness.
But the Spirit helps us in our spiritual weakness much like a doctor helps us physically. You may have a persistent pain in your stomach but not know if the cause is your gall bladder, appendix, kidney stones or gas. You only know the pain is killing you, and you need relief. A family member gets involved in a public sin. the whole neighborhood knows about it. But this loved one is defensive about the act and could be locked away for many years. Your feelings seem impossible to sort out. There’s definitely pain but is it more embarrassment for your self that you are feeling or fear for the spiritual state and welfare of your loved one? What do you ask from God for yourself, and exactly what do you request for your family member? Do you ask that he receive a harsh sentence as a wakeup call to repentance, or something lesser? Grandma’s cancer, once in remission has returned. Not undergoing treatment will result in pain, but so will chemotherapy and radiation. Do you pray for healing or a quick death? Then there are times of intense emotional pain and confusion to the point that words can’t even begin to communicate what you’re feeling. This is our struggle when it comes to prayer.
But the Spirit helps you and me. First he searches our hearts. He feels our pain. He knows our frustrations and the fears with which we wrestle. He can find words to accurately describe our inner groaning and turmoil. Yet if this is all the Spirit can do it is of little benefit. It would be like a doctor understanding how severe you pain is but not knowing what to do about it. The Spirit knows the solution to our situations. We may not know if we should pray for grandma’s healing or a swift, less painful death, but the Spirit knows what is best. We can’t look into the heart of a straying family member to know if a harsher sentence will lead to godly sorrow and repentance, but the Spirit does. The Spirit is not only able to diagnose problems he knows the solutions. This means you’ve got a prayer even when you can’t find the right words or don’t know what to ask. The Spirit does know what to ask and he does intercede for the saints in accordance with God’s will.
When you pray the Holy Spirit approaches the throne of God with you. He serves as a go between for the saints. A saint is a person who has been sanctified by the Spirit--called to faith in Jesus’ cleansing blood. Through the gospel the Holy Spirit took you out from under Satan’s power when you were headed for the dungeons of everlasting darkness. He gave you a second birth, by which you were born into God’s family. As God’s child the Spirit accompanies you to God’s throne expressing what you cannot.
When my younger children were learning to speak occasionally they would approach me because they wanted something. But the sounds coming out of their mouths made no sense to me. “I don’t know what you are saying,” I would tell them. At that point an older sister or brother, who some how understood them, would put their request in words I could understand. The Holy Spirit puts our jumbled requests into words the Father can understand. And when we ask for something harmful or not completely beneficial the Spirit who fully knows our needs edits our requests so they are in keeping with God’s will. That’s important when you consider what the apostle John says about prayer, “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us--whatever we ask--we know that we have what we asked of him” (1 John 5:14-15). Because the Spirit always and only asks what is in-keeping with God’s will, we will always get an answer to our prayers. This is why “the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” (James 5:16).
Since this is the case it is absolutely foolish not to pray. No matter how dire or hopeless your situation may seem you’ve got a prayer. The Holy Spirit, who understands you and your situation, refines and relays your requests to the Father. With God nothing is impossible. He brought the world into existence, parted the waters of the Red Sea when it seemed there was no way out for Israel, he calmed the sea that was overwhelming the apostles, he fed 5000 with a couple of fish and 5 loaves of bread, he laid down his life and took it back again to purchase freedom sin’s curse for all. God’s power is matched only by his love for you. Not turning to God in prayer is like trying to drive a nail with your fist when a hammer hangs from your tool belt. Neglecting prayer in time of need is like putting out a raging fire by spitting on it when a hydrant and hose lie a few feet away.
Until we die or Jesus comes again we will groan with pain, confusion, and frustration in this decaying, sin-tainted world. But in the Spirit help is only a prayer away. So in every situation pray early and pray often. Amen.