I was listening to Chip Ingram this past week and I don't know if you know who he is. He has a radio broadcast living on the edge and he used to pass from Santa Cruz and now back in Dallas had a walk through the Bible but he was telling about an experience and seminary he used to meet with some guys at lunch with Howard Hendricks and Hendricks if you know anything about him he used to talk to them about their life and ministry and gave them all kinds of practical advice and spiritual advice and he said one day a guy who had really been blown and it wasn't doing what he ought to do and so Hendricks was kind of confronting him about this and he said well under the circumstances and Hendricks stopped him right there he said under the circumstances and he of course was going to say you know because things are so bad I couldn't help it he said under the circumstances and Hendricks said what are you doing under there what are you doing under there well we've been looking at in Romans 8 is the fact that we don't have to live under the circumstances we have seen that the spirit of God is the spirit of life in fact is the spirit of life this law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus is what gives us victory over the law of sin and death we saw that the spirit is the spirit of adoption he is the one who's actually brought us into relationship with God as his sons and daughters we are children of God and God is our father Paul tells us the reason that we find it so easy to say oba father dear father when we pray is because of the spirit of adoption that witnesses to our spirits that we are the children of God and it comes out in the form of oba father and then we are beginning to look at the fact that he is also the spirit of glory he is the spirit who promises us that he's going to complete this work that he has begun in us in Christ Jesus even though we live in a period of time in the overlap of the ages between the first and second coming of Christ when there's a lot of groanings there's a lot of frustration there's a lot of sickness there's a lot of things in life that we don't like but we have hope hope is a wonderful thing hope in the scriptures is based upon our faith in the promises of God if you believe the promises of God you will have hope because hope is a manifestation of faith in the promises of God a few years ago I it's been a couple years the last time I touched sochaeology at Grace School of Theology I had a student who wrote a paper on glorification that is the final stage of salvation and I want to reach you the just a paragraph out of his conclusion it's about a 15 page paper but let me just read you this one little paragraph he says this is the end of your salvation Christian he wrote this way because the assignment was to write a lesson that he would teach in a Sunday school class or preach and so he writes it in this manner this is the end of your salvation Christian God is bringing your life to this glorious point glorification is the final phase of the application of redemption indeed it is the completion of the whole process of redemption for glorification means the attainment of the goal to which the elect of God were predestined is quoting Murray there and then he says yet in another sense the glorification of the saints will not be the end of his work and grace in your life it is only the beginning according to Ephesians 2 7 Jesus Christ saved you so that you could be with him forever and have perfect fellowship with him John 17 21 for he is the centerpiece of heaven he is the most beautiful person in this world and you will get to be with him and live with him and see him for the rest of eternity and how is that possible because he died on a cross for you and paid the penalty for your sins wow he says and you will see his face revelation 22 3 and 4 says we're going to see him face to face is not going to be amazing what an amazing day that's going to be when you see Christ face to face well notice in our text today as Paul has been giving us hope so that we can endure with joy in the midst of the most difficult parts of our lives now he begins to tell us how God is helping us he gives us another word of encouragement not only do we have hope in the darkest hour but as well we have a helper a helper who is with us and notice what he says in Romans chapter 8 they may read from verse 25 he says but if if we hope for what we do not see with perseverance we weigh eagerly for it in the same way the spirit also helps our weakness for we do not know how to pray as we should but the spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words and he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the spirit is because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God and we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God to those who are called according to his purpose I like to answer three questions that I believe this text answers their important questions of first it first is what does why does the Holy Spirit help us why is it necessary for the spirit of God to help us well Paul tells us it's because we have a weakness because of our weakness we do not know how to pray as we should the word weakness here is what has been described in verses 18 through 25 we were going to go back and read those verses we would see again what our weakness is it is our sufferings our frustrations our bondage to decay your body is winding down and our groanings our disappointments in life these sicknesses and tragedies and frustrated plans are all apart of these this weakness that we experience even persecution this past week I received a couple of emails from our mission a couple of different missionaries and both of them were facing incredibly challenging situations and Nonilo Sanchez our missionary in Philippines who spoke of this church a couple times faces a difficult mission in Mindanao some opposition both outside the church and inside the church as he trains pastors and he as God has already blessed that ministry in such massive ways and yet the load of that ministry is so heavy on him and just a couple of months ago Nilo collapsed just physically collapsed I thought he had a heart attack and all it was was just absolute exhaustion and no wonder as you read about what he's doing no wonder in a hospital a week got out of the hospital we had a conference coming up in fact it was the rescheduled conference that Steve Fernandez and I were going to go to a few months ago and I got canceled because of all the upheaval that was going on there they bombed the airport we were supposed to fly in so we didn't even go and so they rescheduled and John Fernandez was going to speak at this conference and John had an accident injured his neck couldn't go and so here's Nilo two days out of the hospital a week in the hospital from exhaustion the doctor said you need six weeks rest and this conference is coming up they've canceled it once they've got pastors coming from all over the Philippines to be trained for these few days and he just couldn't cancel it and so he preached those five days and it was really interesting to listen to him he said every day every time he got up to speak he felt so exhausted and so weak that he just prayed God please give me just one more step just one more step just give me enough energy to get through this and he said every time he got up he had to pray that prayer and God brought him through it and now he's on vacation he's resting this life in this life we're going to experience a lot of disappointments a lot of frustration a lot of pain and all those things but we have a helper in the midst of our weakness now we don't know what to ask for he says because of our weakness in other words we're in this situation and we are fallen people even though we've been regenerate even though we've been born again we still have sincling to us and our vision is still affected and we can't see things as we ought to see them and so we don't know what to pray for sometimes we're just at a loss for words we don't know what to ask God for have you been like that this week if things going on your life you just don't know how to pray Philippians we are told that we should pray for this that Christ will even now as always be exalted in my body whether by life or by death Paul was facing death and for sure we can pray this God I want you to be exalted in my body I want Christ to be exalted in my body in my life here in this fallen world I want Christ to be exalted but how will it be exalted will he be exalted by me by Nilo completely exhausting himself until he he is wiped out for a year or would he be better glorified and magnified if Nilo would just take a rest well sometimes we don't know because we don't know how to pray as we ought let me read to you if I can remember what's that you remember John Bunyan who wrote Pilgrim's progress Bunyan was a pastor in England his pastor of a free church he wasn't certified to preach by the church of England and because he preached the gospel to his little church he was arrested and put in jail all he had to do was stop preaching and he could be released from prison for 12 long years he remained in prison because he decided he couldn't abandon the call that God had put up on his life to preach the gospel his wife was home had four children had no means of income one of her children was blind and Bunyan is in prison what should he have done listen to his words he wrote a work after this and he wrote several things besides Pilgrim's progress if you ever read Pilgrim's progress recognize that what you're reading is something that is so wonderful that was produced in a prison where a man is being held captive because he refuses to stop preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ he writes in a later work advice to sufferers he says may we try to escape should we escape from danger and he answers this thou this is old English so bear with me about thou mayest do it in this as it is in thy heart if it is in thy heart to fly fly if it being thy heart to stand then stand otherwise if it's in your heart to to get out of the situation so you don't have to suffer in the situation then get out of the situation if it is in your heart to stand and suffer the consequences then stand anything but denial of the truth he that flies has warrant to do so he that stands has warrant to do so yeah the same man may both fly and stand as the call and working of God with his heart may be so and he begins to name and point out that in the scriptures we have men of God who both stood and fled at one time they fled Jesus fled persecution at one point at another point he stood and went to the cross the apostle Paul had times when he fled and avoided persecution and difficulty at other times he stood and he took the persecution and difficulty and on and on and on Jeremiah Isaiah throughout the scriptures we see this pattern and he says this Bunyan goes on and says this there are a few rules in this case the man himself is best able to judge concerning his present strength and what weight this or that argument has upon his heart to stand or fly do not fly out of slavish fear but rather because flying is an ordinance of God that you know that God has given you this direction opening a door for the escape of some which door is opened by God's providence and escape countenance by God's word is point is that we don't know how to pray as we ought there are so many things in life and we have people always trying to tell God's people exactly what they do in every life situation it was a movement in the church a few years ago I have no idea if it's still going on called the shepherding movement and it was a movement that elevated pastors to this point they they dictated to people about every decision in life they made there were actually churches like this and there probably still are where the pastor would determine the shepherds of the church would determine whether you should move or stay where you're at I know a church not far from my in-laws in southern California the entire church relocated because the shepherd says we got to relocate and everybody sold their homes and moved about 50 miles south and relocated the church that's not biblical the fact is there are many decisions you're going to face in life that you don't know how to pray as you ought we have a helper God's not frustrated at your weakness don't ever think he's frustrated by your weakness yes your weak and yes there are times when you don't know what you ought to pray for but we have a helper this is so relevant for us today we wrestle with various kinds of sickness and suffering we face issues in our life that are so difficult and it's going to become more significant as inflation sets in as inflation sets in and it is setting in this principle is going to be more important than ever you're all thinking inflation yes it is becoming more and more costly to be a disciple of Jesus Christ wake up it's more costly today to be a disciple of Jesus Christ than it was 15 years ago and it's going to be more costly in 10 years in our culture there's no doubt about it George Barnett just did a finished the study not too long ago and published it about the attitudes of evangelicals in America this is an amazing study because it's basically just a asking specific questions about people's believers habits our profess believers habits of life his conclusion and he's no right wing fiery eyed fundamentalist but his conclusion was about 10 percent of professing evangelicals live as true disciples of Jesus Christ that is their lives are marked by being in the word by a life of prayer by a life of involvement in the community of faith by a life of commitment to the commands of Jesus Christ in the most practical areas of life that is an amazing thing and I want to tell you that it's going to become more costly to be a follower of Jesus Christ in the future just like no Nilo Sanchez has paid an awful price in the eyes of men he has been rebuffed and attacked in all kinds of ways his life has been at risk and all those kinds of things it's costly but one thing you need to know that even though you are weak and there are times you don't know what you should do should you run or should you stand should you do like Jesus and avoid his persecutors for a while until there's a more opportune time when God's timing is perfect and he's going to use the cross the implement of his death as the work of redemption we don't know we don't know how to pray wouldn't it be better if we knew what to pray for wouldn't it be better if we had perfect wisdom that's what a lot of people think and they come up with all these principles let me give you a formula for having perfect wisdom about every decision in life baloney there are no such principles because of our weakness we don't always know how to pray as we ought the fact that we have weakness and not perfect wisdom or perfect insight into the will of God in every given situation the fact is we continue to face many moments when we do not know how to pray as we ought instead we groan over our weakness oh God what are you doing in my life what am I supposed to have you ever been there well you didn't know whether to go right or left and you honestly wanted to do the will of God but you had no idea what God wanted you to do but we have a helper the reason the spirit helps us is we have a real weakness we don't always know how to pray as we are this is why and I'm not being sarcastic I'm not being what's the word I want anyway I'm not being sarcastic when I say this I have discovered in my life there are times when I am absolutely convinced I'm doing the will of God at least that's what I keep telling myself and I'm telling everybody else that I find them the most defensive when I'm the least sure that this is the will of God guess what you don't have to know that perfectly that this is the will of God be faithful to Christ and expect that the spirit will help your weakness the spirit will help your weakness well how does he help us will notice what happens he intercedes for us with quite literally wordless groanings are you grateful that God does not condemn us because we do not have perfect knowledge we get in a situation we just don't know what to do I can remember thinking that I because I studied the Bible I knew exactly what to do in every situation as a parent I really thought that I was just such a good parent and I I could face any situation and I could just apply biblical principles to that situation and things would go well and then God gave me a little reality therapy and discovered it isn't like that there are times when you want to do God's will you want to do the right thing you have a weakness you don't know how to pray as you want you don't know how to pray as you want I remember just a couple of months ago praying my mother asked me to pray that she would die and go to heaven she wanted to go to heaven she was so sick and she could hardly function and I remember asking God God take her home take her home take her home God didn't answer my prayer now she's healthy and whole and living on her own again remember Elijah God just take my life I'm no better than my father's just kill me now God didn't answer his prayer we don't know how to pray as we ought but God doesn't chide us over our weakness he sends the spirit to help us the spirit comes to help us and notices what are these wordless groanings that he's talking about here are these sounds that we make are this is this a reference to speaking in tongues or something or these are groanings of the spirit that we're not even able to hear or detect let me tell you what they are and I'll try to prove that these are groanings which are the groanings of the Holy Spirit we experience them we express them but they are the groanings of the Holy Spirit as he inspires and directs them in us just like he is the one who produces the Abba father witness in us and he also produces in us these groanings oh how do we know that well first of all because the one who hears notice the one who hears and understands these groanings is the one who searches the hearts in other words these are things we experience in our hearts these groanings of the spirit are experienced in our hearts and the one who searches the hearts knows the mind of the spirit through these groanings the spirit works in us as we pray in other words this isn't going to happen if you're not praying this isn't going to happen if you're not engaged in wanting to know the will and purpose and plan of God how he might be exalted in your body magnified in your body if you don't want Christ to be magnified in your body this isn't even a section of scripture that's going to help you you need to go back and read John 316 but if you're a believer who wants Christ to be magnified in your body you want to glorify Christ in your life then understand this the spirit intercedes for us with groanings deep in our hearts the second reason we know that these are experienced by us and yet produced by the spirit is a nature of this help the word that's used here the spirit helps our helps us in our weakness means to help by joining an activity into some effort this is the word that was used remember Mary and Martha and when Martha was working so hard to prepare a meal for Jesus and his disciples and Mary wanted to hear Jesus teach Mary said at the feet of Jesus and listen to Jesus teacher the word of God and Martha is running here and there and everywhere preparing this meal wanting things to go just right and she's so upset with her sister she goes to Jesus and she says master won't you tell my sister to be a help with me that's the word it's the word that's it's a the same kind of word picture that describes that describes this gift of helps the gift of helps is the supernatural ability that God gives to some people to notice when somebody has a load that's too heavy for them and they jump in and pick up the other end of the load so that's all the gift of help says it's this ability to notice and to perceive and understand that somebody has a load that's too heavy and so they find a way to get in with them and pick up the load that's the word that's used here I married a woman with the gift of helps I had no idea when I married her that that's what her gift was but man I'm so glad I need so much help and it's so nice to have somebody who loves to help lift up see that's the spirit does this weight that is upon us in our weakness and we don't know how to pray as we ought to pray this coming of this one who's going to give us aid who picks up the other end of the load along with us he the spirit joins with us in bearing these burdens that we feel in our weakness the third reason I believe that these are the groanings of the spirit that we actually experience within us there's no reason whatsoever to believe this is tongues let me explain why the gift of tongues is not given was was not given to everybody where do you believe that they continue today or not the gift of tongues was not given everybody because Paul tells us that in 1 Corinthians 14 not everyone speaks in tongues and the text doesn't say but doesn't say but they should it doesn't say that it says not everyone speaks in tongues so even if you believe the tongues are still in existence today this isn't tongues this isn't a word of praise this is the spirit joining with you in this feeling of weakness when you don't know what to ask God for in fact the very word that he uses here for intercession is a word that means to express your deeply felt needs it is the kind of prayer that emphasizes urgency and intensity you feel so deeply this need for God somehow to come into this situation and give you wisdom to give you understanding to help you understand what he's going to do in your life in this situation the Wickliffe translators when they translate this particular term in their translations around the world they use word pictures often like this to ask for with the heart exposed you've ever done that you know what that is to ask for something with a heart exposed you know how I hate it when people are distant emotionally from you you're trying to have a conversation with somebody about something serious and they distance themselves emotionally they're very matter of fact they're untouched by your communication and your relationship at this point I hate that I hate it when I'm like that so this is my wife that's not this kind of communication this is the kind of asking and entreating that engages the heart in other words the spirit of God is emotionally involved in your life isn't that an amazing truth that the spirit of God actually cares about you he actually cares about what's going on in your life and whether you take the right turn in the fork in the road that God the spirit actually cares and so he asks another way they translate it is to ask for with crying words to beg with one's hands outstretched and I think it's the neatest thing in the world when you need it to know that the spirit of God is emotionally involved in your life don't you Felicis are you glad when you go through the tragedies of life we stood at the side of that little baby of theirs who went into the presence of Lord after 30 hours as they gave God thanks supernaturally in the power of the spirit I had no doubt in my mind that the spirit of the living God was helping them in their wings no doubt in my mind and you see the spirit of God cares that's the amazing thing he cares he's not distant he's not emotionally removed he is engaged in your life and so in those times when your heart is broken and you want to cry out to God understand that is the spirit of the living God at work in your heart and then this pattern of the witness of the spirit if you notice back in verses 15 and 16 when he talks about the spirit witnessing with our spirit he says for you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry Abba Father the spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are the children of God you see how he does it the spirit produces in our spirits this heart cry of Abba Father I have no doubt that God is my no doubt whatsoever when I go before him when I talk to him I always talk to him as a father even if I've blown it so bad I can't even hardly stand it I know he's my father why do I know that because the spirit of God testifies with my spirit that I am a child of God and this is his testimony Abba Father sometimes that's all you can say isn't it oh Father you've been there when that's all you can say is Father Father and to know because of the witness of the spirit who is emotionally involved in your life that God cares same pattern with the groaning of the spirit as the witness of the spirit the spirit does it but we experience it in our heart it is heartfelt authentic welling up in us not only of a cry of Abba Father but the groaning before God that God I deeply desire to do your will and your purpose I want to be used by you I want Christ to be magnified in my body that's such an encouraging truth this is how the spirit praise for us he moves powerfully in our hearts to create groanings and his groanings experienced as our groanings our hearts ache the spirit of God comes to live within you he begins to produce in your heart this desire for Christ to be magnified in our lives when we see other believers who live in such a way that Christ is magnified in our life we think man I'd like to live like that I'd like to be like that I like my life to count like that but on the other hand we have weaknesses we have this inherent weakness in firmly that leaves us ignorant as to how this is going to happen or it should happen so we're not sure how we're to pray but we are sure that we want Christ to be magnified in our bodies the point is that the one who searches our hearts here's the groaning that the spirit is producing he hears this Christ exalting yearning in your heart and he hears the spirit's clear intention that certain decisions and circumstances come about in the exact way that God wants them to come about in order to magnify Christ Jesus and bring glory to God through Jesus Christ this is stabilizing truth you might be at a time now when you're just being blown back and forth and you don't know what to do and you don't know if your life is even going to count the spirits on the job the Holy Spirit isn't working you believer the very moment of some of your deepest frustrations and your groanings and your sickness those times can be the very time when the work of God spirit for us become so evident as he works for us not against us God isn't frustrated at your weakness God knows about your weakness far more than you do you really minimize your weakness it's much greater than you think but that's why the God of the universe is sent to spirit himself to personally reside in your heart and it's the groanings of the spirit that the one who searches the heart hears and so as we go through sufferings and frustration and the bondage of corruption that is we get sicker and sicker and weaker and weaker and our life life flows out of us eventually I was looking at this thing in New York Times some interviews with people who are getting ready and one of them was actually a scene where this woman's committing suicide in Oregon legally this woman that committed suicide is a little video I was watching and she calls all of her friends in and she had a lot of liquor and alcohol for them to drink and party and then after about an hour she took the medication medication she took the drug it was going to kill her and after a few minutes she said I'm going to sleep now fell asleep 15 minutes later she entered into eternity and I thought I don't want to end like that I don't want to end like that do you I don't want to end thinking that all I have to do to avoid pain and Medicaid my pain is to get out of this life just stop breathing just have my heart stop and I'll enter into oblivion we're going to enter into the presence of the living God I want my life to be like the I want my death to be like the death that's that I've seen in the lives of believers very Jill Freeman the last time I started before she died I went to the hospital I didn't know she was going to die that night when we talked for quite a while and in her husband I went outside and her husband came out she said she wants to talk to you alone so I went in there and Jill begins to tell me goodbye and she began to tell me how she wanted her funeral to go and what she wanted me to do and I was so broken I couldn't talk I mean I just was overwhelmed with emotion because it was is though I was talking to somebody I've told this before it's like it was like we were standing at the train station and she's saying to me wow I didn't think it was gonna it didn't seem like it was gonna come this fast as a here's the train right now I've got to get on the train goodbye but it was so glorious because it was so obvious that what she was looking forward to was not an end of the pain she had a lot of pain but what she was looking forward to was to enter into the presence of Jesus Christ enter the enter into the presence face to face with the one who died for her and rose again on her being she ended so well as she entered into his presence you know what this really is good news that the spirit is here to help you in your weakness a lot of us what we want is we want to form in for the Christian life thing I can get rid of all my weakness and I know everything perfectly I have a really good wisdom so in every one of life situations I'll have the solution it isn't gonna happen you can fake it I know a lot of guys who fake it they're gonna work you know what you do have you have the Holy Spirit of God the Spirit of adoption residing in you the Holy Spirit of adoption is groaning within you the whole significance of his groaning is that he's emotionally involved in your life and he is groaning to the Father and to the Son about what he desires in your life so that Christ might be magnified in your body in a great to have a helper like that the third question is what does his help do for us well here's what it does it brings the Triune God into our situation is that good enough that the Spirit of God brings the Triune God Father Son and Holy Spirit into our situation let me tell you what I mean now I do this with a little fear and trepidation simply because of this I understand if you look at verse 26 verse 27 verse 26 verse 27 verse 28 this is how I understand what he's talking about verse 26 he's talking about the Spirit who groans within us in our weakness intercedes for us with groaning studio for words he's communicating what we really need in verse 27 I understand that the one who searches the hearts and who knows what the mind of the Spirit is is the Lord Jesus Christ I'll explain to you why I think that now and then in verse 28 we have the Father who is working all things together for good for those who love God and are called according his purpose the Spirit is on the job in us interceding for us the Son is in heaven at the right hand of the Father interceding for us as he listens to the groanings of the Spirit and the Father in response to the intercession of the Spirit and the Son causes all things to work together for good and the other reason I say fear and trepidation is I haven't found one commentary yet that that teaches this everyone thinks that verse 27 is speaking about the verse 27 is speaking about the Father but let me tell you why I think it is the Son in Revelation 223 this exact phrase is used by Jesus to identify himself I am the one who searches the hearts that's what Jesus says about himself I am the one who searches the hearts the idea of searching is to examine to look out carefully to learn something by careful investigation he searches our hearts and the other thing is is right in this chapter in verse 34 it tells us Jesus is identified as the one who is at the right hand of the Father interceding for us and when you put those two things together I think it's a pretty clear testimony that what we have here is a picture of the triune godhead at work on our behalf in the midst of our weakness the Spirit is in you groaning expressing in a deep way and in is being emotionally engaged in your life expressing exactly what you need the Son in heaven at the right hand of the Father takes the groanings of the Spirit and intercedes to the Father and then the Father is causing all things to work together for good and in the context guess what the good is it isn't your comfort good in the context of Romans chapter 80 is your conformity into the image of Christ if it is necessary for you to suffer and Paul says it is I won't say that but Paul says everyone who follows Christ is going to suffer but if it's necessary for suffering to be a part of the formula for you're being conformed to the image of Christ transformed into his image becoming like him Ephesians chapter 4 Paul talks about the fact that the way that we get changed in the Christian life transformed from what we are to what we ought to be in this process is this we put off the old we renew our minds and we put on the new and then he enumerates five basic areas for example truthfulness do you tell the truth are you open and honest about your life or is there a whole lot of stuff under the surface that nobody knows about by you are you walking in truth do you truth with one another in love and he tells us this is one of those areas of transformation I'm not going to be transformed in the image of Christ if I'm not being transformed in this area of integrity and honesty and then he talks about working with your hands so that you can benefit others as I read that as a pastor I think about it's so easy not to work hard in the ministry it's so easy just to float along and to rest on past work instead of digging in working hard because he says if you work hard at whatever God's called you to then you it will God will enable you to meet the needs of others he goes on and talks about anger anybody here with a problem of anger me I have a huge problem with anger not with people it's always things I don't get mad at people I get mad at DVD writers that's I get angry with but it's still a sin I need to be transformed and he goes on and he talks about what's going on in your heart the feelings in your heart towards people the way you use language are you a person who uses language to build people up or tell tear people down I have a relationship with a person and I've noticed this pattern that's been coming on and this person only enters into lively conversation when he's passing on gossip you're following that track but the only thing to excite you is when you heard some new luscious thing about somebody in you man you can get all excited you engage and all that but if somebody tries to talk to you about something that has to do with being built up in the faith it just doesn't seem to be any interest there you need to be transformed transformation in the spirit of God and the Son of God and the Father are at work in transforming you into the likeness of Jesus Christ we have, according to verse 34 an intercessor in heaven at the right hand of the Father who intercedes at our behalf defending us from all charges that could be brought against us and then in verse 27 we have an intercessor in the heart who effectively intercedes in our behalf through the difficulties and uncertainties of life when you face things you don't know what to do the spirit is there in the midst of your weakness with groaning studio for words and then in verse 28 in response to the spirit the Son the Father causes all things to work together for good now I want to ask you something isn't it strange isn't it strange that God praying to God according to the will of God isn't that weird God praying to God according to the will of God in order to accomplish the purpose of God is God on your side is God actively engaged in your life is God at work in conforming into the image of Christ see this is why the Bible is clear for persons not being transformed then there's no evidence they have life in them because people who have eternal life in them people who have Christ living in them people who have the spirit resident in them are going to experience change they're going to be transformed now sometimes it looks like they're going in the opposite direction because God's fixing to do something that's Missouri talk he's fixing to do something important he's about to do something significant so there it looks like they're going backwards but what's going to happen is they're going to fall off this cliff and they're going to have this big pain and and difficulty but as they're laying there on their back with all the wind knocked out of them they're going to say you know what I want to do it God's way then that happened to you sure it does if you're a believer the Bible says if you never are disciplined by the Lord it's true if you're not a legitimate son because all the children of God are disciplined by God that's how God works he's a good parent now why does God involve us in this why didn't he just do it himself what is what is a groaning state place inside of our hearts why do we feel this what are we engaged in why are we engaged in this why does God choose to use prayer in his in his sovereign work of glorifying himself in this world why is that let me close with this real quick jump right here here's just a little summary of the theology of prayer and scripture notices God created the universe to display the riches of his glory of his grace notice Ephesians 1 this is all over scripture but to the praise of the glory of his grace is the explanation of why God does what he does he isn't doing it so you'll feel good he isn't doing it so that you'll just be such a fulfilled person and you'll have deep spirituality and deep wisdom he's doing it for the praise of the glory of his grace now secondly the Bible teaches it all persons should act in a way that calls attention to the glory of God's grace everything you you do the way you act as a believer it you should act in a way that calls attention to the glory of God's grace whether then you eat or drink or whatever you do do all the glory of God you eat to the glory of God do you ever just save her food and say oh God thank you for the ability to taste thank you for the ability to eat thank you for the wonderful experience of just taking a cold glass of water and being refreshed by it that's the glory of God you think you could do that without God's hand upon you wait a few years third we glorify God most when we depend upon him for the grace and power to do his work in other words your dependence upon God to accomplish his work through you your dependence upon him brings glory to him if you act like you can think you you can do it on your own you're not bringing glory to God you're bringing glory to you so whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies so that for this purpose why do I have to serve God in dependence upon him and rely upon him to give me everything I need to serve why can't I just build up a big storehouse and not need him it is so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and God deserves to be glorified through our ministry in our lives fourth prayer is an act of dependence so prayer is if you tell me if you're honest today and I was to ask you and I said what tell me what your prayer life's like and you said well yeah you know I'm usually I pray over food do you ever spend any extended time before God you are you taking these knees that you have that you're so worried about do you take these before the living God do you express your dependence upon God by taking your knees before him if you don't it's because you're not dependent upon him you don't feel the dependence that you really have prayer is an act of dependence on God for everything so that he gets the glory when we get the help oh isn't it glorious when people stand up and testify how God helped them through life's most difficult situations it's so much more glorifying to God than people who tell you how they've learned to deal with the difficulties of life and they'll be glad to share their wisdom with you and it has nothing to do with God listen to this whatever you ask in my name that will I do so this is Jesus whatever you ask in my name when you ask it as though I'm asking it in my name and character when you come before God and you ask in the name of Jesus and not just by quoting his name but you ask in his character based upon his work as though he were asking it he said I will do it why why does he answer prayer this is what Jesus said so that the Father may be glorified in the Son isn't that wonderful that God has a plan and in his plan and purpose your weakness can be down to the glory of God because in your weakness as you experience the groanings of the spirit and he motivates you to cry out to God and he begins to clarify to you what you need God to do and you begin to ask God to do what you cannot do and God does it it brings glory to God in that gray what a great system I mean it is for weak people if you're strong it probably is no big advantage to you but if you're weak this is a wonderful wonderful system that God has if you're weak will you stand with me as we close in prayer and let's present our hearts and our lives to God and tell him that you're willing for him to use your weakness this week that it might read down to his glory as he works in your life let's pray our Father as we come before you we are grateful for your plan and your purpose while there we've tried to change it so many times we've tried to figure out ways to become strong so strong we wouldn't these feel so depended upon you so strong we wouldn't sense and feel our weakness so deeply and yet God you have a better plan that in the midst of our weakness we have one who helps us by interceding with groaning's too deep for words and as we feel his groaning within us and as he begins to capture our heart and direct our heart we begin to experience the triune God at work on our in our behalf how grateful we are we thank you Father that you cause us to face things that we cannot solve you cause us to come into situations where it is impossible for us to fix it so that we must depend upon you and so we ask you that this week you had help us to walk independence not chafing in our weakness but groaning in the fact that we have a the Holy Spirit living within interceding with wordless groaning's glorify yourself in us Father even if it means exposing our weakness we pray so that you might expose your power and glory in and through us we ask this in Jesus name for his glory and that he would be magnified in us amen amen