Romans 8:26-28 (NLT)
26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. 27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. 28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
“The Christian faith is the discovery of that center in the God who sticks with us, the righteous God. Christian discipleship is a decision to walk in his ways, steadily and firmly, and then finding that the way integrates all our interests, passions and gifts, our human needs and our eternal aspirations. It is the way of life we were created for. There are endless challenges in it to keep us on the growing edge of faith; there is always the God who sticks with us to make it possible for us to persevere” [Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, 134].
Identify the personal pronouns in Romans 8:26-28 (i.e., I/me, you, she/her, he/him, it, we/us, they/them). Does this change the way you read this passage?
How can you make Psalm 129 into a prayer with specific requests?
God sticks with us – we have his Spirit to keep on keeping on. As fellow sojourners like the psalmist and the people of God throughout history, we all face obstacles, fears, or giants that stand in the way of our faith journey. In those moments, let us in the Spirit pray until something happens (P.U.S.H.) according to his purpose.
-JH