There is a lot of talk in churches about praying to God, and rightfully so. For one of our greatest blessings is to go before God’s throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16) and find a loving and merciful God who is happy to hear what is on our hearts.
But did you know that God prays for you? Well, He does! For Romans 8:26 (NLT) says, “And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.” (Bold and italics mine).
Isn’t that wonderful? The God of the universe praying for each individual believer (including you!). And why does He do so? Well, here comes the second piece of wonderful news. He does so because He understands and wants to help us in our weakness. For we often don’t know what we, or those who we are praying for really need. Nor do we know the will of God for us. So, we are quite limited in our ability to pray well. But God recognizes this and is glad to help take our prayers to a higher level (no pun intended … )
So, for these two things we must offer great praise to God!
But please also note in Romans 8:26 the words “for example”. These words tell us that Spirit helping us to pray is just one of the ways He helps us. So, let us thank Him for this as well, because we sure have a lot of weakness!
And while we are having our own little “praise service”, let’s not forget to thank Him for how the Holy Spirit prays for us with “groanings that cannot be expressed in words”. So, what does this mean? Well, as one theologian said, “God is no stranger to the intent of the Spirit. He knows what the inexpressible meaning is, because the petitions that the Spirit voices are strictly in accord with the will of God”.
But quite frankly, as much as we, mere mortals, try to explain this, we undoubtedly fall short. For there is a mystery that surrounds exactly how God prays for us, as well as what the communication is like within the Trinity. But this should not stop us from rejoicing in the great truth that God prays for us!
One last thought …
You know how, when we are struggling and share our burdens with others, it is so comforting to have someone say to us, “I’ll be praying for you”? Well, please add one more name to your list of those praying for you, and that is God. For each morning when you get up, and even while you’re sleeping, God says, “I’m praying for you”.
Thank You God. Thank You.
In Christ’s Love,
Pastor Rob