The Fifth Trumpet

Like you, there have been times when I needed to pray and wanted to pray, but do not know how and what to pray.  You know the agony and the struggle of those moments.  In such times I have often found myself going to the 8th chapter of Romans and reading the verses that begin in verse 26.  Those words, like other words in this section of Romans, reverberate with the comfort of God.  To read those words about the Holy Spirit interceding for us is like standing in the midst of a great sanctuary and hearing the sound of trumpets rolling over us.

 

When we are weak, the strength of God is most available in our lives.  When we are weak, not knowing how to pray, the Spirit steps in and prays for us before the Father as we could never imagine doing ourselves.  "...With sighs too deep for words..." is how the Apostle Paul described His divine work.  These words tell us that the Spirit prays not just with what we might call "head knowledge" of our needs, but He also prays from a deep place which speaks of the involvement of all emotions.  In other words, the Spirit prays prayers that can only come from the heart that is being broken and measured.  And while this would be enough for any of us, the Spirit intercedes "...for the saints according to the will of God."  (Romans 8:27)  The prayers that the Holy Spirit offers come from a heart that feels and knows our agony and also from a heart that clearly understands what God is seeking to do in our lives.

 

What a Word this is for us as we struggle against the unthinkable!  What a Word this is for us as we agonize in prayers than seem to be beyond articulation!  What a Word this is for us when we feel so alone in our struggle and in our praying!  The gospel proclaims from beginning to end that God is with us and as we hear these words from the Apostle, we know that it is true even when it seems we are alone.  Sound the trumpet!  Listen to it as its power fills the room!   Our needs are never unspoken and our voice never unheard for the Spirit intercedes for us in the heavenly place!