05.10- CHAPTER TEN -- THE SPIRIT OPERATES...
CHAPTER TEN -- THE SPIRIT OPERATES IN PRAYER
"The Spirit maketh intercession for us."
If the spirit’s ministry in its entirety were not essential and indispensable, we might at times think we can fare just as well without certain phases of His divine operations. This, however, could never be true of any discerning person with regard to the Spirit’s part in the sacred exercise of prayer. Our inability to pray as we ought is the paramount infirmity of our Christian experience. The Spirit Knows Our Needs No dilemma could be so disconcerting as that of being burdened and not knowing the what nor the how in seeking relief. Yet this is statedly our weakness. "We know not what we should pray for as we ought" (Romans 8:26).
Here again, the divine Indweller comes to our rescue.
He knows whereof we have need even before we ask.
He knows the kind of need and the extent of it.
He knows the degree of urgency in having it cared for.
He knows the seriousness of neglect.
He is within to detect and to direct; to prompt and to promote.
He makes heavenly help most inviting in the midst of our helplessness.
The Spirit Knows the Way to God Our need for contacting the throne of God is continual. Hence the exhortation to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17). But there are times when we are more conscious of our need-times when the heart must get through to God, and that without delay. So quickly do the secular supports go from under us, that our petitions are sometimes sudden outbursts of soul anguish. When Peter saw the boisterous wind he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, "Lord, save me" (Matthew 14:30). This was a cry of desperation-a prayer of emergency. There was no time for heart preparation, no opportunity to engage in vain repetition. He had to get through to God. How readily, even intuitively, the hand of need reaches heavenward! But how futile is the reach, how disappointing the cry, when the suppliant knows not the way! Unless he knows the One who does know the way and can promote him in it, his heart finds no genuine comfort. The Spirit Knows the Will of God "He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God" (Romans 8:27). This revealed fact, perhaps more than any other, gives deep assurance to the earnest suppliant. It is not so much the Holy Spirit working in co-operation with us in the matter of prayer, but rather working for us. As one of the translations puts it, "He interposes Himself on our behalf." The interposition of the Godhead is a revealing consideration.
The Lord Jesus Christ interposed Himself on behalf of men when He "gave himself a ransom for all" (1 Timothy 2:6). He took our place.
The Father interposed Himself on our behalf as a witness to the hope which is both steadfast and sure, an anchor of the soul. "Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath" (Hebrews 6:17).
Says Delitzsch: "God descended, as it were, from His own absolute exaltation in order, so to speak, to look up to Himself after the manner of men and take Himself to witness; and so by a gracious condescension, confirm the promise for the sake of the inheritors." Davidson adds: "He mediated or came in between men and Himself through the oath by Himself." The Holy Spirit, knowing the will of God, operates only in accordance with that will. This should further impress us with the essentiality of a complete yieldedness to the control and guidance of the divine Indweller.
How often must the Spirit of God remind the heart of men: "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts"! (James 4:3). The Spirit Intercedes "The Spirit itself [himself] maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." When we get this far in such a solemn and sacred consideration, we have plunged ourselves into the fathomless depths of divine wonders. We have moved into the unspeakable, the incomprehensible, but not into the incredible. This second part of the verse is but the progressive result of the first, and the Holy Spirit goes beyond our reach into the sublime stages of prayer operation. But He goes in our behalf; He goes to make intercession for us.
It is only our recognition of His presence and our resignation to His patient promotion which carries prayer into this inexpressible and effective status. It is as though the Holy Spirit says, "You can trust Me where you cannot trace Me." Then He carries the interests of the yielded soul before the throne of grace, there to have every need met in the sufficiency of an assured answer.
What irreparable loss we must suffer when we fail to acknowledge the presence and power of the Spirit in our lives and refuse to submit completely to His guidance! The Spirit’s Unutterable Groanings
"The Spirit itself maketh intercession for us [the saints] with groanings which cannot be uttered" (Romans 8:26). With man a groan is a deep inarticulate sound expressing pain, grief, or disappointment. With the Spirit it is inaudible but indicative of concern.
Three times the apostle Paul referred to the groaning of the believers.
(1) "We ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body" (Romans 8:23).
(2) "We groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven" (2 Corinthians 5:2).
(3) "For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened" (2 Corinthians 5:4). In these quotations we find a restlessness, a longing and an outlook. The groanings of the Holy Spirit in His intercessions for us are unutterable. He puts our burdened hearts in touch with the supply of grace, wisdom and comfort. As a colony of Heaven in this sin-scarred realm (Php 3:20) He ministers to our needs. We may be surrounded by enemies, but we are not cut off. The supply lines cannot be broken. The term, "maketh intercession," twice repeated, carries the thought of a continual work, even as "beareth witness" (Romans 8:16) is a constant undertaking. Thus, the Holy Spirit knows our needs, understands God’s will, and interposes Himself on our behalf in prayer.
How the Spirit Promotes in Prayer "God hath sent forth the Spirit . . . crying, Abba, Father" (Galatians 4:6). This sacred salutation is found three times in the Scriptures. It is used with regard to the Saviour, once with regard to the Spirit, and once with regard to the saints. The word "Abba," which means "Father," is simply "Ab" (Awb) in the Hebrew. In the Chaldee emphatic state, it is "The Father." In the New Testament it has the Greek interpretation subjoined, and is found as "Abba, Father," or "Father, the Father." or more freely, "Father, O Father." It became the reverent title of God in prayer-the salutation of the Most High.
"Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father" (Galatians 4:6).
The Spirit gives us union with God (Romans 8:9 c).
The Spirit also gives us the unction of God (1 John 2:20).
The former is the prerequisite; the latter, the power. It is a communicating power.
God looked down one day and saw His Son among men (Matthew 3:17).
God looks down today and sees His Son in men (Galatians 4:19).
As the Son addressed the Father from among men (John 17:1), even so now the Spirit speaks to the Father from within men (Galatians 4:6).
"No man can say that Jesus is Lord but by the Holy Ghost" (1 Corinthians 12:3). He is our voice, even as He is our life. Nothing Godward can originate from man. "Without me ye can do nothing" (John 15:5).
"Ye have received the Spirit of adoption,, whereby we cry, Abba, Father!" (Romans 8:15). The word "whereby" reveals that the born-again person is granted
the position of vital relationship to God,
the privilege of the children of the household of faith,
the possibility of communication with the Father.
"For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father" (Ephesians 2:18). This means that the way is clear for us to come unto God. The Spirit makes the entree. He gives us the appropriate salutation. One does not move carelessly in the presence of royalty. People practice for months the correct methods and manners of meeting such. Curtsies are perfected and royal etiquette studied. Yet it is a more solemn matter to approach Deity. The Holy Spirit alone can lead us into the presence of God.
We cry and the Spirit cries, but it is His cry which registers the petition in Heaven and assures the petitioner that the contact has been made.