Wednesday, July 9, 2014

My day was wrecked, but then something amazing happened.....



My Mother and I had the most rude awakening experience this morning.  I don't want to go into details, but we had to cope with my hospice-patient Father's digestion before coffee, before even getting the sleep out of our eyes.  It was an absolutely horrible way to begin a day; not the worst way, but definitely ranking up there with bad beginnings.

Once things were squared-away, breakfast dealt with, and I could sit down to continue my study of Romans, the Word of God revealed something to me.  Two verses from Paul's Letter to the Romans, Chapter 8, changed my whole day, and put me on a whole new level of understanding and joy in my faith.

"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.

And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God."  Romans 8: 26-27 KJV

Truth time:  reading that in the King James version didn't smack me in the face with it's truth.  It wasn't until I followed up this morning's reading of the Bible with Clifton J. Allen's excellent study guide, published by Convention Press in 1956 and titled, "The Gospel According to Paul:  A Study of the Letter to the Romans" that I understood what I'd just been reading.

The Holy Spirit helps us pray.  We don't have to get the words right every time, because the Holy Spirit which God sent to dwell in our hearts intercedes for us, and helps us pray even when we don't do it right.  

You may want to read that again, or maybe you've known this for a long time.  There is no telling how many times I've read Romans in the past, but I've somehow missed the powerful truth in 8: 26-27 every time.  I've known that the Holy Spirit helps us through comforting our spirits, healing our physical and spiritual wounds, and many, many other things, but Paul tells us that He even helps align our prayers with the will of God.

I don't know about y'all, but I really needed that lesson this morning, and I'm going to be in awe for the rest of the day.  Hallelujah.