Moderator
Staff Member
It’s An Inside Job (4)
‘The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness.’ Romans 8:26 NLT
The twin pillars of a believer’s daily life should be prayer and Scripture. And while praying may be simple, it’s not always easy. We lack motivation, we’re easily distracted, and not always sure what we should be praying for. So recognising our human inadequacies, God ‘helps’ us through His indwelling Holy Spirit: ‘The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.’ (Romans 8:26–27 NLT) That means no matter how you feel when you pray, the Holy Spirit joins in prayer with you, and for you, transforming your feeblest prayers into powerful appeals to the Father. And when it comes to the second pillar, namely the Word of God, the Holy Spirit’s role is equally dynamic. Jesus said, ‘He will lead you into all the truth. He will not speak on His own authority, but He will speak of what He hears and will tell you of things to come.’ (John 16:13 KJV). Notice, the Holy Spirit does three things:
(1) He guides you as you study the Word of God and seek to understand it.
(2) He takes what Jesus wants you to know and reveals it to you.
(3) He opens your understanding about things that are still to come. No question, good reference books, Scripture-based resources, and skilled Bible teachers can be helpful, but they’re no substitute when it comes to hearing from the Holy Spirit for yourself and listening carefully to what He wants to tell you.
written by Bob Gass
‘The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness.’ Romans 8:26 NLT
The twin pillars of a believer’s daily life should be prayer and Scripture. And while praying may be simple, it’s not always easy. We lack motivation, we’re easily distracted, and not always sure what we should be praying for. So recognising our human inadequacies, God ‘helps’ us through His indwelling Holy Spirit: ‘The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.’ (Romans 8:26–27 NLT) That means no matter how you feel when you pray, the Holy Spirit joins in prayer with you, and for you, transforming your feeblest prayers into powerful appeals to the Father. And when it comes to the second pillar, namely the Word of God, the Holy Spirit’s role is equally dynamic. Jesus said, ‘He will lead you into all the truth. He will not speak on His own authority, but He will speak of what He hears and will tell you of things to come.’ (John 16:13 KJV). Notice, the Holy Spirit does three things:
(1) He guides you as you study the Word of God and seek to understand it.
(2) He takes what Jesus wants you to know and reveals it to you.
(3) He opens your understanding about things that are still to come. No question, good reference books, Scripture-based resources, and skilled Bible teachers can be helpful, but they’re no substitute when it comes to hearing from the Holy Spirit for yourself and listening carefully to what He wants to tell you.
written by Bob Gass