Yesterday, we talked about praying with an alert mind and a thankful heart. But, did you know that God also prays for you? Really? Prayer is actually communication between God and you. Communication is a two-way street. The messages go both ways. Let’s take a look at what the Bible says about God taking care of us.
“In John 17, Jesus prays for His followers, and from that prayer we can learn the kinds of things Jesus might be praying for us now. Here is a list of what Jesus prayed for his disciples:
• Know God and His Son, Jesus Christ (verse 3)
• Be protected from apostasy (verse 11)
• Be one in spirit as the Father and Son are one (verse 11)
• Be filled with His joy (verse 13)
• Be kept from the evil one (verse 15)
• Be sanctified through God’s Word (verse 17)
• Remain unified in Christ throughout the generations (verses 20–21)
• Let our love convey Christ’s message to the world (verse 23)
• Join Him in heaven for all eternity (verse 24)
• Experience the same kind of love for each other that the Father and Son share (verse 26)
Here are some more verses that come to mind when I think about the Holy Spirit praying for us.
Romans 8: 26 – 28 (NLT)
“26 And 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. 27 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. 28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”
Have you ever been in a situation where you didn’t know what to pray for? You were just so overwhelmed and anxious you couldn’t see a solution or steps to take? Did you know that when you feel like this, and just admit to God that you are at the end of your rope, that God prays for you?
Look at this again – “the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words”. (Romans 8: 26) The Bible tells us that God knows we are weak, and He knows the broken world we live in – and He reaches out to us, He “knows all hearts”.
What is even more exciting is that the Holy Spirit’s prayers are “in harmony with God’s own will”. That means I’m praying for the right thing. I might be confused, but the Holy Spirit isn’t. That is such a comfort to me. On those days when I’m scared and curled up on my bed worried about something – and I’ve had lots of days like that over my life – I can just admit to my Heavenly Father that I don’t know what to say or do, and leave it with Him.
I think it’s also important to zero in on another idea in these verses. God has a plan for me. Look at verse 28 – “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” There is a purpose for my life. Look at the Jeremiah verse – “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”
So, when I bump into the broken events of this world, I can know that God will bring something good out of the mess. It doesn’t mean that everything works out just beautifully – no stress, no pain, no difficulty, no loss. It means that those broken, frightening events are not useless; something good will come from them. Here is where I have an advantage being 74 years old – I have seen good come from very difficult things. In fact, sometimes the good that comes from a hard situation is amazing because those who witness it realize that something (someone) has to be behind it all – a realization that there is a God at work.
So … pray with a thankful heart. God cares deeply for you.
Our song for today is Goodness of God by Bethel Music and Jen Johnson