Having given the Roman congregation, hope
of glorious adoption as God’s children, Paul goes on to exhort them to wait
patiently for the hope to be fulfilled in future. However, we are not without
help. That is what he describes in Romans 8:26 to 28.
Yes, each one of us is groaning under
the weight of the sufferings and sorrows of this worldly life. Even the whole
creation is groaning under the curse of death and decay. But, the believers are
not left to our own resources to cope up with these problems. We have a Helper
residing with us, the Holy Spirit.
As we sigh and groan inwardly, the
Holy Spirit pleads for us with sighs beyond words. Because of our weaknesses we
do not even know how to pray or what to pray for. We are not able to pray
properly because, one, we do not know what the future holds for us; secondly,
we do not know what is God’s plan for us in this life. In this helplessness,
the Holy Spirit becomes our help.
When we pray we need to align
ourselves and our wills to the Will of God. Then we get what we ask. James
4:3 says, “When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong
motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasure.” When we are not
sure of the Will of God, we may ask selfishly and when we do not get it, we
feel discouraged and depressed even.
So how do we pray? It is baffling to
most of us. As Jesus said, our Father in heaven knows what we need already, Matthew
6:32, then what to pray for? God as a perfect Father knows what is good for
us and what to be given to each of us. Luke 11:13.
God knows what is good for us and He
will give it to us in His time. Just because we ask, He will not give us
something that will harm our interests. We ourselves may not know what is good
for us. We need to have that trust that God our Father knows the best.
Perfect prayer would be what Jesus
prayed in Gethsemane, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet
not my will, but yours be done.” Luke 22:42. Whatever requests we may
make in our prayer, it is best to finish it acknowledging that God knows better
in His wisdom and leave things to Him to be done as per His will. That way, we
will not be disappointed, when we do not receive what we ask for, but at the
same time, we can be sure that God will do it if it is His will for us.
In this dilemma, the inward dwelling
Spirit is a present help. Knowing our weakness, He assists us, by interceding
for us, pleading for us with sighs beyond words. It is in Dodd’s words, “the
divine in us appealing to the Divine above us.”[1]
For only the Spirit of God will be able to understand the thoughts of God, and
He intercedes for us according to God’s will.
God searches the minds of human
beings. Psalm 139: 1-2 says that the Lord has searched the Psalmist and
knows every move that he makes and the very thoughts of him. The Word of God
will judge the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrew 4:12. The Son
of God says in Revelation 2:23, “…I am He who searches hearts and minds...”
When God searches our hearts and
minds to find out our motives in asking a request in prayer, the Holy Spirit
who resides in believers’ hearts, intercedes for such saints in accordance with
God’s will. God honours such a prayer.
It is God who initiates our
salvation, by convicting us of our sins, through the Holy Spirit, leading us to
confess our sins and get forgiveness from Christ; in our ongoing
sanctification, the Holy Spirit plays the most prominent role, instilling in us
the Fruit of the Spirit and bringing us closer to God, so that we become more
like His Son Jesus Christ.
Nowhere has he left us alone to fend
for ourselves. He is always with us, from the beginning of our conversion, helping
us, prodding us and leading us till we reach the final glory and eternal life. No
wonder Paul says in verse 28, “in all things God works for the good of those
who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
There is nothing that happens in our
lives that God does not know. He knows every single detail of our lives, our
joys, sorrows, heartaches, burdens and tears. He counts our steps, as Job would
point out in Job 14:16; He puts our tears in His wineskin (a container) Psalm
56:8; He has counted the very hairs of our heads Luke 12:7.
To go further, He has engraved us on
the palm of His hands, Isaiah 59:16. Will He ever leave us or forsake
us? Never, not even if our own mothers and fathers were to forsake us. Isaiah
59:15. That is the God we have and He would cause all things to work
together for good in our lives.
God will take the very things in our
lives that are discouraging and given us deep hurts and sorrows and will use
these very bitter experiences for His own glory and our own good. When we look
back our lives, things we thought as the greatest disappointments worked out to
be our greatest blessing.
The worst we went through have become
our strongest points in God’s service, bringing comfort and solace to others,
who are struggling in such similar situations. It is through such experiences
that God mould us to make us useful instruments in His hands. We are his
workmanships. Paul says elsewhere “we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ
Jesus to do good work…” Ephesians 2:10.
God makes something beautiful out of
the broken vessels, our broken lives. Isn’t that amazing! Like the ancient Japanese
art, Kintsugi, of mending broken pottery with gold-dusted lacquer, giving the finished
vessels a beauty of its own, with golden strands gleaming in the cracks, God
makes something equally beautiful with our broken lives.
The only requirement for such an honour
would be, that we love Him and been called according to his purpose. More of
this in the next blog.
So never grumble or blame God when
troubles come. Rather look at these as stepping stones in our travel further towards
glory. Are we not like clay in God’s hands? Jeremiah 18:6. Doesn’t He
have right to do with us as He wants? Isn’t He our Creator? We need to submit
to His will so that He could make a beautiful vessel out of us and our lives.
Glory to be His name for ever and
ever.
Amen.
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