Category: The Holy Spirit Is My Helper

 John 16:13-15 NIV
¹³ But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.  ¹⁴ He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. ¹⁵ All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.” 

Romans 8:27 NIV
And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. 

Elisa shared in her message at AMC on Sunday, “As we seek the Holy Spirit to be in prayer, it is so important that we come to the end of ourselves to fully depend on the Spirit to be able to pray.” This is the kind of prayer we need for our families, our children, the ministries we are part of, our churches. May we come to the end of ourselves, so that the Spirit of God would lead and direct each step.

Let’s pray for the Lord’s leading in the next steps to grow, for our missions efforts in our churches, may it be for his glory!

Prayer: Lord, teach me to pray. May my desire to honor your name and glorify you in all parts of my life grow and bear fruit. Fill me with your Holy Spirit, I am open to your heart’s desires. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s sing to “I Need You More” by Bethel Music (click here).

-LB

John 14:26 NIV
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.  

Romans 8:26 NIV
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.

“He’s the Spirit of life who frees us from the law of sin and death (v. 2). The Spirit lives in us, marking us as belonging to Christ. He maneuvers us, guiding our steps onto paths of life and peace while dodging the pitfalls of the flesh, sin and death (vv. 4-10). The Spirit applies his resurrection power to invigorate our mortal bodies (v. 11).” [Henri Blocher about Romans 8 as “The Chapter of the Spirit”]

The Spirit is our helper, from beginning to the end. The Spirit comes right alongside and beside us, sharing in burden with us. In prayer, we are not alone, applying resurrection power to our lives each day, to carry our burdens.

Prayer: Lord, fill me with your Holy Spirit today. I am not alone. The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in me today. Christ lives in me – Hallelujah! In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s sing to  “Yet Not I But Through Christ in Me” by CityAlight (click here).

-LB

Romans 8:26 NIV
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.

“We are ignorant of what we or others may need, ignorant of what God has promised, and unable to put into words the cry of our hearts. But the Holy Spirit takes up where we, because of weakness, leave off. If we do not know what to pray for, the Spirit does. He intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words (v. 26b ESV)…But Paul says that God the Holy Spirit will also groan as he identifies with our deep, profoundly emotional yet inarticulate yearning for answers to prayers that we feel too weak and ignorant to utter. As our intercessor (vv. 26–27), he intercedes for us through wordless groans (too deep for words).”  (Sam Storm, Romans in Word and Spirit Commentary on the New Testament Series)

The only way to deal with the groans in our heart is through prayer. Let’s spend some time in prayer, bringing the groans of our hearts to him. What have you pushed aside, or given up on? Bring the deep things of your heart to him. We need a fresh touch of the Spirit!

Prayer: Lord, search my heart. Test and know every anxious thought in me. Only you can help me. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s sing to “Fall Like Rain” by Passion, (click here).

-LB

Psalm 143:8 NIV
⁸ Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
for to you I entrust my life.

From Catherine Marshall, Adventures in Prayer, she shares her testimony:

“But one thing I do know; I learned it through hard experience. It is a way of prayer that has resulted consistently in a glorious answer, glorious because each time power beyond human reckoning has been released. This is the Prayer of Relinquishment.

‘I’m tired of asking,’ was the burden of my prayer. ‘I’m beaten, finished, God. You decide what You want for me.’
Tears flowed. I felt no faith as I understood faith, expected nothing. The gift of my sick self was made with no trace of graciousness.
And the result? It was as if I had touched a button that opened windows in heaven; as if some dynamo of heavenly power began flowing. Within a few hours I had experienced the presence of the Living Christ in a way that wiped away all doubt and revolutionized my life. From that moment my recovery began.
Through this incident and others that followed, God was trying to teach me something important about prayer. Gradually, I saw that a demanding spirit, with self-will as its rudder, blocks prayer.”

May we embrace the prayer of relinquishment today.

Prayer: Lord, I let go of old habits, thinking, ways of rebellion, and stubbornness. Spirit of God, lead me into your protective, loving hands. I trust in you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s sing “Breathe on Me Breath of God” by Worship Initiative (click here).

-LB

Let’s read aloud the following scripture and confession to our faith:

 Acts 1:8 NIV
⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Lausanne Covenant, 14. The Power of the Holy Spirit
We believe in the power of the Holy Spirit. The Father sent his Spirit to bear witness to his Son; without his witness ours is futile. Conviction of sin, faith in Christ, new birth and Christian growth are all his work. Further, the Holy Spirit is a missionary Spirit; thus evangelism should arise spontaneously from a Spirit­ filled church. A church that is not a missionary church is contradicting itself and quenching the Spirit. Worldwide evangelization will become a realistic possibility only when the Spirit renews the Church in truth and wisdom, faith, holiness, love and power. We therefore call upon all Christians to pray for such a visitation of the sovereign Spirit of God that all his fruit may appear in all his people and that all his gifts may enrich the body of Christ. Only then will the whole Church become a fit instrument in his hands, that the whole earth may hear his voice.

Prayer: Lord, I want to live in the power of your Holy Spirit and not my own, so that I may bear your fruit. Enable your servant today. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s sing to the “Anointing” by Jesus Culture; let’s pray for a fresh outpouring of his Spirit upon us (click here).

-LB