Romans 8:26 - "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans."
I have plans for today. What about you? I have plans and thoughts as to how my day and, on a larger scale, my life should go.
But what do I know? I mean, really, come on now. Do I have a crystal ball into the future? Somebody may, and probably will, cancel or postpone or revise an appointment, or more tasks will come my way, or I'll get something done faster than I expected. Bottom line is that I have a plan for my day, just like you, so we're going to pray right now for our plan to be blessed.
But God only knows how it's really going to unfold, so God's telling us in today's Bible verse to look to the Holy Spirit to guide our day and therefore our prayers for this day.
I can plan all I want, but God only knows. So, Lord, please bless this day for whatever you know that it's going to hold.
Furthermore, to an even greater extent, we're all alike. We all think we know what's good and not so good for us. So we pray for this good thing to happen and that bad thing not to happen.
But what do I know? I mean, really, come on now. Do I have a crystal ball into the future? I've had days where I dreaded one or more meetings that were scheduled for that day. And, like recently, God did some of the most amazing things through what I had dreaded. Minimally, God effected the old family truth, namely, relationships grow when people work at things together and work through things together. So, people may still not see the matter the same way, but if we keep loving each other and working at it together and working through it together, then God always deepens our relationships. It's just a God thing.
God tells us to look to the Spirit to guide our prayers because what we think is bad, and therefore pray against, may be the very thing that God chooses to work through for amazing good.
In the end, pray! Make plans for the day, and pray! Assess the good or bad of what's ahead, and pray! But remember that God's saying today that none of us mortals ultimately know the future or the actual good of what's ahead, so we really don't know "what we ought to pray for." (Romans 8:26) So whatever we may plan and assess and pray for, trust that "the Spirit himself intercedes for us" (Romans 8:26), and believe that God will bless your day and you yourself and all parties involved more than any of us could ever desire or deserve.
So ultimately, we pray believing the one thing we know for sure through faith in Jesus Christ, namely, God is good!!! All the time!!!
Praise God!!!
Pastor Chris
"The gospel is the story of Jesus [what God's only Son has done for us that we can't do for ourselves], spoken as a promise." - Robert Jenson
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