When You Don’t Know What to Say

“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”  ROMANS 8:26

 

PONDER THIS

For the last several years, I have been praying, "Oh God, hear my prayer, God hear my prayer." I've stained Heaven with my prayer. But God said to me some while back, "Adrian, I've heard your prayer. I know what you're asking for and I'm going to answer your prayer, not the way you think, but more wonderful than you think." What a peace that was to my heart.

All of us are there sometimes. We pray, “God, I think it's this” or “I think it's that” or sometimes, “Lord, I don't know.” When we don’t know how to pray, the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groaning which cannot be uttered. Thank God we are asking for one thing, and God's Holy Spirit says, “Now Father, there's Adrian. He's down there asking for something. He's sincere. This is what he thinks he wants, but God, this is what he needs.”

You don’t have to have your prayer well-worded; the Lord hears your heart. He will provide what you need even when you don’t know how to express it.

When have you been at a loss for words? How does it feel to know you can approach God even when you feel that way?

What are some prayers you need to entrust to God? How have you tried to handle things on your own?

PRACTICE THIS

Surrender to God the confusing situations you have tried to figure out on your own.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Bible Study

Psalm 23:3

        [3]     He restores my soul.

    He leads me in paths of righteousness

        for his name’s sake.

Romans 5:20-21

[20] Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, [21] so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Romans 3:20

[20] For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Psalm 143:2

    [2] Enter not into judgment with your servant,

        for no one living is righteous before you.

Forgiven for Jesus’s Sake

For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great. (Psalm 25:11)

In knowing what is right, God does not consult any authority higher than himself. His own worth is the ultimate value in the universe. Therefore, for God to do what is right means acting in a way that accords with this ultimate value.

The righteousness of God is the infinite zeal and joy and pleasure that he has in what is supremely valuable, namely, his own perfection and worth. And if he were ever to act contrary to this eternal passion for his own perfections, he would be unrighteous — he would be an idolater.

How shall such a righteous God ever set his affection on sinners like us who have scorned his perfections? But the wonder of the gospel is that in his divine righteousness lies also the very foundation of our salvation.

The infinite regard that the Father has for the Son makes it possible for me, a wicked sinner, to be loved and accepted in the Son, because in his death he vindicated the worth and glory of his Father.

Because of Christ, we can pray with new understanding the prayer of the psalmist, “For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great” (Psalm 25:11). The new understanding is that, because of Christ, instead of only praying, “For your name’s sake, pardon my guilt,” we now pray, “For Jesus’s name’s sake, O God, pardon my guilt.”

First John 2:12 says, “I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake,” referring to Jesus. Jesus has now atoned for sin and vindicated the Father’s honor so that our “sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.”

God is righteous. He does not sweep sin under the rug. If a sinner goes free, someone dies to vindicate the infinite worth of God’s glory that the sinner defamed. That is what Christ did. Therefore, “For your name’s sake, O Lord” and “For Jesus’s name’s sake” are the same. And that is why we pray with confidence for forgiveness.

John Piper 

Prayer is the Key that Opens the Morning

“And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” MATTHEW 6:13

 
PONDER THIS

What is wrong with so many of us is that we wake up in the morning and everything’s going fine. We jump out of bed, we get dressed, and have our breakfast. We gulp down some hot coffee. We get in the car and go to work. Everything is just fine. We think we’ve got it made, and then here comes the enemy—and we fail.

We fall and we come to the end of the day and we pray, “God forgive me.” And we should! Every time you pray that in sincerity and in truth, God does forgive you. But why do we keep on asking Him to forgive us for the same thing? You ask God to forgive you, and He does. Then you fall again and say, “God forgive me,” and He does.

The reason we keep asking God to forgive us for the same thing is that we’ve only learned part of this prayer in Matthew 6. We’ve learned to pray, “God forgive us,” but we’ve not learned to pray, “Lord lead us, lest we fall into temptation. Deliver us from evil.”

The best way to deal with your sin is not to try to clean it up at the end of the day, but to prevent it from coming at the beginning of the day. This prayer is not the lock that closes the night; it is the key that opens the morning. Pray in the morning for daily deliverance.

What are some of the ways you get ready spiritually each day? How do those things prepare you for the spiritual battles ahead?
What are some reasons you don’t prioritize getting ready spiritually each day?

PRACTICE THIS

Make a reminder for yourself to get spiritually ready each day. Make this preparation a habit.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers

Bible Study

Daniel 7:14

    [14] And to him was given dominion

        and glory and a kingdom,

    that all peoples, nations, and languages

        should serve him;

    his dominion is an everlasting dominion,

        which shall not pass away,

    and his kingdom one

        that shall not be destroyed.

Daniel 7:27

    [27] And the kingdom and the dominion

        and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven

        shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High;

    his kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom,

        and all dominions shall serve and obey him.’

Ephesians 1:21-23

[21] far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. [22] And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, [23] which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Colossians 2:10

[10] and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.

Jesus Will Trample All Our Enemies

Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. (1 Corinthians 15:24)

How far does the reign of Christ extend?

The next verse, 1 Corinthians 15:25 says, “He must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.” The word all tells us the extent.

So does the word every in verse 24: “Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.”

There is no disease, no addiction, no demon, no bad habit, no fault, no vice, no weakness, no temper, no moodiness, no pride, no self-pity, no strife, no jealousy, no perversion, no greed, no laziness that Christ will not overcome as the enemy of his honor.

And the encouragement in that promise is that when you set yourself to do battle with the enemies of your faith and your holiness, you will not fight alone.

Jesus Christ is now, in this age, putting all his enemies under his feet. Every rule and every authority and every power will be conquered.

So, remember that the extent of Christ’s reign reaches to the smallest and biggest enemy of his glory in your life, and in this universe. It will be defeated.

John Piper 

The Lion at the Door

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 PETER 5:8

 

PONDER THIS

If you knew there was a ravenous, hungry lion somewhere on your property, wouldn’t you be careful when you walked out the door? You certainly would not walk out the door without being prepared. That is what God is saying to us in 1 Peter 5:8—“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary…” Not somebody else’s adversary . . . your adversary walks about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

The bitterest enemy of God and His people is someone called the devil, the evil one. Have you ever thought about the names that are given to him in the Bible? He’s called the deceiver. He’s called the liar. He’s called the murderer. He’s called the accuser. He’s called the tempter. He’s called the destroyer. He is called the evil one.

The devil is not the figment of someone’s imagination. When we talk about the devil, that’s not a figure of speech. He is personal. He is aggressive. He is intelligent. He is cunning. He is destructive. And his cleverest method is to make people think he does not exist at all—that he’s just some sort of an idea we should make jokes about or view in a cartoonish way. And we laugh because that is a comic presentation and illustration of this one that the Bible tells us we are to beware of. The devil is not in Hell. He will be. But right now he walks about seeking whom he may devour.

What are some of the ways you have prepared yourself for the Enemy’s attacks? What are some ways you could grow in that?

What are some ways you have forgotten the urgency of the spiritual battle every day? What does it look like to be prepared for the spiritual battle?

PRACTICE THIS

Talk with another Christian and confess to one another how you have struggled against sin. Keep each other accountable to be ready for the daily spiritual battle.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers