Our Helper in Prayer - Part 1

Welcome to the In Touch Podcast with Charles Stanley for Monday, April 17th. Have you ever wondered if you are praying for the wrong thing? If so, your fears can be set aside as you learn about the role of the Holy Spirit as our Helper in prayer. When you pray, do you pray with a sense of confidence that God is listening and that He's going to answer your prayer? Or do you pray with this cloud of doubt over you, thinking, more than likely, He's not listening, probably not going to answer my prayer, and you walk away sort of in disgust or at least very discouraged? When you come to Him in prayer, do you think, my words are just ricocheting off the ceiling and the walls, I'm not getting anywhere, I might as well quit? Or do you have this overwhelming sense of confidence, my loving Heavenly Father's listening?

He loves me, He cares for me, He's interested in me, He hears my plea, He's going to answer my prayer. So I want you to turn, if you will, to Romans chapter eight. And in this eighth chapter of Romans, the apostle Paul has been talking about suffering and so forth, but he's also been talking about the work and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. And one of the things he says about the work of the Holy Spirit, he says, for example, the Holy Spirit raised Jesus from the dead, He's the one by which we have the power to lay aside sin, and He's the one who bears witness in our life that we're the sons and daughters of Almighty God. Then he comes to this twenty-sixth verse, which is a familiar verse, and here's what he says. He says, in the same way, what does he mean by that? In the same way in which the Spirit has been doing these other things, in the same way the Holy Spirit also helps our weakness. Now what weakness? For we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

What does he mean by that? And he who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes with the saints according to the will of God. Now we all know this next verse. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. So what I want us to look at for a moment is I want us to see who our Helper is in prayer. And we all need help in our prayer life.

And listen to what he says. He says, in the same way the Spirit, the Holy Spirit helps our weakness, but we don't know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. Now, we all need help in prayer. And I want you to notice something in this passage, two words. The apostle Paul felt at times he needed help in his prayer.

Listen to what he says. He says, in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness. And then you notice he said, for we do not know how to pray as we should.

Now all of us struggle at times in prayer. And I would certainly say that there are times when I feel like the Lord is stirring me to listen very carefully. And that signal is I want you to spend more time.

I want you to spend time alone with me more time because I have something to say. And sometimes usually it's several weeks. Sometimes it can be longer than that. God desires to work in our heart and sometimes there's a struggle. And because He doesn't always make it clear and plain. Say, well now look, if God wants to talk to us, why doesn't He say this is what I want you to do? Well, first of all, if it came that easy, more than likely we'd say, well, I must have just thought that up.

Let's put it this way. He knows exactly how to get our attention. And the way He does it is the best way because when He begins to stir your heart about something, more than likely He wants to deal with something in your life. Something that you and I would not deal with, wouldn't think about, not thinking about, not concerned about, not interested in, but God's interested in it. And He also knows that it's very important in His plan for our life that we deal with this or have a different sense of direction or let go of something or do something we have refused or ignored. And so God's very, very concerned about how we operate. Now, when He speaks of the word weakness, He says we have this weakness. What He's referring to is that not only is this weakness somewhere in our makeup, we don't feel adequate. We feel we need some help, that we're not succeeding at this. In fact, I think most people would probably say, I am very dissatisfied with my prayer life. Now, what they don't admit is this.

One of the reasons I'm dissatisfied with it is I'm not getting my answers. What they don't say is I'm not spending enough time talking to the Father. Now, remember this, the Father is interested in, listen, in answering our petitions, giving us the desires of our heart, meeting our needs, but He's more interested in the relationship. So I want to say that again and again, more interested in the relationship.

You know what? The needs come, the desires come, the relationship's what He's after. And so what He's giving us here is a word of assurance about our relationship to Him that is in prayer. So He's specifically talking about our weakness in prayer or He would not have said. In the same way, the Holy Spirit also helps our weakness, but we don't know how to pray as we should. So He doesn't get off on some of the subject because if somebody says, well, does the Holy Spirit help us in all of our weaknesses?

Absolutely. He's dealing specifically and primarily here with the issue of our weakness in prayer. Now, let's think about some specific reasons, for example, that we may feel weak in that area.

And I think there are many of them and more than likely one or more of these are going to be true in your life. One of the primary reasons, for example, our prayer life is weak is that for some people they don't know who to talk to. Now, do I address God the Father? Do I address God the Son? Do I address the Holy Spirit? So if you ask, for example, well, who do I talk to? Some people say, well, you talk to Jesus. Somebody says, I talk to the Holy Spirit. Somebody else would say, I just talk to the Father. Somebody else says, well, you know, I just talk to God.

I don't know who's listening up there. And so they're honestly, genuinely, sincerely just never thought through it all to find out what God's up to. Sometimes one of those problems is the fact that a person can't concentrate.

Let's put it this way. They don't concentrate. They have a very short concentration because they can't feel Him. They can't touch Him. They can't see Him. And so they got their eyes closed and they're talking to the Heavenly Father. And so that doesn't last long with them. Well, do you have to close your eyes?

