Advocate for the Ignorant

“And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” (Ro 8:27 AV)

This verse is a bit difficult, but not impossible to comprehend.  The ‘he’ is God the Father.  The second ‘he’ is the Spirit.  So, the truth Paul is relating here is that God the Father knows the thoughts and purposes of the Spirit because the intercession which the Spirit makes for the saints is according to the will of God the Father.  Now, some writers take this to mean one of several things, or a combination of those possibilities.

The first possibility is that God the Father knows the thoughts and purposes of the Spirit is to make intercession for the saints.  This intercession is just that.  Intercession.  The second possibility is that God knows the thoughts and purposes of the Spirit because the Spirit would only make intercession in those things that are the will of God.  The debate comes in the form of a question.  Does the Spirit make intercession in all things with which we are concerned and in the manner in which we desire, or, does the Spirit exercise discretion and ignore those prayerful concerns and hope for answers that are not according to the will of the Father?  Perhaps the solution is found in the preceding verse.  “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.” (Ro 8:26 AV) When we consider this context, we understand the ministry of the Holy Spirit includes making intercession for us according the will of the Father, specially when we do not know for what we should ask.  This should be of great comfort!

There is a practice which greatly benefits health professionals.  This practice allows a proxy to make decisions for a patient when the patient may not be able to make decisions for him or herself.  In legal terms, we might call this power of attorney for healthcare.  However, one does not need to be incapacitated for the principle of the practice to be applied.  At any time, a patient can differ to health care professionals or his family to make decisions because he does not feel he can make the right call.  I find this to be true more and more.  The older I get, the more I am differing to professionals, allowing them to make decisions that affect me because they can see things that I cannot see.  There is a possibility I may have to go on a life long medication.  Not harmful.  Not life threatening.  But there are side effects that may or may not be of concern.  The alternative is no better.  To choose not to take the prescription means another set of complications.  There is no perfect solution.  So, differing to someone who has the knowledge and understands the risk factors may be the prudent thing to do.  The point is, I have an advocate who has my best interests at heart and in the case of my inability to make a sound judgment, can do that for me.

We have an advocate who knows all things.  Including the plan of God.  We can differ to the Holy Spirit in all things that are not clear.  We don’t have to know how to pray about everything we face.  We can pray in the dark because we have the Spirit who knows the light.  Just think about that!  The Spirit makes intercession for us according to the will of the Father because we are ignorant, confused, overwhelmed, or lack faith.  The Spirit makes intercession for us even when we do not ask for it.  This is the priceless ministry of the Spirit for which He seldom gets recognition or expression of gratitude!  Thank You, Holy Spirit for Your love and concern for us!