Romans 8:26-27
The world can be an agonizing place. Sometimes we deal with pain so crushing we can't even articulate it. How to explain the grief of a broken heart, a dying friend, a stunning loss? And how can anyone put into words the horrors of war, the fear of a global pandemic, the injustice of starving children or those forced into slavery or trafficking, or the revulsion of cruelty in the world? One feels helpless in the midst of such heartrending pain, both pain we know personally and the pain of a sin-sick world.
Yet the Spirit is there with us. We don't have to find the words. Our hearts are open. God hears what we really need through the Spirit ambassador. Our prayers don't have to be crafted with specific requests and solutions. We don't need to explain anything to God. All we need to do is to place our sorrow before God and rest in His care. Therefore, we have no excuse not to turn to God. Every thought of ours, even those we are too embarrassed or hurt to speak aloud, can be recrafted by the Spirit into a plea for help and healing. Our struggles, when they are in the presence of God, are true prayers.
Prayer: Holy Spirit, hear the longings of my heart that are too deep even for words. Bring them before the Father, so that I may rest in His healing. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
* This devotion taken from The Sanctuary for Lent 2016 by Sue Mink
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