No. Is it a good idea when you get by yourself, close your eyes, shut out everything? Sometimes they can't concentrate. Sometimes as a result, of course, their mind wanders. Now, everybody has been praying about something and you suddenly realize, where in the world did that come from? Because you're thinking about something that has nothing to do with what you were talking to God about. Somebody says, well, is that a sin?

No. It's just human nature. And that is that we oftentimes have a short period of concentration. Or that we allow our minds to wander. Or if you're just sort of talking around and hoping God listens, that's not really what I'd call praying. If you're talking to the Father, for example, if I walked up to you and began to talk with you, one thing you're not going to see me do, I don't talk to you and look around to see who else is looking around. That's not giving you my attention. And so, when you're talking to somebody and you're looking at somebody else and checking this out and checking that out, they don't have your attention.

You don't have their attention. And so, when you and I talk to the Father, we need to concentrate. Now, watch this carefully. I will concentrate on Him more thoroughly the better I know Him.

The more about Him I know. When I begin to think about God's awesome power and His love and His unconditional love and His forgiveness and His cleansing and His desire, the fact that He has the best desires for us, that He has a plan for our life, that He's personally interested in exactly what I'm bringing Him. And if I do understand He's interested in what I'm bringing to Him, I know He's listening to me, and this is what I want to say, Father.

You know what? I can concentrate. But if I just sort of say, well, Lord, I just want you to bless me, that doesn't work. Sometimes it's a problem we don't feel worthy of. I don't feel worthy of prayer. Now, are you listening? Say, amen. Forget that. You will never be worthy to pray. We'll never be worthy to be saved. The two words, worthy and deserve. How can we ever deserve forgiveness? Deserving and worthiness, not even the issues.

But there are issues with people. I don't feel worthy. I just don't feel worthy to ask God. And so what happens is they also feel very guilty. When a person is full of guilt, you're not going to find them praying very long at all, if any. One of the primary reasons people don't pray is they feel too guilty to face God. So they walk in their house and they say, for example, if you live alone, and they turn on the television, turn on the radio, just get some noise going, some sound going so I don't have to concentrate. God wants us to think about Him, to focus upon Him. And oftentimes their minds are wandering, they feel guilty. And sometimes they're just confused.

They say, well, you know, this is what's going on in my life, but I don't know what to ask. I don't even know how to pray about this. Is that wrong?

No, that's not wrong. There's some things we don't know how to pray for. And oftentimes people attack this on the end of every single prayer. If it's Thy will, in Jesus' name, amen. Well, if I have something specific I'm talking to God about and it's in the Word of God, I have the right to ask, I don't have to ask Him if it's His will. And in Jesus' name is not a magic phrase.

That does not necessarily get it through. And so, when we think about all the reasons that people give sometimes, their faith's just waiving. They say, you know, I get down and I talk to God and I just know while I'm praying, He's going to do exactly what I say.

And you know what? When I walk away about five minutes, I'm thinking, I hope so. Oh God, I hope so. I'm hoping so. Absolutely no sturdy, steady, steadfast faith whatsoever.

And so their faith wavers. Yes, He will. Maybe He will. No, He won't.

I'm not sure what He's going to do. And then somebody says, well, the reason I don't pray much is because I'm afraid I'll ask the wrong thing. Relax.

I want to show you why you can relax. Do we all ask the wrong thing at times? Absolutely. Do we all have flesh?

That is our carnality. Yes. Are there times in our life when we want things and not the will of God? Yes.

Are there times we have asked Him for things that He didn't answer and we were glad He didn't when we found out later what the truth was? Yes. Does God get upset about that?

No. Do you have to worry about asking the wrong thing, that He's going to give you the wrong thing and then you're going to have the wrong thing that you ask of God? Then you don't know what to do with it and then you won't know how to handle it. You know what? None of that will be true because you know what? God's not going to give you the wrong thing.

Let me say this. You can manipulate the wrong thing. You can talk to God about it and then go manipulate the circumstances and get what you want sometimes and then tell your friends, look what God did. I've heard some of those statements that I knew that God had absolutely nothing to do with it because it doesn't sound like Him, it doesn't look like Him, and it's not what God does.

But sometimes people are genuinely confused and sometimes they're afraid they're going to ask the wrong thing. He says it's the Holy Spirit who's interceding for us. Now, some people just don't understand what their real need is. All of us have come to Him and said, God, this is a need in my life. We didn't get it. Why didn't we get it? Because God didn't listen to us or because God answered it in some other fashion.

Sometimes a person's just discouraged. They say, you know, I asked God for this. He didn't answer my prayer. I asked Him about that. He didn't answer my prayer. I talked to Him about this need in my life. He ignored me. Why should I pray when God doesn't answer my prayer?

Now, listen carefully. God does answer the prayers of every single one of His children. Does He answer all of our prayers? Yes, He does. He said, now, wait a minute.

You mean to tell me that God answers all the prayers of His children? Yes, He does. He says, yes. He says, wait.

And then He says what? I've got something better. That's what a loving God says.

