Text: 2 Corinthians 5:2-5

 2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven:  3 If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.   4 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened:  not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.   5 Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.

Tuesday, 13^th August 2024

THE HOLY SPIRIT COMFORTS US THROUGH INTERCESSION

Text: 2 Corinthians 5:2-5

Memory verse: Romans 8: 23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

What is intercession?  It is to pray on behalf of someone else to God.  And it should be part of every believer’s own prayer-life.  We should be praying for one another as Christians.  We should be praying for the church of God and the people of God all over the world.  It is a great comfort and help to know that others are praying for you in your troubles.  And yet, there is something quite inadequate about the intercession of others for us.  Somebody will say, “I will pray for you.”  And we think, “Well, you can do that, but you really do not understand my need.”  There is a sense in which the fellow believer can never know what we experience and what we are going through. And in that situation, it is a great comfort for us to know that we have a heavenly intercessor:  Jesus Christ our Savior, who knows all things, who Himself went through all our pains and sufferings, and who rules over all things for our good.  

Added to Jesus’ intercession in heaven for us, we also have the Spirit praying for us.  We have two divine intercessors.  One of them is in heaven at God’s right hand, and the other is very close to us, the Spirit who now dwells in us, the Comforter sent from God who takes up His abode in our hearts. This is a very comforting thought. He sees our life, so to speak, from ground level.  He knows our hearts.  He knows the struggles of our mind intimately.  And He helps our infirmities by praying for us.

This intercession, we should see, is more than just the Holy Spirit helping us with our own prayers.  The Holy Spirit does help us with our own prayers.  In a sense, the Holy Spirit is the author of all our prayers.  The Spirit of God draws us heavenward by coming into our hearts and giving us heavenly desires and longings.  Apostle Paul says in Romans 8:23 that we who have the firstfruits of the Spirit also groan within ourselves, waiting to be delivered.  This is not the groaning and the sighing of someone who is complaining.  But it is an expression of our hope.  There is a day of deliverance coming for us from the curse.  And the Holy Spirit, the firstfruits within us, gives us a longing for that day.  The groanings and the sighing are our prayers of hope and longing for the day of deliverance.   

CGDS HYMN 6; SS&S 201:

SPIRIT DIVINE, ATTEND OUR   PRAYER

1. Spirit divine, attend our prayers,

and make this house thy home;

descend with all thy gracious powers,

come, great Spirit, come!

2. Come as the light; to us reveal

our emptiness and woe,

and lead us in those paths of life

whereon the righteous go.

3. Come as the fire and purge our hearts

like sacrificial flame;

let our whole soul an offering be

to our Redeemer's Name.

4. Come as the dove, and spread thy wings,

the wings of peaceful love;

and let thy Church on earth become

blest as the Church above.

5. Come as the dew and sweetly bless

this consecrated hour;

may barrenness rejoice to own

thy fertilizing power.

6. Spirit divine, attend our prayers,

make a lost world thy home;

descend with all thy gracious powers;

           come, great Spirit, come!

 Prayers 

1.  Lord Jesus, help me in all my infirmity and make intercession for me by Your Spirit.

2.  ORD God Almighty, by Your Spirit I pray Your will always and I know that I am helped to pray how I ought to through Your Holy Spirit in Jesus’ name. Amen.    

3.  Pray for others in this regard.