A Loss For Words Is Found

“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)

 

I can tell you by experience this is very true and very special.  Too many times I would lay awake with prayers on my heart and mind, but was at a great loss as to how to pray them or exactly what to pray for.  A need would arise or a person would come to mind and knowing exactly what it was that was the mind of God on the matter I knew not.  Sometimes, prayer is a discussion with the LORD as the saint works through his own feelings or thoughts on the matter.  It is not merely asking for a laundry list of things.  Rather, as the LORD tells us to, we are coming together with the LORD to reason things out.  This reasoning is a particular area in which we need the ministry of the Holy Spirit as described above.  This is the most productive time for me, anyway, in my walk with the LORD.  The Spirit has been able to decipher my heart's condition and reflect it back so that things can be dealt with and growth can occur.  Some may call this meditation.  The problem is, meditation is a discussion with one’s self.  Prayer is not.  The Spirit is an essential part of productive prayer and is often overlooked.

My son is a missionary to the country of Brazil.  They speak Portuguese there.  Even though he has been going to language school for three years, he is struggling with the language.  When he preaches, he does so with an interpreter.  They post on YouTube, so I enjoy the privilege of watching his services.  I am fascinated as I watch my son and his interpreter work together to get the message out.  For the most part, it goes seamlessly.  However, every once in a while my son will use a word or phrase which either the interpreter does not know the meaning of, or, more times than not, there is no equivalent expression in Portuguese.  Zack has to explain what he means differently.  Then the translator can translate the meaning into Portuguese.  This is not quite the same as the verse above.  Zack knows what he wants to say.  He simply struggles to say it in another language.  When it comes to our prayer life, it is not a matter of choosing the right words.  It is a matter of knowing what to ask for to begin with.  When it comes to a certain situation, like a serious health issue of another, do we know the mind of God in the matter?  Do we know if the LORD intends to heal the individual or call the dear saint to His side?  More pointedly, I find when it comes to our own deep internal spiritual condition, the Spirit’s ministry of prayer is absolutely essential.

These are the sweetest of times while praying to the Father.  I am taking a supplemental sleep aid to aid in a deeper sleep.  One of the side effects of this supplement is one’s dreams are more vivid.  What that means is they are more realistic and contain more detail.  Real people in real situations.  What I have discovered is these dreams often address deep-rooted stress points that have not completely received total closer.  Or, like last night, my dream involved a deep resentment I didn’t really know I harbored.  As I awoke, I was able to ask the Spirit to help me understand what my mind was discharging.  Confession of an area of life in which I felt resentment had to be dealt with.  I asked the Spirit to illuminate to my heart the meaning of these thoughts and if I did harbor ill feelings, then He would reveal it to me that I might confess it and seek God’s mercy in overcoming it.  Here’s the thing.  Until I began to pray it through, I didn’t know what my heart harbored.  I had no idea that I had these deep thoughts until prayer by the guidance of the Spirit was availed.  He helped and is helping me see what is deep inside so that I can wrestle with it under His ministry of prayer.  For this, I am more grateful than words can ever express.  The ministry of the Holy Spirit when it comes to prayer is a therapy that money cannot buy.  Outside of the study of the word of God, it is the most essential tool to spiritual growth seldom utilized by the saint.  Praise God for the ministry of the Holy Spirit!