I've got something better. Now, I can say God didn't hear me. God didn't answer my prayer because I don't like His better choice. But He's a loving Father. If He knows you and I have a need, listen, He knows exactly what the need is. He knows exactly when to give it. He knows when we're prepared for the need we think we're prepared for already. You've got to remember that He's a loving Father who loves us unconditionally. He desires the best for us. He says, listen, He says I have the best plan for you. And so we think because we don't get what we ask, He ignored us, He didn't answer our prayer.

And you remember, He will say yes, He will say wait. But He says to His children, I've got something better for you. And if you knew what I knew, you'd be asking for what I want to give you.

That's the kind of loving Father that we have. Now, there are lots of reasons. For example, I think one of the primary reasons people have problems in their prayers is because they just can't handle not knowing all the details. In other words, they will know.

I'm going to ask this. Okay, God, now how are you going to do this? God isn't about to tell us most of the time how He's going to do anything. Nor when He's going to do it.

Why? Because if He said no, here's exactly what I'm going to do, here's when I'm going to do it. You know what, we get up and walk off and you know what, relationship's over.

We got what we wanted. God is interested in building intimacy and listen, dependence upon Him, relationship with Him. And so one of the primary reasons we have a problem in our prayer life I think is the fact that we have satanic attacks. You say, what's a satanic attack? A satanic attack is an invasion of Satan into your life at that moment to distract you away from your concentration upon God or you're doing the will of God.

Now, I think if we were honest, all of us have been praying at times, if you've been by yourself alone talking to the Father. And here comes this thought that has nothing to do with God and you think, where in the world did that come from? And sometimes a person is prone to judge themselves and say, oh, I must be evil to think something like that.

No, you have an enemy and he's the devil. And listen, he can't make you do anything, but he can certainly throw the fiery darts of evil thinking or wrong thinking, disobedient thinking right into the middle of your prayer life. And if you recall, for example, the sixth chapter of Ephesians, Paul's whole description of the Christian warrior, he says, helmet of salvation, protect your thinking, breastplate of righteousness to protect your emotions, girdle with truth so that you can walk in at the sandals of salvation. And he says, listen, the word of God, both a weapon defensively and aggressively. And he says, above all, taking the shield of faith to do what? To quench all the fiery darts of the devil. The next thing he talks about is praying.

Why? Because he knows that Satan will attack us right in the middle of our prayer life. And so when some evil or bad thought comes, remember where it's coming from. It's coming from Satan who wants to distract you or get you to thinking evil about yourself or in some way feeling so unaware that you get up and walk away because oftentimes, listen, right before God wants to really show you something, Satan will work you over badly. And sometimes people quit praying just at the wrong time.

Now, I think I can remember exactly when I learned this, and that is two or three things. If I don't feel like praying, get busy at it. Number two, if I prayed and prayed and prayed about something and I'm just not getting through, I don't feel God's presence and I'm just not getting through.

The last thing you want to do is quit at that moment. What you want to do is to pray through. You say, well, now, what do you mean by praying through? Sometimes it's like a wall. You just know God's there. You know He's listening. You just can't get through is what I've discovered in those moments when I am tempted to get up and walk out of the prayer room and just get up and go do something else.

I know better. Just stay there until I have prayed through. That is till I get through this barrier, which has to be a satanic barrier. So if you begin to pray and you just feel like, well, where's God? Nothing's happening.

Don't quit then. One of the primary reasons that our prayer life is so weak is because there's no perseverance. We think, I ask Him, then let's have it. He's not a bellhop. He's not a servant just waiting to just give us what we want and Johnny on the spot.

You know what he does? He withholds many things from our life. He withholds many things from many people's lives and never gives it to them because of their spiritual condition. He withholds many things from our lives in brief periods of time until He gets us ready. Till He gets our spirit and our motivation right.

Until we are spiritually ready to receive. And if you're praying and nothing's going on, more than likely what God's doing is saying, look, wait. In other words, all we're looking for is His hand full of whatever we want.

God's saying, here is my hand, but I'm what's important. You can have that. But if you have that without me, you don't have anything. You can get all the material things in the world that Satan can help you get or that you can manipulate.

You know what? You don't have a relationship with the Lord. You don't have anything. And so we all struggle at times over different things and more than likely one of those things is probably something that you are having a problem with. And so you're not happy about your prayer life.

Now, you don't want to give up and quit because things get tough, because here's what happens. When you pray through that barrier is an invisible but very, very real barrier. Right on the other side of that, you're going to sense the presence of God. He's going to give you a sense of peace. Listen, sometimes it's like He just floods your soul with His presence. Now, I think everybody should reach this stage in life whereby you and I come to Him in prayer and we don't get a thing. But just the awareness of His presence itself is totally and completely satisfying. Let me tell you something. Then you'll know that you have discovered what praying is all about.

It's not just about getting, it's about a relationship. He's ready to help us, willing to help us, willing to give, ready to give. But before He wants us to look at His hand, He wants us to look at His face. Seek ye the Lord. Thank you for listening to Our Helper in Prayer. If you'd like to know more about Charles Stanley or In Touch Ministries, stop by intouch.org. This podcast is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia.