Sunday's Message - The Work of the Holy Spirit (The Holy Spirit Intercedes)

The Holy Spirit is probably the most confusing member of the Trinity. Although we can understand the Father and the Son, it's more difficult for us to grasp the nature of something that can’t be seen. Yet, without the Spirit, we can know very little about either the Father or the Son. And so, we're looking at the work of the Holy Spirit. During five messages, we'll focus on what the Holy Spirit does for us. Over that time, we'll consider the following: 

• September 3 - The Holy Spirit Inspires
• September 10 - The Holy Spirit Instructs
• September 17 - The Holy Spirit Intercedes
• September 24 - Holy Spirit Unites
• October 1 - Holy Spirit Empowers

On Sunday, we focused on how the Holy Spirit intercedes for us. A recording and copy of the sermon are below. You can stream the service by going to the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube Channel at 10:00 a.m.

Now, this morning, we’re at the midpoint in the five-part sermon series we started a few weeks ago entitled, The Work of the Holy Spirit. And as y’all know, in each of the messages, we’re looking at one thing that the Holy Spirit does for us. For example, a couple of weeks ago, we talked about how the Spirit inspires the life that we have and the life that we share with all those other things that breathe and the eternal life that we can experience right now. And then, last Sunday, we considered how the Holy Spirit instructs us and to do that, we answered three questions: what does the Holy Spirit teach you know, how we can live and who Jesus is, and how does the Holy Spirit do it, through an internal presence and the external word and then why does the Holy Spirit offer to us this instruction, so that we can both endure and have hope. Now that’s what we’ve done over the last couple of weeks.

But do you remember why we’re doing it, in other words, why we’re taking five weeks to focus on the Holy Spirit? Well, for me, doing this kind of thing just makes a lot of sense, because, as I said in the very first message, I think the Holy Spirit is pretty difficult for us to understand. I mean, when compared to the Father and the Son, the Spirit is hard for most people to get their heads around. And I’ll tell you something, I think we kind of get a sense of this challenge by looking at the Hebrew and Greek words used in the Bible that are translated “spirit.” You see, unlike English, nouns have what’s called gender in both Hebrew and Greek. In other words, in Hebrew, nouns can be either masculine or feminine and in Greek, they can be masculine, feminine or neuter. Well, the Hebrew word for “spirit” is רח and that word is feminine, while in Greek, it’s πνεύμα which is neuter. You see, as you move from one language to another, even the words themselves are kind of confusing. And that’s why we’re looking at the Spirit’s work, not nature.

And so this morning, we’re going to continue this study by considering something else that the Spirit does for us, and now I’m talking about how the Spirit intercedes. In other words, how the Spirit actually prays for us. And I’ll tell you, when you think about it, the nature of prayer may be every bit as confusing and even frustrating as the nature of the Holy Spirit. Of course, that’s not to say that prayer isn’t important, because it certainly is. And this doesn’t mean we don’t try our best to do it, because I think most of us do. And yet, how to do it effectively, well, that’s not always clear. 

And you know, maybe that explains why intercession, you know, prayer, is another work of the Spirit. And that’s going to be our focus this morning. You see, during the rest of the message, we’re going to use a passage from the eighth chapter of Paul’s letter to the Roman to understand a little better how the Holy Spirit intercedes for us and why that’s important. And to do that, we’ll consider three things that’s connected to this intercession: first, the reason, you know the reason the Spirit does it; and second, the remedy, the way the spirit intercedes; and then third, the result, in other words, the impact this work of the Spirit has on us. Now, that’s what we’re going to be talking about during the rest of the message, and hopefully, when I tie this sermon up, we’ll all have a better understanding of what the Spirit does and why it’s important.

And like I said a minute ago, we’re going to use a passage from Paul’s letter to the Romans to do this. For example, if you’re talking about the Spirit praying for us, for Paul, man, I think the reason is pretty clear. You see, according to what he wrote, I think the Spirit intercedes for us because we tend to worry and this tendency gets in the way when we approach God. I mean, just listen to what he wrote to the Romans:

I am sure what we are suffering now cannot compare with the glory that will be shown to us. In fact, all creation is eagerly waiting for God to show who his children are. Meanwhile, creation is confused, but not because it wants to be confused. God made it this way in the hope that creation would be set free from decay and would share in the glorious freedom of his children. We know that all creation is still groaning and is in pain, like a woman about to give birth.

The Spirit makes us sure about what we will be in the future. But now we groan silently, while we wait for God to show that we are his children. This means that our bodies will also be set free. And this hope is what saves us. But if we already have what we hope for, there is no need to keep on hoping. However, we hope for something we have not yet seen, and we patiently wait for it. [Romans 8:18-25, CEV]

You see, for the Apostle Paul, we tend to be worriers. 

Of course, when you get right down to it, we’ve got some excellent reasons to worry, don’t we? I mean, as we go about living our lives, we all face problems and pain, fears and frustration, disappointments and doubt. Man, that’s just a part of living in the world that we have and not necessarily the one that we want. And so we worry, and Paul understood that. As a matter of fact, for him, not only does this kind of thing affect us, it’s also something we share with the rest of creation. In a real way, we’re all groaning as we try to do the best we can with what we have. But I’ll tell you, it’s not just stuff happening right now that shakes creation up. We also worry about the future, and in particular, about when Jesus is going to return and straighten things out. I mean, it’s been almost two thousand years for crying out loud, how long will we have to wait? I think that’s a question on the mind of a lot of Christians. And you know, maybe that explains why books about the “signs of the end” are so popular, even though Jesus himself said that “no one knows the day or the time. The angels in heaven don't know, and the Son himself doesn't know. Only the Father knows.” [Mark 13:32, CEV] No, I think Paul was spot on. There’s a lot going on that we don’t want much less like, and so we worry.

And I’ll tell you, I think this gets us into trouble, especially when we’re approaching God in prayer. You see, I believe all this stuff, well, it kind of distracts us, doesn’t it; causing us to focus on our own concerns while ignoring the kind of prayer Jesus taught us to pray, and if you’re not sure what that is, remember what we prayed together about five minutes ago. Instead of focusing on praising God and leading “us,” we generally focus on issues that are a whole lot more specific and a whole lot more personal. Now let me be clear, I’m not saying that doing this is wrong. As a matter of fact, I think it’s a good thing to lay before God our problems and our fears and our disappointments; it shows that we believe he has the power to do something about them. But you know, if that’s all we pray, and sometimes it is, and if we worry about things like getting the words right and sounding spiritual so we can be heard, then I think we’ve gotten distracted and we’ve sort of moved away from what prayer was really intended to be and to do. And I’ll tell you, I think that’s the reason the Holy Spirit intercedes for us.

And how does it do it? How does it help us to pray? In other words, what’s the remedy for the problems we have in connecting with God? Well, as Paul continued this part of his letter to the Romans, just listen to what he wrote:

In certain ways we are weak, but the Spirit is here to help us. For example, when we don't know what to pray for, the Spirit prays for us in ways that cannot be put into words. All of our thoughts are known to God. He can understand what is in the mind of the Spirit, as the Spirit prays for God's people. [Romans 8:26-27, CEV]

Now that’s what Paul said. And I want you to think about what it means. Even though God knows that we’re weak and even though God knows that we’re easily distracted by stuff and even though, because of that, we really don’t know what to pray for, God loves us so much and he wants to connect with us so badly he doesn’t wait for us to become strong. Instead he helps us when we’re weak. And through the Holy Spirit, he does the praying for us. As it says in the good, old King James Version: 

Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. [Romans 8:26, KJV]

I love that, “groanings which cannot be uttered.” You see, in spite of our weakness, the Spirit helps us do something that we really couldn’t do ourselves. It takes all that frustration and all that pain and all that doubt, you know, the stuff that often becomes so distracting, it takes all that and combines it with our hope and our joy and our trust, the Spirit takes all of this into the mind of God. And it’s done without our permission or help or even knowledge. In other words, who we are and what we feel is in the presence of the one who couldn’t love us more than he does right now. And it’s all possible, because, as we’ve already said, the Holy Spirit has literally been breathed into us. And so, for folks like us who worry about all kinds of stuff and who become so distracted by those worries that we don’t even know how to pray, the Holy Spirit does it for us. And that’s the remedy.

And as to the result, I’m telling you, because of what’s being communicated right now between us and God, I believe our perspective changes. In other words, when we recognize that the Holy Spirit is a conduit connecting us with God and that right now God already knows everything we need and everything we want and he still loves us, when we accept this, I believe how we see both the present and the future will be different. And I think Paul believed it too, because right after talking about how the Spirit prays for us, he wrote this:

We know that God is always at work for the good of everyone who loves him. They are the ones God has chosen for his purpose, and he has always known who his chosen ones would be. He had decided to let them become like his own Son, so his Son would be the first of many children. God then accepted the people he had already decided to choose, and he has shared his glory with them.

In everything we have won more than a victory because of Christ who loves us. I am sure that nothing can separate us from God's love—not life or death, not angels or spirits, not the present or the future, and not powers above or powers below. Nothing in all creation can separate us from God's love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord! [Romans 8:28-30; 37-39, CEV]

Now isn’t that remarkable? God knows us, and he still loves us. He always has, and he always will. And you know, when we acknowledge this, in other words, when we recognize our weakness and when we accept the Spirit’s work, we just might change. For example, we just might be able to glimpse a purpose behind our problems and pain. And we just might see a future in spite of our fears and frustration. And we just might trust in a destiny that’s far greater than our disappointments and doubt. You see, I think our perspective changes. And when that happens, so will our prayers, and I’m talking about the prayers we ourselves pray. I mean, just knowing that God is already aware of everything we need and everything we want, (God already knows it) maybe that will help us spend a little more of our time focused on these words of Christ:

You should pray like this:

Our Father in heaven,

help us to honor

    your name.

Come and set up

    your kingdom,

so that everyone on earth

    will obey you,

as you are obeyed

    in heaven.

Give us our food for today.

Forgive us for doing wrong,

    as we forgive others.

Keep us from being tempted 

    and protect us from evil. [Matthew 6:9-13, CEV]

A changed perspective and a more focused prayer life, that can be the result, all because the Spirit intercedes for us.

Of course, I recognize that doesn’t mean that we won’t still be concerned about the prayers we offer. I mean, since most of us believe connecting with God is important, how we can most effectively pray will probably always be a big deal. But I’ll tell you, I don’t think that should cause us to forget that God is already doing something incredibly special for us, that through his Spirit, he’s actually praying for us right here and right now. And you know, we really shouldn’t forget the reason he does it, that even though we worry and get distracted, he still loves us. And we shouldn’t forget the remedy he offers, that the Spirit actually takes who we are and what we want and feel and brings into the presence of God. And we shouldn’t forget the result, that just knowing what God has done can change our whole perspective on both the present and future. You see, all this we can trust, because the Holy Spirit intercedes.