The Will of God

 The Spirit helps us pray according to the will of God (Rom. 8:27). “God can see what is in people’s hearts. And he knows what is in the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit speaks to God for his people in the way God wants” (Rom. 8:27 ncv).

“And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him” (1 John 5:14-15 esv).

We don’t know what we need, what is best or “what God’s will is, but the Holy Spirit controls those prayers and promotes those desires which are consistent with God’s purposes and which are best for us. Such prayers are always answered,” said Charles Hodge. (Hodge, Romans, 256)

Moreover, the Spirit prompts us to pray only for that which is holy and consistent with God’s Word and will. The Holy Spirit never urges us to ask for anything that is sinful or forbidden by Scripture. He never prompts us to pray for anything that is contrary to God’s predestined purposes and will.

Spurgeon said, “Reflect for a moment: the Holy Spirit knows all the purposes of God, and when they are about to be fulfilled, he moves the children of God to pray about them, and so their prayers keep touch and tally with the divine decrees.” Charles H. Spurgeon, “The Holy Spirit's Intercession,”  No. 1532, April 11th, 1880, Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.) 

God always answers yes when it’s His will and His timing. Spurgeon said, “The mind of God is one and harmonious; if, therefore, the Holy Spirit dwells in  you, and he moves you to any desire, then his mind is in your prayer, and it is not possible that the  eternal Father should reject your petitions.” (Charles H. Spurgeon, “The Holy Spirit's Intercession,”  No. 1532, April 11th, 1880, Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.) 

 Moreover, we can be assured that “counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.” (Ps. 33:11 esv). Nothing or no one can prevent God from answering our prayers that are part of His plans and accomplish His purposes.

All we need to do is ask the Holy Spirit to guide us in prayer when we cannot see our way. When we are in the dark, He gives us light. When we are perplexed and foggy in our faith, He will open our eyes that we may see.

The Holy Spirit is our Counselor, Comforter, and Friend when we are going through trying times. He  reminds us of His faithfulness and how He has cared for us in the past and assures us of His presence now and in the future.

When you can’t find a promise to sustain you, Jesus promised that “the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26 esv).

Realizing the extent of the Holy Spirit’s help has transformed my faith. He is teaching me how to pray as He desires and I am learning to rest in the assurance that He hears me. I am better able to see how He is working. His power is more than sufficient for all my weaknesses in prayer. This lifts the burden off of me!

He knows the right words to pray when I don’t. He is always speaking for me. What encouragement! He understands the cries of my heart, knows my thoughts, and presents them to God. What assurance!

Here is Jer. 17:10 in three versions: 

“I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve” (Jer. 17:10: NIV).

“But I, GOD, search the heart

and examine the mind.

I get to the heart of the human.

I get to the root of things.

I treat them as they really are,

not as they pretend to be” (Jer. 17:10: (MSG).

“But I know! I, the LORD, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve” (Jer. 17:10: NLT)

Too Deep for Words

The Spirit is interceding for us with sighs too deep for words (Rom. 8:26). “The Spirit himself speaks to God for us, even begs God for us with deep feelings that words cannot explain” (Rom 8:26b ncv).

“The Spirit dwelling within us prays, not always in words and thoughts, but in a breathing and a being that is deeper than utterance,” said Andrew Murray. (Andrew Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer, 189.)

“The praying of the Spirit is too deep for words . . .  it cannot be expressed. It is felt only in the heart; it never comes to the surface of the lips; it never can be expressed. In other words, these are those deep yearnings of the soul that all of us feel at times for more of God for ourselves, or, perhaps, for someone else,’” said Pastor Ray Stedman. (Ray C. Stedman, “Prayer, Providence, Praise,” Sept. 9, 1962,  No: 15, Catalog No: 19)

The Spirit not only intercedes for us with groanings, but He also interprets our aching sighs, stumbling sentences, and even our senseless babbling. He understands what we’re trying to express and explains what we mean to God.

When our granddaughter was two years old and she first started talking she babbled, repeating only an intelligible word or two, such as “Mama” and “Papa.” Now she is saying lots more words, but she still says “words” that make sense to her but not us.

She becomes frustrated when she keeps repeating the same unintelligible word, but I don’t know what she is saying. I can tell by the look on her face that it is perfectly clear to her.

Recently, she kept pointing and repeating the same word sounds, and I said, “I don’t understand you.”

“Yes, you do,” She replied.

We can be grateful that the Spirit of God understands us clearly; He interprets our babbling and crying and sighing. He understands what we mean and presents our needs to the Father.

Our burdens may also be so deep we cannot talk about them or we have such internal conflict we don’t know how to express ourselves to God. Our trials may be so heartbreaking and horrifying we are overcome by grief and shock to the point of numbness. Our thinking may become irrational. Our spirit groans inside us, and we cannot talk.

Yet we have this assurance, the indwelling Spirit interprets our sighs and presents them to God for us. He hears and comforts us in our sorrow. “So it is with those prayers which are all broken up, wet with tears,  . . . and anguish and bitterness of spirit, our gracious Lord reads them as a man reads a book, and they are  written in a character which he fully understands.” (Charles H. Spurgeon, “The Holy Spirit's Intercession,”  No. 1532, April 11th, 1880, Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.)

The indwelling Spirit“ creates all real prayer,”  when our mind is incapable of reason and “of clothing its emotion in words.” “I pray you never think lightly of the supplications of your anguish. . . . That which is thrown up from the depth of the soul, when it is stirred with a terrible tempest, is more precious than pearl or coral, for it is the intercession of the Holy Spirit, ” said Spurgeon. (Charles H. Spurgeon, “The Holy Spirit's Intercession,”  No. 1532, April 11th, 1880, Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.)

 

The Mind of the Spirit

 

God searches our heart and knows the mind of the Spirit (Rom. 8:27). “I the LORD search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds” (Jer. 17:10 esv).

The Holy Spirit tests our thinking to see how sincere we really are. He sees the hidden things deep in our heart when we pray. He examines our motives, gets to the bottom of the truth, and strips away all our pretenses.

He convicts us, challenges us to change, and corrects the direction we are headed in. We can’t hide anything from God when we pray. “For he knows the secrets of the heart” (Psalm 44:21 esv).

God is omniscient, meaning that He has perfect knowledge of all things. He knows absolutely everything about us. “O LORD, you have searched me and known me!” “Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether” ( Ps. 139:1, 4 esv).  God reads our unexpressed thoughts; He knows every hidden thing about us.

Before a thought is our own, “it is foreknown and understood by” God, said Spurgeon. No one can else can hear what we think, and we do not fully understand or know our own mind.  (Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, 1419)

 “He is intimately acquainted with our person, nature, and character. How good it is for us to know the God who knows us! Divine knowledge is extremely thorough and searching.” (Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, 1418-19)

God is aware of every careless thought. When we ask God to do something, He knows our true intentions, those that are right and wrong, and those we rationalize or minimize. God knows every good and evil desire. 

When I ask God for something, He knows my motives even when I don’t understand them myself. One quick glimpse of my heart and God can “sum up all the meanings of my soul.” His glances are so piercing “everything about me is transparent.” (Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, 1419)

Spurgeon said, “My most common and casual acts and my most needful and necessary movements are noted by” the Lord. He knows “the thoughts that regulate them. Whether I sink in lowly self-renunciation or ascend in pride,” He sees “the motions of my mind as well as those of my body. This is a fact to be remembered every moment: when sitting to consider or rising to act, we are seen, known, and read by Jehovah our Lord.” (Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, 1419)